Help with BT please

jemtom

Been with BT for a few years now and moved to my current address june 08 so nearly a couple of years - since moving i have had nothing but problems with them when i moved someone cancelled my phone and internet instead of changing the address, and ongoing probs with faults so last year think it was july someone come out to sort a problem which i had been told had been sorted the previous year i was then charged for this and after weeks of trying to get rid of the charge with no avail i agreed to pay it but couldnt afford to pay it off in one go so set up a payment plan for £30 when it came to direct debit day they took £45 out of my account making me overdrawn in the end i had to cancel the direct debit and it then took ages for them to send out a payment card - 3 attemps later got this and started paying in december and january paid £40 each time as just want to get it paid off. come sunday night when a friend tried phoning she couldnt get through and i cant ring out ring bt to find out i have been cut off and also told that even after paying £80 my balance is now up to £170 i was so angry and upset last night that i couldnt speak to anyone anymore i was in a state, they wont re-connect me without me paying a £100 which obviously i dont have. my mum even offered to pay £60 but they wouldnt accept it. my internet and bt vision is still working but the man told me last night that as my line has been cut off i will have no internet anyone know if this is true? i dont want to be with bt anymore i cant deal with how they treat customers, how much trouble i have had - i could completely understand if i had not paid anything but i have. sorry for the long thread just wondered if anyone has had anything the same? thinking of going with sky especially if my internet and vision go off, anyone know how much connection charges cost?
hope someone can answer my questions or have been through this before and know the best way to deal with bt, what to say and do ect.
any help appreciated thanks,

Mark_In_Hampshire

1. What was the nature of the fault which apparently had been fixed a year ago? If it was a fault in the property wiring after the master socket, you have to pay for that; if a fault before or inside the master socket you don't need to pay, unless a) the master socket was damaged by you or b) the line itself was damaged by you e.g. one of your plants/trees damaged it.

So if you can clear that up, that will knock some money off what you owe. That appears to be the beginning of this spiral;

2. Paying by direct debit is never a good idea unless you're made of money and leave plenty sloshing around in your current account. All you'll end up doing is incurring bank charges if the payee makes a mistake. As here. Sadly, BT aren't liable to compensate you, it's your fault for agreeing that payment method. Leave that cancelled;

3. I'm not sure why you need a payment card as such - you can pay online via debit card or online bank transfer, or at any bank. Anyway, once you've sorted (1) above if that results in a significant refund, you may not be far in arrears at all.

4. BT vision relies on broadband

5. Your broadband provider will receive notification of the line cease and so will stop providing that at some point. It will probably work for a while but will stop eventually

As far as I can see BT will cut you off for non payment and then continue to hold you to the minimum term of your contract which will probably be 12 months for the phone line.

The key to this would seem to be sorting out what the balance actually is first (ref 1 above).

The main problem will be communicating this to/with BT which is where it all falls down.

Suggest you write to them either by email setting out dates, events. Work out what you think you owe. Clarify that. If you don't owe (1) above then you should be put back in the position you would have been in had you not been incorrectly charged.

Regardless, you might then want to either carry on paying, or agree with them to terminate the contract (they may end it anyway, and send you a final bill including cancellation charges)

If I remember rightly Sky aren't interested in phone customers unless a) you're a new customer and b) you take the dish/TV as well.

jemtom

the fault was something to do with the main socket, but it had something to do with a wire leading to my bedroom upstairs which when i first moved in the man said he had cut and said it would cause me no more problems but obviously hadnt cut it so when i rang to get tit sorted they were adamant it was my charge. if my internet is going to be cut off and so is my vision then i will need to go with sky for tv, internet and phone. but getting worried over paying bt obviously im going to owe them hundreds when they cancel everything as my telephone contract is no where near ending and neither is my broadband so i will have charges for them to pay.
thank you for your help,

Mark_In_Hampshire

BT are only responsible for the line up to the master socket, so it sounds as though you are liable for the repair - there's not really enough to go on to be sure.

You say the contract is nowhere near ending - if you moved in circa June 08 isn't that about 18 months now - so you could cancel your contract (although you'll still have the arrears to pay off - you could always get a Freeview box in the meantime and there's plenty to watch on iTunes, YouTube etc)