BT ultimatum - help us make a false report to Ofcom or we cancel your account!

JOWIFI

A conversation with BT today has left me fuming.

I decided about 10 days ago to transfer to SkyTalk to take advantage of a lower broadband rate (I am already a sky tv and broadband customer).

On receiving the cancellation letter from BT I realised that the cancellation charge would outweigh any savings made from the transfer. The letter from Sky made it quite clear that I had the right to cancel, and the BT letter also told me I should contact them by 4pm today if I changed my mind and wanted to prevent the transfer.

I called Sky around 2.30pm today and explained the situation. They confirmed that my order with them would be cancelled and that they would confirm this with BT. To be sure, in view of the 4pm deadline set by BT, I then called BT immediately after to confirm that I would be staying with them.

The guy I spoke to told me that he had to fill in a report to Ofcom to report Sky for mis-selling, and wanted details from me to fill this out. I said that I wasn't willing to go along with this, because Sky had done nothing wrong and had made my rght to cancel quite clear. He countered that they hadn't cancelled the account - I pointed out that I had only spoken with them moments earlier, but that fell on deaf ears. He told me that unless I gave him the information to fill in his false report, that my account would be cancelled, apparently there was no other option.

In other words he gave me an ultimatum - help us make a false report against sky or we cancel your account.

I continued to argue this, saying that it was dishonest and I wasn't willing to go along with it. He then told me that it was too late to prevent my account being cancelled now anyway, regardless of whether I agreed to the report, and that I would have to pay the cancellation fee. By now it was about 2.50pm. I pointed out that the letter I had clearly said 4pm, again this fell on deaf ears. He said it was too late and that was that.

I asked to speak to a superior, apparently none was available. Helpfully though if I left my number one would call me back WITHIN 7 DAYS! The deadline in my letter was an hour away. When I said thi wasn't good enough he hung up on me.

This seems disgraceful to me - both for the ultimatum he gave me, and for the appalling (and by all appearances deceitful) customer service.

I am now in a position where as of Monday I will have no BT line and no Sky line to replace it, and also no broadband. I have important exams coming up and the broadband connection is something I really cannot afford to be without. I intend to get onto BT complaints first thing in the morning (unfortunately a work deadline prevented me doing any more today), but is there anything else I should be doing? Any tips for a quick resolution?

financequest

Why not inform BT that you intend to report their actions to OFCOM instead. You may wish to give BT the option of honouring original offer. However, for future reference, always try to get written offers before proceeding, as these are hard evidence. Failure to comply will not impress any other potential BT customers who read these threads.

Jemma-T

JOWIFI wrote: »

A conversation with BT today has left me fuming.

I decided about 10 days ago to transfer to SkyTalk to take advantage of a lower broadband rate (I am already a sky tv and broadband customer).

On receiving the cancellation letter from BT I realised that the cancellation charge would outweigh any savings made from the transfer. The letter from Sky made it quite clear that I had the right to cancel, and the BT letter also told me I should contact them by 4pm today if I changed my mind and wanted to prevent the transfer.

I called Sky around 2.30pm today and explained the situation. They confirmed that my order with them would be cancelled and that they would confirm this with BT. To be sure, in view of the 4pm deadline set by BT, I then called BT immediately after to confirm that I would be staying with them.

The guy I spoke to told me that he had to fill in a report to Ofcom to report Sky for mis-selling, and wanted details from me to fill this out. I said that I wasn't willing to go along with this, because Sky had done nothing wrong and had made my rght to cancel quite clear. He countered that they hadn't cancelled the account - I pointed out that I had only spoken with them moments earlier, but that fell on deaf ears. He told me that unless I gave him the information to fill in his false report, that my account would be cancelled, apparently there was no other option.

In other words he gave me an ultimatum - help us make a false report against sky or we cancel your account.

I continued to argue this, saying that it was dishonest and I wasn't willing to go along with it. He then told me that it was too late to prevent my account being cancelled now anyway, regardless of whether I agreed to the report, and that I would have to pay the cancellation fee. By now it was about 2.50pm. I pointed out that the letter I had clearly said 4pm, again this fell on deaf ears. He said it was too late and that was that.

I asked to speak to a superior, apparently none was available. Helpfully though if I left my number one would call me back WITHIN 7 DAYS! The deadline in my letter was an hour away. When I said thi wasn't good enough he hung up on me.

This seems disgraceful to me - both for the ultimatum he gave me, and for the appalling (and by all appearances deceitful) customer service.

I am now in a position where as of Monday I will have no BT line and no Sky line to replace it, and also no broadband. I have important exams coming up and the broadband connection is something I really cannot afford to be without. I intend to get onto BT complaints first thing in the morning (unfortunately a work deadline prevented me doing any more today), but is there anything else I should be doing? Any tips for a quick resolution?

You'll get no answer here from a BT Rep. They only reply when they can hide things away via email or sell you something.

What exactly are you going to do about it?

BT is no different to a double glazing company at the end of the day so you will come by strange people on their sales lines (BT only has sales' lines, they may have some lines with different names but they're only really sales).

That person you spoke with could be selling double glazing this time next week.

BT_company_representative

Hi Jowifi

This sounds like you had a hard time of it. I am sorry you ran into to problems getting this sorted out. I'll be happy to jump in and sort this out.

I know a couple of days has passed and I am sorry I didnt pick this up sooner but if you can drop an email to the addy in my profile with your account number, telephone number and a link back to this thread I'll sort things out.

ta

Craig
BT Support