BT poor serive when reporting the death of a customer.

iscamaid

My uncle sadly died in February and I as executor called BT within a couple of days to notify them of the death. I tried to find a direct line to their probate office and could not find one, instead choosing the options given on their recorded message to report a death of a customer. My call was transferred not to a specialist department but to a call centre in India. Here I explained I was the executor of the estate but despite choosing the option to report a death the call operator had poor English and did not know what an executor was. I said I needed to close the account and she said a final bill would be sent out. I asked for it to be sent to me as his flat was closed and was told this could not be done. I tried to make her understand the person was dead and became I distressed by the lack of interest and understanding.

Luckily my uncle’s post is redirected to me and today I had a letter redirected to me addressed to my uncle, thanking my (dead) uncle for closing his account and informing him a cheque would be sent. Again I tried to call BT and chose the option to report a death and again I went through to an Indian call centre. I really have no objection to talking to someone outside of the UK but do object to speaking to someone who has limited English. This time I asked to be put through to their probate department. The person said they had never heard of the word probate and what did it mean. I then asked to be put through to the UK office dealing with deceased person enquiries. I was hurt and upset and the person said they could not do this and they would put me back in the queue and I may get through to a UK call centre. I tried to explain I wanted to speak to someone in the UK regarding a death and this time he deliberately cut me off. I know my option is to write and complain but I really do not think I will get anywhere. I was upset by these calls; imagine if I had been an elderly widow. I cannot believe what poor service this is and how unbelievably cruel and insensitive BT as an organisation is. I understand this is a rant however I simply wanted to get it down in writing. I also appreciate that there is little others reading this board can do to help, though I would be interested if others have had a similar situation.

epatolles

i would write a letter of complaint - i know you may feel like you are not going to get anywhere but there could be other people with the same problem and your letter might just be the one to change things?

boo80

Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss My Aunty had loads of problems with BT when my uncle died, the account was in his name and they wouldn't move the account over to her name and because they said she was a new customer she couldn't get the deal she was on before, it was a nightmare for her. In the end I posted on the telecoms board here and a really nice guy from BT sorted it all out for her, but she found it all very stressful and a time she really could of done without it

maninthestreet

So does BT actually have a Probate Dept. ???

iscamaid

maninthestreet wrote: »

So does BT actually have a Probate Dept. ???

I am not certain if they do, though I have made a large number of calls regarding my Uncle's death recently and most of the large organisations appear to have a specialist team dealing with the death of a customer. For instance I was expecting problems with British Gas, but found them prompt and professional with a dedicated team. The cheque made out the executors arrived within 2 weeks, properly addressed to my house. I do feel that if BT have a system whereby you dial automated numbers to direct your call and one of the choices is "to report the death of a BT user", they need specialist trained staff answering these calls. To simply direct them to an overseas call centre with no training is poor.

snapping_crocodile

Sorry to hear of your loss and the problems you have been having. I have to say when I was reporting my dad's death last year the most unprofessional were the water board :mad: I found BT quite helpful. I don't think they have a probate department, or at least I never spoke to them. When I rang I just spoke to the customer service department (in the UK!) and informed them and they dealt with it all, very professional service. I would definitely make a complaint

Pound

I hate calling Indian call centres, they seem to have more trouble understanding me than I have understanding them. I phoned up my mobile phone company to port my number away, I selected the option to cancel and the person who answered didn't know what a PAC code was.

kymi

My mum died last August and to be fair to BT they were very nice and professional. The person I spoke to was english so I was obviously lucky enough to be put through to a UK call centre

Kymi

dfh

Down with foreign call centres.Bring them all back to the Uk.And in the next elections please dont vote Lab/Con/Lib but a party that puts us ahead of foreigners.

niamhtra66

I used to work in one of the uk call centres and i can confirm there is no actual probate office or a direct contact to report a death.
You need to just call 150 and hope for the best, the problem with out sourced call centres are, if you go of there script your stuffed, but you can't ask to speak to a uk advisor (it's non pc ! )
The best you can hope for is to get a uk advisor who understands what needs to be done and handles the call sensitively and accurately.
As the letter stated thank you for closing the account it has not been done as a bereavement it is just a stopped line, the difference being any credit you are due will either be returned in the account holders name or goes back into the bank account if it was paid by direct debit.
If you need to contact them again try calling when it's less busy, your more likely to get through to a uk centre, they open at 8 a.m and it wouldn't be unusual for me to sit for the first hour waiting for a call. a 150 advisor can deal with just about anything.
On a lighter note, the call centre in India are in the process of being closed, the bad news,,,,, there of the the Philipines !!

System

When my nan died they sent her a bill for 97p My mum had no end of trouble dealing with them