Good old BT strike again

emma1504

A lesson in customer service courtesy of BT!
The real losers in this situation are our 3 eldest children, as we purchased netbooks for them for Christmas, to use on the internet, for home work and games.
So this has effectively rendered their christmas presents useless to them.
On the 21st November 2010 I placed an order for BT broadband and talk package and requested it to start on the 29th December 2010.
I received email and written confirmation of this order and was advised I would receive my home hub for my broadband by the 29th December.
On the 30th after not receiving my home hub I contacted BT as it advises on the order confirmation letter and was advised to go and buy a dongle and it would be reimbursed to me, I refused to do this as I didn’t have A) the time or the funds to go and do that, I also didn’t understand why this would be option when my hub was supposedly sent out, I was passed between four departments and advised that I would receive cancellation charges if I cancelled BT broadband
After much wrangling on the phone I eventually spoke to a gentleman called Sean Woodley who informed that if I wished to keep my account and wait a little while longer he would reduce the monthly cost for the product, I reluctantly agreed to this and was asked to wait until the 4th of January which is when I would receive my hub.
5th of January as the hub still hadn’t arrived I called BT once again and was advised by this gentleman after he had spoken to Royal Mail that the hub was in a distribution centre in Warrington (which I knew as I have been tracking it online since 28th December) and that it would DEFFINATELY be with me that evening or on the 6th.
I then had to telephone again on the 6th as it still hadn’t arrived, I spoke to a lady called Elaine who also advised me where the hub was and that there was a problem at the centre. Elaine said she would pass all the information over to her manager who would look into and called me back.
I was called back on the 7th by a gentleman called Assad who advised me that he had informed Senior Management of this problem and it was being sorted and that he would call me back later that day or on the morning of the 8th,.
The morning of the 8th came and went and still no hub and no phone call from Assad!
I have decided now to cancel this order as there seems to be nothing anyone at BT can do to enable me to have broadband but I have been advised that as it is not a BT error that I haven’t received the item I would be charged a cancellation fee £180.
I will not be paying it nor will I be paying for any broadband I may have been charged for, and will be forwarding BT my bill for mobile internet around about £2.00 per day
Could someone please advise as to where they or I stand in this.
Thanks

DVardysShadow

What you want to do is reasonable, but you are going about it in an unreasonable way.

You should send them a letter summarising the order date, intended start date of service, the number of promises on the phone [but please, not the detail of the conversations] and give them 14 days to get the home hub to you, after which you will rescind the contract on grounds of non performance by BT. Phone up and ask where the letter should be sent - if they are evasive, add that fact to the letter and send it to BT's registered office. Keep a copy of course.

victor2

Good advice there. Keep it civil, but make them realise you are not going to just let the matter lie. I would expect them to sort it out and give you a few months foc for the hassle.

Browntoa

yes sort of weird scenario as the weather meant the delivery was stuck as opposed to them not fulfilling their side of the deal , suppose the sensible thing for them would have to sent out a 2nd hub and get you to return the stray when it turns up

hopefully the BT rep will spot the thread and advise

C_Mababejive

I feel your pain but my view is that..
a) You were cutting it a bit fine with regard to getting this order actioned and fully operational. No doubt the "wires" bit of it was easily done in that all that is needed is a quick trip to the exchange. You were just short of a hub.

b) BT did try to remedy/provide a fix for the issue

c)BT were at the mercy of a third party i.e Royal Mail who had possession of your Hub

d)You have fallen victim to anaemic Britain Syndrome,an affliction in which the slightest issue (many foreseen and expected, ) is blown out of all proportion and turns the whole country to jelly legged victims. In this case it was nothing much more than a heavy frost which apparently has gripped the country in some kind of new ice age . You may have seen it on Telly.

I'd say..make your peace with BT,cut the deal for compo which they have already offered and enjoy your broadband service.

Bottom line,if you dont take BT's service, you will have to go through the whole rigmarole again and likely as not you will get BTs wholesale BB service with another company's badge stuck on it anyway !


Christmas comes but once a year...and its always on the 25th.

DVardysShadow

C_Mababejive wrote: »

... Bottom line,if you dont take BT's service, you will have to go through the whole rigmarole again and likely as not you will get BTs wholesale BB service with another company's badge stuck on it anyway !

Given that rebadged BT ADSL cuts you adrift from BT's abysmal customer service, getting your own router and going with another outfit should resolve the OP's issues.

Of course, the line speed is exactly the same as with BT, but the actual connection from the other end of the lie to the internet will vary from ISP to ISP - and some are better than BT.

C_Mababejive

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Given that rebadged BT ADSL cuts you adrift from BT's abysmal customer service, getting your own router and going with another outfit should resolve the OP's issues.

Of course, the line speed is exactly the same as with BT, but the actual connection from the other end of the lie to the internet will vary from ISP to ISP - and some are better than BT.

I think that customer service is largely an illusion although i will make an exception for O2,my provider..who i would rate highly.

ADSL is a tricky product.

Providers try hard to sell an out of the box solution as sending engineers round and faffing about isnt cost effective.

The problems come when it doesnt work as that involves spend.

Providers dont want to do that.

Customers who cant skill up or dont understand the technology could be in for a rocky ride if it goes wrong !

But we digress..

I asked someone adjacent to me how soon they might order a BB installtion in order to have it working for Xmas.

They ventured ..October...as.."December isnt really a full month is it ?" (in relation to Christmas)

scooby088

I have referred to on previous threads to ian livingston he is the chief exec, just email him i am sure he would like to know your problems with customer services, you can contact him ian.livingston@bt.com

nickinoo

BT do have appalling customer service but sadly don't most companies now? The home hub is worse than useless, we binned ours!

emma1504

scooby088 wrote: »

I have referred to on previous threads to ian livingston he is the chief exec, just email him i am sure he would like to know your problems with customer services, you can contact him [EMAIL="ian.livingston@bt.com"]ian.livingston@bt.com[/EMAIL]

Thank you Scooby I have emailed him and have had an immediate response, hopefully it will be sorted now.

scooby088

emma1504 wrote: »

Thank you Scooby I have emailed him and have had an immediate response, hopefully it will be sorted now.

Well my OH was getting nowhere with customer services quite literally they don't know their @rse from their elbow. When my OH got in touch she had email right away and about an hour later she got a phone call from him within the hour.

When she described the problem and that customer services were very rude he promised action and our problem does look to finally being sorted out. I just hope that you get some sort of satisfaction.