BT charged £130 and they won't listen

callas

We had a problem with our phone line - we could hear our neighbours talking and they apparently could hear us. We contacted BT who checked the line and agreed there was a fault. They came out and replaced the line in the road - all sorted.

A couple of weeks later clicking on the line, our phone engaged when friends rang us but we were not on the phone and the feeling someone was listening in we rang BT again faults listened on the line and said there was a fault.

They came out and checked in the road for a long time, nothing, he came in, nothing couldn't explain it. Nothing was signed nothing as far as charges was discussed.

Received a phone bill with the charge of £130 - we querried this, call centre nightmare told us that I had accepted the charge of £130 in a telephone call, we asked for this to be checked. They apparently checked it and it was correct we asked to hear it, we couldn't.

We asked for BT to ring us so we could progress this. So far we had a call last Monday 7 March and told someone will look into it and ring us. I chased it up on Tuesday with the call centre couldn't help me but would pass a message on.

Today two people have rung to say BT have decided we are liable for this charge and we have to pay. When asked for proof we have to pay £10. We asked for a copy of the report from the engineer told if we receive a letter then we accept liability. Then went onto to tell us if it went to Court we would have to prove they got it wrong!

How can we speak to someone at BT who can sort this out. I feel as if I am in a tumble dryer going round and round.

Heinz

BT's CEO is contactable by email - [EMAIL="ian.livingston@bt.com"]ian.livingston@bt.com[/EMAIL]

spike7451

callas,

read this;

Do I have to pay for a fault repair?

We can repair many line faults at the exchange or on the network. Others require a visit by a BT engineer. There is no charge for these repairs. We will only charge you when one of our engineers visits your property and finds that the fault could have been fixed by you. For example, if your phone is broken or has been left unplugged.

This is from BT's own website here;

https://www2.bt.com/static/i/microsite/help_and_tips/faults/faq/faults_faq2.html

As well as this thread;

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2855286

The only time that they can charge you is as stated above.If you disconnected the faceplate on the NTE5 Master socket & connected a corded phone into the test socket behind & the fault was still there,then it is not in your making.
If this is the case,then the fault is on BT Openreach's side up to the exchange.After that it becomes BT Wholesale's problem.What usually happens in BT OR or WS bill BT Retail who pass the charge onto the customer.I was able to get Skintlass's charge over turned using this argument.

callas

Thanks Heniz and Spike for your replies.

When the BT chap came out he spent an awful lot of time in the road and couldn't see a fault (according to him) he then came in and looked at the master socket and again couldn't find a fault (according to him) he then left. There was no mention of a charge being made to us or us excepting a charge.

After he went the fault seemed to have disappeared.

When we rang to report the fault we were told they had to check the line and they agreed that there was a fault and an engineer would be out.

Now BT claim on my first query of this charge that I had accepted the £130 call out charge, which I deny. I asked them to listen to the reocording they say they did and I accepted, I dispute this and asked to hear the tape myself - this was declined. I asked for this to be passed on and dealt with by the revelant department. (this was an overseas call centre - I asked)

When they rang back a week later BT(UK) said I had accepted the charges therefore I was liable. I asked if she had heard the tape the answer was no. I asked for this to be escalated as I did not accept the charge.

Today BT (UK) rang to say they had a report from Openreach to say we had been told by the enginner about the charges and we had accepted. We deny this.

We have asked for proof of any form of acceptable by us and BT tell us they will not issue us with one, they say we have accepted we owe them the money thats the end of it and if we want a copy of the report sent to us we will then have accepted their decision. We were also told that if we went to County Court we would have to prove we didn't accept the charges!!!! Which to me sounds madness.

The situation as it stands is we are waiting for another manager to contact us. It seems to me that Openreach couldn't find a fault and so need to charge the time to someone - that someone being us.

How do I actually get to speak to someone who can a) tell the truth b) deal with this as it should be dealt with?

fjsfjs

callas wrote: »

Thanks Heniz and Spike for your replies.

When the BT chap came out he spent an awful lot of time in the road and couldn't see a fault (according to him) he then came in and looked at the master socket and again couldn't find a fault (according to him) he then left. There was no mention of a charge being made to us or us excepting a charge.

After he went the fault seemed to have disappeared.

When we rang to report the fault we were told they had to check the line and they agreed that there was a fault and an engineer would be out.

Now BT claim on my first query of this charge that I had accepted the £130 call out charge, which I deny. I asked them to listen to the reocording they say they did and I accepted, I dispute this and asked to hear the tape myself - this was declined. I asked for this to be passed on and dealt with by the revelant department. (this was an overseas call centre - I asked)

When they rang back a week later BT(UK) said I had accepted the charges therefore I was liable. I asked if she had heard the tape the answer was no. I asked for this to be escalated as I did not accept the charge.

Today BT (UK) rang to say they had a report from Openreach to say we had been told by the enginner about the charges and we had accepted. We deny this.

We have asked for proof of any form of acceptable by us and BT tell us they will not issue us with one, they say we have accepted we owe them the money thats the end of it and if we want a copy of the report sent to us we will then have accepted their decision. We were also told that if we went to County Court we would have to prove we didn't accept the charges!!!! Which to me sounds madness.

The situation as it stands is we are waiting for another manager to contact us. It seems to me that Openreach couldn't find a fault and so need to charge the time to someone - that someone being us.

How do I actually get to speak to someone who can a) tell the truth b) deal with this as it should be dealt with?

BT have a representative on this forum

Someone who is a more regular user than I should be able to tell you how to contact them.

Otherwise, I suggest emailing your query here to Livingston, as Heinz suggests. It is a strategy which produces results.

BT_company_representative

Hi callas

I have just seen your post and would like to look into this for you, if you check out my profile section you will find my contact details, and if you send me your details I will gladly look into this for you and contact you to discuss.

Regards David

Heinz

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact_email/c/4950

callas

Thank you David and Heniz

I have clicked on the link and been to your profile David and see it is the same address as the link Heniz gives above. I have filled in the form and hopefully I will hear from someone soon.

I see that this form asks which forum I have posted on etc. Does this mean this query is dealt with differently from say when I filled in the original online BT customer services form?

dogfish12

If all else fails get your local MP involved. The bigger picture they are useless at, but this kind of thing where a letter is sent, often works wonders.

callas

Thank you everyone.

Someone from BT did ring a couple of days after filling in a link from post above.

It seems they did go back and listen to my telephone conversation and I did NOT agree to any charges so they are revoking the £130.

Thats the good news, the bad news is that it took me to write on here and rely on the time of and trouble of others to help me sort this out. When I first spoke to BT and they apparently listened to my conversation they told me that I had agreed to the charges and they had listened to the tapes - this is a lie. Secondly, no-one at BT would actually deal with this and they doggly kept saying I was liable. BT need to look into this lack of customer care.

Secondly and more worrying is that in future if I can hear clicking, my neighbours conversations on the phone or that my phone is engaged when it is not then if I ring BT and if they check the phone line and FIND a fault and send out a engineer then unless the engineer finds a fault then they say I will be charged £130.

I understand that if my own phone is faulty then its my responsibility but I always thought that if BT checked the line, they could only check their equipement. I feel that, whatever the fault, I really do not want to call BT as I worry that I will be charged £130.

Whats interesting in this case was that the engineer came out wasn't sure what the not fault was, yet still felt they could try and charge me £130.

elektra

glad you got a good result Callas.

Rather than starting a new thread, can I ask people's views on this one.

Called engineer out as problems with phones not ringiing, had checked our own equipment.

engineer traced it to corroded master socket, through damp. Put a new one on about 6 inches further away. Original socket been there since mid 1980's.

Original phone call made it clear that if our equipment we would be charged. Engineer made no mention of charge just got on with putting new socket on.

So would you accept this charge as it is not BT's fault we had/have a damp wall.