BT Locked Into 18 Month Broadband Contract

dexterlivi

Update on poor broadband:

BT went through line checks etc.Finally sent engineer out on Friday.They found no problem with line but did take the time to climb up pole and clean terminals and re-connect etc. Engineer finnaly informed me that the best we could get was between 1.5 and 2 MB due to distance from exchange.

I kept screen shot from BT where they said they could give me between 10 MB and 19.5 MB, but estimate speed as 17 MB.

Out of curiousity I checkeed again on line what BT where claiming they could offer me today, and again they offer the above.

So despite all the up to speed and all the depends how far from the exchange clap trap, I would expect BT to have been honest up front and state that I could only get 1.5 MB before I placed the order.They are more than happy to tell me after I,ve signed up.Surely BT have the know how to find this information out up front but there you go, would I have signed up? of course not.

I would go as far as as saying their advertisment is misleading and ultimatly disingenious.

I intend to cancel and fight the case.BT advertisng is clearly misleading and does not offer anywhere near what they claim.I suppose it will be prudent to put the monthly payment asside in case I loose.I,m sure I will get the typical threats of handing the case over to a collection agent etc. However someone needs to stand up against such poor service.

To add insult to injury, I sent a letter of complaint over 10 days ago, and no,they have not replied. I got the automatically generated reciept but nothing else. What totally poor service.:mad:

kwikbreaks

dexterlivi wrote: »

So despite all the up to speed and all the depends how far from the exchange clap trap

That "clap trap" is the way the universe works. We call it the laws of physics. To repeal them you need to consult the deity of your choice although I doubt you'll have more luck there than with BT.

dexterlivi wrote: »

I would expect BT to have been honest up front and state that I could only get 1.5 MB before I placed the order.

Yes it would be nice if they could for every case but they can't tell you the condition of your phone line until it is tested and the only really reliable test is installing ADSL.

I won't go into the rights and wrongs of holding you to the contract but I will say that all ISPs use the BTw database to give the speed estimate and it is often incorrect. Sometimes it is wildly incorrect. As all ISPs know that I suspect that all their contracts have some clauses dealing with a failure to provide the estimated speed. Before you follow a course of action that could cost you your credit rating and possibly more money I'd suggest that you read yours carefully.

iniltous

dexterlivi wrote: »

Update on poor broadband:

BT went through line checks etc.Finally sent engineer out on Friday.They found no problem with line but did take the time to climb up pole and clean terminals and re-connect etc. Engineer finnaly informed me that the best we could get was between 1.5 and 2 MB due to distance from exchange.

I kept screen shot from BT where they said they could give me between 10 MB and 19.5 MB, but estimate speed as 17 MB.

Out of curiousity I checkeed again on line what BT where claiming they could offer me today, and again they offer the above.

So despite all the up to speed and all the depends how far from the exchange clap trap, I would expect BT to have been honest up front and state that I could only get 1.5 MB before I placed the order.They are more than happy to tell me after I,ve signed up.Surely BT have the know how to find this information out up front but there you go, would I have signed up? of course not.

I would go as far as as saying their advertisment is misleading and ultimatly disingenious.

I intend to cancel and fight the case.BT advertisng is clearly misleading and does not offer anywhere near what they claim.I suppose it will be prudent to put the monthly payment asside in case I loose.I,m sure I will get the typical threats of handing the case over to a collection agent etc. However someone needs to stand up against such poor service.

To add insult to injury, I sent a letter of complaint over 10 days ago, and no,they have not replied. I got the automatically generated reciept but nothing else. What totally poor service.:mad:

Although estimating the speed is just that an estimate, yours is way out, so much so that you probably need to be trying a few things before giving up....post your router stats ( if you can)...if you go onto a speed estimator site and use your post code what does it say, ( is it the same as using your phone number ?)..are you plugged into the test socket of the master socket ?, if you are still within the 10 day training period, you cannot be sure what speed you will get until that period ends...if you were told 17Mb on an upto 20Mb service then you would normally be close to the exchange and so should be getting a decent speed are you close to the exchange ?, most speed estimates are lower that what you actually get, finally, is infinity available in your area ?, if it is ,you are not getting an infinty estimate mixed up with 'ordinary' adsl are you ?. perhaps you could tell us your postcode. or paste the estimate you got

MrsTinks

Well the BT engineer could be absolutely right - but if the problem is a line length issue then you would have ahd the exact same problem on all providers?
If it's a line quality issue then it could be trickier and again it could still be a fault... BT engineers are not infallible... I know of cases where 4 seperate engineers have attended before the problem was identified as a basic fault in the exchange that should have been spotted immediately.
Did the engineer say how far from the exchange you are? (not as the crow flies but in copper terms?) That should give a real idea of if he's right or not about the long line problem... if your 2 miles from the exchange then nope... if you are say 6 miles from it then yep...
It's normal for the "checker" to be out on what you can obtain... it's something everyone in the industry suffer with but none of us can change because as pointed out... laws of physics apply and unless you want your BB cost to spiral then BTopenreach haven't the resource to map every single line to the EU location to see what speed it REALLY can get... it's all estimation
We all loathe it but we have to put up with it...
As someone who's line should be able to get 8mb according to all the checkers I can absolutely promise you that the most mine will push through is 1.5 and that only on a good day when the sun is shining and no-one passes wind within 10 miles... I celebrated the day they activated the BT Infinity cabinet at the end of my road... 23mb on a bad day

dexterlivi

Just come off the phone to BT to discuss ending contract without incuring any early termination charges.

They have agreed that they can not provide what was offered at time of placing order.They have agreed to releasing me from the contract without any charges.

Whilst dissapointed at all the hassle, I must say I have been impressed by the way they have handled my complaint and request to leave.

So all being well I will be going to Virgin. Unfortuantly any others would be using the same phone line to de;liver the broadband so Virgin is our only option.

So overal a good result.

kwikbreaks

Don't forget to sign up for VM through Quidco or TopCashBack!!!!