BT making up bills?!

hugsr

Hey, I hope someone can help.

I moved out of my old house last November and cancelled my BT phone and broadband contract. I had paid some months in advance, so was owed money back. The lady who cancelled my contract told me there would be a £30 broadband cancellation fee which would be paid for out of my account balance, which was fine, so she said they would only owe me about £3/4 back (I can't remember the exact figure but she was very exact).

Then the following month I received a bill for £45, which they said was internet usage for the month of November (most of it occuring in just one week!). But, for most of October and all of November I was renovating my new house, so I was barely home. I might've used the phone or internet once or twice but never would have used even a fraction of my 20gb allowance, never mind another 45gb on top of that!

In the past I've had odd extra bills from BT for £6 here and there for internet usage. I've queried it with them but they've always said they can't access broadband records so I've ended up paying it and put it down to one too many shows watched on iPlayer.. but I KNOW I wasn't home for this period they've now billed me for and moreover, they told me in person that THEY owed ME a small amount of money so as far as I'm concerned, they've created this bill out of thin air!

Now they are adding late payment charges because I'm refusing to pay but when I ring/email and try to resolve it they do absolutely nothing to assist me, they just tell me to pay the bill!

(And yes, my internet was very secure so I'm sure no one else was using my line - I think BT are the problem and no one else!)

HELP! What do I do?!

hugsr

Oh, and I have actually done it as a complaint to them, but again am just told to pay the bill..

Mark_In_Hampshire

Just a guess: when you moved out they didn't cease the service, and so the new occupant used the bandwidth.. is that conceivable?

You simply need to decline to pay anything until the matter is put right and you're issued with a correct final invoice which would be based on charges up to the day of cut off only, as you instructed.

hugsr

Thanks but I'm afraid not - the charges relate to dates before I moved out. But as I say, I was barely there so to say I used 65gB in one month (my contract allowance plus the extra) is just obscene. I've have had to be gaming literally all month to use that (and I don't do gaming at all!!)

Mark_In_Hampshire

If we for the moment assume that BT just might be right in order to rule everything out...

Who *was* at home when you weren't?

Any workmen/cleaner/kids etc?

Do you have the key for your wireless router on your pinboard in the kitchen or similar?

I'm certainly not saying you're wrong and they're right, but important to rule out any possible causes...

hugsr

Good point, but no one was in my home whatsoever - my fella was at work and the kids were with me at all time (they're only tiny). My router key is hidden in a wee card in a cd case in an upstairs bedroom.

hugsr

A new twist! BT called me and said they are removing £24 worth of broadband usage from the bill.. but now they are saying the rest of the bill relates to the cancellation fee and not broadband usage. I swear it was all broadband usage so logged in to my BT online account to double check - but all of my accounts have disappeared!

I paid BT 3 months broadband and phone in advance in September. They ought to owe me about a thrid of this back ie £30ish. The cancellation fee was £30. At the time I cancelled the lady said they owed me approx £3 back so that all tallies with that and I had no reason to suspect anything else.

But on this new phone call she's saying that all my money had been credited back to my account but I STILL owe them another £30... absolutely WRONG! I've been credited nothing and I've already paid the cancellation fee.

First she tried to tell me that I'd moved on 17th March; then she said Christmas Day (!) and then 29th December! (It was actually I think December 2nd when I cancelled). They don't know their a** from their elbow!! I argued with the woman 'til I was blue in the face; but basically she can't explain why I still owe £30 and I've got no way of seeing a bill because they've deleted my online accounts, so I've no intention of paying it. I hung up on her because she kept telling me the cancellation was dealt with by a different company so I haven't paid it at all (well why are they getting me to pay it to *them*, again, if it's dealt with by a different company??)

Do I need to contact OffCom??

kwikbreaks

Not Ofcom.

http://www.ombudsman-services.org/communications.html

hugsr

Me again,

I've now got a letter from a debt collection agency for £35.19.. another completely random amount of money.
I am so mad. I've asked BT so many times for an itemised bill of what exactly they are saying I owe them but they've NEVER provided one - they just keep sending letters saying "pay £x amount" with no explanation as to what it's for.. Only once I get an itemised bill can I even begin to get to the bottom of this.

I've heard people say it's near impossible to get away from BT before.. but this is ridiculous! I haven't been a customer for nearly a year now and they're still chopping and changing their story, and giving me bills for random, different amounts of money.

BT_company_representative

Hi hugsr

If you check out my profile section you will find my contact details, if you send me over your details I can gladly look into this for you.

Regards David

renegade

So glad you posted this thread.
I cancelled my BT BB and phone on the 17th sept and they still have not disconnected my BB (phone takeover scheduled for the 10th Oct)
I am envisaging the same problems you are having now, at least I now have the official addresses for complaints.
Thanks for that people.