Huge Bt Bill / Alternative Service

wordnerd

I don't know if anyone can help me, or even if I can be helped.

I have been a BT customer (phone and broadband) for many many years and have always been happy with them (one of the few!) but things have gone horibly wrong.

I renewed my contract with them last year and was told that calls to 0844/0845/0870/0871 numbers were free as long as I disconnected and reconnected within an hour. I think there was a small fee for this.

I am disabled and in a wheelchair and have had major surgery and have a relative who often stays overnight to look after me in case I need medication and other help. He asked if he could use the phone to ring an on-line chat service which used an 0844 service. As I thought it was ok I let him as long as he hung up within the hour. I found out last month that only 0845 and 0870 numbers are free and got a huge bill.

I was paying by direct debit which I find really tough because of the fact I get my benefits on set days and the d/d is on set dates and sometimes the d/d comes before the benefit arrives. I was just about coping then BT ramped up my monthly payment. I spent ages dealing with unhelpful people at their call centre in India who had no empathy and were uninterested in heping me although they offered a nice line in platitudes.

I have also had real problems with my bank - I had a basic bank acount with Lloyds and because of the bounced d/d's I kept getting huge charges and eventually have lost what little savings I had in charges.

I changed banks to the Co-op and last month agreed a really tough high payment direct debit with BT. This week I found out that the direct debit had been cancelled by the bank and now Bt want full payment of the bill or they will disconnect me.

I need to speak to my health support daily and they ring me to check on blood levels becaue of my health and am really frightened of losing my phone.

I spoke to a call centre in the Phillippines yesterday and they were so unhelpful. I asked if I could keep incoming calls and clear the bill by payments each fortnight but they have told me everything will be disconnected and they will take me to court for the money. They did not appreciate my circumstances and refused to let me speak to a manager. At first the avdisor said she thought my offer was reasonable but then checked and was told it wasn't possible.

Is there an alternative home phone service I can get while I resolve this with BT. I am frightened of being dragged through County Court and getting eve more charges than I can afford. I am also going to lose my broadband and my computer is my lifeline to the outside world.

I am finding life so tough on benefits and am getting into all sorts of problems all the time. Where I live we don't have cable. I think I have a BT line to use another provider don't I, so they have me over a barrel and I have to manage without my vital services.

Heinz

You need to speak to someone in the UK. I am sure BT Company Representative will make the necessary arrangements.

Your best bet is to send them a message via their online form.

Don't forget to include a link to this thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3386838

Plus your phone and account numbers.

0843/0844/0871/0873/0873 numbers are not included in many packages so avoid them if possible.

For non-inclusive 01/02/03 calls, a 18185 account (5p per 01/02/03 call of whatever length) might be adviseable when you get back to normal.

wordnerd

Thanks for the kind help.

I spoke with the Northern Ireland team who told me I had to speak to the Filipino team. They are refusing to give me any time to pay or any other help. When I asked to speak to someone in the UK I was told they wouldn't help me and I had to pay everything by Tuesday next or that was it.

I am really frustrated and upset partly at my own stupidity but also at the fact that I can't get someone to help me.

Mark_In_Hampshire

Have you spoken to the relative who ran up the bill making these calls? Perhaps they can help you to pay them. While that might seem like a loss of pride, especially if you told them the calls would be free and to go right ahead I think many people do realise that 0844 calls and chat lines are far from free. Perhaps you can get some help there. I certainly wouldn't be afraid to ask. If your relative tries to call you and finds the line dead, they might be mortified at what's happened and wonder why you didn't ask before.

You can transfer the line to another provider as long as it isn't ceased. If the deadline is approaching it will be ceased and is likely to incur an additional charge to get it activated again regardless of who you go with or if you remain where you are. Additionally, although this isn't great news, if you're in a contract for your broadband, and that is ceased, then you'll be expected to pay out the balance of contract on that as well.

You do rightly accept that it's your responsibility and you've made attempts to explain and to gain assistance from BT, but, to be fair, they don't have to assist you.

I'd suggest that if funds are tight, paying by direct debit is probably not a good idea in the first place, so you might bear that in mind - the debit dates are variable and don't work well with low incomes credited on fixed dates when the debit can go out on any date. Doesn't help you now, but something to bear in mind.

My best suggestion would be to get a Pay as you go mobile for calls - O2 is something like 25ppm for the first 3 minutes then 5ppm thereafter, so you'd need to plan to that to avoid very high charges. On the other hand there's no line rental to pay, so it might even be cheaper if you don't use it that much.

As regards broadband, you could get a Pay as you go mobile broadband dongle if it works where you are. We use one for our home broadband and it's much faster and much cheaper than having broadband via a phone line. But we're lucky (?!) where we are in that we get a good service - you may not. It may not even be feasible at all.

You can check the coverage maps on various websites (Three is probably the strongest network) to see if it might work for you and you can return it if it doesn't as long as you do it quickly. The dongle is likely to cost you about £40 on Pay as you Go and comes with about 1GB of data. Each 7GB of data then costs £25. If you just use email and browse the web then that should be fine.

At least you can't run up a bill - when it runs out, it just stops working. If, on the other hand, you watch TV online, 7GB won't go far so you might have to moderate your usage.

If you cannot resolve this - either by, for instance, borrowing the money to pay the BT bill, or gaining some sympathy from them (suggest writing to them pointing them at this thread) then both the above might being your costs down in the short term, to retain a phone and broadband service while you pay back what you owe.

Sorry it's not great news.

wordnerd

Thanks Mark

My relative is not working and I pay him a little of my DLA for what he does. He is upset about it and is forgoing the money I pay him to help clear the bill.

If I transfer the line to another provider and then arrange to clear the amount with BT separately, won't they still disconnect me and I lose the line?

Mark_In_Hampshire

If the transfer (for the line rental) completed *before* it is ceased, then no, BT cannot cut it off. It has nothing to do with them.

However given the timescales you indicate above (next Tuesday) I'm not convinced it will go through that quickly.

I'm not sure what the gaining provider (as it's called) would do in such a scenario - e.g. it's working now, it's active and valid, they instigate the transfer request and by the time that's acted upon that same line has been ceased.

I am guessing they will cancel the order, but perhaps others can advise.

macman

How much do you owe BT in arrears, and how long overdue is it?
That will obviously impact upon their approach to this.

wild666

On the bill or letters BT have sent you there will be a company number and a registered head office address. Possibly this?

BRITISH TELECOM
81 NEWGATE STREET
LONDON
EC1A 7AJ
Company No. 01626499

You can check the details @ http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/8c8543974aa5f16add1dff6de69c140d/wcframe?name=accessCompanyInfo

Send a letter to that address as these large companies don't like receiving letters from customers at their head office, that is why they have call centers. in your letter if you wish to say something against a representaive of the company use the words "In my opinion" beforehand, offer them the same deal that you offered the call center rep £XX per week/month and incoming calls only until the debt is paid off.
Maybe the rep in the call center didn't have the authority to authorise partial payments

jhp

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

My best suggestion would be to get a Pay as you go mobile for calls - O2 is something like 25ppm for the first 3 minutes then 5ppm thereafter, so you'd need to plan to that to avoid very high charges. On the other hand there's no line rental to pay, so it might even be cheaper if you don't use it that much.

See www.icardmobile.co.uk very reasonable at 2p/min landlines, 6p/min mobiles, and 5p/texts.

BT_company_representative

Hi Wordnerd,

I would like to take a look at your account to see what can be done. Please could you send my in your details using the link http://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact_email/c/4950

Thanks

Paddy,

wordnerd

I have filled in the on line form and hope to hear from you in the very near future.

Thanks for your advice and help. A relative mentioned there's a package called Pay and Go Call but I can't find anything about this.