BT - Engineer call out charge - why?

Idiophreak

duchy wrote: »

Complaints go to OFCOM if you hit a wall with BT but I agree with the previous advice.

OFCOM are very reluctant to get involved in simple disputes - they insist that you deal with the "alternate dispute resolution" service or something...of course the system falls down in that you can only get the ADR details by asking BT for them - who just refuse to provide them.

joyfull

Thanks for all the replies.

Apologies for drama queen behaviour.

Just called BT again, spoke to the dept. that deals with this. Apparently because I hadn't continued to report the fault (ie it was not fixed) the engineer had concluded I needed to be charged. ???? I then asked if I had reported it a few more times and the engineer had not found a fault, would I still have been charged? Answer 'maybe'. WHAT???

The girl then said the charge stands as I would have been warned that if engineer found no fault, I could be charged. (I have no memory of that) She said she would then listen again to original call whereby I was warned the charge could be levied if no fault was found. Well..... she could only find part of the call & could not prove I was warned. And, for that reason only, she would cancel the charge.

'Fraid I then burst into tears...(Stress and utter relief).. But, also asked her how on earth could I ever risk calling out an engineer for a intermittent fault without risking a £130 charge.

She had no answer.

BT utterly you disgust me.

spike7451

Idiophreak wrote: »

I might be wrong, but I think the issue is that the OP wasn't able to demonstrate the issue AT ALL when the engineer came - as it's an intermittent issue that wasn't occurring at the time (as these things never do, of course).

I wish the OP all the luck in the world, but my own experience of BT shows that complaining's much like pushing on water - they just don't care. I tried the "official complaint" tactic that UGRW suggested - and they just refused to tell me how to complain. Simples. :mad:

I've been to literally loads of faults where when I've arrived,the's been no fault evident,in this case,you give the customer the benefit of the doubt.

joyfull wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies.

Apologies for drama queen behaviour.

Just called BT again, spoke to the dept. that deals with this. Apparently because I hadn't continued to report the fault (ie it was not fixed) the engineer had concluded I needed to be charged. ???? I then asked if I had reported it a few more times and the engineer had not found a fault, would I still have been charged? Answer 'maybe'. WHAT???

The girl then said the charge stands as I would have been warned that if engineer found no fault, I could be charged. (I have no memory of that) She said she would then listen again to original call whereby I was warned the charge could be levied if no fault was found. Well..... she could only find part of the call & could not prove I was warned. And, for that reason only, she would cancel the charge.

'Fraid I then burst into tears...(Stress and utter relief).. But, also asked her how on earth could I ever risk calling out an engineer for a intermittent fault without risking a £130 charge.

She had no answer.

BT utterly you disgust me.

Sorry to hear that,I'd use their own argument against them.

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.

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

When the girl went to listen to your call how long was she gone?..because I've worked in call centers doing Tech Support & it's very difficult to just go & listen to a particular call.It's also impossible to just have part of the call due to how the dialler record software works,IMHO,she's pulling your chain.It mormally misses the first & last few seconds of each call.
Also as you were not told to disconnect the existing extensions as I mentioned above,you were given misleading advice & as to them saying in reply to;

I then asked if I had reported it a few more times and the engineer had not found a fault, would I still have been charged? Answer 'maybe'.

How many times should you report it before they send an engineer out?...
Have a look at the link below & in the front of your phone book where the's a fault guide,in both cases,it does not say you need to report the faults many times...

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/13567/session/L2F2LzEvdGltZS8xMzE2NDM0NTY3L3NpZC9NVlF5UHRFaw%3D%3D

joyfull

Thanks Spike,

The girl was a couple of minutes, maybe three when supposedly listening to the call. Funnily enough, I've just spoken to a friend who also disputed an £130 engineer charge , and surprise surprise, they also disappeared to 'listen to original call' and found only a part of it. Mmmmmmm.... they eventually got reimbursed when complaint got taken to BT chairman (I think).

I can't imagine I'll ever call an engineer out again. As you say, nothing in the fault guide about needing to keep on reporting the fault. Who wants the stress & hassle, and has the time, to keep phoning BT anyway?

I'm off to weed my garden, get some fresh air & get BT out of my system.

sicker

Just a thought. Is it wet or raining when the line is crackly? Could be an 'earthing' fault at an external junction so check the weather when the line is noisy. If i'ts wet tell the person you report the fault to that it only happens in wet conditions and it does not rain inside your house.

spike7451

joyfull wrote: »

Thanks Spike,

The girl was a couple of minutes, maybe three when supposedly listening to the call. Funnily enough, I've just spoken to a friend who also disputed an £130 engineer charge , and surprise surprise, they also disappeared to 'listen to original call' and found only a part of it. Mmmmmmm.... they eventually got reimbursed when complaint got taken to BT chairman (I think).

I can't imagine I'll ever call an engineer out again. As you say, nothing in the fault guide about needing to keep on reporting the fault. Who wants the stress & hassle, and has the time, to keep phoning BT anyway?

I'm off to weed my garden, get some fresh air & get BT out of my system.

I had a fault on my line,called BT & the bloke on the phone started on his spiel,so I cut him off & told him what I did for a living,a service tech for NTL & I fixed phone faults on a daily basis.
BT denied the was a fault on my line but sent an engineer,who didn't even have a linesmans butt phone so he used mine.He also said the was no fault so off he trundlled...Thankfully no charge but when I went to get BT broadband,they magically found a fault on my line.....:eek:

joyfull

BT Company Representative

I'd be interested to hear the BT Company Representative's views on the issues raised in this thread.

ie. if an engineer is called out for an intermittent fault that does not show up during his/her visit, and no fault is found on the customer's equipment, is it BT policy to automatically charge £130?

If so, where can this information be found?

Thanking you in anticipation.

BT_company_representative

Hi Joyfull,

No straightforward answer to this. If the fault is reported to us as an intermittent problem then the engineer will be sent to find whats causing the problem and will take into the consideration the nature of the fault.

If the Openreach engineer then applies a charge based on the outcome of the investigation and possible charges have been agreed to before sending, then the charges will stand. However each case will be judged on its individual circumstances.

Thx

Craig

spike7451

BT_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Joyfull,

No straightforward answer to this. If the fault is reported to us as an intermittent problem then the engineer will be sent to find whats causing the problem and will take into the consideration the nature of the fault.

If the Openreach engineer then applies a charge based on the outcome of the investigation and possible charges have been agreed to before sending, then the charges will stand. However each case will be judged on its individual circumstances.

Thx

Craig

Ahh..the party line.I suggest you read the link to BT's OWN Q&A...

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

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.

The OP was given inaccurate advice when she reported the fault & NOT told to connect to the test socket,thereby leaving any possible faulty extensions connected.

TWO people,including the engineer told the customer she would NOT be charged for the call out...As BT Openreach are separate from BT Wholesale & BT Retail,Once again BT try to bypass their own rules & pass on a charge made by Openreach to Wholesale/Retail to the customer.
I've seen this many many times in my working life,A leopard won't change it's spot,then again neither will BT!
One of the reasons I'll never be a BT customer again.

OP,Sorry for the rant.

joyfull

BT_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Joyfull,

No straightforward answer to this. If the fault is reported to us as an intermittent problem then the engineer will be sent to find whats causing the problem and will take into the consideration the nature of the fault.

If the Openreach engineer then applies a charge based on the outcome of the investigation and possible charges have been agreed to before sending, then the charges will stand. However each case will be judged on its individual circumstances.'e

Thx

Craig

Craig, thanks for replying.

Quite extraordinary!

Simply cannot get my head around this.

• Intermittent crackle
• No crackle heard by engineer
• customer equipment not at fault
• £130 bill
• intermittent crackle still there

What was to unique to my situation which meant the engineer 'judged that I should be charged £130 for my individual circumstances?

Maybe he thought I was having a bored moment, phoned up for a bit of bt engineer entertainment, therefore wasting his time, & should be charged for it. BTW his visit was all very friendly and amicable.

Can you suggest what I could have done differently to not be charged?

I'm not being 'difficult' here but genuinely trying to understand what 'I did wrong' in BT's eyes.