BT Complaints & Escalation

yorkshireclimber

3 months on from originally reporting a fault with my phone line and I'm seemingly no closer to getting it resolved.

I filled out the BT external forum contact link following my earlier post, and have since had (I think) 4 engineers scheduled. One of which was brilliant, working far beyond his normal finishing time, and seemed to get to the root of the problem - an Infinity line card - which he said would need to be replaced if the same problem occurred again. The following day the noise on the line returned so I got back in touch and another engineer was scheduled. When he turned up he knew nothing about the fault history and just wanted to test the line, again (I refused as I keep having to take time off work for this).

2 days later I had an e-mail from BT saying they thought the fault was fixed (obviously it wasn't). I've since replied twice to confirm it's still faulty but I've had no contact from BT in the last week.

I've run out of words to describe how bad the support from BT has been. No ownership of the problem, poor internal communication, they don't provide a phone number for you to call them. Need I go on? On top of all this I still haven't received my £40 Next voucher!

The only positive I can take from this so far is that I have been told I'll be getting compensation.

So as I don't seem to be getting a response to my e-mails any more, could a BT rep on here PLEASE get in touch! My incident reference is 140406-007529.

OhSoSickOfit

Hello,
I used to work for BT so I know what they can be like and they can't fob me off.

There were no shiny modern headsets and computers where I worked. It felt about as unlike the adverts for BT as it could get as you sat there with your faltering, filthy headset and metal encased computers from who knows when, watching the pest control agents spray chemicals around your feet to control the fleas. Not nice.

PUT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE IN WRITING AND REQUEST THEY REPLY IN WRITING for many reasons - not least that research suggests that humans try harder to tell the truth the more they feel they can be held to account. Humans lie more on the phone than in an email, more in an email than in a letter etc.. If you have something in writing it can't be denied and those writing it know it.

Send all your letters recorded post if you can afford it. Special delivery will guarantee next working day delivery and is tracked and has to be signed for but is quite expensive. However, if BT's losing you hundreds the cost is comparatively low. Also you can try to bill them for the postage and any other costs you've incurred if they admit that the whole process is due to a fault on their side. It might not get you far or it might but no harm trying.

I believe that most complaints systems are designed to keep you waiting and discouraged. It would be a lot quicker to get through to a person if they cared and wanted you to be happy. At a certain size and using constrictive contracts a company "can afford" to give poorer service. If you spend much time queuing to speak to customer services due the "unusually high call volume" what does that tell you? - they aren't employing enough people to answer the complaints and they have too many complaints.

Try the BT complaints procedure but don't expect much. You can do it in order that you have the right to complain to Offcom (who will most likely tell you to follow it if you haven't). You can specify a reasonable time frame for reply (usually one or two weeks). Consumer advice lines will usually be happy to walk you through the legal wording for any complaint. Get that right and BT will know you're not a numpty to be fobbed off quite so quickly.

Consumer Direct can be called on 08454 04 05 06.

KEEP A COPY OF ALL YOUR CORRESPONDANCE TO AND FROM BT and NOTE ALL details you can when you call BT to complain ie. times, dates, staff names, what they said etc. and keep that until all complaints are dealt with to your satisfaction and then some.

Tell BT you will require a copy of the call or a transcript when you make the call and at the start of it because they may be more careful to sort out you complaint correctly in the first place.

It's sad to say but really the quickest way to get anything done with a lot of companies is to look up the details of the directors using Companies House. You can complain straight to the directors then and that often speeds up the process by totally bypassing the exhausting hierarchy of staff blocking your progress.

I had a friend who worked as a buyer for a leading supermarket. He was called one day by a director who was angry that he'd pulled a product off the shelves. Apparently one customer had bypassed the complaints department and it's procedures by complaining direct to the director that this product was no longer available. Bizarrely the director ordered my friend to start stocking it again. You see it really can work to go straight to the top.

Using Companies House to get all the directors details will cost you a few pounds but that can often be worth it to save you time (which is often money), stress and the furious frustration that appears to be built into the whole process to make you give up complaining and keep paying.

The contact details for Companies House are:-

By Post

Main Office
Companies House
Crown Way
Cardiff CF14 3UZ

DX 33050

Edinburgh
Companies House
4th Floor Edinburgh Quay 2
139 Fountainbridge
Edinburgh EH3 9FF

LP - 4 Edinburgh 2 (Legal Post) or
DX ED235 Edinburgh 1

London
Companies House
4 Abbey Orchard Street
Westminster
London
SW1P 2HT

London Information Centre

Northern Ireland
Companies House
Second Floor
The Linenhall
32-38 Linenhall Street
Belfast
Northern Ireland BT2 8BG
or
DX 481 N.R. Belfast 1
NO EXTERNAL MAILBOX FOR OUT OF HOURS DELIVERY IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Companies House Contact Centre

Our principal route for all general enquiries is our Contact Centre. Our staff have extensive experience of Companies House products, services and operations. They will usually provide you with an immediate answer to your query, or they will transfer you to someone who can help. We are contactable by:

Telephone

If you are calling from the UK:
Companies House 0303 1234 500 (national call rate).

Telephone

If you are calling from outside the UK:
Companies House +44 303 1234 500 (national call rate).

Lines are open 08:30 - 18:00 UK time Monday to Friday, except national holidays.
Please note that calls to the Contact Centre will be recorded for training and quality assurance purposes. Other calls made directly to Companies House may also be recorded for the same purposes. These recordings will be erased 18 months from the date of the call unless there is a business need to retain them. Any such calls will not be retained any longer than is necessary.

E-mail
enquiries@companies-house.gov.uk

Minicom

This facility is available to customers who have access to a minicom machine for the hearing impaired and is not compatible with standard telephones.

Minicom No. 029 2038 1245.

Customer Services


By Post

Main Office
Companies House
Crown Way
Cardiff CF14 3UZ

DX 33050

Edinburgh
Companies House
4th Floor Edinburgh Quay 2
139 Fountainbridge
Edinburgh EH3 9FF

LP - 4 Edinburgh 2 (Legal Post) or
DX ED235 Edinburgh 1

London
Companies House
4 Abbey Orchard Street
Westminster
London
SW1P 2HT

London Information Centre

Northern Ireland
Companies House
Second Floor
The Linenhall
32-38 Linenhall Street
Belfast
Northern Ireland BT2 8BG
or
DX 481 N.R. Belfast 1
NO EXTERNAL MAILBOX FOR OUT OF HOURS DELIVERY IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Companies House Contact Centre

Our principal route for all general enquiries is our Contact Centre. Our staff have extensive experience of Companies House products, services and operations. They will usually provide you with an immediate answer to your query, or they will transfer you to someone who can help. We are contactable by:

Telephone

If you are calling from the UK:
Companies House 0303 1234 500 (national call rate).

Telephone

If you are calling from outside the UK:
Companies House +44 303 1234 500 (national call rate).

Lines are open 08:30 - 18:00 UK time Monday to Friday, except national holidays.
Please note that calls to the Contact Centre will be recorded for training and quality assurance purposes. Other calls made directly to Companies House may also be recorded for the same purposes. These recordings will be erased 18 months from the date of the call unless there is a business need to retain them. Any such calls will not be retained any longer than is necessary.

E-mail
enquiries@companies-house.gov.uk

Minicom

This facility is available to customers who have access to a minicom machine for the hearing impaired and is not compatible with standard telephones.

Minicom No. 029 2038 1245.


Good luck with it all,

arkonite_babe

has anyone got a direct number for a UK contact as i keep getting indian outsource call centre

pooch

arkonite_babe wrote: »

has anyone got a direct number for a UK contact as i keep getting indian outsource call centre

0800 800 150

Pot luck who you get.
In 3 recent calls I made, first was Indian call centre, second seemed to transfer to UK when it was answered, and third was answered immediately by UK operator.

As you are not paying, just keep dialling until you get a UK call handler

tommygers

after being with BT for 6 months and paying my monthly bill on time every month they have now switched me to a quarterly bill without any discussion with me, so they are now looking for 3 months payments up front even though i have explained that i am currently receiving benefits and cant make quarterly payments, i suffer from heart problems and they have suspended all of my services until i make the payment they are looking for, i have explained that the bill will be paid by august yet this isnt good enough, cant even get to talk to somebody in a call centre in this country spoke to a pakistani woman who could hardly understand me or me her, on top of this they a adding charges to my account for late payment of a bill that ive told them i cant afford please can someone help me or give me advice on what to do

jao1986

Hello all, first time poster - just wanted to share my incredulity and anger at the situation I'm in with my house move order with BT.

Have been a customer for 5 years and never had an issue - in fact both previous moves I've had have been totally painless and fixed in a matter of minutes on the dates promised.

My latest move however, has been a battle at every step of the way. I placed my initial notice of moving on 26th May and was told that, even though I was moving in on the 2nd June, the closest engineer appointment was 23rd June. Also, I would have to downgrade from my Infinity account to regular broadband with a slightly below average speed. Not a great start, but I resigned myself to a few weeks without the internet as long as it was all sorted and worked.

On the 23rd, the engineer arrived, took a brief (and I mean brief, in a sort of "oh dear guv" way) glance at the property and told me that he was not able to install a line as there was no clear point of access. Our flat is the top floor of a 3 storey house, but has a flat roof directly next to our spare bedroom, a point that I could access myself with a ladder if required. The ladder was beyond the engineer though, he insisted he would have to get a survey team round to look at the property - he assured me that it would be done later that day, and then he could return and finish the install.

This, of course, did not materialise - neither did a phone call or any communication from BT or Openreach letting me know what was going on. After 24 hours I decided to contact them, at which point they told me it took 5 days for a request of this type to go through. Slightly annoyed that I had been lied to by the engineer, I accepted this and let them know that I would be away from the 26th June - 1st July. They assured me this wasn't a problem and that the outside engineer would be able to complete his end of the work, and that they would call me on the 2nd of July to discuss further action.

Surprise surprise, 2nd July came and no phone call. I spent several frustrating calls on the line with an Indian call centre who seemed to neither particularly care about or even know what was going on, but they eventually told me that the engineer had carried out outside work and they would schedule another appointment for the interior install to be completed. This was scheduled for Tuesday 8th July - the earliest they could make it, apparently. I took yet another day off work and waited for the engineer to arrive in his 1pm - 6pm slot. Yet again, he didn't arrive. Quite annoyed, I called through and spoke to another BT operative who told me that the engineer was running late and would be with me by 6.30pm.

6.30pm came and went and I rang back, understandably angry, to find out what was going on. I got put through to another Indian call centre, who informed me that the engineers notes stated he had rung my doorbell and knocked on my door and received no answer. This was a complete lie - I did not leave the flat, or living room, all day - I had also left a mobile contact number for the engineer to ring in case of any issues and had not been contacted via that method either. To top it off, they had also stated that the outside work had NOT been completed as stated to the contrary before, and that they could not access it and would need to send another Openreach survey team!

By this point I was getting irate, but finally managed to speak to someone called Anthony in the Accrington (UK) branch who was very accommodating and understanding and promised me that it would be completed on the 10th July (today) by a "multi-skilled" engineer who could do both any remaining outside work and the interior installation.

After this call, I was then phoned by a manager, Stephanie (I can't remember what department this was) who was also very kind and mentioned compensation (although they call it "account credit" so as not to lead customers to believe it's a substantial amount, as in her words "it isn't"). She informed me that I had an appointment to complete the work scheduled for the 17th (!!!) of July but that she had brought that forward to the 11th for me. I was slightly confused by this, as had already been told it would be completed on the 10th.

She advised I take both days off work - not a problem for a self employed guy like myself, the only minor downside being that I would now have lost 5 days of profit from my business - if i'm not working, i'm not making any money. This is not to mention my loss of earnings from not being able to use the internet at home, the money i had spent on calls to BT, the extra data I had to buy on my mobile contract, the extra travel costs to use wifi from friend's offices etc.

I took another day off work today (10th July), preparing for the worst and - would you believe it - no engineer, no outside work done either. Not to worry though, as I have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow morning 11th July who will definitely arrive and sort the problem out.

Yeah right, pull the other one.

I am fully expecting an engineer to either not arrive, or arrive and to tell me that outside works needs to be done and it will have to be rescheduled again!

Whenever I have mentioned cancelling my contract at any point throughout the whole process, I have ostensibly been lied to by various different members of staff to ensure that I don't terminate my service with them. Conflicting information and a total breakdown of communication has led to a clusterf*ck of the sort of proportions that I honestly don't think I've ever experienced from any other company in my life - I am also enraged by how little BT obviously value my custom, my personal time, and my livelihood.

I am now approaching 7 weeks without internet - oh and I forgot to mention, they have also billed me for the whole of June - you know, that month where I didn't have a phoneline.

You couldn't make it up.

skippyste

I cannot even begin to talk about the stress I encountered with the BT complaints procedure.

Every single person I dealt with was universally useless. Broken promises. Nine months of complaints. SEVEN engineers visiting my house (all friendly but each saying a different thing).

My problem was never resolved. I left BT. I shouted at them, I was friendly, I complained to Ofcom, I e-mailed, I called, I live chatted, I had reference numbers, I spent a total of four hours on the phone to them.

They don't care. Simple as. Leave them. Take your custom elsewhere.

I think I got more stressed typing this!

slightlywary

Nothing helpful to add here other than I now sympathise entirely with everyone on here. Many calls in the last week and a complaints process that is just designed to grind you down. Impossible to keep your blood pressure down when dealing with them. In my case, they made a promise on a call. I took notes, but if course I have to pay to get the transcript that backs up my notes - they clearly claim it doesn't. Currently wavering between just walking away because life's too short or taking it to task. Either way I lose, as they don't care about finding resolutions for a single customer. I'll be leaving their broadband behind the moment the contract ends - although not daft enough to believe that any of the others will be any better.

scouseman

During the period 24/09/2009 & 13/06/2013 I had my basic telephone service with BT. During this period I encountered several problems with bills going missing, problems with the actual bills and problems setting up a direct debits on the account, I was billed quarterly. I did complain several times when the account was open but in the end felt as though I had no option but to close my account and move to an alternative provider. At the time of the complaints I was assured that the late payments because of the problems I had, would not show up on my credit file.

Recently I accessed a copy of my Equifax credit file to check its status only to find my credit report has been messed up because of these accounting problems.

Anyone any ideas who I need to contact to have this resolved?

Cheers
scouseman

ragsandme

I changed from BT to PlusNet but couldn't stop BT sending me bills after the change. It went on for months, kept sending me an overdue payment bill and had the cheek to add £2 for having cancelled the direct debit. Finally I gathered all the notes I had made of phone calls, names of people I had spoken to, dates and time and proof of date when BT service ceased and PlusNet began. 20 pages in all sent to BT by special delivery at a cost of £4. Checked with Royal mail and confirmed that package had been received and signed for at BT. So I sat back and waited---- nothing after a month. I found an email address for a BT chairman, emailed him outlining my problems and hey presto someone emailed me on his behalf, she then phoned me and after a few emails and a mistake on her part by thinking I had an over due bill finally everything was sorted out and I received cheque for money I had overpaid.
This is the chairman I emailed if you want to try it:
[Removed by Forum Team]


He is Lord Michael Rake, chairman of BT Group.


The person he put me in contact with was based in Co. Fermanagh:
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Phone no. 01977 593224. Don't know if either of these will work now but definitely try Michael Rake. Got to be better than those useless call centres. One more thing, if non of the above work try this other email address I found
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Good luck!