BT Complaints & Escalation

steveE2

korosh wrote: »

bt just charged me cancellation fee £400 is there any way to avoid paying that???
i been with bt for just one month??

Answers wont have changed in the last 6 months
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5393591

JJ_Egan

korosh wrote: »

bt just charged me cancellation fee £400 is there any way to avoid paying that???
i been with bt for just one month??

Presume this is your contract paid off ??

ahja

I'd also say leave when you can. Their customer service is beyond dreadful (in my case BT did not inform my last providers I was moving), every time I rang and explained this, they said they would look at my account and then come back and said there was no problem on my line like some demented parrot on repeat - had some 'full and frank' discussions on the matter with some of their sorry examples of employees, managed to get a VOL number, some more calls, headaches, frustrations and a need to reach through the phone to strangle said employees, but ultimately ended up with them crediting my account with the money I had to pay my old suppliers due to them not informing them. Soon as my contract is up, I am voting with my feet.

Burger

This is a letter to BT that I have just compiled, stating the issues that I have been experiencing with BT. Bear with, this is a long one and it's still on-going....

On the 22nd April my wife and I moved house to a new development. We decided to go with BT for our full services (telephone, broadband and tv) as we found that they provided a really good package and BT would be the company that would be connecting us anyway, so I believed that this would be of an advantage to us in terms of timescale for connection. However, I would like to express my deepest concerns that I have with the level of service that I have received to date and is still on going.

Below is how our new order has panned out thus far:

We placed an order on the 13th April 2016 and after being told that we would be connected on numerous dates, those days flew by without connection to Telephone, TV or Broadband.

We were then told by BT that our lines weren't even in place. This was shortly rejected as untrue, as the lines had been laid months prior to completion.

BT then told us that our developers hadn't contacted the New Build team at Openreach, when in fact he had done it months previously.

BT then confessed to us that Openreach had not laid enough cables to the interim box that leads to the exchange for our property.

We had an engineer visit our property on Thursday 19th May, (totally unannounced I might add, but luckily my wife was in, we didn’t receive any text, call or email alerts telling us that an engineer would be with us) to hook up our lines from our house to the ground cable. But she didn't sign the job off for some reason.

At this point we were told that we should have received our equipment. So I called BT, I was then told that I had the equipment and that it was received and signed for on Friday 13th May. My wife was in all day that day and we didn't receive anything. After some investigation we found out that the courier that BT had used didn't even bother delivering the equipment and just returned it to the sender. Turns out that the signature was by someone at BT’s Northallerton Depot.

So I called up BT yet again. I got through to an Indian call centre who didn't seem to grasp what I was saying and was put hold after being told that I was going to be transferred to the New Orders team. 40 minutes later and nobody picked up, then the call went dead. I called back not once, but twice and exactly the same thing happened both times. I spent hours on the phone just on hold. I eventually got through to yet another Indian call centre who re-ordered the equipment. However, the breakdown in communication soon became apparent when I received a 'used/reconditioned’ hub, with no instructions or ethernet cables and a letter saying that BT are sorry that my equipment doesn't work and that I should return my old equipment. I hadn’t ever received any equipment in the first instance.

The next day I called BT yet again, however, this time I managed to get through to a UK and english speaking representative. This was a very much more pleasurable phone experience as the woman that I spoke to, totally understood what I was saying and was very sympathetic to what we were going through. She ordered us a brand new hub which we received the very next day. Praise must go to Sarah Burton at BTs Stoke-on-Trent centre as she is what all of BTs call representatives should aspire to. She was very helpful and very informative and sympathetic towards our situation.

On Tuesday 24th, yet another Openreach engineer appeared at my property (without prior warning), to sign off the job that the other engineer didn't. He told me that the line had been checked and tested and all that was needed was to connect to the exchange.

By this point I thought we had reached a turning point. I had my new hub and Yourview box and our services would be up and running very soon. I called up myself on the 26th May after not hearing anything about my connection and got through to a UK call centre. The lady on the phone then put me through to BTs "Connection Team", in India. Why do BT have their connection team in India? Surely they wouldn't have a clue as to what is going on in the UK? and why can they not put me through to a UK call centre, or BT's complaints department?

I have now just been told that the lines had not been laid and there was a problem with connection and that I will be updated on the 1st June. This is just unacceptable, I just don't know who is lying and who’s telling the truth. I have an engineer in the UK telling me that the line is fine and has been tested and ready to go, then I have someone in India telling me that there is a problem with the line and that I will have to wait yet another week for an "Update".

I have been GUARANTEED by the apparent line manager of your indian call centre that they will call me back later that day (26th May) with more information as to what has happened.

My wife and I feel like we have been treated appallingly. We don't get any updates as to whats happening and we don't get texts or emails to inform us that engineers will be with us. We feel totally forgotten in this whole process. Everyone on our street, even people who moved in after us, all have broadband and TV.

This whole process has left myself and my wife incredibly distressed. My work depends on me working overtime from home and I cannot do this as I need an internet connection, during this last month of not being able to work from home, I must have lost out on hundreds of pounds in paid overtime, which is very much needed due to our recent house move.

I have submitted two letters of complaint to your website and feel that the problem has not been dealt with at all as we are still waiting for our services.

Later that day (26th May) I received a phone call, as promised, from a woman called Tracey in Customer Connections (01977 5xx xxx2). She was incredibly rude, obnoxious and unhelpful so I asked her if should could put me through to the cancellation department to discuss what my rights are if i was to cancel my order and she went silent, moments later she came back on the line telling me that she has now cancelled my order. That was not what I requested. Well, now, thanks to one of your members of staff I am no longer a BT customer.

All we would have liked is just an honest answer as to what has happened and was happening with our services and having updates telling us that we still won’t be connected every 4 days is simply unacceptable. I think that BT Openreach should make themselves available for customer to contact rather than them having to wait for updates as to what is happening with their connection. I was hoping that you could look in to this matter in further detail and if it could be handled with the upmost importance.

We have now swapped services to Sky as their customer service is second to none. The problem is still on going and we STILL don’t have a broadband connection as BT and OpenReach are incapable of sorting their network issues out, but at least now, me and my family have a decent TV service that we can rely on.

I find it really difficult to comprehend that BT holds a monopoly over every telecommunications company in the UK yet they do not possess the capabilities to cope with the demands of a modern society. Clearly, changes need to be made within BT and Openreach, as customers and potential customers are getting a really poor deal. Government proposals to introduce more homes to more areas of the UK are increasing, and therefore, more cohesion between developers, councils and service providers needs to be implemented, to ensure that the services are available the moment that new home owners take ownership of their homes. Waiting months for their services to be activated is simply not acceptable in this day in age.




I've sent an email to the Chairman, but I presume it's going to be totally ignored and I'm not expecting any resolution from it any time soon.

Burger

Well, I think the letter just might have worked. I received a very apologetic email from BT telling me that they have reveiwed my case and have found multiple failings with the customer service that I have received throughout the process so far.

My case has escalated to the Executive Level Service Team, who do actually seem to be on the ball. I have been assigned a direct point of contact for both BT and Sky, and have even been offered compensation from BT for their failings and inconvenience that has been caused.

I'm still not connected yet, but at least I know now that I have someone that I can contact directly for more information and to push the process on quicker.

I just wanted to share this with you just in case anyone else has had the same problems that I have experienced.

Burger

Just another update to my complaint, and it looks like I've hit a brick wall. Still no internet and now I've been told that my new estimated date for connection is the 29th July, this will make it 4 months without Internet access. So i wrote another snotty email saying that this is not acceptable and that I will be taking my matter to CISAS.

Thanks for your email.

I'm sorry to hear that you are still having issues in getting your services active. The BT network is not owned or operated by BT Consumer. We’re a Communications Provider and have no more influence over, or access to, BT Wholesale (who own the BT Network) or BT Openreach (who maintain the network on BT Wholesale’s behalf). As the order is not for BT services I would be unable to contact them on your behalf in regards to your order with SKY.

This is a prime example of BT passing the blame, yet again. I can't stand how Openreach are monopolising the market. Everyone, the public and service providers are at their mercy. Things need to change:mad::mad::mad:

Integrity

I would like to share our experience with BT. ( I have now contacted my MP, as at wits end)

Our lane has overhead phone lines. A car hit the pole which is still looking fine/ in place. All phone lines on lane are then out....told two days to fix. Lane includes elderly folk on own, persons on chemo and our own I'll family member.

Initially told two...then three....then five days to fix. Now it's a month. BT guy on lane says 1 month as planning permission from council holding it up....planning for what? Poles still intact!!!! Council confirm this isn't accurate.

We have a family member (child) who is on waiting list for urgent medical call-in and need to be able to get calls/ seek help if she collapses/ deteriorates in meantime.
You would think that is a priority.

BT do not consider repairing/ maintaining phone access a priority as " we have a mobile". This is despite mobile only working in small corner of garden due to local reception..

They won't consider a temporary phone line as delay is due to their contractor/ gas lines/permissions from land owner....next it will be leaves on the line. The pole is there...it's on a public road....cables overhead, so unlikely to encounter gas pipes there.

What has finally made me dispair is that after this "you are not a priority feedback".......the village telephone box gets hit by a different car.....two BT vans and a contractor crew come and repair it within days...interesting priorities.

Ofcom usually won't get involved in single complaints but are doing so in this case..and BT still not doing anything....except sending out the troops to repair local telephone box.......BT you should be utterly ashamed. I will never ever buy a product/service from you.

Burger

I really feel for you and your family Integrity. It truly is disgraceful that BT and BT Openreach can monopolise the existing network, yet not be able to maintain it. Instead of buying BT Sport for god knows how many millions, why not invest it into creating more jobs and getting more engineers out there to service their network.

As for the "hands are tied because of the council crap", I received that exact same excuse by an Openreach engineer that I flagged down working on the interim box in our estate. He blamed it on the council and the developers on our estate. It never is BT holding things up is it.

Are y oh a BT customer for your phone?

If so, then try logging a complaint with CISAS. Apparently, they charge BT a minimum of £300 (IIRC) every time a complaint case is logged against a company. They will look in to the matter and if they find any wrong doing by the company then you will receive a payout and the company will be fined. Worth looking in to.

I really hope you get somewhere with them also try writing a letter to tune CEO, that normally escalates the complaint. Good luck

Integrity

Thank you very much. Very kind of you.

It really isn't on telling outright lies to people.

Integrity

Update: if you are reading this BT I suggest you contact me.

Considering we have been told they need
A.planning permission to move poles
B. They need to work with gas company due to gas pipes

A. The pictures we have of poles show they are fine....so not true
And They don't need to dig and avoid gas as cables overhead and poles fine.
B. Council confirm load of nonsense re planning.

It seems going to MP may have worked as they are stringing up new cables.....seems the poles and gas must be fine.

BT please pm me. I am preparing a report for MP with photographs and feedback from council.