BT - What can I do - Atrocious customer service

cami

My Broadband was lost on 27th October and I called BT the following morning on 08001114567, a call centre on the Sub-continent. I was assured (the words “100% promise” being used frequently) that it would be rectified that morning and they would call me back to check between 1200 and 1300. NEITHER happened. No fix and I had to call them back. After more promises I still had no BB and called back on the 30th, when again someone promised it would be rectified the following morning (“100% promise” was again quoted) and they would call me between 1200 and 1300. Once more, neither happened. The pattern repeated until an engineer finally appeared on 3rd November at 0830 and checked my equipment/connection etc. He told me it would take a couple of hours to re-set and would be okay by lunchtime. Again, wrong. When I called once more and went through the same rigmarole with the call centre “floor manager”, he then told me that it would be fixed on 6th or 7th November. On vociferous complaining from me, he then “100% promise” that it would be fixed today (4th November). So far, nothing has changed.
The most upsetting thing about it all is being blatantly lied to. If they had told me from the beginning that it wasn’t to be fixed immediately, I could have got on with my life instead of taking several days off waiting for calls and fixes which didn’t materialise.
BT’s inefficiency is a disgrace, and their complete lack of probity is unforgivable.

Mark_In_Hampshire

Your expectations haven't been met, and what you were told seems a bit odd.

Someone in a call centre cannot, really and categorically, say when the problem will be fixed. It could be a problem with, say, your login details, which they could indeed solve right away. Or, it could be that water has got into part of the circuit somewhere under a road, meaning it has to be located and repaired. So to give the customer any guarantee at that stage is misleading.

The downtime is about a week so far..? That's not, actually, that unusual for ADSL based broadband without (assumption) an SLA.

I'd guess the job has been submitted to Openreach to be fixed, and it's in a queue.

If there's no SLA then it gets done when it gets done. That doesn't excuse the lack of feedback or broken promises.

That said, BT Broadband aren't noted for their customer service. If broadband is essential to you, and the loss of it causes problems, you could:

1. Get a mobile broadband dongle as a backup, and/or
2. Look at http://www.idnet.net/solutions/business/broadband/ (just one example, not a plug for IDNET - you could also see Zen Internet for instance)

With IDNET: Add the Enhanced Care and the SLA for an extra (2 x £10pm) taking it to 49.50pm for the broadband (then add line rental) and you get an SLA. That enables you to expect a quick fix.

Ultimately the work is still carried out by Openreach, but IDNET have an SLA with them too for your account in this instance, and can shout very much more loudly on your behalf.

But, if the repair involves anything else extensive (say, an HGV has driven into a cabinet) then no amount of shouting will achieve a one day fix. But, they should be much better at keeping you updated.

lizzywig

I think the worst thing is when these companies fob you off and repeatedly tell you that something will be fixed within x time and then it doesn't happen. That is why you are so frustrated. I think if you're anything like me you'd be more understanding if they told you from the offset what the actual problem was and what the likely outcome would be.

BT_company_representative

Hi cami,

I'd like to look into this for you. If you want, you can contact me by using our "Contact us" page, which you can find on my profile page (click on my username to get it).

On receipt of your details, we'll get back to you as quickly as possible.

Thanks,

Stephanie

cami

Thank Stephanie but I can not find your profile link or contact us

isplumm

cami wrote: »

Thank Stephanie but I can not find your profile link or contact us

click on the the name - a drop down box will appear .... click on the public profile.

But to save you the trouble here is the link

Contact us at: http://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact_email/c/4950
Mark

cami

Thank you isplumm

scargman

This has mirrored my experience. I am now in week four of a fault investigation and am switiching to Virgin.

pigeonpie

Are BT equally awful when it comes to their Infinity customers?

I am thinking of switching from my (v good) ISP but am very worried about BT, having had a really stressful experience with 151 when the master socket developed a fault. They were a nightmare, both their UK and Indian tech support and one of the engineers who visited were a completely bad joke.

PC.

I'm very pleased with Infinity. My before and after Infinity speed results.-
community.bt.com/t5/The-Lounge/Whats-making-you-happy-right-now/m-p/237717#M3425

If your interested you'll see the good and the bad on the Infinity forum.-

community.bt.com/t5/BT-Infinity/bd-p/BTInfinity

Note people use the forum to seek help for problems... not necessarily to say how good things are going.

BT FTTC speed increase announcement www .btplc.com/news/articles/showarticle.cfm?articleid={7e309437-6929-442f-8f25-cdd388518c64}

I'm still classed as a new user so can't post Links!!!! daft forum.

Please add http:// if required, and remove the space after the last www

PC

pigeonpie

I'm sure that if it works fine, it's fast and you're happy. However I have had experience with BT not unlike the OPs and dealing with them when things aren't going right is hugely time consuming and stressful. Which is why quite a few people pay extra and go with other ISPs.
I have no idea if being an Infinity customer gets you better CS and tech support than ordinary BT BB, but I imagine it's the same darlings on the end of the phone.
good luck cami