Can I get my money back from BT?

George_O

Please help!

In June 2010 I called BT to enquire about your services. I spoke to a gentleman who informed be of your product. I then asked him if I agreed to join BT whether or not I would be able to take a one month break in my contract starting at the beginning of Feb 2011 to which he assured me this was fine. I then proceeded with this agreed contract.
On 27th Jan I phoned BT in order to start the break in my contract and to my surprise I was informed that this is something BT did not do.
So I spoke to a manager who said he would listen back over the phone recordings to see if he could find the conversation that took place. He phoned me back later saying he was unable to find it but to my joy said he would cancel my contract imediatly as I had been missold the services.

After a month I returned to the UK and moved straight into a new house. It wasnt until sometime in May when BT phoned me saying I owed them money for services used during february. Obviously at this time I was not in the UK and assumed that my contract had been terminated at the end of January. I then refused to pay the £30 or so £'s they were asking for and attempted to explain the situation to the person in the call centre. It would apear this was falling on def ears as about a month later i had a call from a debt collection agency who were asking for even more money! I explained my situation to them and they said they would refere it back to BT.

I thought this was the end of the matter, until just today I received another phone call from another debt collection agency asking for £284!! So I contacted the financial Ombundsmen who recomeded I pay the Debt collectors to provent my credit rating being damaged and then follow a complaints procedure towards BT with there help.

I am now £284 out of pocket all because BT missold there services and am worried i may not be able to get this money back.

If anyone can help it would be much appreciated

Feels a bit like David and Goliath, I would also stongley recomend avoiding BT to anyone who is considering it, I've been with Sky ever since and have been extremly happy with their service. Please warn your family and friends!

Thanks

George

Mark_In_Hampshire

At a guess, what has happened is:

1. Some over-enthusiastic sales person lied to you, or they, or you, misunderstood the original conversation. No provider I'm aware of offers "breaks" in contracts. No note was made on your account to the effect that you'd get the free month.

2. Some other enthusiastic person said they'd cancel your contract for you, all done verbally, you said OK and nothing was done.

We can skip past what might have occured in (1) above since (2) supercedes it. You need to write to BT (email will do) quoting account number, date and time of the conversation in (2) along with the name of who you spoke to if you recall it, making it clear that you were informed the contract would be cancelled immediately (forget everything prior in number 1 above, just stick to this bit) and therefore your last day of service was dd/mm/yyyy (probably a month after the call, the cancellation might have been effective immediately but there's normally a notice period to work out) so you'd like one bill which is clearly itemised to that date and you're happy to pay that much and no more, if a balance is owing you'll forward payment, etc.

Buzby

There's a terminology issue here, and I can see where the problems arise. You cannot break a contract, it either exists, or it doesn't. If you mean you wanted to suspend your service whilst out of the the country, why not - but this would not mean your costs would be any less, especially if you had a minimum term commitment.

You may be fortunate in that BT may agree a waiver, but if they do so will not be becauser they mis-sold, it's like contributors saying they're 'out of contract' - they're not. All this adds to the haze of confusion and misunderstanding. If BY do not agree to a waiver, then the outstanding charge will need to be paid, or a renegotiation of a contract to replace it.

notbritishgas

As you mention the sum of £30 that could be for taking the broadband off your telephone line.
I would say that the kind person did cease your contract for you without exit charges but failed to tell you that a charge would be made to physically remove the internet from the line.

I may add that this charge is levied by most ISP's when you move or cease internet without using a MAC code.

If I am correct it would have been better for you to pay it, in hindsight of course.