BT Salesperson Ordered New Phone Line in my Name!

victor2

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

Today, I received a final bill from BT for this fraudulent accout - a total of £6, for delivery of the Home Hub 3 (that I did not order)

But BT Security say it's not fraudulent, so you must have ordered it. :rotfl:

Paul_Varjak

victor2 wrote: »

But BT Security say it's not fraudulent, so you must have ordered it. :rotfl:

BT Security will not investigate this as a fraud until I provide a Police Crime Reference number. But the Police claim, under the Fraud Act 2006, it is up to BT to investigate the fraud before they can provide any crime reference number!

A wonderful way for fraudulent activity to be swept under the carpet!

Paul_Varjak

Dear Mr. xxxxxxx

I am writing in response to your recent complaint regarding your claim of fraud aganst you and a Breach of Data Protection.

Firstly, let me take this opportunity to apologise for any misunderstanding that has occurred in this matter. I have investigated this matter thoroughly, and I can advise that at no point has the Data Protection been breached. I understand that you are upset that your order number was visible on the packaging for the BT Hub 3, but this is not a breach. This information is put onto the packaging in case the product is returned to us, to avoid the courier having to open it.

You have also mentioned that you feel a member of our offshore team have fraudulently set up an account in your name. I have spoken to BT Security, and they have confirmed that there is not evidence that any fraudulent activity has taken place, therfore, no further action will be taken regarding this.

I am sorry if this is not the response you were looking for; however, I trust this information has clarified BT's position in this matter. Should you wish to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact me on 0121 232 7156, Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm.


Yours sincerely


Ms Joanne Edwards
Customer Service Manager

Paul_Varjak

I have been trying to contact Ms Joanne Edwards on her phone for several days - calling several time a day. She never answers! I have left messages - but the calls are never returned! This is in spite of the fact that her letter says I should not hesitate to contact her on 0121 232 7156.

I decided to try another number - 0121 232 7157 and was connected to Janet Hewitt. Ms Hewitt said Joanne Edwards cannot deal with my complaint. I asked Ms Hewitt whether Joanne Edwards is a level 1 or a level 2 manager.

It transpires that Joanne Edwards is not a manager at all, but that is how she describes herself in her letter! If Joanne Edwards is prepared to lie about her own BT status, how I can I expect her letter to contain any statements of truth at all?

Heinz

BBC Watchdog or BT CEO next Paul?

victor2

Wouldn't mind betting they all answer letters as "manager" so that customers think they've got someone more senior looking at the problem.
Still there's no point having a voicemail system if they don't respond to messages. They'll probably have an excuse, but assuming you left a suitable message, you'd think they'd follow it up - they are BT after all!
As Heinz suggests, escalate it to someone who is more likely to get a reaction.

Paul_Varjak

Calls to 0800 800 150 do not appear on my Talktalk bill, but Talktalk have now confirmed that I did call 0800 800 150 on 24 December (the date this fraudulent order was raised). I am applying (under Data Protection Act) to get a copy of that recording.

I cannot remember why I called them on 24 December - it may have been due to a problem with my aunt's phone line as I had just called my aunt a few minutes before I called BT.

BT have confirmed that I did call them on 24 December from my home number - they told me the exact time of the call (to the second) and its duration! I even recorded the call of them saying this and the name of the person who told me!

My call to BT on 24 December was about 2 hours before the fraudulent order was placed. I now know the name of the person I spoke to on that day - it is NOT the same person who placed the fraudulent order!

The person who placed the fraudulent order is one of the backroom staff - he is the one that bypassed the credit check, even though he, supposedly, does not have that authority!

I now believe that at least three people are involved in this fraud, but I think it could actually be much bigger - extending across multiple call centres in India (including non-BT call centres too). I need to do a bit more investigating before saying any more on this though.

What the personnel at BT do not realise is that in 1995 I uncovered Yellow Pages biggest ever fraud! I was just a Yellow Pages customer but I spent one year investigating and then drove to BT Security HQ in Milton Keynes, demanding to speak to an investigator. The investigator took my complaint seriously and one guy got send to prison as a result!

If necessary, I will drive to Milton Keynes again (if BT security are still there).

Paul_Varjak

I mentioned earlier that even if you withhold your number when calling 0800 800 150, the BT advisor answering your call can see you phone number! If the number you are calling from is a BT number, the advisor can immediately see your account details!

My number is with Talktalk, but when I call Talktalk they can also see details of my name, address and former account number. They can then go into that former account and get other details about me! I suspect that is how they managed to bypass any credit check!

I can tell you that someone I spoke to at the Information Commissioners Office believes there are very serious breaches of the Data Protection principles being committed by BT in my case - certainly breaches of principle one and seven!

Ofcom has some guidance on displaying phone numbers when the caller requests 'withheld' status; BT are certainly breaching those guidelines in this case and those guidelines will be a very persuasive argument in the eyes of the Information Commissioner in considering any breach of the Data Protection Act.

As soon as I get that recording of the call I made to BT on 24 December, I will initiate a formal complaint to the Information Commissioner.

Paul_Varjak

victor2 wrote: »

Wouldn't mind betting they all answer letters as "manager" so that customers think they've got someone more senior looking at the problem.

I decided to call a number 0121 232 7157 (one digit different to Joanne Edwards number) - it was a colleague of Joanne Edwards who claimed that when Joanne Edwards signed the letter as being a CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER it indicated that Joanne Edwards was replying on behalf of a manager!

victor2 wrote: »

Still there's no point having a voicemail system if they don't respond to messages. They'll probably have an excuse, but assuming you left a suitable message, you'd think they'd follow it up - they are BT after all!

BT have an email complaints system too - they do not reply to that either!

victor2 wrote: »

As Heinz suggests, escalate it to someone who is more likely to get a reaction.

My complaint is now with 'Paddy' from BT CARE - who run the BT forum. Paddy was the only person who could get a problem resolved with my aunt's phone lines that rang every night around midnight because BT were making test calls - the calls lasted 12 weeks and went on for 10 weeks after the complaint was first raised!!

Paul_Varjak

Heinz wrote: »

BBC Watchdog or BT CEO next Paul?

I sent an e-mail and a letter to the Company Secretary but got no reply! Any attempt to escalate a complaint in BT meets with utter failure!

'Paddy', who is now dealing with my complaint, is and 'advisor', certainly not a manger, but he does seem to have a knack of escalating the complaint but still taking personal responsibility as well. He handled a problem for my aunt very well, but I am not so sure he can handle Data Protection issues.