Thieving BT b*******s

Justme29

I have recently moved into a flat which I was told by BT had no active phone line so I would have to pay them the princely sum of £130 for an engineer to come round and hook me up so I could use broadband and my home phone.

I was told that the charge would be on my Feb statement and as I pay by direct debit thought that they would take the usual out this month and the over inflated charge thenext, well was I wrong?

I checked my account today and I was overdrawn(transferred some money) and it was because they have taken the amount out this month, even though I was told that "don't worry, it won't be till next month" so at least then I could've put some money away from my wages.

I can barely afford this payment for connection of the phoneline, and all the engineer seemed to do was install a new phone socket(which I asked him to do, as the old one was in an awkward place) and put a few wires outside my door, even he didn't know why they were charging me.

I know I should have queried the charge before agreeing to it, especially since they didn't charge me for my last property, but I needed the internet.

jhp

No help to you alas. But might help others.

Post Office Homephone are offering free connection. Its a BT compatible line so you dont have to have there broadband you should be able to choose an isp of your choice.

http://www.postoffice.co.uk/broadband-phone/home-phone-broadband/home-phone/getting-connected

and also a £50 credit off your bill payable in two stages of £25 each if you sign up before the the 31/3/2012

http://www.postoffice.co.uk/broadband-phone/home-phone-broadband/home-phone

This brings the line rental down to an average of approx £8.09 a month for the first year, including all the various inclusive calls.

Whilst they dont offer cheaper/inclusive peak geographical calls, i understand they still allow 18185 access www.18185.co.uk which means you can get cheaper peak geographical and 0845 calls,and cheaper weekday mobile calls.

macman

£130 is the 'official' minimum call out charge for a BT OR engineer. But if you had taken one of the many offers from BT or their competitors then you would have paid much less.
Why did you go with BT anyway if you knew the charge? They're among the most expensive providers.

Phones4Chris

Justme29 wrote: »

I have recently moved into a flat which I was told by BT had no active phone line so I would have to pay them the princely sum of £130 for an engineer to come round and hook me up so I could use broadband and my home phone.

I was told that the charge would be on my Feb statement and as I pay by direct debit thought that they would take the usual out this month and the over inflated charge thenext, well was I wrong?

I checked my account today and I was overdrawn(transferred some money) and it was because they have taken the amount out this month, even though I was told that "don't worry, it won't be till next month" so at least then I could've put some money away from my wages.

I can barely afford this payment for connection of the phoneline, and all the engineer seemed to do was install a new phone socket(which I asked him to do, as the old one was in an awkward place) and put a few wires outside my door, even he didn't know why they were charging me.

I know I should have queried the charge before agreeing to it, especially since they didn't charge me for my last property, but I needed the internet.

Do you have it in writing/email that the connection charge of £130 would be on the February bill, if so they are in breach of the agreement and you would be within your rights to bounce the DD and demand a refund of any Bank charges.
Whichever, I would still get back to BT and have a damn good go at them and demand a better deal otherwise you'll complain to OFCOM and bounce the DD. As has already been said, there are plenty of deals available from others as well as BT. From another typically £49.99 for a new line, waived if you stay for 12 months and taking broadband, similarly broadband connection charges/router free if you stay for 12 months.
Personally, I think Plusnet have the best deals at the moment (depends on your broadband usage) (and they are owned by BT Retail! although they do operate as a totally separate company with UK customer service.)

macman

Pedant's corner: Plusnet are owned by BT Group, not BT Retail. Both are subsidiaries of BT Group.
And Plusnet retains it's independent management, so is a much better choice.

poppasmurf_bewdley

macman wrote: »

Why did you go with BT anyway if you knew the charge? They're among the most expensive providers.

I would dispute this claim.

Although BT are not my favourite company by any means, I use them for phone and broadband, for which I pay £10pm for phone rental and £5 pm broadband. A broadband service which I have to say is much faster and much more reliable than the service I previously received from Virgin National (ie not cable) despite the fact I now live in a very rural area about four miles from the nearest village.

macman

Those are good rates, but not those paid by most people (i.e. the BT rack rates).
Virgin National is a BT reseller running over the same network, so the service should be no different in terms of speed and reliability.

poppasmurf_bewdley

macman wrote: »

Those are good rates, but not those paid by most people (i.e. the BT rack rates).
Virgin National is a BT reseller running over the same network, so the service should be no different in terms of speed and reliability.

I moved house which is why I changed providers. My previous home (when I was with Virgin) I could see the telephone exchange from the lounge window. I'm now five miles from the exchange. I get a steady 2.5mgb 24/7 speed now compared with one which varied from .1 to 1.5mgb with Virgin National. Maybe the HomeHub3 has something to do with it.

Phones4Chris

Justme29
How much is your broadband costing with them?

brewerdave

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

I would dispute this claim.

Although BT are not my favourite company by any means, I use them for phone and broadband, for which I pay £10pm for phone rental and £5 pm broadband. A broadband service which I have to say is much faster and much more reliable than the service I previously received from Virgin National (ie not cable) despite the fact I now live in a very rural area about four miles from the nearest village.

The BT rental @ £10 I can understand (annual saver?) ....but how the h**l have you managed to get BT broadband for £5 ???????
I need you to negotiate for me !!:rotfl:

poppasmurf_bewdley

brewerdave wrote: »

The BT rental @ £10 I can understand (annual saver?) ....but how the h**l have you managed to get BT broadband for £5 ???????
I need you to negotiate for me !!:rotfl:

Correct about the £10 annual saver. When I moved home in December 2010, BT sent out a letter offering broadband for £5 per month subject to an 18 month contract. That offer has been mentioned by several people on this Forum.