BT Cancelled my girlfriends Direct Debit

grabrail

Hi

Looking for some advice.

My girlfriend recently tried to connect to BT Broadband and it just wouldnt work, just kept being redirected to a BT page saying your service has been suspended.

She called BT and was told that her DD was cancelled 3 months ago due to an admin error on their part.

They sent no corespondance to tell her this and they sent no bills to her. They have now suspended all of her services (Phone, BB, BTVision) and won't reconnect them until the bill is paid. They also won't give her the MAC address to move broadband until the bill is paid.

She asked them if she can pay monthly, as being a single parent this close to Christmas, a 3 month bill is just too much to pay in one go. They agreed she could do this but they still won't enable the service until the bill is fully paid.

She logged on to her account online last night, and there is a new order going through with activation at some point next week, this ties her into another 18 month contract. She never discussed or agreed this with BT at all, so what are they playing at.

I would like it if someone on here from BT can offer some real advice to move forward with this. This is BTs error and she is suffering becuase of it, she has no TV, BB or Phone now until this bill is paid. From my understanding this is a breach in the terms of BTs contract on their side.

How can such a large organisation such as BT be so inept and not give a damn about their customers who pay so much money (well overpriced) for their services only to be treated like an idiot at the end of the day.

She will be cancelling her contract with BT as soon as she can but until this bill is paid in full, it looks like she can't do anything. The people on the phone have been worse than useless.

Is there anything she can do to remedy this situation?

Many thanks.

grabrail

McKneff

She presumably didnt notice the DD not going out and has obviously spent this money that would have gone out. Otherwise it would still be there ready to pay now.

She must take some of the responsibility.

Not much she can do. Apart from possibly borrowing the money from you or family to get things up and running if BT have told her this.

macman

BT cannot 'cancel' a DD on a customer's account. All they can do is stop drawing on it. Only your g/f can cancel the DD, so it should still be active.
She should not be tied into a new contract, and should request some small compensation for the inconvenience.
However she has had in effect 3 months free credit, so if BT have agreed to restore the service based on a monthly payment plus the arrears, that seems reasonable.
How did she not notice the DD not going out?

grabrail

She accepts the fact that she hadn't checked her DD had been taken out but she also didn't expect it not to. The DD was cancelled with no correspondence at all, at the very least I would of expected a letter from them to inform her the DD was cancelled, and I would also expect them to send a bill the following month.

Nothing was sent, and they have admitted it was a clerical error on their part, so what right do they have to cut her off, they screwed up here, not her.

grabrail

macman wrote: »

BT cannot 'cancel' a DD on a customer's account. All they can do is stop drawing on it. Only your g/f can cancel the DD, so it should still be active.

They can cancel the DD, their website states they can in the instance of not being able to collect the monies. This is not the case with her, the money was always there to take.

They have also admitted it was cancelled from their side

They have agreed she can have a payment schedule, but will not re activate the service until she has paid in full what she owes.

Don't get me wrong, she knows she has to pay it, she's not trying to get out of that, but surely BT should be held accountable for their error.

She didn't notice the DD going out, because not everybody checks their bank account on a daily basis. All of her DD's are set up to come out the day after she gets paid, so anything after that is her own money. This is why she hasn't noticed as she assumed that the DD would be taken, and if it wasn't, why no correspondance

macman

No, BT cannot cancel the DD. Only she can, via her bank. They simply failed to draw on it, or lost the details of it from their system.
Not everyone checks their bank account daily, but she doesn't seem to have checked it in 3 months.
BT are clearly at fault here, but she cannot expect a resumption of service without paying something towards the arrears.
Your statement is contradictory-you say that BT have agreed a repayment schedule, but will not reactivate until she has paid in full?

grabrail

macman wrote: »

No, BT cannot cancel the DD. Only she can, via her bank. They simply failed to draw on it, or lost the details of it from their system.
Not everyone checks their bank account daily, but she doesn't seem to have checked it in 3 months.
BT are clearly at fault here, but she cannot expect a resumption of service without paying something towards the arrears.
Your statement is contradictory-you say that BT have agreed a repayment schedule, but will not reactivate until she has paid in full?

This is a direct quote from BT's own customer service website.

"If your bank doesn't let us take your Direct Debit payment we'll try to take the money again five days later. If your bank turns the request down a second time we'll have to cancel your Direct Debit. We'll send you a letter to tell you we've done this"

They have cancelled the DD and said as much on the phone yesterday.

She hasn't checked to see if her DD's are set up and active as she only has access to Mobile Banking Apps, which are rubbish and the one she uses from her bank doesn't allow her to see what DD's are active. She can only see her balance and her statement if she wishes. She has no computer or laptop to access internet banking.

My statement isn't contradictory, from me anyway. They have agreed she can pay her outstanding balance per a schedule, e.g. £25 per month (on top of her ongoing monthly bill) until the balance is paid, however they are unwilling to activate her services until the full balance is paid. This is their words to her on the phone yesterday.

She wants to pay the balance. but at the moment she cannot afford to in one lump sum. BT don't give a damn, they've screwed her over and will not do anything to resolve the issue unless she pays in full.

No communication, no correspondance whatsoever, and no willingness to help her resolve the problem. Just pay us now or you get nothing. This is totally unacceptable and unethical, as a company you should value your customers, they clearly do not.

macman

BT uses the word 'cancel' when they mean something else. If you don't believe me, speak to your bank, they will confirm that the payee cannot cancel a DD-they can only stop drawing on it. Only the account holder can cancel it.
Her lack of access to her bank info online isn't really BT's problem.
Sorry, but your statement is contradictory. If they have suspended the service pending payback of the debt at £25 per month, (so it will take 3 months to pay it off?) then how can the £25 be on top of her ongoing monthly bill? If the service is suspended, there will be no ongoing bill until it is restored.
I would suggest a further request by her to ask them to restore the service now with her paying an additional £25pm on top of her bill for the next 3 months. If that fails, a written complaint by her is the next step (don't phone, don't email) which will set the clock ticking on the 8 weeks deadline.

grabrail

macman wrote: »

BT uses the word 'cancel' when they mean something else. If you don't believe me, speak to your bank, they will confirm that the payee cannot cancel a DD-they can only stop drawing on it. Only the account holder can cancel it.
Her lack of access to her bank info online isn't really BT's problem.
Sorry, but your statement is contradictory. If they have suspended the service pending payback of the debt at £25 per month, (so it will take 3 months to pay it off!) then how can the £25 be on top of her ongoing monthly bill? If the service is suspended, there will be no ongoing bill until it is restored.

Well the bank have confirmed it was cancelled. But refuse to give details of who by. God knows why. And BT have confirmed they cancelled it. All she can go on is what she is told.

Im not suggesting the bank access is BTs problem, just outlining why she doesn't check her bank like you think she should, as you seem to have made it into an issue.

And if anyone is being contradictory it is BT, this is what they have told her. Hopefully, she will have misunderstood that the cost will be on top of her normal bill, she was extremely upset and frustrated at the time. She will be phoning again later, with any luck she will get through to someone with a sense of decency that will help her out, so far she has spoken to 5 different people and not one person seems to give a toss about her predicament. She wants to pay it off, the fact it has not been paid is not her fault, and 2 weeks before Christmas they are demanding their money off her. I know they are legally entitled to, but morally surely this is just plain wrong.

macman

I'm not making it an 'issue'. The error clearly lies with BT. But if she had checked her statements in the last 3 months, then the problem would have been spotted before the debt built up.
Trying to deal with BT's offshore script readers on something like this is fairly hopeless, which is why a written complaint may be the best way forward.
Can she borrow the remaining £50 to clear the debt now? If the service has been suspended, she will be £25pm better off each month that they don't bill it-so she won't be finding any extra.

BT_company_representative

Hi Grabrail,

I would like to take a look at your Girlfriend's account, to see if I can figure out what has gone wrong. Please could you get her to send in her details using the link below?

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact_email/c/4950

Thanks

Paddy