BT problems, help!

screwedagain

Hi All,

Hope someone can help out, sorry in advance for the long winded post, I've tried to keep it as concise as possible.

A relative changed her current account over to a new bank (let's call them Bank in December 2012. Their old current account (which was held with Bank A) was closed.

When the account was opened with Bank B, they collected all the existing direct debit details from Bank A and moved these across to the new account. This all took place successfully but with the exception of BT.

BT proceeded to continue to try and take subsequent bill payments from Bank A which obviously didn't work. In a nutshell, the issue hasn't really been dealt with or looked at (for reasons I am not going into here) until recently, and BT is now owed 4 months worth of bills, and has passed these on to a debt collection agency.

In the short term we will probably try and convince our relative to settle with the debt collection agency, to stop them sending the boys round, and then take the time to find out what caused the problem to start with, and chase some sort of compensation from the guilty party.

I looked into the background/paperwork held by my relative and can summarise as follows:

• Bank B issued a letter to my relative listing all of the direct debits that they were going to move from the old bank account. This list included the DD for BT.
• My relative has copies of two letters that she sent (one in February, one in May) to BT after she was notified by them on various occasions that they were not receiving DD payment. These letters confirmed the details of the new bank account, however they were handwritten and I have no proof of where exactly they were sent or if they were ever received by the right person/department.
• The total outstanding bill is just over £200.00, however about a quarter of this is due to various charges levied by BT for late payment/non DD payment, together with a fee for the debt collection agency. There is no issue with paying the outstanding bills, however the extra charges we see as being up for debate. We have written to BT via email outlining our case and they have washed their hands of it. Firstly due to their contract with my relative now being expired, with the debt having been passed to a debt collection agency, and secondly as they see the failure of the initial direct debit change as Bank B's fault, not theirs.

Clearly someone (either Bank A, Bank B or BT, or some combination) made a mess of the initial DD transfer. I would have thought BT, however they are pointing the finger at Bank B. It is worth noting that when we log on to the online banking for Bank B, BT's DD is shown on the list of DD's for the account, however no payment has been taken from it since the account was opened.

My questions:

1. Whose fault do you think this is?

2. Will it be possible to rectify the 'stain' on my relative's credit rating, and if so who can do this for them? Is paying the debt collection agency an admission of 'guilt' that will make such a correction difficult/impossible?

3. Is a subject access request from ourselves to BT likely to show correspondence from Bank B to BT confirming change of bank account details?

The argument is over a relatively small amount of money, but there is still an injustice, where some office drone is getting away without doing their job properly. BT's complete disdain and lack of customer service so far on the telephone and email responses has been frankly shocking, and I am determined to hold someone to account; I have yet to be convinced that the fault is not theirs.

Any help or details of similar experiences most welcome!

Thanks,
SA

Buzby

(1) irrelevant, as the account holder is responsible in law to pay, irrespective of DD mandate glitches.

(2) not really - I remans a accurate reflection of the status of the account. BT could (as a goodwill gesture) arrange removal, but they are under no obligation to do so.

(3) perhaps - but with the best will in the world, it doesn't matter either way. Proof that BT somehow made a mess of the admin does not alter the fact that the account was not paid. A DD only shows intent to pay, nothing more.

screwedagain

Hi Buzby,

Thanks for your reply.

I think we will have to just accept it and move on. My relative has learned a valuable lesson in keeping a closer eye on her bank accounts and utility bills.

That said however I have never seen anything like the atrocity that is BT's attempted customer support/service/whatever you want to call it.

As a long term NTL/VM customer I have never been a customer of BT's. I have had my fair share of issues with VM over the years, (including a similar mix up with direct debit mandates after a change of bank account, but it was sorted with a 5 minute phone call with charges refunded immediately, no questions asked). These were generally solved without much trouble (aside from one occasion when I was giving the girl on the phone a lesson on the difference between megabits and megabytes when my BB speed wasn't up to scratch lol). However after this short experience with BT I will not be tempted to switch anytime soon.

I have never really ventured into this area of the forum before but I am a little bit comforted by the fact that so many other people have had similar issues to me with BT.

The first time I phoned them the other day when I first stumbled upon this whole mess my relative found herself in, they offered to wipe the entire debt if she signed up to a new 12 month phone/BB/vision package at £30 a month. Absolute steal I thought, but I said I had to go away and discuss this first with the account holder. The BT guy said he would call back later and never did.

When I called back the person I got through to denied all knowledge of the previous offer and 'apologised' for me having been given the wrong information. He then seemed more interested in selling me an 18 month braodband package rather than addressing the root cause of the issue i.e. the DD details on their system were still incorrect, after numerous attempts by my relative to put them right.

I appreciate that a direct debit mandate is nothing more than an 'intention' to pay, however when BT offer every incentive they can to make people pay their bills this way, the least they can do is make sure they do it right. It's not really too much to ask.

It really grates me that the people on the other end of the phone can just do and say whatever the f*ck they like without any consequence whatsover. If I treated clients like that in my own line of work I'd be living on the street. I cannot believe that they are allowed to get away with treating customers like !!!!!!.

I have had my fair share of dealing with massive, faceless utility providers, mobile companies, insurance brokers, banks etc. but never have I ever seen anything like the attitude we have received this week from BT, ever! Complete shower of #!!@ts, and that is putting it politely.

SA

Buzby

Agreed, and you have my sympathy. Many have been fooled by the DD 'guarantee' that is so laughable, the ASA should declare it void. If you chose not to have an DD's, all you need to is remember to pay in time - this removes the issue of firms messing up by forgetting to bill, but to be fair, this isn't a common problem!

The flip side is there's a wide range of firms who will empty your account without a by-your-leave and if you do not act in time, tough! You then have to constantly monitor it, and KEEP doing so.