BT Sport Complaint

clairecymru

My father saw an offer for BT sport on TV and in the newspaper and being an avid football fan he was interested in this. He has no interest in a phone line or the internet and wouldn't have a clue how to turn a computer on.

He asked me to ring up on his behalf and order a phone line and BT along with BT sport which I did at the end of June. I made it clear that my dad doesn't know how to use a computer and wanted to watch the sport via his TV and not on the computer. The bloke I spoke to was raving about what a good deal with BT sport and advised that my dad needed to place and order for BT TV which would include a BT Vision+ box at an extra charge of £5 a month. My dad was happy with this and he said that an engineer would come out on the 15th July to install the phone line and internet.

My dad booked the day off work and waiting in for the BT engineer. Towards the end of the day my dad called me to say that the engineer didn't turn up. My dad is not good on the phone and asked me to ring to ask why the engineer did not show up.

I rang the customer service team who told me that only a dummy account had been set up for my dad and that the full order was never processed. They told me this was most likely due to the fact that BT TV / BT Sport could not be ordered a the same time as the line / broadband and that we would have to wait for the line to be installed and then to ring up after the line is activated in order to put the ordered through for the BT TV / Sport. She arranged for an engineer to come out on 30th July.

Again my dad booked the day off work but this time the engineer did turn up and installed the line / broadband as planned. I came around to see my dad in the evening and rang put the customer services department to place the order for the BT TV and BT Sport. I was told that it was too soon to place the order and that someone would ring my dad back to the following day and put it through.

The next day my dad got a phone call to say that his line was too slow to have the BT TV but he could access the Sport via the online app / player. This is no good to my dad as he does not know how to use a computer and the only reason he got the broadband and phone line was so that he could access the BT Sport via his TV. He was told he could connect the computer to the TV and watch it that way but again my dad is computer illiterate and he would have no idea how to do this.

He asked could he have his package cancelled because he only was interested in BT Sport but he was told that he was tied into an 18 month contract and could not cancel his contract.

I then emailed the complaints team on his behalf on 1st August and was told that I would get a response within 24 hours hours but it could take up to 72 hours. I have get to get a reply.

What should I do next. Is there anyway I can get my dad's contract cancelled or at least get some partial compensation so that he doesnt have to pay full price for a service that he doesnt want or need.

BargainMad_3

Ordering BT Sport is very complicated. I looked into it myself last week and found that the options available are dictated by what broadband service you have (or order) and what equipment you have (or order).

So do you know what broadband service you ordered from BT? Was it BT Broadband or was it BT Infinity?

Also, just on the off chance, does your Dad have SKY at home i.e. a Sky dish and a Sky box? The answer to this is probably "NO" but let us know if he has.

clairecymru

No sky.

Not sure whether it was infinity or bt broadband but he was told his total bill with unlimited Internet would be approx £36 after 6 months

BargainMad_3

That sounds like BT Broadband rather than BT Infinity.

To help your Dad I think the first thing you need to do is find out what the actual speed is on his line. I think you only need 2-3MB to support BT TV so if he could achieve this he might still get the service he was after.

If BT are saying the speed is below 2-3MB ask them how it could be improved as it is quite rare to have speeds this low in 2013.

When I have changed broadband providers in the past I have been told it can take 10 days for speeds to be established once the broadband has been activated. I suppose this must be true for brand new activations as well. So, as it is still within this 10 day period, the speed test may not be accurate.

I certainly wouldn't go down the cancelling the contract avenue just yet as I think there will be two termination charges - one for cancelling the new line that has been installed and one for cancelling the broadband. They may lump it all in one sum.

Now the next question might sound strange but has your Dad got a computer attached to the broadband at the moment?

Obviously the broadband hub will be there but I think it really needs to be connected to a computer to get "up to speed" (especially with the first 10 day period scenerio).

If there is no computer and your Dad has the broadband hub switched off, this is perhaps preventing BT from optimising the broadband speed and thus preventing him ordering the BT TV service.

clairecymru

I've done an online speed test at my dads and he which came up at 4.5

BargainMad_3

In that case I would try ordering the TV package again and see what they say.

Both BT Sport 1 and BT Sport 2 are listed as available for free via BT TV if have BT Broadband (so it doesn't have to be a BT Infinity package).

As I mentioned before I found the whole BT Sport offering very complicated. The basics are that you need their line rental and their broadband to watch BT Sport for free either online or via an app. Your Dad has got to this point but understandably wants to watch it on his TV. Anybody wanting to do this needs to pay an additional £5 a month for a BT TV package to get the BT Vision+ box to connect to a television. But to get a BT TV package you need a minimum broadband speed as it connects via the broadband hub as well as via the aerial. You need to get BT to recognise/improve the broadband speed to proceed with the BT TV order. (Just to further complicate things, for BT Sport I think you also need a viewing card for the BTVision+ box.)

Keep us updated how you get on.

clairecymru

Two and a half hours I have been on the phone to BT and still no further forward. Technical team confirm that my dads speed is averaging between 4-5 and he should be able to have bt vision. They put me through to bt vision people and got cut off. Start the whole process again. For cut off again. Ring again and got told his speed is too slow, they do a test confirm it is ok and then transfer me again and after on hold for 45 mins got cut off again. I'm soooo angry.

VisionMan

clairecymru wrote: »

Two and a half hours I have been on the phone to BT and still no further forward. Technical team confirm that my dads speed is averaging between 4-5 and he should be able to have bt vision. They put me through to bt vision people and got cut off. Start the whole process again. For cut off again. Ring again and got told his speed is too slow, they do a test confirm it is ok and then transfer me again and after on hold for 45 mins got cut off again. I'm soooo angry.

I'll bloody bet you are. Surprised though they said the line speed is too slow. It is for HD, but not SD.

If you both still want it, use this email form -

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

And just leave the account number blank. They can take up to 3/4 days to respond, but respond they will.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Edit - But its important to know if your father has signed up for BT broadband (copper) or BT Infinity. As if its BB, the service can be recieved via a BT Vision box over your aerial.

BargainMad_3

I am sure it is BT Broadband that has been signed up for as the current offer is free for the first 6 months and then £16 a month for the next 12 months (18 month term). So the price of approx. £36 after the first 6 months tallies (£15.45 line rental plus £16 broadband plus £5 BT TV which comes with the BT Vision+ box).


As the OP has found out the BT Vision+ box requires a certain speed to work because although it will be attached to Dad's aerial it also links to the BT broadband hub.

I have no idea whether the BT sport channels are delivered via the aerial or via the broadband hub but either way the OP needs to be sent the BT Vision+ box. The need for a viewing card implies it will actually be via the aerial but then again it could be a mixture of the two.

You are certainly being given the runaround so I would be inclined to order online. As your Dad already has BT broadband installed on the BT line you should be able to order BT TV via this link:


https://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerOrders/control/orderproduct?productId=CON-27455&productKey=CON-TAVISION_ONLY&GEN_BTS_VIS=Y&Tv_promotion=ESS&BTS_JOURNEY=Y&showBTSonDTTJourney=Y&upsellOptions=Y&vendorid=SP4


I think the option you need is Essential TV at £5 a month. There should be an option to add BT Sport and request a viewing card for a one off fee of £10.



Hope this helps

VisionMan

clairecymru wrote: »

My father saw an offer for BT sport on TV and in the newspaper and being an avid football fan he was interested in this. He has no interest in a phone line or the internet and wouldn't have a clue how to turn a computer on.

He asked me to ring up on his behalf and order a phone line and BT along with BT sport which I did at the end of June. I made it clear that my dad doesn't know how to use a computer and wanted to watch the sport via his TV and not on the computer. The bloke I spoke to was raving about what a good deal with BT sport and advised that my dad needed to place and order for BT TV which would include a BT Vision+ box at an extra charge of £5 a month.

I've just re-read this, and BT Sport via a BT Vision box is supplied over the air, not over ones broadband, so the line speed is irrelevant. And 4.5Mbps is more than enough to recieve the on demand services too.

So I would definitely use that link I gave you to get this sorted.

BargainMad_3

VisionMan wrote: »

I've just re-read this, and BT Sport via a BT Vision box is supplied over the air, not over ones broadband, so the line speed is irrelevant. And 4.5Mbps is more than enough to recieve the on demand services too.

So I would definitely use that link I gave you to get this sorted.

It's good to know that BT Sport is supplied over the air for non-infinity broadband customers. However BT won't supply the BT Vision+ box if broadband is deemed too slow so OP is in a catch 22. They can't get the darn box until the broadband speed says they can have it, even though they don't want any of the other TV services