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BT charged us for their own technician's fault
yhmoon
Posts: 8 Forumite
in Phones & TV
Hello everyone!
I bought our new built house in the end of July last year, and asked BT to come to connect our landline and broadband in August. The engineer came and tried to find the main point in my house. He started with the kitchen, and then he went out, after a while, he came back, and then started in the living room, and told me the main point is in the living room, and he has successfully connected the landline for me, and gave me a piece of paper with my landline number on. Then he left. My husband came back in the evening, he found out our phone, and tried to make a phone call. However, it did not work, we cannot dial out. So he called BT and told them about this problem, they said they will send another engineer to look into the problem. If the problem was caused by BT, they will not charge us; if the problem was caused by us, they will charge 99 pounds for that. Ok, fair enough.
So the second engineer from BT came a few days after the call. He went to the living room straight away, and started to look into the problem. Then he told me that, he has fixed the problem for me. He said he has disconnected my extension line, as it was the extension line faulty which caused the problem. I asked him why the extension line was faulty? and did this mean we cannot use all the extensions upstair? He said yes, it was the builder's fault. As the new BT hub has a very strong signal, I am still be able to use my broadband in my first even second floor. However, I was worried. I said I had five bedrooms upstairs, how can I only use one landline in the sitting room? He then suggested me to find my builder who made the extension faulty. I also asked what if the extension was really faulty? He said he knew it was faulty.The builder may need to rewire it.
I was so worried, as this was our new home, and we just finished the decoration, I really worried whether the rewiring of the extension will make a big mess to my house. So I called the customer care team, and told them they made mistakes in the wiring of telephone line in all my extensions! They soon made an appointment for me with an electrical company. Then, the third engineer from the electrical company came. I told him the problem, and he did a few check. It did not take very long for him to tell me the problem solved! I was so surprised, as I thought he may need to rewire all the extensions! He said the extension wire in the main point was working well, he has re-connected it. It was the two main points in my house which caused the landline problem. He also asked me to use my land phone to test every extensions in our bedrooms, it turned out that they all worked!
We then received a bill of 99 pounds for the callout in September. I asked my husband to call BT about real cause of the problem, and asked BT for a refund. It was obviously not our's fault who caused the problem, and we should not be charged! He made the phone call, and was asked to wait to be transfered to different department. As he was at work all day, he also asked BT to call back when he was off work. We never heard from BT since then. We were also very busy with our new house, so we forgot this.
We tried to contact bt customer service to discuss about this in January this year. My husband wrote an email to and expained why we need the refund. I received a call from bt a few days later. A lady called said she was sorry that she cannot process our case as it was over four months and she cannot find the case file any more! I said we called right after we received the bill in September! she said there was no record for that, and she was sorry. I asked for a number to make further complaint. She said she was the person dealing with complaints, and there was nothing we can do. I told my husband about the call. He searched in his mailbox and found the bill for the callout, it was on 26th September 2013,and even there was no record for the phone call we made in September,the email he wrote to BT was on 22nd January 2014, it was still within four months!
So BT called my husband again, stating that they had investigated the case and the reports from their engineers, according to their evidence,it was not their fault. They cannot refund the charge! My husband said we can provide the report of the third engineer from the electrical company, it was him who actually fixed the problem for us. My husband explained the whole story to the BT customer service adviser through the phone, and she still insisted that there was no hard evidence to support our story! and the reports from BT engineer were the evidence she had. So what could be count as hard evidence? why BT engineers' reports would be count as the ONLY evidence, and the report from the third engineer did not count! Why BT cannot just admit that their engineer made mistake! and this was what really happened in my case! Why should we be charged for their mistake!!!
They accepted that we could send them the report from the third engineer, and said they will look into it. However, this morning, a guy from BT called again! Still stating the same thing as the lady from BT, and my husband explained every thing to him through the phone again!!! We have sent them the copy of the report from the third engineer! BT can contact the electrical company directly to ask what really happened! They did not. From the very beginning, they just tried to use excuses to deny the mistake! No one actually looked into the reports to figure out what really happened in my case!!!
This is so unfair!!! and I really do not understand why a big company like BT has such a lousy customer service!!! This is really a waste of time!
Anyone has ever had this kind of experience before?
I bought our new built house in the end of July last year, and asked BT to come to connect our landline and broadband in August. The engineer came and tried to find the main point in my house. He started with the kitchen, and then he went out, after a while, he came back, and then started in the living room, and told me the main point is in the living room, and he has successfully connected the landline for me, and gave me a piece of paper with my landline number on. Then he left. My husband came back in the evening, he found out our phone, and tried to make a phone call. However, it did not work, we cannot dial out. So he called BT and told them about this problem, they said they will send another engineer to look into the problem. If the problem was caused by BT, they will not charge us; if the problem was caused by us, they will charge 99 pounds for that. Ok, fair enough.
So the second engineer from BT came a few days after the call. He went to the living room straight away, and started to look into the problem. Then he told me that, he has fixed the problem for me. He said he has disconnected my extension line, as it was the extension line faulty which caused the problem. I asked him why the extension line was faulty? and did this mean we cannot use all the extensions upstair? He said yes, it was the builder's fault. As the new BT hub has a very strong signal, I am still be able to use my broadband in my first even second floor. However, I was worried. I said I had five bedrooms upstairs, how can I only use one landline in the sitting room? He then suggested me to find my builder who made the extension faulty. I also asked what if the extension was really faulty? He said he knew it was faulty.The builder may need to rewire it.
I was so worried, as this was our new home, and we just finished the decoration, I really worried whether the rewiring of the extension will make a big mess to my house. So I called the customer care team, and told them they made mistakes in the wiring of telephone line in all my extensions! They soon made an appointment for me with an electrical company. Then, the third engineer from the electrical company came. I told him the problem, and he did a few check. It did not take very long for him to tell me the problem solved! I was so surprised, as I thought he may need to rewire all the extensions! He said the extension wire in the main point was working well, he has re-connected it. It was the two main points in my house which caused the landline problem. He also asked me to use my land phone to test every extensions in our bedrooms, it turned out that they all worked!
We then received a bill of 99 pounds for the callout in September. I asked my husband to call BT about real cause of the problem, and asked BT for a refund. It was obviously not our's fault who caused the problem, and we should not be charged! He made the phone call, and was asked to wait to be transfered to different department. As he was at work all day, he also asked BT to call back when he was off work. We never heard from BT since then. We were also very busy with our new house, so we forgot this.
We tried to contact bt customer service to discuss about this in January this year. My husband wrote an email to and expained why we need the refund. I received a call from bt a few days later. A lady called said she was sorry that she cannot process our case as it was over four months and she cannot find the case file any more! I said we called right after we received the bill in September! she said there was no record for that, and she was sorry. I asked for a number to make further complaint. She said she was the person dealing with complaints, and there was nothing we can do. I told my husband about the call. He searched in his mailbox and found the bill for the callout, it was on 26th September 2013,and even there was no record for the phone call we made in September,the email he wrote to BT was on 22nd January 2014, it was still within four months!
So BT called my husband again, stating that they had investigated the case and the reports from their engineers, according to their evidence,it was not their fault. They cannot refund the charge! My husband said we can provide the report of the third engineer from the electrical company, it was him who actually fixed the problem for us. My husband explained the whole story to the BT customer service adviser through the phone, and she still insisted that there was no hard evidence to support our story! and the reports from BT engineer were the evidence she had. So what could be count as hard evidence? why BT engineers' reports would be count as the ONLY evidence, and the report from the third engineer did not count! Why BT cannot just admit that their engineer made mistake! and this was what really happened in my case! Why should we be charged for their mistake!!!
They accepted that we could send them the report from the third engineer, and said they will look into it. However, this morning, a guy from BT called again! Still stating the same thing as the lady from BT, and my husband explained every thing to him through the phone again!!! We have sent them the copy of the report from the third engineer! BT can contact the electrical company directly to ask what really happened! They did not. From the very beginning, they just tried to use excuses to deny the mistake! No one actually looked into the reports to figure out what really happened in my case!!!
This is so unfair!!! and I really do not understand why a big company like BT has such a lousy customer service!!! This is really a waste of time!
Anyone has ever had this kind of experience before?
0
Comments
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You had a BT engineer to your premises . They found a non BT fault and charged you .
That is normal .
You pay BT and if you want claim against who ever fitted the faulty extension .
You then have some electrical company engineer to call .They reconnected the extension and it all worked .
The extension and any faults on it are nothing to do with BT its your responsibility .0 -
BT's network ends at the NTE5 master socket. Any network (an any faults) downstream of that are your responsibility, of those of the builders in this case- not BT's problem. If disconnecting one extension caused the fault to vanish, then clearly that was where the fault was.
Any fault beyond the NTE5 are chargeable by BT. Normal call out fee is £130.No free lunch, and no free laptop
0 -
! Why BT cannot just admit that their engineer made mistake! and this was what really happened in my case! Why should we be charged for their mistake!!!
But the BT engineer did not make a mistake there was nothing wrong with their wiring or equipment, you were told at the beginning that you would be charged if the fault was caused by you which means something internal beyond the master socket, you are being charged for their time and labour because the fault was caused by your internal wiring which is not their responsibility, it was down to a bad wiring by the builder claim the money back from them.0 -
It was the first BT engineer who did not connect the landline correctly, and installed two main points in my house which clearly caused the problem! It turned out there is nothing wrong with the wiring! It was not the extension wiring faulty which caused the problem as the second BT engineer tried to claim. He did not even find the real problem! So why am I still need to pay for the callout?But the BT engineer did not make a mistake there was nothing wrong with their wiring or equipment, you were told at the beginning that you would be charged if the fault was caused by you which means something internal beyond the master socket, you are being charged for their time and labour because the fault was caused by your internal wiring which is not their responsibility, it was down to a bad wiring by the builder claim the money back from them.0
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So they charged me less, I should be grateful for that!BT's network ends at the NTE5 master socket. Any network (an any faults) downstream of that are your responsibility, of those of the builders in this case- not BT's problem. If disconnecting one extension caused the fault to vanish, then clearly that was where the fault was.
Any fault beyond the NTE5 are chargeable by BT. Normal call out fee is £130.0 -
If the extension wiring was faulty, according the the second BT engineer, why I can use all my extensions without any rewiring works? It is not disconnecting any ONE extension, the second BT engineer disconnected the wire in the main point that connected to all the extensions upstairs.BT's network ends at the NTE5 master socket. Any network (an any faults) downstream of that are your responsibility, of those of the builders in this case- not BT's problem. If disconnecting one extension caused the fault to vanish, then clearly that was where the fault was.
Any fault beyond the NTE5 are chargeable by BT. Normal call out fee is £130.0 -
First BT Engineer installed a Master Socket and they also wired two extensions in your house .
This was i presume a paid for job .
Sorry but your post is totally confusing .
BT fit the socket builder fits the extension ??
Suggest less words and a simple time table of work done may help .0 -
Thank you for your reply.
The situation is:
First BT engineer- sorted out main points in my house, and connected the landline. But don't understand why there are two BT operach in my house after his first visit. One is in my living room, and one is in the kitchen.
Second BT engineer-came to fix the landline problem: we cannot dial out, but can receive calls. He disconnected the wire in the main point in my living room which was connecting other extensions in the house. The landline started to work. therefore, he said it was the builder's fault, who did not wire the connections correctly in the house. Therefore, I was charged for his visit.
Third engineer from electrical company came to see whether all the extension wiring were faulty. He found out there were two main BT points in my house, which he said caused the problem in the landline. He connected the wire in the main point which was disconnected by the second BT engineer, and everything started to work. All the extensions are working well. It was the two bt main points which caused the problem. Apparently, it was not the builder's fault, and they did all the wiring in my house correctly, as they are working fine.First BT Engineer installed a Master Socket and they also wired two extensions in your house .
This was i presume a paid for job .
Sorry but your post is totally confusing .
BT fit the socket builder fits the extension ??
Suggest less words and a simple time table of work done may help .0 -
It was the first BT engineer who did not connect the landline correctly, and installed two main points in my house which clearly caused the problem! It turned out there is nothing wrong with the wiring! It was not the extension wiring faulty which caused the problem as the second BT engineer tried to claim. He did not even find the real problem! So why am I still need to pay for the callout?
The first engineer will have connected the master socket and tested it using the test socket under the faceplate and got a connection, he will have then put the faceplate back on which has the extensions which the builder wired and left.
When your husband tried to use the phone it would not work because the extensions were incorrectly wired in their boxes, the second BT engineer removed the extension wires isolating them from the master socket and the phone worked therefore proving it was them causing the fault.
The third independent engineer corrected the wiring in the boxes which was not BT's responsibility.0 -
The thing is the second engineer said it was because of the fault in the extension wiring which caused the problem. He said we cannot use any of the extensions upstairs anymore, because of the wiring faulty. However, the third electrician came and investigate the so-called fault in the extension wiring, found out the extension wiring was correctly wired. And there were two BT main point intalled in my house, which caused the problem. He sovled the problem by one of the main point in my sitting room. It was not the fault as the second engineer stated. According to the second BT engineer, I would not be able to use all the extensions unless we rewired all the extensions in my house!The first engineer will have connected the master socket and tested it using the test socket under the faceplate and got a connection, he will have then put the faceplate back on which has the extensions which the builder wired and left.
When your husband tried to use the phone it would not work because the extensions were incorrectly wired in their boxes, the second BT engineer removed the extension wires isolating them from the master socket and the phone worked therefore proving it was them causing the fault.
The third independent engineer corrected the wiring in the boxes which was not BT's responsibility.0
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