BT seem to have disconnected my Grandparents... HELP.

Din85

Hello.

I had a phone call from my Dad yesterday asking me to go round to my elderly Grandparents house after work as they could not get on the internet to do there shopping etc.

So duly i went home and collected the kids (wife works nights) and took a few spares with me to try and diagnose any issue.

On arrival i went straight to the router (old Buffalo thing) and saw there was no DSL light at all.

After changing filters, wires, routers etc i concluded that in fact there was no carrier at all, so a BT issue.

This seems to be where it gets complicated !

I had to contact BT on my Grandads behalf as his hearing aids are not working correctly and he simply can not hear anyone on the phone.

So after around 20 minutes i got through to the tech department in India... i was asked for an account number... which appears to be non existent !

The reason being that he took the broadband out on 01/02/2005, it is not BT Total Broadband but a 500kbps BT Yahoo line, as such BT seem to have no reference to it being linked to his phone number ?

It is billed separately from his home phone account.

So the lady i was speaking to i think gave up, told me there was an outstanding balance on the account and that's why it had been cut off... she would have to put me through to the billing department (great).

So i spoke to a really lovely lady from billings, who apologized very much and told me that the account was in credit and they should never have transferred me, she suggested i got a reference number for the broadband from my Grandparents bank statements (which i did... but tbh i did not want to see there personal accounts), anyway the reference number did not show up on any of her systems and she could not see any broadband account for that phone number.

Soooo i was transferred back to the tech department in India, (meanwhile kids getting very bored and causing god knows how much chaos for my poor Grandma).

I spoke to a nice guy called Prakash, who tried to find out what he could but was also at a loss, he said "oh yes there is a broadband connection, but we cant access it, only the offline team can, and they closed at 8pm" (i called an hour earlier), he promised to contact them in the morning and call me in the afternoon, as you may have guessed this did not happen.

So i called again this evening, i had another long call (mostly on hold) to the tech department in India, he then told me that the old BT Yahoo line was obsolete and it needed upgrading, that's why it was cut off and he would get it sorted.

After some time on hold he said he needed to transfer me to another department (no idea which).

This new guy now tells me its a technical fault affecting lots of people in the area (doubt it).

But it still needs to be dealt with by the offline team as they have no access ?

He said i would be contacted within 48hrs by the offline team.

I said that was not good enough, they are paying for a service that they rely on a great deal for contact and food shopping etc etc, he said it would now be high priority and i would be contacted within 24hrs or less.

But i have researched the "offline team" and genuinely believe that this is just a line they spout to anyone, and its very rare they ever contact anyone.

Also, i have been given a VOL number for an order ? what order ? it says i can track it on the BT website, but guess what.... it says the format is not recognized

To me, it seams no one has a clue what is actually going on, my Grandad is extremely upset and annoyed about the situation and on top of that, i know how much they rely on the service as they cant just jump up and go the the shops anymore, and struggle to use the phone.

Any advise as what the quickest way to resolve this is people ?

Thanks in advance.

Jemma-T

Sounds like you're in for the long haul and multiple visits -and more no doubt.

If it were me I'd move their broadband/phone to a company that knows what they're doing. A fresh start too with new billing.

See which company can move (takeover) the account without a MAC. Save you having to waste more time.

See what's available http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search

Sagz_2

In your position, having had the runaround from BT in the past, I'd cut my losses and move to a different BB provider.

I've used EE for over 2 years with no problems (before that I had BT for 5 nightmare years!)

Hope you can get it sorted out quickly.

Sparx

By the sounds of it they may have potentially re-graded your grandparent's broadband package from the discontinued BT Yahoo package to one of the newer BT Broadband packages. Possibly in hope this merges these separate accounts and brings them in line, so the account is shown as paid & up to date?

But that is just my wishful thinking for your grandparent's sake! This is BT you are dealing with here, anything can and will happen.

Personally as others are suggesting, I would cut your losses now if not resolved within say the next 24/48 hours and move ISP. Plusnet are cheap and cheerful having just moved to them myself, had no problems at all.

Good luck.

Din85

Yes i had thought of plusnet actually.

The worry is that they would struggle to take over the broadband if Bt dont even seem to know its there ? i figured (wrongly or rightly) that it would be quicker to try and resolve the issue with BT than to try a new provider.

I moved from BT myself last year (went to EE) and i have to be honest, there customer service seems equally as bad, and the throttling on the line speed is infuriating ! (but that is another story... and one i can only try and deal with).

Either way surely BT can not just cancel a connection with no notice what so ever all the time the bill is being paid on time every month with no issues.

The service from these company's is bad at the best of times, but when it happens to people who now struggle to deal with it themselves for what reason makes you sick.

JJ_Egan

Also, i have been given a VOL number for an order ? what order ? it says i can track it on the BT website, but guess what.... it says the format is not recognized


Thats a question of entering it correctly i found yesterday .

Din85

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Also, i have been given a VOL number for an order ? what order ? it says i can track it on the BT website, but guess what.... it says the format is not recognized


Thats a question of entering it correctly i found yesterday .

Mine said incorrect format, it said it should be 012-3456789 or what ever, but mine has charactors and numbers after the dash.

Din85

Still no phone call...

BT_company_representative

Hi Din85

Sorry for the problems you have had when trying to get this resolved for your Grandparents. I can have this investigated for you if you've not been contacted yet.

In my public profile you will find a contact us form please fill this out and include any reference numbers you have received.

Thanks

Stuart

Sparx

Din85 wrote: »

Yes i had thought of plusnet actually.

The worry is that they would struggle to take over the broadband if Bt dont even seem to know its there ? i figured (wrongly or rightly) that it would be quicker to try and resolve the issue with BT than to try a new provider.

I moved from BT myself last year (went to EE) and i have to be honest, there customer service seems equally as bad, and the throttling on the line speed is infuriating ! (but that is another story... and one i can only try and deal with).

Either way surely BT can not just cancel a connection with no notice what so ever all the time the bill is being paid on time every month with no issues.

The service from these company's is bad at the best of times, but when it happens to people who now struggle to deal with it themselves for what reason makes you sick.

This doesn't sound like an Openreach issue i.e. you don't have a physical phone line. It seems to be an archaic BT database issue thinking you don't have an active service with them. Therefore moving ISP should not be a problem.

Just ask BT for a MAC code and move ISPs if they keep messing you around. Sorry that will be the next problem getting a MAC code thinking about it! :rotfl:

You made a bad choice moving to EE. If you read reviews online everyone says the customer service is poor along with throttled networks as you have experienced first hand. ISPs such as Plusnet, Sky, Zen, etc are better rated albeit not perfect.

Although it seems the BT forum rep has found you, maybe he will help.

Good luck (again)..

Din85

BT_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Din85

Sorry for the problems you have had when trying to get this resolved for your Grandparents. I can have this investigated for you if you've not been contacted yet.

In my public profile you will find a contact us form please fill this out and include any reference numbers you have received.

Thanks

Stuart

Thank you ! I phoned them again, got through 3x departments, they now reckon it shows as a terminated account pending final bill !

The Vol number turned out to be fake ! Its not even the correct format.

I will send you all the details I have shortly.