Caught out by BT Vision cooling off period

justin68

Does anybody know if there are any consumer rights here?....
On July the 14th I contacted BT to get their Vision package. I already have their phone line and Infinity broadband. I explained that I was out of the country until August 20th and requested that my box and service be delivered and activated on the 21st.
I have had nothing but problems with my box since i plugged it in...it reboots constantly, turns itself off, my tv picks up essential local channels that BT doesn't, I'm pretty disappointed with it to say the least. I have had to get on the phone over 9 times now as just pointed out by somebody at customer services.
I tried to cancel my Vision but was told that as I actually phoned in July my contract started on that date, despite the fact I had explained I was out of the country and didn't want anything until 5 weeks later.
So....I was way out of my cooling off period despite the fact that I hadn't received anything until 3 weeks after the expiry of that period. I now have to wait until 29th for an engineer to come out, and was told that i may face a cost of £129.99 if it was down to my set up. I don't believe it is, as my tv picks up channels that BT can't, and explained that I could buy out of my contract for just under £91 rather than take the chance of being scammed for a call out. They have, to be fair, said they'd come out without the charge, but I do feel stupid that I didn't wait and call back when I returned home..I was trying to be efficient and plan ahead. I may have been told about the fact that the 14 days started from that 1st phone call..i wouldn't normally been stupid enough to miss that one, but I'm not sure whether they told me or not.
If anybody knows of a way out of this Id be very grateful to hear!!

[Deleted User]

You can complain that the service is not as described only if the channels you say you can receive through your TV alone are listed as being available via BT vision
http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/products/tv/extra-channels

If they are not listed at the link then you can hardly complain, let alone use this reason as a means to cancel without penalty.

justin68

Moneyineptitude...I can rarely pick up itv on bt vision!! That along with channels for my little ones such as cbeebies. These are listed as available...also I can receive say 160 channels but when I do a rescan to try and pick up others promised I may get only 51 channels. It's hit and miss...should've stayed with sky, despite the bad weather cut offs it was still more reliable. They said that if the engineer can't get the channels they cancel with no penalty or I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay the get out fee. I do think however that the cooling off period should be from the start of your contract and not the enquiry.

VisionMan

justin68 wrote: »

Moneyineptitude...I can rarely pick up itv on bt vision!! That along with channels for my little ones such as cbeebies.

This sounds like an aerial not broadband problem. Whats your signal strength and quality?

macman

I agree with a possible aerial/signal issue. An aerial that works OK with your TV may be inadequate with the BTV tuner. Do you have a proper external roof-mounted aerial? This service won't magically give you loads more Freeview channels, that is determined by your transmitter and whether it's a main one or a relay station.
Is the on-demand side of the system working OK?
Cooling off period will anyway end when the system is commissioned.

justin68

Hi all...yes, i just had a new wideband aerial installed the day the box arrived by a company. I'm not looking for magic new channels, just the basic local ones. My box is faulty i think, it constantly reboots itself now for no reason and freezes as well. engineer will be here tomorrow so I'll see what the problem is then