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Compensation from BT?

JSDouvres
JSDouvres Posts: 10 Forumite
edited 18 February 2014 at 6:03PM in Phones & TV
I am a new BT customer, (regrettably now I have to say) and am shocked by the absolutely disgusting customer service.

I had an engineer booked to instal my Infinity package the 12th Feb, nobody turned up despite me calling them at 5pm to be told that I was on the list and not to worry. I then called them at 7.30pm when it was clear that was not the case to be told that in fact nobody was scheduled to turn up in the first place and that they did not have enough engineers available!!! I got no phone call telling me this, nothing at all!!!

So, what else could I do but book another appointment. Now in any other business in this world I would be a priority for the next slot, but not with BT. That would be too normal now wouldn't it? The next day I complained and was told I was now in fact a priority and should be seen on the Thursday or Friday and that I would be called back with an appointment. Did I get a call back???? Of course not. So Friday afternoon I called BT again to be told that there were no priority appointments and that I would have to re book an engineer.

Fantastic, another Morning/Afternoon off work, I can really afford that now cant I? Anyway, I got a call from somebody to do with broadband installation that didn't even work for BT telling me that Tuesday was the next available appointment. What could I say?? No thanks? They have me by the balls. So I booked it for Tuesday Morning 8am to 1pm. It is now 2.40pm on Tuesday. Did they turn up? Of course they didn't. And to make matters worse I called them at midday to be told that an engineer is finishing a job and would be with me by 1pm! an absolute lie. I have just called them back about 20 minutes ago and after being put through to numerous people I have once again be told that no engineer was free and that I was not booked in to be seen today at all! I was even told that the guy who told me they would be with me did nothing wrong??? He lied to me, how could he have done nothing wrong??

This is an absolute scandal, an absolute disgrace and how BT can treat people like this I have no idea. Trading standards should be on their back and I am considering contacting them. They are costing normal people like me time and money and clearly do not care about their customers at all.

The funny thing is too that I received numerous text messages and emails telling me that the engineer would be coming on both occasions and to make sure I was in etc.!!!! Outrageous!!! I did not even get a call telling me they wouldn't turn up!! How can this be acceptable?? Also I keep seeing BT Infinity vans all over the place! A joke!

I am now told they will be here tomorrow morning. So another morning off work (I am self employed) which will cost me more money. Do I trust that they will arrive tomorrow????

This has left a very bitter taste in my mouth and is quite unacceptable. I am now waiting for a manager to call me back (If they do). I will update you all on what happens next.

Surely I can't be the only one with such a shocking story?
I have recently dealt with British Gas and Npower both of whom were absolutely fantastic. I expected much much better from BT.
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Comments

  • egoode
    egoode Posts: 605 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    That's terrible although I've recently had a friend take time off for 5 BT appts and was without service for about 6 weeks when she recently moved home. I'm self employed as well and if I was in your position I would be telling them for this third appt if they don't turn up I'll be billing them for my lost wages.
    Starting Mortgage Balance: £264,800 (8th Aug 2014)
    Current Mortgage Balance: £269,750 (18th April 2016)
  • kwikbreaks
    kwikbreaks Posts: 9,187 Forumite
    Paragraphs make posts far more readable.

    This was my own experience a year or so back. I was able to pay them back by making the line install a waste of their time. Sadly most people don't have that option and just have to put up with the carp.

    I have since finally moved and on that occasion Openreach deigned to send somebody to do the work on the agreed date. If they hadn't I'd have cancelled again.
  • So they turned up on the 3rd appointment, but was not called by BT beforehand like I was told I would be (No surprise there).

    It is up and running and I hope to never have to deal with these people for a problem again. Appalling.

    I have complained to trading standards though, and have spoken to some managers which might (probably not) help to make sure things go better in the future.
  • Jemma-T
    Jemma-T Posts: 1,546 Forumite
    I had an OR engineer who failed to appear too -was not happy!

    Turned out they cancelled with my provider (TalkTalk) but TT didn't bother to tell me and when I complained TT said it was a "miscommunication" -!!!!!!!! there was no communication whatsover.

    £10 given as an apology but I want the 5 hours of my life back as I could have been shopping :D
  • I am in the middle of the same sad situation. I moved home on the 1st July, informed BT 2 weeks beforehand and was assured that on the day we moved our BT package would too.

    The engineer never showed up, so I called BT and they told me that the message never got to the engineer so they would rebook for a weeks time, I was given a specific AM slot and so booked the time off work. Did they show? Did they heck but the only reason I found out that they wouldn't be attending was because I called them to see if they had a more specific time slot otherwise I would be non the wiser and sitting at home twiddling my thumbs.

    So after a long conversation I managed to get a new booking in place for the 11th July. I asked if that would be broadband and phone installed on that date and was then told that it would just be phone, as they didn't have enough "multi-skilled" engineers to do both. Broadband would follow on the 15th July in the afternoon.

    On the 15th July I called BT in the morning to ensure that the engineer was still going to visit and was told that he would be with me between 1 and 6pm. I waited at home until 3pm and decided to call BT just in case there was a problem again. I was then told that they would NOT be turning up and it had been moved to the 28th July!

    I asked for a manager and was told I couldn't speak to one until after the install had taken place. This is absolutely shocking service, believe me I have tried to look for alternatives but as BT hold the monopoly here there are no other companies that can get broadband in before the new date.

    How a company can be allowed to act like this when they provide such an integral service to peoples lives is beyond me. Phone and internet is such an important part of most of our lives, it impacts on work, entertainment, shopping, family contact and so much more yet they simply get away with poor service time and time again.

    Surely something can be done to bring this company back in line?
  • geri1965_2
    geri1965_2 Posts: 8,736 Forumite
    It's taken BT two months to install my package. First excuse was scaffolding in my garden, then it was unable to get the old number from Virgin, then they cancelled the order and had to re-raise it. Then there was a problem with the overhead lines in the road. Eventually they came last Friday although it was a telephone engineer only and he left us without a cable for the internet, although we had one of our own which we used.

    They rang me today to say "So sorry your internet isn't working yet" to which I replied, "Actually it is, thanks!"

    Now it's here it's pretty good but not having internet access for 6 weeks has been a total pain.
  • So they told me that the reason the last appointment was missed was that for some reason the broadband engineer was never actually booked due to an error at their end.

    Last night I checked 1571 on my house phone and found a message from the actual engineer the day before the appointment was supposed to take place and I quote:

    "This is your BT engineer, I am visiting you tomorrow between 1 pm and 6 pm, please make sure that you are available at site so as to not delay your installation. If you can't make the appointment please let us know."

    So he did have a booking and for whatever reason it never took place.
  • BT_company_representative
    BT_company_representative Posts: 1,861 Organisation Representative
    Hi Bozzyman,

    I am sorry to hear your appointment was missed. I would like to take a look at your order. Please could you send me in your details using the link found in my profile?

    Thanks

    PaddyB
    Official Company Representative
    I am the official company representative of BT. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE"
  • Hi Paddy,

    I can't seem to find the link in your profile. I did call again this morning but they told me that nothing could be done about making the new appointment sooner. The worrying thing was the agent on the phone seemed to think it was now the 28th, but then changed his mind again to the 24th!
  • Browntoa
    Browntoa Posts: 49,520 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
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