Taking legal Action on BT

BADBT_2

The story is quite long, so Im going to keep it in point form.

1) I had been with TalkTalk for about a year. It was suddenly disconnected in early Sept for no reason.
2) On calling their customer services, we were told an Unconditional Cease had been instructed by BT.
(BT owns all lines, and so if anyone wants to switch to any provider, BT insturcts the other provider to cease the line)
3) We had been abroad for the two months prior, and did not instruct anyone to take over the line.
4) Having escalated matter to TalkTalk legal department, they confirmed the above, and that they did not know who the party, who had taken over the line was, and that we should get in touch with BT.
5) We tried to get in touch with BT but with no success (see below)
6) Having had no success, we proceeded to order a new line (at a cost of 125.00) with a NEW NUMBER, and threatened legal action to TalkTalk under brach of contract. They offered the cost of reconnection as a goodwill gesture, citing a limitation of liability clause in their T&Cs, saying there was no breach of contract.
7) Nothing further done with TT


Now the BT story.

1) Whilst the matter with TT was ongoing, we were in touch with BT. SPent 5hrs, on the phone, speaking to 7 different departments, who could never helps us.
2) We then wrote a letter to BT's Customer Services Director at the address on bt.com
3) We also filled online forms describing situation.
4) Two further letters were sent by Recorded and Registered post, threatening unspecified further action if line was not reinstated / contact was not made.
5) Just silence from their side, althouh recorded delivery confirms letters has been received by them.

Is there any legal action we can take against BT for ordering a Cease without us ever having instructed a change of provider? As far as Im aware, we don't have any contract with them, as the line rental was with TalkTalk. Is there any statutory thing? I am sure if we take it to Small Claims Court, claim will go uncontested, as there never seems to be any response from BT, but we need a legal ground for the costs.

PLEASE HELP!!!

normanmark

As far as i can you dont have the full story for the cease so legal proceedings is a bit hasty.

Did you pay your line rental to BT or Talk Talk? If its the latter then talk talk should be doing the chasing to find out why its ceased not yourself.

Personally i've never heard of an unconditional cease, i've heard of unsolicited ceases but these are raised for Termination of Service (non-payment etc).

Drunkstar

BADBT wrote: »

Is there any legal action we can take against BT for ordering a Cease without us ever having instructed a change of provider? As far as Im aware, we don't have any contract with them, as the line rental was with TalkTalk. Is there any statutory thing? I am sure if we take it to Small Claims Court, claim will go uncontested, as there never seems to be any response from BT, but we need a legal ground for the costs.

I assume you mean BT Wholesale as BT Retail havent had the power to do that in quite a while. Make sure you are chasing the right company.

TalkTalkBoy

normanmark wrote: »

As far as i can you dont have the full story for the cease so legal proceedings is a bit hasty.

Did you pay your line rental to BT or Talk Talk? If its the latter then talk talk should be doing the chasing to find out why its ceased not yourself.

Personally i've never heard of an unconditional cease, i've heard of unsolicited ceases but these are raised for Termination of Service (non-payment etc).

The op would have meant Unsolicited Cease. This is usually for one of three reasons:

1. Slammed/moved to another provider
2. Moved back to BT
3. Line ceased in error by BT

Unsolicited Ceases only ever come from BT's end not TalkTalk's. If the line is ceased and the customer is on LLU then talktalk at the moemnt can do nothing to reonnect the line for the OP. (although this is a service which is currently under trial for home movers and may well move into the rest of the business shortly)

BADBT_2

Thanks for all your replies.

As stated in my initial post, line rental has always been paid to TalkTalk. We have not had any dealing with BT in the last year.

Also, I meant Unsolicited cease, not unconditional cease.MY MISTAKE!

We do not have the full story for the cease, because noone is telling us. TalkTalk tells us to go to BT and BT doesn't respond. Clearly TalkTalk and BT are at fault here. Therefore, in order to recover our costs, something needs to be done. In my last correspondence, I asked them to get in touch with BT, otherwise we would claim costs from TT. They offered us the BT Reconnection charge within 8hrs. It seems TT dont want to deal with BT either!!!

Finally, there is BT OpenReach and BT Retail. Both are part of BT PLC. BT Openreach has all the telephone network infrastructure, but according to their website, it does not deal with the general public. The Customer Services Director contacted sits at the BT PLC office. So, they should definitely be able to respond.

There has been on development in the last two hours. I happened to pick up the phone to check, and there was a dial tone!!! I called my mobile and the Caller ID came up with 02081770280. That is not my phone number. When I called the number back, it rang, but no ringing on the phone at home. It has been about 14days since I was initially disconnected. Now Im wondering how Ive got a dial tone, and am able to make outgoing calls, yet no incoming.
If I call my landline number from my mobile it says "the number you have dialled has not been recognised!!!

I don't think Ive been a victim of slamming, as no letters have arrived advising us of change of provider...and no new provider has taken over! I understand Talk Talk's position too. They wouldn't have just cancelled our line for no reason.

BT realistically seems to be at fault, but a lack of response means I can't do anything. And a lack of any legal contract means I can't take any further action either!!!

normanmark

You as a member of the public wont be able to speak to someone at BT Wholesale or Openreach. However BT Retail wont be able to do much as you're not a customer & its not something they would have intiated.

Talk talk arent being most helpful when passing the buck to BT, as you're a customer of Talk Talks, not BT Retails.

From my experience & the way you're describing this i'd say you've been the victim of a slamming incident.

My advice would be to call Ofcom on 0207 981 3040 and see if they can assist you in finding out what exactly happened to your line.

HTH

xxwelcomexx

I have also recently had a similar thing happen .

1. For 2 years, line rental from Talk Talk, broadband paid to BT (as couldn't get MAC code to transfer to free broadband with Talk Talk) both in my name. Other than that, fine.
2. 2 months ago, partner asked for an ADDITIONAL line from BT put into our annexe. Said someone would call us. They didn't. Nothing in writing either.
3. Instead, BT took over my line with Talk Talk (in main house), replaced it with another number and put it into partner's name.
4. Then, they cut off my broadband as the number it was linked to no longer existed.

53 telephone calls to Talk Tlk and BT ( including higher level complaints numbers, all logged with numbers and got names when they would give them) , 9 hours on hold. 2 hours actually talking to them. 5 weeks later. No joy. Just got final Talk Talk bill with a £70 cessation fee. BT threatening to cut off the new number as we are refusing to pay. That will mean we have no active line at all to transfer. (Wasn't what we wanted after all) BT have never rung back as promised, ignored my letter (sent 4 weeks ago) and did not put old number back when promised. Said if we cancelled the new number we would incur extra charges. They cannot seem to understand what they have done. Ofcom just said to follow BT complaints procedure (where they promise to reply within TWELVE weeks)

Consequences? Talk Talk won't talk to me as I am not their customer now BT won't talk to me as partner is now their customer. He can't talk to them as he works abroad and can't access 0800 numbers and can't hang on to a landline number for hours on a mobi. Have an online exam in 2 days for a degree - can't do it on dial up. Am paying dial up charges. Can't work from home any more.

How the hell can they take over my line and cancel it, then put another number on my line in someone else's name without my having even spoken to them??? I called Talk Talk as soon as I got the transfer letter but they said they were powerless to stop it happening. BT would not talk to me as I was not my partner. I am livid.

I was so frustrated explaining it all on the 53rd time, I burst into tears on the phone. Any ideas how I can get my line back from Talk Talk, get BT to pay the cessation charge and get the bill in my partner's name cancelled? Surely I am due some compensation from somewhere.

Pleeeeeaase help me. I have no idea where to go with this.

normanmark

Go to the library, they have free internet access

Craig_Lee

Norman, i have just noticed that you have been 'thanked' 132 times. How many times have you been punched?

Craig_Lee

20 years ago BT ripped me off with regard to installation charges. I have never given them my custom since.

I am with Virgin Media. I have just been involved in a disagreement with them but having said that, they do listen and react to a complaint. We came to an agreement which was satisfactory all round and it only took about 45 minutes. The broadband is top notch and very reliable (major plus point) and if you hassle them every now and then about the better deals that you may switch to, they are competitive.

So my advice would be, if cable is available to you ..... ditch BT and never go back!!

wantmemoney

Craig_Lee wrote:

So my advice would be, if cable is available to you ..... ditch BT and never go back!!

i agree, that's the best way to resolve a BT problem.