BT Hub 6 & Call Out Charges

MikeCrux1

Back in July I agreed a new contract for broadband and phones with BT. I agreed to upgrade by BT Hub from a BT Hub 5 to BT Hub 6. It duly arrived and didn't work. After many phone calls and unplugging and plugging the BT Hub 6, it still didn't work. As the line was fine I continued to use the old Hub 5. An engineer was sent out and he couldn't get the new Hub 6 to work. I was happy to revert to my old hub. He said that they had a lot of problems with the new Hub 6s'. I returned the Hub 6 and got a credit for the £65 I had paid. At no time did the engineer suggest I should pay for his call out. I subsequently got billed £130 for this. From my viewpoint the BT equipment didn't work, it wasn't anything that I damaged, it was sent back as pristine as it arrived. I have complained and been told that it will be investigated. This feels completely unethical and undermines ordering any future BT products.

iniltous

The charge may well be 'valid' , it depends on what you did or didn't do, if you report a fault on your telephony service ,and the line tests OK or a problem is indicated at your home, you are asked to try for dialtone in the master socket test port, if dialtone exists there , the line is effectly proved as OK and to continue with the fault report and insist on a visit from Openreach risks a visit charge, for calling them out unnecessarily.
If you reported your broadband faulty , I would imagine it a similar situation if you insist on a visit when the line is testing OK, so what if any testing did you do to establish where the problem was....if your router was known to be the issue why did you get a visit , they normally sent new ones out in the post.

If you got a 'broadband boost ' type visit, what conversation did you have with your ISP and was potential charges mentioned.

You say the engineer never suggested that you would have to pay, but why was he engineer there in the first place, they only visit if requested to , by your ISP or landline provider , even if the same company provide both, it's two different departments, so presumably if an engineer was there it's because you asked for a visit, and in those circumstances they are at pains to point out the potential for charges if there is nothing wrong with the OR lineplant

MikeCrux1

Iniltous,

Appreciate the viewpoint. However I did make it clear that the line was fine as I had reverted to the old hub. I had exhausted all telephone support options and BT suggested the engineer visit. BT did not suggest replacing the new Hub 6. They also did not raise the cost of a visit, either before or by the engineer. I cannot see that I should have to pay for an engineers visit when the new hub didn't work.

iniltous

MikeCrux1 wrote: »

Iniltous,

Appreciate the viewpoint. However I did make it clear that the line was fine as I had reverted to the old hub. I had exhausted all telephone support options and BT suggested the engineer visit. BT did not suggest replacing the new Hub 6. They also did not raise the cost of a visit, either before or by the engineer. I cannot see that I should have to pay for an engineers visit when the new hub didn't work.

If you were not advised of the potential for charging then you may have a reason to challenge the charge, but even if BT is your CP, (ISP and landline provider,) the fact is that if Openreach visit on something that they are not responsible for ( like faulty routers, filters, extension sockets etc) then OR charge whoever called them out, (the CP , Communications Provider ) passes the charge on to their end user , if they warned the end user that asking for a visit on things OR are not responsible was potentially a chargeable visit, (they usually stress this point)
All you can do is ask for the call between you and BT Consumer is listened to, and verify if the warning was given, if it was, then the charge will probably stand.

You ask why you should pay if the hub didn't work, but it was Openreach that visited, and they didn't supply the hub and are not responsible for it

MikeCrux1

Iniltous,

Thanks for the view. I never got a call back from Openreach as promised. However I talked to BT again and the they organised a credit for the call out charge, as they agreed the call out was there expense. A little wiser now. Mike

DoaM

Mike,
Post in the BT Forum (if you haven't already) and ask a Mod to pick up your case.

You absolutely should not have to pay the call out charge as this was a BT fault (supplied equipment) and not a user fault.