BT Direct Debit Fraud

Bigwheels1111

I don’t know how you could miss the payment for so long.
I would know if I was over billed by a penny, let alone double billed.
I use 7 bank and building society accounts.
I know every debit amount and the day it’s debits.

Good luck sorting it as BT are useless.

bumblebee1992

So we’ve had another call this afternoon from BT complaints department. They again tried to blame us and suggesting we take some accountability.  We went round in circles and told us the best they could do was a 6 month refund.

We eventually heard the penny drop on the phone when they did start listening and looking at the facts. They asked to call us back in 5 minutes. The call came less than 5 minutes later from the same Agent accepting a full refund was due alongside an apology. 

The upshot is they have now admitted they have made a mistake on their end and an additional account was set up in error. They have told us a full refund will be made to us along with an additional £30 by way of an apology. We’ve subsequently received a text to say £50 credit will be added to our account - I’m not sure if this is in addition to the £30 mentioned on the phone. 

It turns out the ‘account set up at a pop up mall’ isn’t entirely accurate. That is the Fibre account - the account we intended to set up in the first place. We set it up through a Quidco link for cashback. So it shows on their records as a pop up. 

The second and incorrect account was set up by phone. They were adamant my husband had done this himself and handed over bank details etc. We explained our only intention in that window was to set up Fibre. Any bank details they have received was for that purpose and anything else we have been mislead. There was never a second telephone line, nor did we ever receive a modem etc (which would have been a big clue to us that there was a second account!). It seems there was a note on the file from the 2020 call which sets out the exact reason why bank details were given - and it wasn’t for the purpose of setting up a new connection. 

We’ve learned a big lesson and will definitely be checking our direct debits a lot closer in the future. 

We’re both still astounded how my husband was spoken to yesterday and with hindsight we feel the Agent on the other end of the line was looking for any reason to terminate the call as quickly as possible. 

Thank you for everyone’s help and suggestions. I’ve also contacted our bank to put the direct debit guarantee investigation on hold (with a view to being cancelled once the refund arrives).