BT agreed a package verbally but the bill is higher

DrMarsh

I rang BT on 14th October as our contract was expiring. They agreed to BB, phone and TV (including BT Sport/TNT) for £31.99/month. I was very happy (and surprised!) until the bill turned up today and they have added on £18.75 for BT Sport/TV.
I called them immediately, they listened to the recording but said that the BT person should not have agreed to that as a package. They have offered me £12/month for the extras instead of £18.75. When I called on 14th, these extras were offered for £10/month before I persuaded them to let me have them included in the £31.99 but that offer is apparently no longer available. I did try and haggle but he was having none of it.
I still have some cooling off time to cancel completely but I feel that their verbal agreement should be legally binding, or is this not the case?
What should I try next? Ring back to make a complaint (if that is an option)?
Complaints in writing take 28 days to process.
Thanks

phillw

DrMarsh said:

I still have some cooling off time to cancel completely but I feel that their verbal agreement should be legally binding, or is this not the case?

If they refuse and you aren't going to take them to court then it doesn't matter if it's legally binding.

They have 28 days to deal with any complaints, if you have already said "I want to make a complaint" and they have recorded your complaint then the 28 days has started. If they have already listened to the tape and aren't going to do anything then you can ask for a dead lock letter to take to the ombudsman & that might convince them to do something. The other thing you can do is phone up to cancel the contract and see whether they change their minds, you can always back out of the cancellation if you don't get anywhere (you just say, I need to discuss this with .....).

DrMarsh

Thanks for the reply. Although I didn't specifically say that I wanted to make a complaint when I spoke to them yesterday, I received an automated email to say that the complaint was closed.
Do you think I would be worth sending a complaint in writing at this point or just phone again and ask for a deadlock letter if I don't get anywhere?
Any idea where the ombudsman might sit with something like this?
They shouldn't be allowed to get away with behaving like this.

matelodave

Personally I'd stop gnashing my teeth and feeling affronted and just cancel, but its up to you.

Neil_Jones

DrMarsh said:

I rang BT on 14th October as our contract was expiring. They agreed to BB, phone and TV (including BT Sport/TNT) for £31.99/month. I was very happy (and surprised!) until the bill turned up today and they have added on £18.75 for BT Sport/TV.
I called them immediately, they listened to the recording but said that the BT person should not have agreed to that as a package. They have offered me £12/month for the extras instead of £18.75. When I called on 14th, these extras were offered for £10/month before I persuaded them to let me have them included in the £31.99 but that offer is apparently no longer available. I did try and haggle but he was having none of it.
I still have some cooling off time to cancel completely but I feel that their verbal agreement should be legally binding, or is this not the case?
What should I try next? Ring back to make a complaint (if that is an option)?
Complaints in writing take 28 days to process.
Thanks

If you want to keep the offer, phone them back and tell them what the price should be.

They will almost certainly record calls, so if if there's no movement ask them to go back and listen to the original call.

If you were offered £31.99 all in and you agreed to that, that's what you should be paying.

The only problem with this is you have to be 100% confidence that you were told £31.99 all in and that you didn't mishear it, which is plausible.

Otherwise use your cooling off to go back to the position you were in before.

DrMarsh

They confirmed what the £31.99 covered when I explicitly asked if this was BB, phone, TV and Sport. Also almost certain that they read this all back to me in the T&Cs patter at end of call. 
They have already re-listened to the call and are now stating that the agent was wrong in offering me that deal, so clearly they did tell me that the charge included all four things during that call.

southsidergs

So it appears then the complaint here is "An advisor made a mistake but what he said should be binding" We all make mistakes & as rubbish as it is clearly they can't give you the offer you think they should or they would & a verbal contract is not binding, maybe just cancel if you've still got time & you feel that highly about it but there's no way they have to honour a verbal agreement

QrizB

southsidergs said:

... a verbal contract is not binding,...

That's an interesting interpretation of contract law.

Can I ask where you live, as it clearly isn't anywhere within England and Wales?

Farway

QrizB said:

southsidergs said:

... a verbal contract is not binding,...

That's an interesting interpretation of contract law.

Can I ask where you live, as it clearly isn't anywhere within England and Wales?

Just an aside, supposedly a quote by Sam Goldwyn, "a verbal contract is not worth the paper It's written on"

For a bit more guidance, try here

https://saracenssolicitors.co.uk/business-clients/commercial-litigation/is-a-verbal-contract-a-valid-contract/

phillw

Farway said:
Just an aside, supposedly a quote by Sam Goldwyn, "a verbal contract is not worth the paper It's written on"

For a bit more guidance, try here

https://saracenssolicitors.co.uk/business-clients/commercial-litigation/is-a-verbal-contract-a-valid-contract/

That is because you have no record of the conversation, it's your word against theirs.

Except in this case, the call was recorded "for training purposes" and they have said that the customer service agent should not have promised it.

I would phone up and complain about the complaint being closed and point out that it's not your fault that the agent promised something they could not deliver.

Presumably the agent knew at the time of the call because they would have entered the details into BT's system and it would have given them the price. If this is not the case and BT allow their agents to say any number they feel like, and then BT's system just bills what the company wants, then I would raise a complaint about that too.

If BT's systems allows these mistakes then they should fix the system and not have the customer lose out (the price they are charging now is supposedly higher than the advertised deal at the time of the call).

Going to the ombudsman will cost them £400 whether you win or lose. If they don't cave then I'd push it through the ombudsman to teach them a lesson regardless.

southsidergs

Jesus wept, nobofy is allowed to make a mistake these days it seems!