Parents' BT package deal - want to have a rant and ask a question

hildasmuriel

This is a long rant - so just skip to the end if you just want to help with the question!

I have just found out that my stepdad has signed up to a BT package that is really unsuited to their needs.

Background: Mum is 92 and has dementia - still early stages but can no longer deal with money matters. Stepdad is only 77 but has NEVER dealt with money side of things. He was an old-fashioned man who brought home  his wages and handed it in full to my mum who dealt with everything. My sister and I try to keep an overview of things, but he swings between being needy and being defensive/prickly about money.

When the letter came that said their BT deal was about to end, we told him he should ring up to renew but NOT agree to anything new. 

Two months down the line, I find they have Full Fibre 900 with Halo 3+. They have Entertaiment, TNT Sports, HD and 4K and unlimited calls.

Monthly price £103.58

They only need the internet so they can watch BT TV so this seems excessive. They have a very ordinary TV so HD and 4K at £6 a month also seems a total waste.

I am so cross with both my stepdad for agreeing to it and the BT salesperson who sold them the package. It would be clear within 2 minutes of talking to my stepdad that he just doesn't understand this package or what was being proposed. But hey - salesperson gotta make their quota.

I realised the package included Netflix so thought at least they will gain something, but the only way to activate this is to go online on their BT account. Mum no longer remembers any of her logins or how to access her emails so we can't reset her password and do it for her.

TLDR: How can I activate my parents' Netflix on their BT TV when they can't access an online account to do it?

jackieblack

I feel your frustration. My dad, who has vascular dementia was ‘advised’ by a BT salesperson on the phone to upgrade to fibre - he only uses his iPad to look at the weather forecast and the BBC News website (he can’t remember how to do anything else) - when I phoned them to complain I was told that once the upgrade to fibre has gone through it’s not possible to change back to non-fibre (which was perfectly adequate and less than half the cost) 

This was several years ago so their tactics clearly haven’t improved since…

Auti

See if they qualify for any social tariff - pension credit perhaps as you can change to social tariff without penalty which would be much cheaper. Do you have LPA for them so that you can call and perhaps negotiate to take off the extra tv bits (think you can) other than that I am not sure sorry. (Maybe rip off Britain tv prog might be interested?

Brie

I'd be ringing up and asking to speak to their vulnerable customers team.  Most companies have something like this these days due to the difficulty certain individuals have navigating the complexities via the internet etc.  Let them know about your mom's situation and ask that they help resolve it.  Put in a complaint if they don't do anything.

pramsay13

is your stepdad happy with the package currently or does he recognise it isn't suitable?
They can register as vulnerable with BT and they have a dedicated team so worth speaking to them. 
To get Netflix you will probably need to access either their BT account or emails associated with it. If you can't access either you will need to either get BT to change the email associated with the account, or access the emails using forgot my password etc. 

hildasmuriel

Thanks for all the comments. I'm going to have to bite the bullet and phone BT, but I think they will probably refuse to speak to me as I'm not the account holder.

pramsay13 said:

is your stepdad happy with the package currently or does he recognise it isn't suitable?

In fairness, he probably doesn't think there is anything wrong with it but he has nothing to compare it with. He has never been on the internet and wouldn't know what a comparison website is. When I suggested he doesn't need such expensive internet, he told me " we don't have internet - we have ethernet, you see" because he has been told the cable connecting their TV is an ethernet cable. There is only so much that I can explain.......