Bt callout charges (merged threads)

wantmemoney

Scottydoggy wrote:

Engineer arrives tells me I have been struck by lightening blowing the line and repairs it within ten minutes.

doesn't the charge depend on which side of the box the 'line' was damaged.

Also if it was the wiring in the house that was damaged don't some house insurances cover that?

slangrish

please help,

we've just moved into a brand new place. called BT out to connect up our line which they did and all was great. then found out the extension socket that was also in the living room (as well as the original main socket) was not working so called BT and she said that if it was broken then i wouldnt have ot pay etc and assured me as it was a new build ie less than 12 months old it would all be free. Engineer came out and fixed the problem which was that the extension had not been connected up to the main socket and was just curled up wiring behind the main socket face area.
Then i get a bill for just shy of £400... £290 of which was call-out charges.. I was aware of the connection fee, but the rest I thinks ridiculous. At no point was I told it would cost me anything and if its a brand new place who's responsible for the original installation? Could it be BT deliberately not connecting it to begin with therefore earning more money on call-out charges. I called and complained and its being investigated, the person i spoke to insists i was told of a 'possible charge' regardless of whether actual figures were mentioned.. I think thats a shady get out at best. Please help! Where do i stand? If i'd known it was going to cost anything like theyre trying to charge me, Id never have called..

BritBrat

House got a warenty?

Most things you buy come with at least a years.

Rosieg1

I Recently had a fault on my BT line and was told that if the fault was inside my property i would be liable for a charge, but if it was on the outside BT would cover the cost, when the engineer arrived he found thet the wire had been trapped and this was causing the fault. I asked the engineer if there would be any charge and was told no, a few days later a bill arrived for £316 which of cause i have disputed after several phone calls, sometimes talking to people i have found difficult to understand, my bill has now been reduced 3 times twice in one telephone conversation, I am now left with a bill of £99, I feel it is unfar that i was never asked if I wanted to pay for this repair, given an estimate of how much it would cost and have been spoken to in a manner that left me feeling stupid, any advice availale?

a11waysindebt

You say the wire was trapped,but where was it trapped.

And welcome.

Rosieg1

Behind an extention at the side of the house

a11waysindebt

Rosieg1 wrote: »

Behind an extention at the side of the house

They should have gone through a fault finding service with you,such as plugging the phone in to the main box that comes in to your property or trying another phone to find out where the problem was.

A new extension would be around £5.00 maximum for a basic one,did he fit a new extension or just cure the fault.

You could argue or indeed I would argue that charging £316.00 :eek: for fixing an item worth £5.00 is excessive.

oap

Thank you for this interesting thread, I actually found it via Google.

Tonight got an e mail from BT as we are paperless, with our account, plus ninety nine pounds for a call out charge in November

Thisis crazy, we had crackling line, chap called, came in checked the box which is in airing cupboard,that was fine, had a look at the wire to the house, that was fine, went to end of garden, climbed telegraph pole where he found a corroded wire in our line in the box, he repaired it, the line has worked fine since and he said it wants renewing as its old,,this happened some years ago but nobody came back and we were not charged, he left a bright red sticker on the top of the pole and off he went.

We had been told when we phoned about the bad line that if it was our fault in our house we would be charged, but it was not a fault in the house, or in our phones or anything, so they will take this money on 1 January, we are furious, have sent them an e mail as cannot get through, but will try and ring tomorrow morning.

From what I read (should be in bed!!) cannot find anyone that has had this problem, we gave the chap a cup of tea, and he filled it all in on his lap top. He said there would be no charge. We are pensioners and having just found money for oil, cannot find another hundred pounds at this moment.

Best wishes oap

espresso

oap wrote: »

From what I read (should be in bed!!) cannot find anyone that has had this problem, we gave the chap a cup of tea, and he filled it all in on his lap top. He said there would be no charge. We are pensioners and having just found money for oil, cannot find another hundred pounds at this moment.

Best wishes oap

You should not have been charged for a fault on their line to your property. The easiest way to get your charge refunded is to send an e-mail to [EMAIL="ian.livingston@bt.com"]ian.livingston@bt.com[/EMAIL] explaining your complaint as per this post. He will assign the problem to one of his complaints team and it should be quickly resolved. It should not be necessary to contact the CEO like this but it definitely does work!

oap

Thank you for replying, well this morning at ten to eight phoned 150 and went over to India!! Polite chap and I could understand him, he said were you told there could be a charge, yes I said, however, went on to explain what had happened see above post, hold on he said, then he came back and said he had put in a request to have the whole bill put on hold, and they would look into it. I got his name and a reference number!!

Then I got a reply to last night's e mail, saying the same thing, ie they would refer it to the faults section and the broadband team, I have replied saying that it had nothing to do with broadband and I have Newnet not BT, and there was nothing wrong with my broadband, never has been. So I asked them to confirm they would not take the money on 1 January by d d. I might cancel the dd , thinking about it, I do not know if I can trust them, but thank you very much indeed for the link, will use it if I have to. Cheers, oap