Bt callout charges (merged threads)

sschandoo

Please bear with me on this as rather long.


We called BT on the 19th of November to ask about a fault on the line - crackling sound. BT did a line test and said no issue. We called again on the 21st of November citing the same and were told an engineer will be sent out to us. My wife specifically asked if there would be a charge and was told that if the fault was with the main BT socket, then no charge would be levied. On this basis, we agreed to an engineer coming round. We were not taken through any test to determine if the fault was a BT (main socket) issue or a fault of ours.


On the day of the scheduled visit, no enginner called round. Wife called to ask why and we were told there was an Openreach problem somewhere and all engineers were dealing with this. Another appt scheduled but same thing happened again. Another appointment scheduled (26 November) and this time an engineer called round and brought someone with him for training purposes.

Engineer tested the line and said he heard a crackling sound and got the trainee to verify. He proceeded to look at the main socket. When he enquired about whether any other telephones were connected i said 'no' as all other phones were cordless so only connect via a 3 pin plug to the walls. Only things connected to a BT line and thus the socket were the main phone and broadband modem. The alarm and sky were connected to a BT socket. I noted that the Alarm company had already come round and found no fault on the dedicated part which they service - and the BT engineer stated he has no authority to look at their connection so left it alone in any case - but he noted there was no problem with the sky connection purely on the basis that sky was still working and on when he and his colleague came round. The modem was an issue because of the "fault" (engineers words, not mine) on the line.

Engineer opened the main socket box and said connections were OK. He then closed it up and re-tested the line. Said it was OK and left. I picked up the phone (the one connected to the main socket) to call my wife and heard a loud crackling; ran outside to grab the engineer before he left and said the fault is still there and he hadm't fixed it. From his van he called the number to test for line faults and confirmed the problem was still there and was surprised he didn't pick it up before he left the house. He came back in and said only thing left to do was to adjust the wiring going into the main socket - he broke into a piece at the top of the main socket box and fed the BT wire into that point (i.e. moved its position). Re-tested the line and it seemed to have been OK.

As he left, he said (without prompt) there would be no charge this time round (confirming what we had been told before the call out was booked) but that if the same fault happened again there could possibly be a charge. I was not asked to check the report he drafted up or to sign anything, despite asking if i needed to sign anything.

This morning (30th December), i got the on-line bill, which showed a call out charge of £127.99. Called the 151 number and first spoke to a gent called Sandeep (india call centre, i think). Explained the problem but all he could offer was a transfer to a colleague (Jill / Jo - English telephone customer service assistant). Again, explained the problem as noted above and was told the following:

(1) BT is only in charge of the main socket box and not the wiring inside the main socket box;
(2) Engineer reported the fault as being with the extension wiring - i explained this was rubbish as no extension was checked and nothing is connected to any extension (except for sky which the engineer said had no fault without checking it);
(3) The wire feeding into the box from the outside is not something BT maintains - i said this was rubbish as how would the box work if nothing was being fed into it; i also re-iterated the fact that all the engineer did was re-position the wire connecting into the socket. Nothing else was touched. If the engineer said that by touching the wire it would cost then i would have told him to leave it alone.
(4) It is not BT policy for the Engineer to confirm what he has done for the customer and doesn't need to show the report to the customer to confirm all is correct before sending it to us (i.e. to BT).

Conversation went round and round in circles and when i asked to speak to someone more senior she said she was the one. She kept repeating that the engineer had no authority to talk about charges and then at the end of it all said BT wouldn't have confirmed there was no charge until we come out to check the fault. I said this was rubbish as it implied that an engineer will come out and assess if a charge is necessary and tell me about a charge and give me the option to go ahead. Therefore, point 4 above in itself was incorrect. She couldn't explain further.

Got to a point in the conversation when she said she would get a manager to call me back in 24 hours (strange given that she said she was the manager i needed to speak to) to discuss the matter but said it would do no good as he/she will simply explain the same. I said i'd wait for the call.

Gareth (manager) called on 31 Dec, at approx. 9.15am, to say that the Engineer's report stated that he worked on extension wiring attached to the back of the front plate of my main socket. Gareth explained that this is not the responsibility of BT. When i explained that all the engineer did was move a wire connecting into the main socket, Gareth noted that this was extension wiring and therefore i am to be charged the fee of £127.99.

When i asked why i wasn't shown a copy of the report he simply said it is not our policy. When i asked why the lady who we booked the appointment with said that there would be no charge for work on the main socket i was told BT wouldn't say that.

I have asked for a copy of the engineer report to be sent with me and Gareth said he would also enclose a letter telling me why the charge will stand. Have to wait 5-6 days. Once i have this, i will also request a copy of the transcript relating to our original call (i understand BT record all incoming calls and not outgoing).


yesterday, after reading more of what happened to other people on other forums, thought i'd call Gareth back to check a few things. Got through to a guy in India who transferred me to his Supervisor (Udai Singh) who introduced himself as the Floor support manager.

I requested him to put me through to the Complaints team, telling him i already had a conversation with Gareth, and he said that Gareth and the rest of the complaints people work off line only and would not be available to speak to me. I then asked for his name and designation and he said the following:

Udai Singh
Customer Service Executive
Billing Enquiries India

When i queired his post as Floor Support manager / supervisor (as noted to me by his colleague) he ignored the question. I requested to speak to his manager and was put through to another gentleman (in India) who refused to give me his name but said he was the Manager for Customer Service and Complaints for the whole of BT. He aso assured me that i was speaking to the correct team regarding my complaint. Again, i requested to speak to Gareth or even an English call centre person but was refused. I asked to speak to Adam, a gentleman at BT who had previously dealt with someone else on a few days before, on the same matter, and was told neither Adam or Gareth were available - for upto one week as they were on holiday.

He clearly hadn't read the notes as he was taken aback by the fact that Gareth had called me just this morning.

He then provided the address for where to write to (BT PLC, Correspondence Centre, Durham, DH98 1BT) and said i could contact them there to progress matters.

Like Udai, he too, refused to tell me what the complaints procedure is citing that Gareth's notes had said the charge sticks and that was that and i had no recourse. He further said that maybe someone would call me back later but couldn't tell me when.


This is my story so far.


If you have a problem on the engineer call out, i would strongly recommend that you post your comments on the BT forum as well as on here and use the forum as a memo of your dealings with them. I have, thankfully, been in touch with a BT Moderator who said she will help with my query and get it investigated. Hopefully, something will come out of it.

Unfortunately, as i am a newbie posting info i cannot provide the link. However, if you go to the BT site, then to Help page and to Forums - you can see there are a fair number of posts on the engineer call out issue.

My contract with BT is up for renewal and am wondering if i should stick with them for another 12 months or move my line rental and calls over to another company such as sky. Any forum member opinions on my options on both matters would be great.

spike7451

Sschandoo;

(1) BT is only in charge of the main socket box and not the wiring inside the main socket box;
(2) Engineer reported the fault as being with the extension wiring - i explained this was rubbish as no extension was checked and nothing is connected to any extension (except for sky which the engineer said had no fault without checking it);
(3) The wire feeding into the box from the outside is not something BT maintains - i said this was rubbish as how would the box work if nothing was being fed into it; i also re-iterated the fact that all the engineer did was re-position the wire connecting into the socket. Nothing else was touched. If the engineer said that by touching the wire it would cost then i would have told him to leave it alone.
(4) It is not BT policy for the Engineer to confirm what he has done for the customer and doesn't need to show the report to the customer to confirm all is correct before sending it to us (i.e. to BT).

1- BT are responsible for all wiring & connections from the exchange to the NTE5 Master socket.This includes the wiring in the main section of the master socket.

2- BT engineer should have checked the line with the extension face plate connected & then disconnected,this rules out faulty extensions as if the fault is gone with the faceplate removed,it's the extensions are the cause.If it's still there with the faceplate removed,it's on the BT line BACK towards the exchange & FULLY BT's responsibility.

3-BT engineers talking out of his hoop!It stands to reason that if the main part of the master socket is BT's responsibility,then the wires are too.HOWEVER extensions running off the faceplate are not BT's responsibility unless fitted by BT.

4- Should be,but isn't.

I was able to help Skintlass get the charges reversed for here,I suggest you have a read at the thread below as the is some useful info & links in my posts that you can use.

HTH,

Spike

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2855286

mm289

When will someone call BT to account on this I wonder - I have logged this with Consumer Direct which forwards all logged cases to Trading Standards so here's hoping.

We have 2 lines into our property, both domestic but one is broadband and I use the other for a fax machine.

Episode #1: Had problems with the broadband line beginning of Jan and called BT to report fault. After a variety of tests and having to call 3 times they agreed there was a fault on the line and informed me they would send an engineer out - but if the fault was in the house I would be charged.

Engineer turned up an found fault 2 telegraph poles away and also on the line to our house. Spent 4 hours replacing line and working down the road.

Then left saying he had tested 2nd line and it was OK.

To date broadband and first line has been OK and no callout charge recieved.

Episode #2: Next day checked the second line and no dial tone Called BT fault number who confirmed fault with line, called out engineer and got same warning that if fault was in the house I would be charged.

Engineer arrived, confirmed fault and spent about 30 mins trying to find it. Eventually found that the external BT line they had pinned to the bargeboard around the house to the master socket was faulty and spent about 2 hours (in the rain again) replacing it.

Fault was cured, line works ok - then get charge for £130 :mad:

Episode #3:
1.Called billing centre and told charge cannot be refunded as I had been told I would incurr a charge - explained this was not so as the terms had been "charge if fault found to be inside house or with your equipment" and the actual fault was on the BT cabling outside the house. Indian operator was very "terse" and intransigent, asked to speak to a supervisor, put on hold and line went dead.
2. Called back the next day, different operator who was more helpful, and said they would investigate the engineers notes to see what work had been done. Booked a call back for later that day which never arrived. 2 weeks later have heard nothing.
3. Called billing centre again today, explained situation and told Openreach are not part of BT and BT have no control over there charges so cannot refund. Explained the situation and again was told the charge could not be refunded as I had called an engineer so therefore incurred a charge. Asked to speak to a supervisor, put on hold, then original operator returned, said a supervisor was not available but had confirmed the advice already given.
4. Only option now is to write to BT Correspondence Centre.

Episode #4: Spoke to Consumer Direct who advise writing to BT Call Centre and advise that BT are in breach of an "express term of contract" although this would be very difficult to prove as it was a verbal contract.

I will now try the e-mail to Ian Livingston as mentioned above, but given the volume of people on here and on BT forums complaining about this underhand practice SURELY it must be time a consumer organisation takes up this issue.

The BT approach is denial with NO ESCALATION possible, unless you want to resort to a lengthy snail mail correspondence with the Correspondence Centre - hardly digital age!!

Any thoughts? Will update on progress with Ian Livingston.

Cheers,

MM