Problems with BT phone and broadband
I moved about 3 months ago and asked BT to take my number to the new address - you would think this was a simple task seeing as I have been with them for two years already. I was told it would be connected the day I moved in and do you think it was? No, of course not!
So I rang and asked what was happening and was told that it would be done within 24 hours. I thought fair enough and left it at that. Well I can tell you that it didn’t take 24 hours, it took nearly two weeks of constant calling and waiting for engineers to come round to finally get my phone fixed up.
To make matters worse, they often either didn’t turn up at all or turned up when I wasn’t expecting them to. Bear in mind that all the time I was calling BT I had to use my mobile phone and you can’t call free phone numbers from a mobile.
Anyway it was all sorted so I decided to get broadband installed. First of all I went with AOL, but BT kept refusing the order so I scrapped that idea and just decided to go with BT as most internet providers use BT equipment anyway. Well it took ages for them to connect it all up but eventually they did.
It is impossible to talk to anyone as I just can’t hear anything and as for my BT broadband, well that keeps disconnecting every few minutes. This is a nightmare; again I have been on the phone nearly every day and have had several engineers round telling me there is no problem!
What am I supposed to do?
Comments from visitors
Their 1571 service was scheit. They had more 40 years to modernise properly. They failed to do so. I hope they sink.
The BiTter End - 10-May-11 20:58
Three weeks ago, at the end of January, I rang the ‘Provision of service enquiries’ number on the back of my latest bill. After several minutes of menu chasing I was told that I was in a queue and my ‘Call will be answered as soon as possible’. I waited until the ‘phone had rung over 200 times (interspersed with the same message), and yes, I was counting.
I rang the same number three or four times each day for the rest of the week with the same result. At the end of the week, Friday February 4th, I wrote to the BT Correspondence Centre in Durham (address on the back of the bill).
To date I have had neither acknowledgement of nor a reply to my letter.
I tried the ‘Provision of service enquiries’ number on Saturday February 5th as it claims to be available 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday. A recorded message told me it is in fact available 8.30 to 5.30 Monday to Friday.
The following week I again rang the ‘Provision of service enquiries’ number two or three times every day, went through the interminable menu and again waited until the ‘phone had rung over 200 times, but never got an answer.
On Monday 14th February I eventually got a reply and cancelled the ‘phone line.
On Monday 21st February, today, I checked and found that the line is still active.
Once again the ‘helpline’ wasn’t answered for over an hour : when I did get through the person I spoke to told me that she could only deal with bill enquiries and put me back into the queue to wait for a different ‘adviser’.
These people are staggeringly incompetent and contemptuous of their customers.
MISS ANDREAOWEN - 9-Feb-11 23:48
I want to be able to turn 1571 call minder off. The telecom users in New Zealand can do it themselves. BT says
Can I turn BT Answer 1571 off and on like an answer machine?
No it is not possible to turn BT Answer 1571 off unless you cancel the service. This ensures that you need never miss an incoming call. With the service always enabled on the line you do not have to worry as to whether you have remembered to turn BT Answer 1571 on.
I want to turn it off. I do not want a lecture. I want it off when I want it off.
BT is Bad Business - 24-Oct-10 23:00
I rang them up, and no, they claimed not to have taken any money from my account since I moved - even though they clearly had. I gave them the details from my statements, including reference no's for each DD, but no, they still claimed they hadn't taken any money, and I would need to send them my bank statements for them to sort it out! (I'd already given them ALL of the info off the statements).
Instead I got the bank to reclaim the money (about £200) through the DD guarantee, and thought that was it.
However! I immediately got 4 (FOUR) letters in the space of 10 days demanding the £200 back (that they claimed they hadn't taken) for broadband services at my old address for service after I'd moved out, or they would take me to court!
I rang the number on their letter and guess what - it's out of service!
That number has a message to ring another number and that takes you to the wrong department. The girl in that department after 20 minutes of trying to get through her broken English said "I'll transfer you" and promptly cut me off.
I've emailed BT again, since they have given me no other way to contact them, and told them where they can stick their bill, and if they don't like that to take me to court.
I think this should be classed as harrassment - I clearly owe them nothing, the problem is in their archaic and frankly useless billing and records system, the fault is entirely theirs.
What if it were an old person they were threatening and trying to bully into handing over money - their heavy handed bullying and threatening attitude is akin to gangsterism and is shameful.





