| |
|
I wish to gripe about BT. So many things to gripe about, but I'll limit myself to just one. I left BT myself several years ago, found a cheaper, better deal elsewhere. But my mother has remained a loyal BT customer for the last 40 years or more. Convinced (tragically) that they're the premier telecoms company in the world, she wanted to use them for her first ever broadband connection.
|
|
My mother ordered their "BT Broadband Option 1" and duly received a confirmation call saying that she'd receive a modem in the post. She was delighted to hear this. The modem turned up as promised. So far, so good. Then comes a letter, promising that her broadband "activation date" would be Feb 19th at midnight, and she'd be able to connect any time after that. Mother's anticipation grew. She prepared herself for joining the 21st century with great delight. So, on Feb 20th, I rush over there, plug everything in, and follow every step of their instruction booklet perfectly. Mother waits in the other room, biting her nails.
It all comes down to seeing some lights on the BT modem: Power - yes! Wireless - yes! Broadband connection..... um, no.
Don't panic, I thought to myself. Just read the manual. I must have missed something.
|
|
|
After following all the stupidly patronizing "troubleshooting" steps (is it plugged in? duh. Switch it off and on again? duh. Does your phone have a dial tone? duh.) it becomes apparent that something else is wrong. So I'm down to the last, dreaded step in the "troubleshooting" list: "Phone BT Customer Services."
I knew at this point that crushing disappointment was moments away.
I took a deep breath and put in my call to I.T. (Indian Telecom, formerly known as British Telecom). The gentleman on the end of the phone sticks me on hold for 20 minutes before saying, "yes, sir, there is a delay on the activation of that line." I ask, what is the delay? He says, "I can only tell you that it's been delayed". I ask how long is the delay. He says, "I can give you a review date of Monday" (that's 3 days away). I say, "OK, so, it will be fixed by Monday then?" He says, "No, sir, you misunderstand... That's just a review date... We'll review by it then, we may not fix it by then." I express my utter disappointment is calmly as possible, and have no choice but to hang up and wait 'til Monday.
|
|
|
Poor mother is very upset and confused. She got a letter saying it would be connected yesterday, but it's not? Surely I'm mistaken? BT would have told her if there was a problem? No, I explain to mother, BT don’t tell anyone anything, ever. They've got your money now. That means they no longer care about you. The fact they admitted to knowing about the mysterious "delay" and didn't call to tell her, shows how little they care about customers.
|
|
Monday comes around. Connection still not active. I phone them again. What's the problem, I ask? Why still not connected? Have you reviewed it yet? "Oh, sir, it seems that your mother's broadband connection requires some manual intervention to activate it." What? Manual intervention? By who? "It requires an engineer to manually activate it, sir." OK, I say, steam coming out of my ears. So when will that happen? "Hold on... I'll check for you, sir..." - Here comes Vivaldi's concerto in B minor for 20 minutes - and then - "...Sir, sorry to keep you. Our engineers will start to investigate it no later than March 3rd."
What? That's 14 days after the "activation date". This isn't good enough. "I know, sir. I'm sorry." But I've now got to explain to my already heartbroken elderly mother that she has to wait 2 more weeks after you promised to activate it? "Yes, sir." That's not a very good start to her service, is it? Why couldn't BT have warned her of the delay, at least? "I know, sir. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Well, I ask, could you speed things up? She was all set for getting broadband on Feb 19th and you've let her down. "The best I can do, sir, is to call the engineers and see if there's any chance they can do it sooner." OK, I say, thanks for that. Then... silence. And.... more silence. And... tapping keys, and more silence... And more... Baffled, I ask if he's still there. "Yes, sir, I'm still here." So what are you doing? "I'll call the engineer now, sir. Please hold." - Vivaldi's concerto in B minor again for 10 minutes. "OK, sir, we will email the engineer and ask them to make it sooner. That's the best we can do."
Simply gob smacked, I hang up the phone.
By: Owen
|
View more comments on this gripe
|
|
