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Having been a BT customer for years with very few problems, I signed up for an all-inclusive broadband and telephone package in December 2006, though only after a fair amount of research, plenty of advice, and an assurance that what I was getting was suitable for my requirements.
Six months and two bills later, I was still being billed for my telephone calls on top of my supposedly all-in fee. Repeated calls to BT trying to find out what the problem was got me next to nowhere. On one day I was on the telephone to them for a total of five hours. I was constantly shoved from department to department, with the people either not being able to help me at all, telling me that it wasn’t their area and putting me on to someone else, or telling me to ring back on a different number. Each of these took ages, what with going through the various automated procedures and then long waits each time before I got to speak to anyone. On one occasion I got an automated procedure which after four or five prompts and answers then told me that I wasn’t a BT customer at all, and proceeded to cut me off. Sometimes the people I spoke to were in this country, and so I was at least able to communicate with them in a satisfactory manner, but on other occasions they were clearly many continents away, at the end of a crackly line and with a less than brilliant grasp of English. One of these had such a strong local accent that I couldn’t understand at all what he was saying sometimes – he seemed to be asking me about ‘Ryvita’.
To be fair, BT were perfectly prepared to refund the money I had been erroneously charged for my calls, but no one seemed to be able to give me a genuine explanation as to what the underlying problem was – I was given all sorts of advice, entailing continually altering my set-up, getting new cables and filters, all of which ended up festooned around my flat, and still I was getting billed for my calls. Not to mention all the wasted time, and the simple stress of it all.
Contacting OFCOM, I was given a new BT number to ring, but when I tried this I again got an automated procedure which told me that I wasn’t a BT customer and then cut me off. A further call to OFCOM gained me a different number for BT complaints. I had to hang on to this for an hour (with an automated message about how busy that number was – surprise, surprise), before it was answered, only to be told that no, it wasn’t the complaints number at all, that indeed there was no such number, and that if I wanted to complain I had to write a letter. The final irony was that I had in fact got through to the department responsible for people who were leaving, or returning to, BT.
Eventually I managed to speak to someone at BT who was prepared to go right through everything that had happened to me from the start, at which point I was told that I had in fact been mis-sold a package that was never going to work with my existing set-up. There was no willingness on BTs part to try and sort this out, and indeed when I said that in that case I was going to leave and find a different supplier they were perfectly happy not only to refund me everything that I had paid, but to throw in a bottle of wine as a gesture of contrition.
Even that didn’t go quite to plan: I had another lengthy battle to actually get my money back, it came in assorted dribs and drabs which didn’t seem to bear all that much resemblance to what I had originally paid, and I even got sent two bottles of wine. I’m now with TalkTalk. They aren’t exactly great either, but they are half the price.
I’m not sure that too much of all this is broadband’s fault, or even BT’s (though they could surely sort out their customer service a bit, and tighten up on their salesmen), but mostly the lack of regulation. Whatever happened to the basic principle of supplying a service?
By: Steve Dent
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as you say, you are on benefits. Do you think BT will fit a line and provide all of these services when there is a possibilty that you won't cough up or that you will then go to another provider once you've had a line fitted. It's called business. Why do you think no other company will fit the line for you for free when they can get BT to do it for them and then just sit back and take your money. Why don't you try Virgin instead if you don't rate BT ?
£50 bond (for being poor and having bad credit)
£130 from first monthly deductions to pay for re-installment of line.
£6 first monthly deduction for delivery fee of the router and equipment
£13.50 line rental for first month
£7.50 for first payment of broadband
TOTAL: £207.00
BEFORE I am even connected
BT are laughing all the way to the bank.
NICK RICKETTS
how the hell do I prove I signed up to this deal , initally I rang Bt for a MAC number to transfer to a Sky Package & it was them who persuaded me to sign up to this broadband & anytime calls package , just before it was advertised on tv as an " Autumn " special
I reside and live in High Wycombe, according to BT I live in an area that uses antiquated exchanges, copper wires and living about 4 miles from the antiquated telephone exchange give me very poor broadband service, experiencing daily and numerous BB drop outs. Complaining to BT , getting any help is a complete waste of time. BT could not care less, it seems is entirely my fault that I live in an area with an Antique telephone exchange.BT charge me huge amounts of money for an inferior service . all the other BB suppliers rely on BT, so thanks to BT my small business is suffering and BT could not care less!
They still ensist you must pay up front for a service that is poor or in our case has no connection!
All I can say is that you will get the run around,But be firm and very hard about your'e rights and do not let them charge for phone calls and hit them with time out of you're time!
I will not pay yet untill I get some pay back as many at work have had the same treatment from "A BRITISH COMPANY"
I wish I had never singed up to this losy service. tell everyone DON'T GO WITH BT like the rest of british industry they are just NO GOOD I SAY AGAIN DON'T GO WITH BT
K L Basker