Chris W
19-05-2005, 11:48
Ok it is rant time! I have been very patient with BT but now it has got the better of me.....
At the beginning of April Ann's phone line (account is in my name) lost the dialling tone and didn't receive any incoming calls. The ADSL was still working fine. We checked the filters/ phone etc and concluded it must be the line so reported the fault through BT's website. Two days later a phonecall back saying that it is something inside the house and an engineer will need to visit. Ok no problem, appointment booked in.
The engineer came and resolved the problem- i was not there so had a phonecall asking where the phone line was, and i told the engineer. He seemed happy to do the work with Ann there (she has full access to the account) and an hour or so later so phoned me to say it was all working. Great! I thought..... yep it was all great until we received a bill for £135 for an engineers visit.... *gulp*.
I phoned BT and politely enquired why we had been charged, and was informed that it was because an engineer came. This confused me slightly as it was a fault on the line- so i couldn't see any reason for the charge. I was passed through 5 different departments and managed to establish that the engineers notes stated that it was customer damage to the socket and I had been informed of the charge, and infact signed the work order. Now, it would have been difficult for me to do that, seeing as I was 180miles away when the engineer visited. The damage was infact that the junction box that was used for the installation originally was broken and held together with electrical tape. I asked the install tech if this was a problem, and he said it would be fine- aparently given the fault, it was not fine.
The Agent I spoke to agreed to raise a dispute regarding the amount and I was told that I would get a call back within 3-5 days. I was told to pay the bill as normal, but not the £135 as this would not be due until the dispute was settled. Fine, cancelled the direct debit and made a switch card payment. This was on the 2nd May. Two days later.... can't make any outgoing calls..... phone them up again and was told that I hadn't paid the bill so there was a bar on the line. Explained the situation and the bar was lifted.
By last week I had called to chase this up as I had heard nothing, and spoke to someone who well... let's just say an expression involving a couple of not very long planks springs to mind. After i explained to her what a dispute was she mysteriously found it on the account again. She then put me on hold for a few minutes and said she had raised a dispute (i said "but wasn't there a dispute on there already?" but this seemed to be ignored or not understood.) I was informed I would have a callback within 3-5 days. Hmm... not holding my breath i thought. And sure enough, i heard nothing.
So today i decided to phone to chase it up again and the conversation went something like this:
***me: i was due a phonecall back regarding a dispute
***bt: yes you are... it is still open
***me: has anything been done about it?
***bt: no it is waiting for someone to have a look at it
***me: any idea how long that will take
***bt: no
***me: so what is actually happening? Is somebody investigating?
***bt: i'm not sure.
***me: well can you do anything to follow it up?
***bt: well i can put another note saying you phoned
***me: so i still have to wait for a callback?
***bt: yes
***me: how long for?
***bt: as long as it takes.
***me: how long does it normally take?
***bt: don't know.
***me: arrrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!
So 17 days later now and it appears that nothing has actually been done to sort this out....
The thing that really really takes the biscuit is that the "complaints" section of BT's website gives me this....
Safari canââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t open the page †œhttp://www.bt.com/customerservices/cust_details.jsp?parentcat=cs_complaint_service&childcat=linkcs_complaint_service_complaint_proced ureââ‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â. The error was: †œlost network connectionââ ¬Â (NSURLErrorDomain:-1005) Please choose Report Bug to Apple from the Safari menu, note the error number, and describe what you did before you saw this message.
Rant over now :) The question is... how long do i leave it before i make an official complaint?
At the beginning of April Ann's phone line (account is in my name) lost the dialling tone and didn't receive any incoming calls. The ADSL was still working fine. We checked the filters/ phone etc and concluded it must be the line so reported the fault through BT's website. Two days later a phonecall back saying that it is something inside the house and an engineer will need to visit. Ok no problem, appointment booked in.
The engineer came and resolved the problem- i was not there so had a phonecall asking where the phone line was, and i told the engineer. He seemed happy to do the work with Ann there (she has full access to the account) and an hour or so later so phoned me to say it was all working. Great! I thought..... yep it was all great until we received a bill for £135 for an engineers visit.... *gulp*.
I phoned BT and politely enquired why we had been charged, and was informed that it was because an engineer came. This confused me slightly as it was a fault on the line- so i couldn't see any reason for the charge. I was passed through 5 different departments and managed to establish that the engineers notes stated that it was customer damage to the socket and I had been informed of the charge, and infact signed the work order. Now, it would have been difficult for me to do that, seeing as I was 180miles away when the engineer visited. The damage was infact that the junction box that was used for the installation originally was broken and held together with electrical tape. I asked the install tech if this was a problem, and he said it would be fine- aparently given the fault, it was not fine.
The Agent I spoke to agreed to raise a dispute regarding the amount and I was told that I would get a call back within 3-5 days. I was told to pay the bill as normal, but not the £135 as this would not be due until the dispute was settled. Fine, cancelled the direct debit and made a switch card payment. This was on the 2nd May. Two days later.... can't make any outgoing calls..... phone them up again and was told that I hadn't paid the bill so there was a bar on the line. Explained the situation and the bar was lifted.
By last week I had called to chase this up as I had heard nothing, and spoke to someone who well... let's just say an expression involving a couple of not very long planks springs to mind. After i explained to her what a dispute was she mysteriously found it on the account again. She then put me on hold for a few minutes and said she had raised a dispute (i said "but wasn't there a dispute on there already?" but this seemed to be ignored or not understood.) I was informed I would have a callback within 3-5 days. Hmm... not holding my breath i thought. And sure enough, i heard nothing.
So today i decided to phone to chase it up again and the conversation went something like this:
***me: i was due a phonecall back regarding a dispute
***bt: yes you are... it is still open
***me: has anything been done about it?
***bt: no it is waiting for someone to have a look at it
***me: any idea how long that will take
***bt: no
***me: so what is actually happening? Is somebody investigating?
***bt: i'm not sure.
***me: well can you do anything to follow it up?
***bt: well i can put another note saying you phoned
***me: so i still have to wait for a callback?
***bt: yes
***me: how long for?
***bt: as long as it takes.
***me: how long does it normally take?
***bt: don't know.
***me: arrrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!
So 17 days later now and it appears that nothing has actually been done to sort this out....
The thing that really really takes the biscuit is that the "complaints" section of BT's website gives me this....
Safari canââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t open the page †œhttp://www.bt.com/customerservices/cust_details.jsp?parentcat=cs_complaint_service&childcat=linkcs_complaint_service_complaint_proced ureââ‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â. The error was: †œlost network connectionââ ¬Â (NSURLErrorDomain:-1005) Please choose Report Bug to Apple from the Safari menu, note the error number, and describe what you did before you saw this message.
Rant over now :) The question is... how long do i leave it before i make an official complaint?