Returning to BT but terrible service makes you think twice

[steveb]

I was approached late last year by a bt salesman who quoted me costs for returning to BT. At this time I was within contract and told him penalties to get out were preventing me from returning now but when out of contract I would look at it again. I cancelled my contract at that time and considered return to BT to be a straightforward, painless option. How wrong could I be!!!

I applied online with two orders

1 no Line @ £41.95 per month including Broadband, Calls and Line and free router

1 no Line @ £14.45 per month including Line and 500 mins of Calls

Instead of receiving email confirmation I received a delivery status notification failure. I phoned up to find out what had happened and was told there was no order on the system.

I was put through to [*personal details removed as contravenes forum guidelines*] who I was told could manually process the orders.

Speaking to [*personal details removed as contravenes forum guidelines*] she agreed to honour the online deal on the free router and said that to prevent complications with the lines moving back they would sort the broadband first on Thursday 26th February then do the work on the lines Friday 26th or Monday 1st March. She said she would keep on top of it and keep me informed. The Broadband was successfully set up and the time past.

A bill came for broadband and I was charged £79 for the router. I logged on to the account area and only broadband was showing on my account. I rang up to check and there was no order for the lines outstanding.

After arguing with other sales people that said they could find out who had put the original order through, they eventually provided me with [*personal details removed as contravenes forum guidelines*] contact number. The last thing I wanted was to have to explain the whole lot to someone else!

Her explanation was that orders can be rejected up to three times before being successful. Sounded like bull**** to me and what irritated me was that she was supposed to be seeing the order through. She also said she would arrange for the router cost to be credited. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and she provided me with her email address to contact her easier than calling.

We arranged that I would email in a few days for an update to see how the orders were progressing.

I emailed....................No response!!!

I called ...................... Ahh whats this in my Spam folder says [*personal details removed as contravenes forum guidelines*]

Ok fair enough, annoyed but understand the mistake. She tells me it has been rejected again and gives me a reference number this time and also that if it is rejected again then she will speak with her manager and they will make it happen.

I check out the reference number in tracking in my account area and it says your order is progressing please check at another time, we will contact you if there is a problem. Ok fair enough, I later found out that is the same response as if you had entered 99999999999999999999999999999999999999 so in other words more bull****!

Every time I email [*personal details removed as contravenes forum guidelines*] I get no response for days and I end up calling again and ask if she's forgotten me!

Apparently no she hasn't she says, I presume she just can't move her fingers to reply to my messages. She tells me that now someone is seeing it through and gives me a different order number which this time checks out!!!

But I shouldn't get too excited as in BT mumbo jumbo it looks like an order for one line:

Summary of your order

Products & services included :		BT Business Phone Line 1 of TEL LINE ON NTE 2 YEAR TERM 1 of WLR WIN BACK 1 of SON BUSINESS DEFAULT
Date of order :		26 March
Estimated service start date :		13 April

I email [*personal details removed as contravenes forum guidelines*] to confirm the two lines and packages are ordered at 4:15 yesterday and even now no reply. Disgusting service! My blood is boiling, I am banging my head against a brick wall and the router not credited despite many reminders.

About 11am this morning I have had a phone call from BT saying that 1 of my lines is being returned to BT in the next 10 days, I said don't you mean 2 lines and after a bit of umming and ahhing and me telling him the other line number he says yes 2 lines. This doesn't inspire me with confidence! He provides me with a different number and when I check it is the same summary as the above but with a date of order of yesterday and service start date of a few days later still.

Answers on a postcode please - If there's enough room!:

HAS [*personal details removed as contravenes forum guidelines*] SCREWED UP MY ORDER AT LEAST ONCE?

WHY DOES IT TAKE 10 DAYS TO RETURN A LINE TO BT?

WILL BOTH MY LINES BE RETURNING TO BT AS REQUESTED NUMEROUS TIMES?

WHAT PACKAGES DO YOU THINK I WILL BE ON?

WILL MY ROUTER EVER BE REFUNDED? yes just done, too little too late

AM I MAD TO BE GIVING BT MY BUSINESS?

To end my rant I will finish by saying the BT caller today provided me with the 0800 800 152 number if I had any questions which is the same number apparently for complaints according to your contact us page. Well you don't offer complaints or anything remotely close to it in your annoying menu systems and as soon as it detects your line is not currently with BT it cuts you off before you can speak to anyone about anything!

BT YOU NEED TO SORT YOUR ACT OUT, YOUR SERVICE IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE

[Tracey]

Hi Steveb,

I apologise for the problems you have been having, can you please private message me with your details and I will get this passed on for you.

Thanks in advance

Tracey

BT Forum Moderator

[steveb]

Approx 3 weeks have passed and now order tracking tells me one order has been successful we have one line with BT and the other line order has been cancelled again!!!!

I have sent my details to Tracey but nothing has happened. If anyone is out there I need help to get this sorted. 

[Fiona]

Hi Steveb

I'm sorry that no one has contacted you as yet, we have requested your issue be looked into. I will chase this up this morning and find out what is happening.

Kind regards

Fiona

BT Business Forum Moderator

[Conbey37]

Hi Steveb

I have been in dispute with BT for nearly 12 months with them promising to resolve all the problems I have and still this has not been done.  I get passed to offshore who do nothing except cut me off and are rude when they can't resolve the problem.  If I get onshore to do it they tell me one thing and do another.  The amount of problems I have and have had range from incorrect setting up of accounts and contracts then not cancelling old accounts. Moving house and cancelling the contract then re-starting a new contract then charging me for it.  In the process of this not having broadband for 41/2 weeks out of the first 6 weeks - I fixed the fault after 2 engineers came to the house and could not fix the problem - switching off my email accounts, which I found out because clients were ringing me asking if I was still still trading. The VOIP number has never worked at my new address so I have given up on that.  I have phoned 2 to 3 times a week to which now I have given up and will not speak to any one as they are rude and a waste of space.  I have written to complain but have had not replies from the central complaints department in Durham.  They have taken money from my bank account which cannot be accounted for - no invoice - and to which the explanation I was given made the agent think it was funny because he believed it was from an old account of over 4 plus years ago when I was with them before I left - yet another long story.  I have had enough and yes the threatening letters to send in debt collectors for unpaid bills etc.

All I want is someone at the top of BT to read these emails and do something about the intolerable service that I and others like me are receiving from BT.  I made a big mistake coming back to BT and cannot wait to leave, which I will do when I have sorted out the billing. Just to add, in all of this I have had no letter of apology.

[Alun]

Hi Conbey37,

I am really sorry to read about the problems you have been experiencing. These forums are for BT Business customers to discuss how to get the most out of their BT Business products and services with other customers. If you are a BT Residential Broadband customer then you can look at the Residential Forums here, they may be able to assist you with the problems you are experiencing with your accounts. If you are a BT Business Broadband customers please Private Mail me your Business Broadband details and we can ask for someone to look into this.

Kind Regards,

Alun

BT Business Support Forum Moderator

[G4G]

Hi Thanks for all the info. I was thinking of bringing my business line back to BT from virgin. Searched for 'return to bt' on website nothing for business, rang bt who passed me round lots of people finally got to someone who knew how the system worked & it's really difficult if you want to keep the business No. apparently. Reading your problems I think I'll stay where I am. I'd expect the bt website to have detailed instruction on the procedures required to return but I get the impression that they're not really bother, to much trouble for them. Hey 'Spell Check' does not recognised 'bt' suggests BTL, says it all!