I called BT to arrange for a engineer visit as there was no Phone socket/line in my business premises. There was no wiring at all in the premises apart from the 3 tube lights and 2 plug sockets. Initially BT told me they will send an engineer down and they shall fit the phone socket and i will not be charged for this as im a new customer.
2 weeks later, its the day of the engineer visit. I recieved no email, no contact from BT as to when or what time engineer will be arriving. So i called them, they told me the engineer visit has been cancelled as on open reach system it says i already have a telephone line in the premises. I explained this on the initial phone call to BT, as they had said the same thing at that time. I was very frustrated but spoke to someone from managment who assured me there had been an error and they will get an engineer down as soon as they can.
The BT person i spoke to ‘Manjeet’ then started telling me i need to sign a contract which he sent me through sms. I asked him why they are making me sign this contract now when the initial engineer visit did not have me sign a special contract for an engineer to come visit. The BT colleague was very pushy for me to sign this contract withlut even reading it. I read it and it was full of charges they will charge if xyz happens. I told him i will not sign no such contract because i am not paying a single penny. We are getting copper line broadband because there is no fibre. We do not want to spend any extra money, as it is a new business which has not opened yet, and we want to kwep our costs as low as possible. I was assured by Manjeet we will not be charged a single penny and that this is just part of the process. I still did not agree and was aggressivley pushed by manjeet to sign this. I was told by manjeet, if there is no telephone line/socket in the premises, then i would not be charged for the fitting of a new one. I told manheet to ring me in 1 hour as i will go to the premises and double check as o dont want any charges on my account. After 1 hour i confirmed with manjeet that there is no wiring nor a socket for a telephone line. signed the contract and was assured by manjeet i would not be charged a single penny.
2 days later the engineer visits the premises, there is no line/wiring for the socket so the engineer pulls some cables from the street outside, runs them across the 2 shops sign boards. (card factory and william hill) and drills a hole through my shop front, and runs a new set of wires into the back of the premises. He also drilled straight through a set of stairs and a wall. Card factory are upset that all wires can be seen on there sign board and i have holes in walls and stairs that should not be there. However, i did not make a big deal out of it as i thought atleast telephone line problem has been sorted out. Lo and behold 2 weeks on, i recieved a charge on my account of £596.. 🙄 Wait what? what for? apparantley the engineer has written in his report he was on site for over 3 hours (not true) and had identified there was wiring which had been ‘cut/slashed’ (not true) due to plastering. Absoloutley ridiculous. The engineer spent half his work time sat in costa next door. There was no wiring in the premises, and plastering has just been done on the ceiling. Mr engineer ran wiring from outside in a extremely shoddy fashion over 2 companies signboards into my premises. So even though i was assured i will not be charged a single penny, i have been charged £596 for made up faults by an engineer from BT. I rung BT and they told me the engineer has written this in his report. I said its all lies. Bt have told me to wait 3 days and Manheet will ring me as he was the inital complaint handler. I have not even plugged the system in yet as shop is going through a refurbishment process and i already have 5 complaint reference numbers and a £596 bill.. i hate to think what will happen when i actually start using the system. The broadband and line is £17/month. they have charged £596 which is nearly 3 years the amount. And i havent even started using the system. I will go through ombudsman if they will not refund me. I can get written proof from the landlord and my own electrican as to the lies stated by BT engineer and manjeet.
