Switching to BT - JJB Experiences

Seeing matthewcl375's experiences has prompted myself to start a similar thread!

I decided to jump ship, from O2, as I wasn't prepared to be palmed off to Sky!

Accordingly I decided to go to BT & was attracted by their Unlimited Broadband offer (incl 6 months free & a £100 Sainsbury's Card). (NB:- my Telephone Service is already with BT).

Having already got my MAC I went on-line, on Sunday, to place my order (which included upgrading to Unlimited Anytime Calls, plus a full year's Line Rental in advance).

On face value, everything went fine & I even got a subsequent email confirming everything.

However, I had some nagging doubts over a few issues:-
A) Despite spending some time checking my Line, it did NOT provide me with any estimated Speed details.
B) It hadn't asked if I had a MAC available.
C) For all intents & purposes, there was nothing in the Order confirmation that indicated that they were taking over a Broadband Service (rather it tended to imply that it was assuming a brand new provision).

Accordingly I thought it prudent to contact BT's Customer Service.

The guy that I spoke to, once he had looked up the details, was totally amazed.

As far as he could tell, the Order had modified by Telephone provision but NOT my Broadband. He also confirmed that I should have been asked for my MAC & I should have been provided with an estimated Line Speed.

He re-took my Order (incl MAC & confirming anticipated Line Speeds ****) & provided a new Order number. He also advised that I would be transferred on 3rd April. He also confirmed that I would be getting ALL of the Exclusive-Online-Offers (i.e. £100 Card etc)

Very shortly afterwards, I received a "Sorry-you-are-leaving" from O2 (effectively confirming that they were now formally aware of my leaving).

I will now wait to see if everything progresses appropriately.

As an aside, when I had initially spoke to O2 requesting my MAC, O2 did confirm that they did NOT require a separate Contract Termination Notice & that they work on the actual transfer date as arranged by the "Receiving ISP". The only stipulation was that this should NOT be within 7 days of receipt of my MAC (7 days being the minimum effective notice required). O2 also advised that any monies already paid for service pass the transfer date would automatically be refunded.

(****) -
I was advised that I should get:-
17Mb - Estimate download speed, within a 10Mb-19.5Mb Download speed range.

Hadn't received any specific confirmation on either the Order, the activation Date, etc. Accordingly I went online to check my Order:-

A) They have given me a [email protected] email address as my Order Contact Details - however, this doesn't become active until AFTER my BB is transferred (nor have I been given any login details), so how do they expect me to see the Order details?

B) Although I had ordered, as an extra, Anytime Calls, this was not shown.

C) Although I had ordered a Year's Line Rental "up-front", this was not shown.

D) etc

Have just spent 30mins on the phone getting clarification & correcting the errors.

Hopefully, I have now persuaded them to re-send an Order confirmation to my existing/permanent email address!!

Have just got home & received my Order Confirmation Letter.

If you recall I ordered the unlimited Broadband Package which is advertised at £16 per month (1st 6-months free). However, according to the Confirmation Letter, they are going to charge £18 per month (1st 6-months free)!!

Contacting BT I got put through to a Call-Centre Operator who was NOT prepared to listen! He wanted to discuss the Anytime-Calls option, the Line Rental upfront charge etc, etc, etc! But he didn't seem to listen - he just never got around to discussing why I was going to be over-charged.

After much "discussion" he eventually decided he needed to refer to someone, so he put me on-hold!

After a few minutes of being on hold, he then come back & started to explain the Anytime-Calls option, the Line Rental upfront charge etc, etc, etc AGAIN!!

Each time that he explained an item that was NOT relevant, I asked him to ONLY discuss the Broadband Charge - but he didn't take any notice.

Eventually I requested to be put through to a Supervisor, but he chose to ignore this & carried on about the Line Rental etc.

I again asked to be put through to a Supervisor - again he ignored me!

Finally (by this time the "steam" was starting to rise) I stated that he had a choice:- either put me through to a Supervisor or I will cancel the Order!!

This time he agreed to put me through to the relevant Department.

After a bit of holding, I was eventually put through to a Department in this country. After checking the records & listening to my query, the Lady confirmed that a "Wrong-Promotion-Box" had been ticked & that she would correct it.

Under the circumstances I thought that I'd better check that I was still going to get the £100 Sainsbury's Gift Card - which she confirmed!

Strewth, why are these things such hard work? Why don't Call-Centre Operators actually listen to & try to answer the ACTUAL Query/Complaint, rather than just trying to spout some standard "Script-Kiddy" responses? (NB:- this last point is a general criticism of a lot of Call-Centres, not just BT's!)

Yes they can prevaricate but they are also open to negotiation

It is all getting very frustrating!

I've just been on-line & I've notice that they have now changed the Order Date to today's date, despite the fact that I initially placed it last weekend!

Makes me wonder if I will have difficulties getting my £100 Sainsbury's Card!

Just how many more times do I have to chase up BT to get the correct Order placed on the correct date, with ALL of the correct Promotional benefits??

What I have found with BT (never had broadband with them only line rental) is to get all agreements in a text message, if dealing with an overseas call centre, or by e-mail if dealing with a UK call centre so that there is proof of the agreement.

It is odd though that overseas call centres like to use text messaging and UK call centres are happy to use e-mail.

Oh, and yes always deal with the supervisors and never hang-up until you speak to one especially if it is an overseas call centre.

I note that, according to the BT Web-Site, that my Hub & Welcome Pack were dispatched yesterday. Unfortunately, according to the Royal Mail Web-site, the Tracking Number has been allocated but they haven't yet received anything from BT!

Earlier today I received an Ansaphone Message, from BT, concerning my Broadband. Unfortunately the massage left was garbled & I couldn't understand it. However I did understand that they would be sending an email - although this has failed to arrive!

Hope it gets sorted soon otherwise it may not be possible to get through to a UK call centre before next Tuesday.

I had problems with my aunt's BT phone account and it took about a year to sort out and one occasion it took 3 months to sort out my own phone account. However I'm sure your problems will be addressed and rectified quicker than that - just remember they are always open to negotiation

@btinternet.com email is yahoo operated.

As per my previous posting, BT advised that they had dispatched the Home-Hub last Thursday, but Royal Mail had not received it.

Royal Mail eventually received it into their Yorkshire Distribution Centre mid-afternoon on Saturday.

Have just checked the Royal Mail site & noticed that the Home-Hub hasn't moved since Saturday afternoon!

Although it is still possible, it is starting to look as if I will not be getting my Home-Hub in time for the change-over, which is tomorrow!

In reply to a post by richarddawson:

@btinternet.com email is yahoo operated.

Thank you.

However the point I was makingwas that, according to the BT's Order Web Page, this doesn't become active until AFTER my BB is transferred - yet it is listed as being my Contact email for Order Updates - hence, how do they expect me to see these Order updates?

That means it was collected by RM from te BT site on Thursday and then sat in a van along with hundreds of others until they could be bothered to get their backsides into gear and do something!

I have just received a parcel - sent on 48 hour service last Tuesday! Did not deliver Thursay, had a day off Friday, could not be bothered to deliver with the other items on Saturday ...

That's nothing I had a letter delivered on Saturday (30-03-13) by RM that was dated 16-03-13 to which I had to respond within 7 days or a Magistrates Court action might be instigated with legal liability costs of £150.

Fortunately I was able to phone the organization advising me with this action on Saturday and get the matter cleared up. It was only about a gas safety check and RM could have caused me a lot of hassle.

As part of the errors, that BT were making, originally (although it was confirmed on the original email), they didn't order the Line-Saver Rental.

Last Wednesday, when I called in to check on the Line-Saver Rental, they insisted on taking my Credit Card details (apparently this should have occurred when they took my Order the previous weekend). When I queried about a receipt, they advised it would appear in the Payment Section on-line.

Today, when I check, there is no Payment shown.

I've just been on the phone, for over an hour, & was passed around the departments - with at least one rep stating that it wouldn't appear on the accounts until after my Broadband was activated!! Huh, this is Line-Saver, which is NOT linked to the Broadband because the Phone has been with BT for over 20 years!!

Eventually, someone admitted that BT's system had "mucked-up" & the Line-Saver Order had been auto-cancelled. Apparently a Credit was on its way back to my Credit Card - but BT have NO way to let you know!!

The Rep was quite prepared to take the Order again (with the provision of another payment) but I wasn't prepared too pay twice for the service!

This really is not going well!!

Appears problem is with Royal Mail, last week mine was at RM in Kent on Saturday but was kept there for 36hrs so arrived a day late. BB changed at 8am so no BB for the day.

Not sure why BT try and deliver on day of change would make sense to do it before.

Keith

In reply to a post by keithwjones:

Appears problem is with Royal Mail, last week mine was at RM in Kent on Saturday but was kept there for 36hrs so arrived a day late. BB changed at 8am so no BB for the day.

Mine was sat in Yorkshire, from Sat pm, until the early hours of this morning - hence I'm beginning to believe that BT specifically instruct Royal Mail not to deliver it early!

In reply to a post by keithwjones:

Not sure why BT try and deliver on day of change would make sense to do it before.

Keith

Totally agree with you!

I would have thought that "Common-Sense" (what a rare luxury, these days) would require it to be delivered the previous day, so that it can be unpacked, & any relevant Instructions understood, BEFORE anything was changed over!!

Bitter experience over many years has taught me NEVER to call BT about any issue. When I do have a problem ( about once a year seems to be their plan...) I simply email the UK based BT Help forum team.

Professional, knowledgable and have the power to get things done.

Simple way to save yourself a lot of grief.

In reply to a post by radiomarko:

Bitter experience over many years has taught me NEVER to call BT about any issue. When I do have a problem ( about once a year seems to be their plan...) I simply email the UK based BT Help forum team.

Professional, knowledgable and have the power to get things done.

Simple way to save yourself a lot of grief.

Thanks for the advice.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any specfic contact details for them (plus the fact that my queries were of the type that requires a rapid response).

It looks like I'm now, as of yesterday evening, connected & basically working! This is despite BT suddenly updating their Order Page (without any notification) that it would be delayed until today!

At the same time my [email protected] email address was activated & (surprise, surprise) BT had been trying to use that as my main Contact Email address for providing Order updates! Duh!!!

For some strange reason BT have arbitrarily decided that this is my prime contact, even though I've always logged into their Site (I'm an existing Telephone Customer) with my existing non-btinternet address.

For compatibility reasons, I've attempted to copy my Contacts into the Yahoo/btinternet site - fortunately I just managed to stop it in time as I discovered that the site was just about to send out an email (to ALL of my Contacts) instructing them to use the btinternet address in future - TOTALLY unacceptable!!

Still haven't sorted out the Line-Rental prepayment (i.e. the 1-year upfront rental)! This has been ordered, arbitrarily cancelled, ordered, arbitrarily cancelled, failed to order, ordered, money taken, arbitrarily cancelled, allegedly money being returned (no confirmation that it has been returned yet), etc, etc.

I really am totally confused at what BT are trying to do with this Line Rental!

Unfortunately I'm away from home, at the moment, & have had to leave everything to my son to sort out - hence I'm not able to finalise everything, nor run adequate comparison speed-tests.

The one main issue that I have is that the new BT Hub does not appear to want to connect to my existing Power Line Connectors (Devolo type dLAN® 200 - not BT supply). Unless there is some very strange incompatibility, this should be fairly straightforward as it is a simple Ethernet Connection (which should be plug-n-play). Obviously this will be one of my tasks for the weekend.

In reply to a post by johnjburness:

The one main issue that I have is that the new BT Hub does not appear to want to connect to my existing Power Line Connectors (Devolo type dLAN® 200 - not BT supply). Unless there is some very strange incompatibility, this should be fairly straightforward as it is a simple Ethernet Connection (which should be plug-n-play). Obviously this will be one of my tasks for the weekend.

Do they need a reset?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Do they need a reset?

You should still get a link light between an ethernet device (homeplug) and an ethernet switch (in the home hub) even if the software / encryption key between the two homeplugs is lost/corrupted.

First thing I'd check is that the hub and adaptor don't have the same Lan IP.

So far, it appears that I have a reasonable connection & it seems to be faster than the previous O2 connection.

My last O2 Speedtest

My first BT Speedtest

The results from the HomeHub are:-

Connection Information
Line state: Connected
Connection time: 0 days, 06:47:49
Downstream: 21.31 Mbps
Upstream: 1.148 Mbps

ADSL Settings
VPI/VCI: 0/38
Type: PPPoA
Modulation: G.992.5 Annex A
Latency type: Fast
Noise margin (Down/Up): 2.9 dB / 6.4 dB
Line attenuation (Down/Up): 8.5 dB / 5.0 dB
Output power (Down/Up): 20.0 dBm / 11.5 dBm
FEC Events (Down/Up): 0 / 0
CRC Events (Down/Up): 4 / 6
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
HEC Events (Down/Up): 32 / 2
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 8 / 12

That's exremely interesting, as to me it suggest upstream throttling. Which is what they did on P2P upstream 24/7 when downstream was only suppoosed to be throttled at busy times. Upstream throttling capable of course of affecting downstream P2P.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

That's exremely interesting, as to me it suggest upstream throttling. Which is what they did on P2P upstream 24/7 when downstream was only suppoosed to be throttled at busy times. Upstream throttling capable of course of affecting downstream P2P.

Throttling or swapping downstream and upstream freq's? Less upload on BT but more download. Could simply be down to different vendor DSLAM and how it approaches the bins used. Unless Annex M was enabled on the O2 line which should have worked on such an incredibly short line!

Edited by jchamier (Fri 05-Apr-13 23:54:05)

Yes, I thought that it was notable that the upstream throughput was significantly lower than the upstream sync speed, particularly when I was achieving a higher throughput (on lower sync) with O2.

However, bottom line, the 600 upload is more than fast enough for my purposes &, hence, I'm not really bothered (other than for academic interest).

I think my son uses a fair bit of p2p & this might affect him but, when on O2, that was heavily throttled & the effective BT throughput is still much faster!