Unbelievable BT mess up.

I have a BT package that include landline and Infinity 2.
On my last BT bill I noticed that there were 2 entries for anytime calls.

After several calls I finally spoke to someone in a specialist department who was able to give me a refund.

Strangely after that I could not access my add ons on the BT site. I could see my bill but not some of the other links.


I would see a message, (Oops, something has gone wrong)
So I rang again and was told that there was nothing wrong with the site and to use a different browser and change my password.
Predictably this had no effect whatsoever.
Another department told me that they would look into it.
Yesterday the phone line went dead. Phone calls again. This time I was told that I had a broadband fault and it necessitated stopping the phone line. (Rang on the mobile of course)
There was, and is, absolutely nothing wrong with the broadband. At least for the time being, until some clown switches that off as well.
If that goes off we are cut off from the world because we have a signal booster from EE for the mobile as there is no reception around my house. The booster gets the signal online.
I thought, that is enough, I'm off to someone else.
I tried to cancel as I knew my contract was long over. But no.I should have mentioned that on the same bill I saw that I was being charged for "BT Privacy and Caller Display.
I had no Idea what that was and got them to cancel it.
As a result, I had no caller display at all.
So, I got them to re-instate it. I was told that I would get it free for a year and added to my contract(?) NO, they have started a new 12 months contract, so I can't get out of it.
I shall now go into a dark place and weep.

Edited by deleted (Thu 03-Aug-17 10:34:13)

That's a bad series of errors by them, but I suggest you alter the Subject as the post is likely to be deleted.

Sounds like a High Level Complaints email to the CEO's office is needed. To sort it all out and remove the new 12-month term.

Thanks for that, but I don't quite understand. Is it the word I used in the heading or just complaining about BT

Any idea what the CEO's email address is?

The word . Filter evasion if used in the body, and normally causes a deletion of the whole text. I think it aptly describes what BT did though!

[email protected]

Only that team has the nous and authority to sort that combination of screwups out.

Edited by RobertoS (Thu 03-Aug-17 10:43:15)

Thanks, I will do it now.

By the way! Do not "Cancel" anything. That would mean the broadband would be ceased, and the phone as well if you aren't lucky. At which point, when the Cease Order has been placed, you cannot do a move or order from anyone else, possibly for three weeks until the Cease has completed at the exchange.

You wait till it is sorted, and with no contract (minimum term), then you migrate the broadband or both by simply ordering from your chosen new supplier.

MACs are no longer used.

Edited by RobertoS (Thu 03-Aug-17 11:27:08)

Thanks for the advice. Will do.

Always a good idea to do research before singing up to anything. It looks like you signed up to things you didn't know about beforehand.

Don't rely on BT to explain it otherwise you could end up in a right mess, as you've found out yourself.

Within a couple of hours emailing the BT CEO my line was up and running.
I am also getting follow ups from some special department of his.
I just think it is very sad to have to go right to the top to get what should be a normal efficient service.

It is very sad, as you say. It happens too often. It seems to be partly down to the Chinese Walls erected because of Ofcom rules and partly to too many strict procedures that have arisen over decades without ever having been thought through as an overall structure.

The result is that the Help people we speak to are extremely tightly controlled as to what they can do. Which in fact works most of the time, but if a single person anywhere makes a mistake it seems there is no-one who can see the whole picture of a particular connection all the way through the Openreach, BT Wholesale, BT Retail chain. People then start fumbling in the dark and often make things worse.

It only seems to be possible if instigated by that High Level Complaints team. As soon as that whole picture is seen the solution, however simple or complex, becomes obvious.

Has anything happened about the 12 month new term?

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 04-Aug-17 10:20:15)

Don't disagree with the overall thrust of what you say, but to blame any of it on Chinese Walls due to Ofcom rules is just plain wrong.

Both Openreach and BT Wholesale should be interfacing with the rest of BT in exactly the same way as they would with any other entity purchasing services from them, providing good quality service without favour. That's not too much to ask, is it ?

Have you ever experienced the "Chinese Walls" in BT? They can be horrendous and make unbelievably difficult at times - way harder than other ISPs or OLOs who use Openreach services.

I have experience of one issue , a few years back where two teams were on the same floor in the same building and it would have been so easy to for A to speak with B. Another ISP could speak direct to B but for BT to do it required 5 additional interfaces - all of which took time, cost money and were a possible point of failure or error.

If I had my phone and BB service with another single provider, they could deal with both on a single call. However, if I am talking to BT about my BB service, they cannot even view my phone service account.

Never got anywhere sensible beyond the front line at BT retail to experience that, I must admit.

If that's how they've implemented it, it sounds much like the Civil Service "gold-plating" EU regs to satisfy their own agenda.......