loopholes for bt broadband!?

[rippersgroupie]

Hello!

I am with BT broadband and I HATE THEM!

I have various technical issues (if you use the phone whilst on internet you lose the internet, the phone is exceptionally quite so pretty useless etc etc)
I know they could possibly sort it but frankly i'm just not that interested.

I have had that many problems with BT in general from my phone bill to the broadband to a sarcastic operator and I just want out!

Problem is, I'm in a broadband package til July 09!!

Is there ANYTHING I could do to get away now without paying a HUGE penalty?

Thanks"

[locutus]

There is little chance that BT will leave a loophole for you to get out of a contract. The whole idea behind a contract is to be binding for a specific term.

In my experience the only way people have gotten out of a contract is if the tech support department agrees that BT cannot reasonably supply broadband (and that almost never happens!).

[pompeyfaith]

i think you have already answered your question you could try getting out of the contract on the grounds that you did not get the service they promised worth a try

[locutus]

Originally Posted by pompeyfaith

i think you have already answered your question you could try getting out of the contract on the grounds that you did not get the service they promised worth a try

With BT the only department that can do that is the technical support department (and possibly the complaints department but they normally have call queue of well over an hour, and they'd most likely say that as it's a technical fault, they will pass you to the technical support team to sort it!!)

Tech support is on 0800 111 4567 for broadband, 01912 184168 for Broadband Talk. That will get you thrugh to an indian call center (almost guaranteed). If you are unhappy with that, there is an english call center, ask the indian call center to transfer you (I worked there and had to go thrugh that procedure on a daily basis LOL). Ask them to sort it or disconnect you with no fee.

Now the problem that leaves you with is that the technical support team have to agree that they cannot supply you with broadband or broadband talk before they will disconnect you for technical reasons. This is like getting blood out of a stone, as they always quote "connection of up to 8 meg" in reality, if you get 1/2 meg broadband they are still within the terms and conditions of the contract, and the broadband talk should still work on a connection that slow.

Obviously if you are adamant that you want out of this contract due to the technical issues, this is like a shot in the dark, but here are my little hints (always useful when dealing with people over the phone, these are general telesales tips, and when writen down sound patronising, but listen out for them next marketing call you get and have a chuckle).

Be direct, remain calm and polite (no-one likes hanging on the phone!)

Write down the name of the person you are talking to, and use it at every opportunity. like "how quickly will this be sorted Bob" and "You are the first person that I feel has genuinly tried to help me Bob" (this builds a friendly atmosphere, and it's a lot harder to say NO to a friend!)

Be forceful and polite (I know I've said polite twice, that's because it is important :P)

Ask "Can I have the latest date that all my broadband problems will be totally fixed please Bob?"

Write down a reference number for this repair, along with the date and time that you called then you are armed with that if the issues remain.

If the issues remain write to their complaints department stating that the last repair was guarenteed to fix it, and as it hasn't you want them to disconect you for technical reasons, include the reference number, date and time that you called.

the address is below:-

Customer Service Director
BT plc
Correspondence Centre
Durham
DH98 1BT

Now, I'd expect them to write to you saying that they believe the problems are sorted, if not give tech support a ring. (I think you can guess where this is heading!) Round and round we go :P

I personally think BT's strategy is to keep people going round and round in circles, doing only just enough to keep OFCOM off their backs.

Good luck getting it sorted. Dealing with BT can be like hitting your head against a brick wall, in fact it's probably less painful hitting your head against a brick wall! keep pushing and you'll either get a reasonable service or disconnected, but I'd not even hazard a timeframe!

Again, good luck (you need all you can get unfortunatly!)

[OrangeSquasher]

From my recent experience with Orange, and that of friends with TalkTalk and Toucan, I'd say that it seems to be the duty of every ISP to screw you up.

BUT it is worth considering that whoever is your ISP, British Telecom are more than likely to own and operate the copper wires going to your house. (There are exceptions in some areas - good.)

So, if the wires are bad... being with ToucTalk or whatever still means BT fixing them... This time, though, you're trying to persuade your new ISP to persuade BT... Good luck!

My advice would be to keep a good diary of your problems, play their stupid game with the help lines and keep going up the complaints escalation to the CEO - stiff letters with a list of the problems and dates - until you get a working service

THEN claim some cash back from them - a refund of all your fees so far for a not-fit-for-purpose service to start with.

[robin9342]

The technical issue the OP described is often as a result of faulty microfilters allowing some of the ringing current to pass to the data socket. Could try changing them if you haven't already.

[locutus]

yup robin, that does sound like the fault if the OP was talking about the landline phone... I assumed it was the VOIP phone that comes with BT broadband (called BT Broadband Talk)

[2Grumpy]

Go through the BT fault-finding process

Report the fault

Get it fixed

[robin9342]

Gizmodo UK : BT Slows All, P2P Users Get Short Straw

Just spent all day arguing (politely) with BT about the above. Now have my MAC number and "permission" to leave my contract early without penalty. Its a pity they have adopted this policy because most of my service was excellent.

The P2P is unuseable between 5pm and 11pm: During the day, a 5Mb file would take around 30 seconds. Peak times estimated at 8 hours . Thats a bit worse than 15%, I think. I would have been ok with 15% as I do understand the need to throttle P2P to some extent.

Anyhow, any ideas where I should go with my shiny new MAC? Currently toying with AOL (free laptop/ £20 a month) and Sky (£10 a month)

[pompeyfaith]

never AOL worst ISP Ive ever been with customer service is non existent and on installing there software it dumps files all over your hard drive and is a pain to uninstall I'm currently with BT but i would not recommend them as well. if you have Sky TV id say go with them as an all in package is cheaper

[robin9342]

Thanks. Yes, I had heard about AOL software. I am with Sky, so their top BB will cost £10. Over 2 years that would save me £336 compared with BT, so enough to buy a laptop!

[robin9342]

Do you have to install the AOL software though? I remember many years ago, I had an AOL dial up account and had no problems connecting through I.E