BT Suspension

[kregrs]

We woke up this morning to find BT have suspended our service, apparently for non payment. Rec'd bill on 12/8 and payment due to be taken on 26/8. According to BT the suspension has been caused by us cancelling the DD (to avoid a charge at the bank, we were going to pay at PO instead). they first claimed that as we cancelled the DD they had suspended our service. Next, on checking their system and finding that the last payment bounced, they contradicted themselves and claimed they cancelled the DD due to the late payment! They then go on to tell us that the bill needs to be paid within 7 days of date on bill, I explain we are way past that date, dd wasn't cancelled until yesterday and 7 days from the 12th is the 19th, now on the 24th so nearly 14 days after bill is due. Also, as dd wasn't due to be collected until 26/8, asked how they could suspend line even tho no attempt has yet been made to collect payment, no reply. The call ended with them stating that we are due to be cut off on the 26/8, but we have had no warning to say that they were going to suspend the line and b) no warning letter to inform us of disconnection. Can they do this? Surely we should have had some kind of notification about this?

[Shanks]

tbh as dreadful as that sounds I am not surprised at the appalling level of customer care from this company, it has just become the standard I expect from them. However, looking at their terms and conditions found here:

BT.com | Personal | Terms & Conditions

9. If you do not pay your bill, we will send you a reminder or call you. If we do not receive payment within 10 calendar days of the date of that reminder (seven days if you pay monthly), we may add a late payment charge of £7.50 to your next bill. We may also charge you £10 for any direct debit or cheque payments which are returned to us because you do not have enough funds in your account.

10. We will generally not suspend or end the service or the agreement until 28 days after your payment was due (21 days if you pay monthly), unless the service terms or the price terms say otherwise. However, sometimes we may take this action earlier. For example, we may do this if you have not paid a recent bill.

It's not very clear from your post whether you are now two bills outstanding or just the last one, so I guess you can interpret whether the last sentence applies but whatever it still sounds like poor customer relations. I would try contacting them and quote this to them and see what response you get.

Cheers

[kregrs]

It is only this bill that is outstanding, the last bill was paid thru their automated payment system. We have had no call or letter reminding us that the payment is due, in fact the 7 days reminder would only have been due to be sent yesterday, 24/8. We are now also left wondering, what happens to the £50 deposit we had to pay to have the phone line, surely if the worst comes to the worst, this would cover our bill?
The impression I got from their staff yesterday was that they did not have a clue, and when I asked to be passed to someone with a better knowledge and understanding, I was cut off!

[Shanks]

Hi kregrs, BT are a right royal pita.

Unfortunately i havn't got much to add to what I've already posted. If all previous bils have been collected without issue via the automated system system then i can see no earthly reason why they shoud be so objectionable now.

I have just checked and our last bill came in dated the 9th August, it asked for payment by 20th August and today (25th) we had the standard telephone message left on our voicemail asking for us to ring them. Previous experience tells me that as long as I make payment in the next few days nothing untoward will happen, no threats, no cut offs, no grief.

I would point out that we refuse to pay by DD, and i also appreciate that they have got much faster at chasing nonpayment. Not long ago you got almost 6/8 weeks to pay after the bill was issued. Now if you don't pay almost immediately they fine you or threaten disconnection. They must be raking it in over the summer holidays when some people may not see their bill until they return from a break.

I can only think you have ended up speaking with one of particularly ignorant phone monkeys they have in 'Customer Services'. Try calling them again and making reference to the above T&C and see how you fare this time.

Cheers

[Shanks]

Hi kregrs, how did you get on with this? Did you manage to get them to back down at all?

Cheers

[Mark_Blackpool]

Originally Posted by Shanks

We may also charge you £10 for any direct debit or cheque payments which are returned to us because you do not have enough funds in your account.

OT I know, but I'm intrigued by this bit.

Does the Bank really tell the payee that the payment was not made due to insufficient funds e.g. disclose the reason? Why? What business is it of theirs?