at the moment i am in a tizwas and its pandomonium

BRITISH TELECOM ggggrrrrr

i have a contract with them that was arranged on the 8 oct and was confirmed in writing and by post the contract states

your broadband starts on the 10 oct 2011. speed 8 mb

your package is broadband and calls

your contract is for 12mths starting on 10/oct/2011

BT TOTAL BROADBAND OPTION 3

Broadband and Calls........................£23.00

Special Offer Discount......................£-10.00

your special discount lasts for 12mths

so i then receive a letter last week telling me that this deal is no longer and to ring them and revise my account.. i have been with bt broadband for the last 20 years ever since it first came out so they have rung me several times and they at one point two days ago threatened to pull the plug on my broadband , i have never defaulted nor missed a payment i have never been late so why they change , well it gets better they want me to cancel my landline calls from the post office who we have been with for over 7 years this is the crux of their arguement i am to cancel my landline with the post office otherwise the deal/contract i have with them is null and void ?

here is the last letter i have received since todays arguements all over the same thing again let me know what you think

will start a new thread when i sus it out how to lol dementure my brain is starved of oxygen an i forget things lol any i digress here is what i have just received Hello Patrick,

Thank you for taking my call today.

I’m really sorry for the problems you’ve encountered with the billing of your BT broadband service. I can see you’ve tried to sort this out we’ll make sure lessons are learnt here. Sorry.

What I’ve done

I have checked your BT account today and I can confirm that as you do not have a line and calls with BT, we can only give you a standalone package for BT broadband option 3 at £21.60 per month. If you returned your line and calls to BT we would be able to get you a package at a good price.

The outcome of our conversation comes to an end at, I can supply you with BT broadband option 3 at £21.60 per month (New 12 month contract). However due to you being advised you would get the service for £13.25, I am willing to credit you the difference per month at £8.35 over a 12 month period totalling £100.00.

On your BT bill you will see the full rental charge of £21.60 if your accept this however a credit of £100.00 will be applied to your account to cover the difference on your 12 month contract.

I’m hoping everything’s OK now, but if there’s anything I’ve missed, just give me a call on 01977597831 or drop me an e-mail ([email protected]).

As you might be really busy right now, and I don’t want to hassle you, I’m going to keep things open until 23/12/2011 just to make sure everything’s OK. If I don’t hear from you I’ll close things down this end.

I hope everything's done and dusted, if you need to talk to me, you know where I am. Otherwise, our customer services are always happy to help on 0800 800 150. And you can get all the latest BT news from

Best wishes

What does it say in your terms and conditions - is there a clause that says you have to have line rental with BT?

They are offering to credit your account with £100 to cover the difference so they are honouring the price by the looks of it.

no this is not stated in the terms and conditions as all i have is 4 sheets of paper

abslutely no mention of having to have their landline so as far as i am concerned its PRINCIPAL 12 months @ £13.00 vat inclusive if they wish to breach this contract be it upon their own head if i accepted the deal they are offering i am still £7.20 out of pocket and i would also have to pay the post office a penalty for closing my landline with them i did ask bt to pay these charges they refused ? so i aint going nowhere

patrickq1

the honouring the contract is a mile from what they are doing the £100.00 payment is at the end of the contract not as you are reading it ,i asked them for clarity on this point and they said they will credit the account at the end of the twelve months , yes i have bells out i am not canceling any contract why should i have to pay the extra why ?bn me keks an i will accept this deal (not)

sorry for that

The original offer was for £13 per month - the new offer with the credit works out at £13.25 per month.

The Danger is if you decide to dispute it and they don't play ball they can cut your off your broadband. You may be able to argue the toss in Court but in the meantime you will have no broadband access unless you go with a new supplier, and this may prove difficult with an outstanding debt to your previous supplier. (How important is you broadband to you?) How much time and hassle will it take to fight them?

You could try and escalate the complaint furthre up the chain at BT.

Personaly i would either accept their offer or simply change supplier.

Oh so they will only credit your account at the end of the year?

Well take it up the chain or change supplier. You can eventualy complain to ofcom as well - but again what will happen to your broadband access in the meantime. If 20 years of loyalty with BT counts for nothing then change supplier.

ive been to directors level and he told them to settle this account ...this smart ass want a few quid more no it is the prinipal you look at the bt termination clause for the months left you will have to pay a percentage ie:if it were 10mths @ 13 pounds the penalty would be approx 100 pounds ,now i have asked them to pay my post office termination fee , the refuse ,if you cancel contract agreement after a few months you would be expected to pay compensation so for me to up and cancel my post office landline and expect them to sit on there thumbs and say nothing i dont think so ,a contract is a contract why should i pay more ,

its not the loyalty part that counts as i am well aware BT have no scruples there scruples went out the window the day they privatised and the suits bought it out,we are mere pawns but i aint backing down not on this ok so i lose my account ,i have written to the cfheif accountant at the post office and sent him this copy I WILL NOT BE BLACKMAILED NOR BULLIED,

patrickq1

Well Patrick you seem to have made your mind up - and good luck to you.

Only thing i can suggest is tell BT you are still not happy - and believe they are not complying with their own T&C's - if that is the case - and inform them that you wish to take the matter to Ofcom.

I agree with Locutus-get the deadlock letter and take it up with the regs.

the letter they have written above is the last letter they have stated this in the letter termination date is on the letter ?

I also think that you may have a good complaint under CPUT since you have made a transaction that you would not have made,had you been aware it was not in your interest.

In accepting you as a customer and agreeing to provide the deal that is clearly specified,then they cant turn round later and demand that you switch providers to enable the same performance of the original contract.

This is an unfair business practice.

the letter they have written above is the last letter they have stated this in the letter termination date is on the letter ?

yes sorry I saw.

The guy says that he will leave the complaint open until next week and if doesnt hear anything will close it.

You need to be asking for a deadlock letter in writing.

The regulators will want to see this.

Ofcom are not quick either-I would take everything to your local TS and ask them to look into it as a breach under CPUT2008

HIi Martin and Locu

i have written just for the DEADLOCK LETTER

addressed to Ian Livingston DIRECTOR and to the guy named above in letter , as i said i will not be bullied ive had to date since all this started more than several severe angina attacks i am also Disabled to boot so this is not doing me any good they are aware of my disability and one of their operators abruptly ended a conversation by saying dont put this guilt trip on me mate and put the phone down on me ,partly this angered my as well but as i say it really is the principle i have a contract and they are quick enough to come to you for their pound of flesh whenever you terminate prematurely they did with my daughter last march hounded her for four months with debt collectors until i stepped in and had it settled so i am adamant i will get my pound of flesh back lol

patrickq1

ooop s thanks for the input

patrickq1

yes sorry I saw.

 

The guy says that he will leave the complaint open until next week and if doesnt hear anything will close it.

You need to be asking for a deadlock letter in writing.

The regulators will want to see this.

 

Ofcom are not quick either-I would take everything to your local TS and ask them to look into it as a breach under CPUT2008

Not Ofcom (they don't deal with customer complaints) with telecoms companies its either CISAS or Ombudsman Services: Communications. A telecoms service provider signs up to one of these and agrees to be bound by any decision they make. With BT it's Ombudsman Services: Communications that you can escalate a complaint to.

Personally I think these are a toothless qango, but as the Telecoms company foots the bill of a complaint being looked at by them, there is a good chance BT'll make a goodwill gesture that doesn't put you at a loss for their mistake.

If you have not done so altready,get everything together including if you can remember,the details of the calls that you mention here-date time etc

Pity you were not recording the calls-this is pretty shocking.

I am flagging this up for site team.

After reading all of this they dont deserve to get away with this by simply cutting a betterr deal.

that is the reason i say Martin it is the principle you would nt be let of by Telecom ive experianced their ruthlesnes through the way they treated my daughter who was in hospital at the time when they closed her account well should i say three days before she went into hospital and they knowing her need for the phoneline closed her line down so i am no a forgiving person , personally i have never been in debt with them i have never missed a payment with them have never been late with a payment and that is going back some 25 years ever since the start of broadband in the uk ..

so i will not let this lie , i aint too bothered over the xmas period of losing my broadband well i am and i am not because i have my neighbour who i can patch into if needs be lol legitamately of course with their permission ..but i want my pound of flesh its payback i think and self satisfaction because i have stated i shall be asking for damages as to whatever it costs me to switch suppliers and for any harm they have caused and for the penalties i could have incurred with the post office as a way of compensation lol cheeky huh

patrickq1

There is still time to be asking someone to get you a PAYG dongle for Christmas.......actually I had to get one a year or 2 back when I had probs with VM.

Was a VF one and was using 15 quid a fortnight but was still cheaper than VM with all the extras vat and little charges.

does this entail a mobile phone because i dont use mobile lol cant stand them

No it is a sim card that fits inside a usb carrier and plugs into your pc.

Set up takes minutes.

ok thanks for that

how does this letter look does it need revision if so can someone re edit it before i send it of to the director ,thanks guys

Dear Mr

Ian Livingston,

since my email to you has not made a blind bit of difference to you and your staff still seem to think that the offer made is fair i wish to point out at this particular time that, the "THREAT" "that if i do not remove the request for the blocking letter then my internet will cease" i have made serious complaint under CPUT2008,to both Consumer Direct and Trading Standards ,in accepting me as a customer and agreeing to provide the deal that is Clearly specified,,surely then you cant turn round later and demand that i switch providers and for me to enable the same performance of the original contract.This is an unfair business practice.it is sharp practice and also an unlawful breach under CPUT 2008 so i shall ask for trading standards to act upon this or yourself to act on this matter and please accept the deal made i shall clearly point out at this moment in time it is having a serious and detrimental effect upon my health and i do have a serious heart condition to date this stress has caused several angina attacks which i have pointed out to trading standards ,it is not pleasant for my wife to hear your staff to be ringing on saturday morning and telling her that he will ring on monday for confirmation that he gets the deal he wants it is also particularly gauling that he can make short shrift concerning the Blocking Letter and saying the Regulator will just laugh in our face i am of the impression that this is not being taken seriously enough and i ask you have the phone conversation played back to you that they made this saturday morn.. this will also be asked for and placed in evidence of the BULLYING TACTICS now being employed by BRITTISH TELECOM much to my disgust i never thought that you would stoop so low , i shall also now pass all data to date including all calls to the national newspapers i for one shall not take this lightly you may think of us as fools so be it

Patrick Neary

Aggressive commercial practices7.—(1) A commercial practice is aggressive if, in its factual context, taking account of all of its features and circumstances—(a)it significantly impairs or is likely significantly to impair the average consumer’s freedom of choice or conduct in relation to the product concerned through the use of harassment, coercion or undue influence; and

(b)it thereby causes or is likely to cause him to take a transactional decision he would not have taken otherwise.

(2) In determining whether a commercial practice uses harassment, coercion or undue influence account shall be taken of—(a)its timing, location, nature or persistence;

(b)the use of threatening or abusive language or behaviour;

©the exploitation by the trader of any specific misfortune or circumstance of such gravity as to impair the consumer’s judgment, of which the trader is aware, to influence the consumer’s decision with regard to the product;

(d)any onerous or disproportionate non-contractual barrier imposed by the trader where a consumer wishes to exercise rights under the contract, including rights to terminate a contract or to switch to another product or another trader; and

(e)any threat to take any action which cannot legally be taken.

(3) In this regulation—(a)“coercion” includes the use of physical force; and

(b)“undue influence” means exploiting a position of power in relation to the consumer so as to apply pressure, even without using or threatening to use physical force, in a way which significantly limits the consumer’s ability to make an informed decision.

Yes as prev advised,CPUT provides recourse and protection in consideration of the situation BT have placed you in.