Hi All. Apologies if this has already been covered.

Last year I signed up with BT Infinity, using their Homehub 3. The wireless was appalling, with all of our devices having bandwith and connection problems.

It was obvious that this was not a fault, just that the home hub 3 is useless. I raised several cases with BT but of course there was no way they could fix the issue. I asked to try a Homehub 4 but they wanted to charge me extra. Out of principal I refused.

As they couldn't fix the problem I moved provider. Since then my wireless has been seamless.

So, BT are trying to charge me for coming out of my contract, so far the money owed has been racked up to be around £450 with debt collection fees. But I refuse to pay out of principal, I will not pay for a service they did not provide.

We reached deadlock and I went to the ombudsmen, and surprise surprise they gave the old chestnut "BT do not guarantee a wireless service" etc... my argument is that their advertising, on TV and on their website, strongly suggest that the wireless service provided by their home hub 3 is strong and robust, which its not.

Is anyone else in a similar position ? What further steps can I take now that the Ombudsman Services have made their decision ?

I think that the only thing you can do is to sue BT for breach of contract. BT guarantees are subject to supervening statutory protections. In this case you should look to SGSA which imposes conditions as to the quality of services which are provided buy companies such as BT.

BT will try to hid by their "no guarantee" claim - but it is inconceivable that you will be required to pay for service which you have not received. BT's no guarantee may be valid in respect of the speed of connection - but if the connection keeps on dropping out so that you are deprived of service then BT are liable.

BT are dinosaurs and they still don't get it. their staff are often very poor and their staff in their chief executives office are unimaginative and seem to see their first duty as protecting their company.

Hi Jock

Welcome to CAG

If customer services weren't addressing you issues, then you should have addressed your issues to the CEO.

Write a Formal Letter of Complaint, mark it as such. Explain what's happened, how they have let you down and what you want them to do.

Send it to:-

Mr Gavin Patterson

Chief Executive

BT Group

[email protected]

If you feel that BT has mislead you regarding their marketing literature, lodge a complaint with ASA.

http://www.asa.org.uk/

http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/telecoms/

Totally agree with the following:-

'BT are dinosaurs and they still don't get it. their staff are often very poor and their staff in their chief executives office are unimaginative and seem to see their first duty as protecting their company.'

Let us know how you get on.

Thanks for the response Rebel and Bankfodder.

I've already done the formal complaint and got the letter of deadlock from BT, hence escalating to the Ombudsmen Services.

After a discussion with the ombudsmen services they say that all broadband providers only gaurantee a service into your home. I.e from the wall socket to your router. Anything other than that they dont garantee. I know, its outdated, its ridiculous and needs to be changed. 95% of peoples devices in the home are all connected wirelessly, for a provider to have in their terms & conditions that they dont garantee wireless that is ridiculous.

Sueing BT could be a very expensive and serious situation. Yes I could try and call their bluff and they could crumble. But they could also take it all the way to court and I could end up with a whopping legal bill the size of a small mortgage. Or I could win. Its a risky gamble I'm not really keen on taking.

Going to the ASA sounds like a good idea, and Trading Standards as well. I will certainly look into that.

There must be hundreds, or thousands, of people in the same position with BT. I know after talking to people at work that they all have had BT Homehub 3 problems.

There is very little risk of costs if you sue BT in the small claims court.

the claim is well under £10,000.

If you have good documented evidence then you stand an excellent chance of success.

the problem is, I signed their terms and conditions, so legally I may not have a leg to stand on. Morally, thats a different matter.

Just because they have 'Terms & Conditions', doesn't mean that they are 'fair'.

the problem is, I signed their terms and conditions, so legally I may not have a leg to stand on. Morally, thats a different matter.

the problem is, I signed their terms and conditions, so legally I may not have a leg to stand on. Morally, thats a different matter.

You have been with us since 2006. haven't you realised yet that T&Cs are always subject to your statutory rights?

You are completely protected. It is really just a matter of what evidence you have.

Why don't you tell us about that?

Please explain ... "haven't you realised yet that T&Cs are always subject to your statutory rights?" , I thought if you sign T&Cs you are entering into a contract, regardless of whether they are fair or not, you've agreed to it ?

You'll have to excuse me, I just havent had the time to really dig deep into this and see what options I have available.

As for the evidence. The only thing I have is a timeline that I logged of all the technical cases I raised with BT, copies of all correspondance between BT and myself, and the ombudsmen and myself.

I have screen dumps of the BT online shop where its pushing the Homehub 3 as a good wireless router... (see below)

http://www.shop.bt.com/learnmore/bt-branded-products-and-services/new-bt-home-hub-3/

And of course you have the annoying adverts of TV thats been pushing the wireless capabilities of it.

You buy something based on those ads, not what the terms & conditions say.

I will definately follow up with the ASA and Trading Standards tomorrow.

Jack... I agree with Rebel and Bankfodder

You have certain rights under these contracts. You don't throw these away at any point.

Could I maybe give a bit of advice... Look through BT's advert history etc Dig some stuff up and use it as evidence

YouTube may have some evidence on it

Also... SAR BT... Why?

You'll get your technical case notes which you can refer to

I have a similar situation where I did not get delivery of the BT eqpt. until the day BT said the service was online; (It took two weeks to be delivered which they said was the time allowed to cancel the order) I was not able to set up for 4 days as it was a bank holiday and the phone line was intermittent so after the bank holiday I phoned them and contacted them online (mobile phone) to cancel within the two weeks allowed (Consumer Rights) When it got to the Ombudsman they ruled for BT saying they did not take Consumer Rights into consideration... So I have been left with £670 as a defaulted account 3 months from ordering BT Services, seriously affecting my Credit rating..I am so disappointed as a disabled 71year old pensioner I will now have a black mark on my Credit until I am 77 (if I get there) So it seems it is conceivable to be expected tp pay for services not provide even though the system is intermittent. Now I need to try to sue them if I can.

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