Just a quick update- Ministry of Justice, Claims Regulator Manager, phoned me this afternoon regarding my Complaint. Apparently, the owners of PPI Helpline state that they do not have a call centre that makes unsolicited phone calls, and that the calls may be coming from someone who is 'piggy=backing' the real PPi Helpline! The M of J are finding out from the phone numbers, listed above, who actually owns them, as it is a possible case of Company Fraud and Impersonation. They also suspect that the callers will always ask for 'money up front'- so there also could be a strong allegation of Fraud, as the callers are NOT registered as a Claim Management Company with the Ministry of Justice so consumers have no form of protection, nor actually is the callers allowed to operate as a Claim Management Company. So again, if YOU get a cold call from someone saying they are from PPI Helpline, as according to the owners of this Company they do NOT make calls of this kind, hang up, take a note of the Caller Display phone number, and let the Ministry of Justice know using the contact details in my original posting. Be Warned !! and pass this on.......

Over the last 2 weeks, my phone line has been deluged with daily Unsolicited 'live', recorded message, and 'call-back' phone calls, from a Company naming itself as "PPI Helpline". Up to 4-5 calls each day, even in the early morning and late into the evening. My Call Display indicates that the numbers this Company uses to make these calls are- 08451 550 0228 (for the live operator calls) 08452 861 811 (for the recorded message and 'call-me-back' calls) The 'call-back' recorded messages are devious- the message says 'we need to speak to you urgently- Press "3" to return this call..." (this will cost you a lot!!) I am already registered with the Telephone Preference Service, so should not be receiving these calls, I did answer the first few calls, to demand that my phone number and details be immediately removed from their Company's database, and no further calls must be made to me- Their telephonist/salesperson just hung up on me. I made a Formal Complaint to the Telephone Preference Service, and was told that this Company had already been identified as being a source of unsolicited nuisance Calls- they are also listed on several Internet 'Telepest' websites as repeated offenders. I also have checked with the Ministry of Justice with whom the Telephone Preference Service informs me that the Company is regulated by. Their Claims Management Regulator section, have asked me to make a Formal Complaint to them, regarding the conduct of PPI Helpline, as the Licence the Company holds, forbids them from - "not engaging in face to face ‘cold calling’, or in any form of high pressure selling" I strongly suspect that I am not the only person adversely affected by the high pressure tactics, and nuisance, caused by the Company- "PPI Helpline" so if you have suffered nuisance calls from them too, I suggest that you also make a Formal Complaint to the Ministry of Justice-Claims Management Regulator, whose details are- Claims Management Regulation Unit, 57 – 60 High Street, Burton–upon–Trent, Staffordshire, DE14 1JS General enquiries Telephone: 0845 450 6858 / 01283 233309 (9-5pm) Website- http://www.justice.gov.uk/claims-regulation Do feel free to reply to this Post, if you have also been affected. Dave Grieve, Scotland. :mad2:

My son rented a flat from a private landlord, on a short-term (6 months) assured tenancy agreement, under the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1988. The landlord provided him with a Lease which was packed with conditions that were only in favour of the Landlord. My son paid the Landlord a refundable Security Deposit of £380- when my son vacated the flat on the day the 6 month Lease was up, an Agent of the landlord did an inventory and inspection of the flat, just before the keys were handed back. This Agent told my son that the only 'faults' were a bag of rubbish left at the front door and a dead insect at the back of one of the kitchen drawers (both were removed by my son, before handing the keys back to this Agent) Just prior to this 'inspection' my wife and I had scrubbed out the whole flat and it was spotless. As after 8 weeks following my son moving out of this flat, he had not received his £380 deposit back, he sent a recorded delivery letter threatening Sheriff Court (Civil Claim) action for the return of his money. The Landlord replied after 9 days, but only returned £190 of the original deposit of £380, deducting money for things like 'cleaning charges and costs of £60' - £40 for 'administration fees' - £20 for the Landlord having to 'redirect any potential mail arriving in the future' for my son, and £12 for unspecified 'cleaning materials' - no receipts were provided to my son by the Landlord. The Landlord enclosed 'photographic proof' why cleaning was required- a small stain on a cooker grill pan- 2 chips left inside the freezer, and a total of 7 tiny pieces of rubbish (including a single 'Post-It' piece of paper) which he said he found under a bed. We decided to take this Landlord to our local Sheriff Court, for the return of the balance due from the Security Deposit, of £190. On checking with our local Authority Council- the Landlord and Rent Registration Officer, we have discovered that this Landlord is NOT registered with them as a 'fit and proper person' registered Landlord, nor is the rented premises registered with the Council as 'premises registered as suitable for letting' In Scotland, if a person lets out any property and is NOT registered with the local Authority as a 'fit and proper person' - this is actually a Criminal Offence, punishable on conviction by up to a £5,000 fine. The same applies if an unregistered property is let to a tenant by an unregistered Landlord. The Landlord is still insisting that the original Lease he provided to my son, stands, and so he can make deductions from the original Security Deposit of the £380, as he sees fit. Will we be correct when we apply to the Sheriff Court for return of the full balance of the Security Deposit, in basing our case on the fact that as the Landlord was not registered, as per the Scottish Law requires, and the premises rented were also not registered, that the Landlord was acting illegally (an actual Criminal Offence) in renting the property to my son, and therefore any Lease provided by the Landlord, as it was part of an illegal act, automatically becomes null and void, resulting in any terms and conditions contained within the Lease becoming legally unenforceable by the Landlord.?? We are asking the Court to rule that the Lease and its conditions are illegal, and thus the Landlord MUST refund the balance of the Security Deposit, in full. What do you think- are we right to follow this pathway? Any advice or support would be really appreciated, thank you.

Talk-Talk are average as a provider as long as you have no problems which you need to contact them to rectify. Using their standard advertised 0871 XX number, costs you 10p/minute and as their usual time taken to answer your call is around the 15-22 minute mark,- it can cost you! And trying to cancel your Contract even if you're out of the minimum period seems to result in a host of excuses and problems- a nightmare! (as per my other posts describe) Seems to stem from their basic Customer Service Dept being in India, their Accounts and Billing in another region, their Collections Dept in yet another, and their Tech Support in yet another, similar with their Cancellations Dept, with their Sales in the UK- one hand doesn't know what the other is doing..... Had to take Talk-Talk to the Ombudsman some time ago for charging me for Broadband, over a 6 month period after I changed suppliers and cancelled my out of minimum period Contract in writing with them, they bombarded me with phone calls, debt collectors and even placed an adverse Credit entry on my Credit Reference file- the Ombudsman found my Complaint proven on all 6 Complaints, made several Orders against Talk-Talk which included paying me £200 Compensation and amending my Credit Reference entry with an apology. I knew there would be problems when I heard that Talk-Talk had bought out Tiscali, and I was proven correct. Join them, but beware..... Border Collie of Scotland.

Along with my usual November 2009 £14.99p monthly bill from Tiscali, I received a letter notifying me that "w/e from Feb 1st 2010 my Tiscali Broadband only a/c was being upgraded to TalkTalk's service (same broadband speed of 2Mb, same unlimited download, no other differences) but a price increase from £14.99p month, to £19.99p month. As I was well outside my Contract period, I immediately phoned Tiscali to cancel the service, and obtain a MaC code from them. After getting a bit of a run-around, I finally got the MaC code, and arranged to switch to BT Total Broadband the same day. On December 10th, 2009, I received the "Activation Letter" from BT Broadband, notifying me that my Broadband service would start by midnight on December 18th, 2009. The same day- December 10th, I phoned up Tiscali's dedicated Cancellation phone line to confirm the cancellation of service on December 18th, 2009, and was told a Cancellation Notice and Final Bill for the period, December 1st-Dec 18th, 2009, would be shortly sent out to me. I started BT Broadband as arranged at midday on December 18th, 2009, and lost the Tiscali service immediately- my free webspace- myspace.tiscali.co.uk went off air immediately. Then at the beginning of January, 2010, I received a Bill from TalkTalk for a total of £29.98p, for the period Dec 1st-Dec 31st, 2009, plus Jan 1st-Jan 31st, 2010. Using TalkTalk's 'Contact Us' online forms (which sucks as you can't keep a copy of your Complaint which you send to them- deliberately??) I contacted them 7 separate times, and had differing replies which varied from "You must have overlooked to cancel your contract when you received your activation letter from BT" and "Yes, you did cancel your contract on December 10th, but BT failed to send us a separate notice that they had deactivated our Broadband service on December 18th, so we assumed you were still receiving our service" to "Your Bill is indeed incorrect- you only owe us for the period Dec1st-Dec 18th 2009, 18 days, which is a total of £8.75p" (I totally agree that this is what I do owe) Since January 6th, 2009 I have actually received 4 Bills from Talk-Talk, 2 x for £29.98p and 2 x for £14.99p. I have also received 3 automated phone calls asking me to pay the Bill "or my Broadband service will be suspended or disconnected..." Really???, please go ahead.... Today's latest automated phone call was demanding £29.98p so I used the 'speak to an advisor' option on the call (as Talk-Talk was footing the phone call cost) and the Indian lady who answered the call, told me that although her computer said I owed them £29.98p, if I paid her the £8.75p for the period Dec 1st-Dec 18th, 2009, there and then, she would mark the account closed. As I have dealt with Talk-Talk 6 years ago, and took them to the Ombudsman who awarded me £200 compensation for a string of broken promises and lies in respect of charging for Broadband which I didn't have, I didn't trust their accounting system, so I asked her to send me a Final Bill out confirming that the £8.75p was in 'final and full settlement of my account' and as soon as I received it, I would pay it immediately. Surprise, surprise, this lady from Talk-Talk Collection Accounts Dept said she was unable to send out a Final Bill for this agreed £8.75 as "I had to pay it to her first, before her computer system would let her change the outstanding balance from £29.98p to zero..." She could not also guarantee me that this would be the end of the matter. I told her I was very unhappy with the matter, and asked her to provide me with a written "Final Response" to my dispute with her Accounts and Billing Dept, as I intended to immediately refer the matter to the Ombudsman for an independent assessment. She refused, and said she could not provide this, nor did she know where I could get a "Final Response" from. Advice is needed for- 1) Did I act reasonably in the circumstances? 2) Does anyone know the contact details for Talk-Talk's High-level Complaints team, along with a name? 3) Should I do, or have done, something different? Talk-Talk.....should be renamed "No-Talk-Talk" Border Collie of Scotland

My wife has had a Flexible Account for the last 5 years, originally with "Index Direct" but now transferred to "Very"- same company- Littlewoods. Her original signed Credit Agreement had no clauses in it, for imposing Late Payment Penalty Charges, but in October 2008, she received with her monthly statement, a leaflet stating that w/e immediately, a Late Payment Fee of £12, as an addition to the Agreement Terms, would be imposed to her account if any future payment was late. Acting on advice, she immediately wrote back to "Index" at the address on her statement, rejecting this alteration to her original terms and conditions listed in the Credit Agreement which she had signed. "Index" didn't acknowledge nor reply to this letter, so a 2nd letter was sent out. They didn't respond to this letter either. She then phoned up "Index" and was told they didn't have any entry on their computer system about her rejection of the Penalty Fee imposition. So, on November 13th, 2008, she completed an online Complaint Form to the Financial Ombudsman Service, sending them copies of both the leaflet announcing the Penalty Fee, her Consumer Credit Contract, plus copies of both her unanswered rejection letters to "Index". As a result of doing this, she was contacted and told by "Index" that they would not change her Contract terms and conditions, but she had to continue paying off the account until fully paid, and during this time she would not be allowed to make any new purchases on her account. This she did- she made no new purchases since that date, plus she was always prompt with her monthly payments. Her account balance at November 2009 was only £65. Her December 2009 monthly payment was due to "Very" (who had taken over her former "Index" account) on December 21st, 2009, so she was careful to post off her cheque 8 days earlier, on December 13th. However, "Very" says they didn't process her cheque until December 22nd- 1 day later, and have imposed a £12 Late Payment Penalty Fee on her account, despite her rejecting this specific alteration to her original Consumer Credit Contract, a year earlier. Speaking to "Very" on the phone, trying to explain the rejection of the change to her Contract, only got "if she was late with her monthly payment, she has to pay the £12 Charge, as per her Credit Agreement" Got a dumb response when I tried to explain to the supervisor that her Credit Agreement had NO Penalty Clause in it, plus the supervisor said she had a copy of "Very's" Credit Agreement in front of her, and it had the Penalty Clause in it. Trying to explain my wife's original Credit Agreement was signed back in 2004, and was with "Index Extra" got nowhere. Where should I go next- I feel like I should go to my local civil court and demand monetary redress. "Very" equals "Very Thick". Border Collie of Scotland.

Thanx Andrew, Finally got a reply from "Binatone" in Australia (honestly!), who tell me that All I need now is around £3000 for the return trip to Aussie, so I can collect my new free phone (worth £28.95p) Might not be posting for the following 3-4 weeks...... Border Collie of Scotland

Thanks Andrew, I joined navigo wiki space and placed a similar message on their discussion board. I'd have thought someone already would have had a great idea to create a web-site especially for downloading original copies of device registry files, not only for sat-navs, but also for PDA's, Phones, I-Pods, etc. "Dragon's Den", here I come.....?? Thanx again, Border Collie of Scotland

I have a 'Navigo' SY885 V.1 Sat-nav, which originally had Turbodog V.5 installed on the SD card as the default supplied navigation system. As the Turbodog V.5 was outdated, I downloaded a version of Igo8 sat-nav navigation system and UK maps, from a site which assured me that the version was pre-configured to work on my Navigo, but after installing the Igo8 on a new SD card, and running it on the 'Navigo', although it worked for a few minutes, the volume of the voice instructions turned itself down to zero, the volume bar stayed displayed showing zero volume at the bottom of the screen, trying to turn the volume up using the volume control just resulted in 'beeps' and immediately going back down to zero. On removing the SD card with the Igo8 on it, and running the original Turbodog V.5 on the Navigo, the problem remained- not only with the navigation software, but also when trying to play a mp3 or video- works for a minute or two then 'beeps' itself down to zero volume again. I think the Igo8 programme has corrupted the Navigo's registry files. I managed to find a default original Navigo registry file online, to restore registry values using MSync and CeRegEd, but the file is for the Navigo V.2 model only and is totally different to the V.1. version. I have the Navigo SY885, 3.5" screen, V.1, with the Rom Version- 17C.YF.3.N.1015, and Software Version- V2.0.0.12.15. Has anyone got a working "Navigo" SY885, V.1, 3.5" screen, Sat-Nav, who can make me a registry image back-up, so I can restore my sat-nav? Or has anyone got a copy of the V.1 registry image restore files? Or has anyone got any ideas on how I can fix the problem some other way? Advice and help would be really appreciated, thanx, Border Collie of Scotland.

A slight consolation if you incur future Bank Penalty Charges for unpaid Direct Debits to BT.... I notice that you bank with the "Halifax", like I do. Last month I got stiffed with a Penalty Charge for not having enough in my account to cover my monthly payment to "Tiscali", as for some reason "Tiscali" wanted their money on November 21st instead of the usual 1st of the month. When I received my "Halifax" Bank Statement last week, it showed that they have reduced their 'Penalty Charge' for an unpaid Direct Debit, from the original £35.00p, down to just £15.00p. They never told me of this change, but I'm not complaining. You should be getting charged the new £15.00p too, so best check. Good Luck, Border Collie of Scotland.

Not sure where to place this message in the topic threads, but this is as close a thread as I can find. :? I am using a Binatone Fusion 2210 dect phone/answerphone, plugged into my new BT HomeHub V2.2, as a 2nd VOIP line, on a 05602 number. The problem is I can't find any instructions on how to delete the stored Caller ID list, on the dect phone, as I haven't got the original manual anymore. I know how to delete the messages from the answerphone part of the phone, but nowhere in the menu seems to be a facility for deleting the Caller ID lists- at the moment they're up to 36 different ones. Anyone know how to go about this? Appreciate any advice, thanx, By the way, the VOIP BT HomeHub line works far better than my normal landline- impressed by it, but hate the ultra high-pitched dialtone. Border Collie, Dumfries, Scotland.

My journey ends.... Regarding my Complaint to "Otelo" at the beginning of this Topic Thread, "Otelo" contacted me today to say that 'a BT high level complaints investigator would be phoning me later to try and resolve things". BT did phone me, to say 'that a terrible mistake had been made on their part' What they said that following my Complaint, their engineers had now examined the alleged extension socket which was faulty, and which they had removed from my hallway, and it WAS the property's master socket, complete with capacitor and a lightning arrestor. Their engineers also now admit that their job records shows that socket for the line volume amplifier, which they installed 7 years ago in my roof space, ( which until last month they insisted was a 'master socket') was NOT a new master socket, but merely an in-line amplifier connection to the 2 wire cable coming from outside my house, with the 2 line cable continuing onto the disputed 'extension socket' located in my hallway. The 'phone socket' built into this 'loft connection', was not in fact for me to plug my router and phone handset into, but instead a 'jack socket' ?? for an engineer to plug a test meter into. BT admitted that I was completely right in everything I said, and have immediately scrapped the £125 repair charge, plus given me an additional 3 months line rental free, plus I have £100 compensation award coming soon. Bt also asked me to confirm to "Otelo" that I accepted their apology and offer, so that the Formal Complaint can be dropped. So I hope that the matter is now finished.... "It's good to talk, (in order to complain)"........ Border Collie of Scotland

Should have made the points I raised in my last post clearer. After I first queried the £125 repair charge, I asked BT Faults Dept. to send me written reasons for their upholding the charge. I received their letter just after I made a formal complaint to "Otelo" and what I posted was almost exactly word for word what BT wrote, excluding a paragraph where BT confirmed that ... from March 19th, 2002, the status of your hall based master socket was changed to that of an extension socket, due to the installation of the line amplifier in your roof-space. As this was caused by an operational change, the hall based master socket reverted to being the property of the account holder, and despite the age of this socket, was guaranteed by BT for a 12 month period until March 18th, 2003. ...... We can acknowledge that our engineer has reported that the faulty hall socket, which is the subject of your dispute with us, and which he replaced on 12th September, 2009, matched original stock which BT used at our estimated date of first installation, which was c.1997. The engineer also confirmed that the removed faulty socket, for reasons unknown to him, had not been replaced in March 2002, to that of a simple extension socket assembly, but retained the components of a master socket although it status was that of an extension." So what I posted is what BT Fault's Dept response back to me- I would have loved to have pasted the entire letter into this posting, plus the details of who sent it to me, but I got into 'trouble' for breaching confidentiality before, and BT was careful to insert the Privacy clauses, etc, at the end of the letter, so I can't. I'm getting more puzzled every day....at least "Otelo" is dealing with it now. Border Collie of Scotland.

Think that other Caggers should be aware of BT's current position on Master Sockets.... If you already have a BT Master Socket installed in your home, and for any reason BT needs to install a periphary new socket, before the old Master Socket and anywhere else in your property, (such as in the roofspace as in my case or under the flooring), not necessarily for connecting a phone or modem to, but for BT's own purposes) 1) Wherever this new socket is located, (even under the floorboards!) this is expected to be your new Master Socket where your phone and/or modem should be connected to from now on. 2) Your original Master Socket immediately becomes an 'extension socket' which is now your own responsibilty for repairing or replacing. 3) Even if the original Master Socket was BT's property, and could be 20 years old, from the date when the new socket was installed by BT, it now becomes your new property, with a 12 months guarantee only. 4) Apparantly you are now allowed to 'tamper or open' the original Master Socket, even if it is stamped with "BT Property-Do Not Open", as it is now your extension socket, and therefore your property. 5) Finally, BT will always inform the customer if a change of Master Socket takes place in their premises. Yeah, right... like they did to me. So this means that BT equipment isn't always BT equipment..... The journey continues.... Border Collie of Scotland.

Think that they have accepted it as the £125 charge relates to the repair of a disputed moved master socket, rather than to cables or wiring connecting to or from the socket.

Latest Update- Received a 'Final Response' from BT last week, saying that they were upholding the £125 charge, as apparently "their Faults Department had already investigated my complaint" (?????) Next day I received my October monthly bill from BT, which was for £147.60p which included the disputed £125 repair charge, and £22.60p for calls and line rental. They admitted that they had no proof that I had ever been given a change of Customer Premises Equipment leaflet, nor that I had actually ever been informed that my Master Socket location had been changed to under my roof space 7 years ago. Straight to "Otelo", who have accepted my Complaint as being 'valid' and started a new investigation. Other Forum members might like to know that I was advised that... ...as my dispute concerned only an ancillary service charge of a technical supply nature, and not a dispute concerning call charges or line rental....... AND.... ...as I had agreed to pay the £22.60p line rental and call charges part of this month's bill... AND... I had put it in writing to BT that forthcoming call charges and line rental costs would continue to be paid each month until such time the dispute was resolved one way or another... ... No interruption, disconnection or other interference should be made to my phone line provision whilst "Otelo's" investigation was taking place, nor should any Penalty or Late Payment charges be imposed because of the non-payment of the disputed £125 Repair Charge. I was surprised to hear from BT that they agreed completely to these conditions. I can't be sure but I think "Otelo" frowns on disruption to telephone services, if the dispute concerns what was described as 'ancillary charges or services', and as long as current line rental and call charges are paid for, as billed. Any other Forum member in a similar situation, might like to note these facts in case they need to use them themselves. Meantime, the journey continues.... Border Collie, of Scotland.

Referring to the original post for this poor lady, and what was said as per quote above, it might be a good idea if she got an up-to-date Credit Search Report carried out, as soon as possible, to see exactly what is outstanding in her name. For all she knows, there could be a few more 'nasties' hidden in the woodwork. It all sounds a nightmare which will take a lot of work and time to unravel. Border Collie of Scotland

She needs to ask DLC for a copy of the original signed Vodafone Agreement (do this in writing) to check if she indeed signed it, or not. DLC have to supply this if requested. If she didn't sign it, she has no legal responsibility for any of this debt- it will be her ex-partner's business and DLC cannot chase her for repayment. If she DID sign it, then she unfortunately will be responsible for repayment, but she could always consider taking a Civil Action out in the County Court to recover some or all of the outstanding balance due, from her ex-partner, but she would have to prove that he exclusively used the phone, and made all the calls from the handset. If she did sign the contract, my advice would be to go to her nearest Citizens Advice Bureau, and get help completing a personal Financial Statement Form, which details her income and expenditure over a monthly period. She would need to provide a copy of her proof of income, such as a DWP Benefit Award letter, etc. Hopefully if she then sent all these to DLC, then they would either accept a token repayment amount of, say, £6 a month, or as has happened to other people I know, they have written off the debt. But whatever she does, make sure she KEEPS COPIES of all correspondence sent and received by her. Best of luck, Border Collie of Scotland.

Thanx Buzby, New Executive Complaints Contact details for B.T. Everyone might like to know of a change to the contact details thread for BT Executive Complaints. I did try to P.M. Martin3030 direct, so he could change the 'sticky topic' thread himself, but his private messages Inbox isn't accepting new PM's until he empties it! perhaps he will read this post and change it himself. All emails for John Williams, CEO Executive, are now being dealt with the person listed below, a Mr Pip Nicholls. Pip Nicholls (Mr) Assistant to the Chairman & Chief Executive ( 01277 326107/ 0800 023 2067 * [email protected] Fax 01925 712 853 *[email protected] + PP8, BT Contact Centre, 110 Europa Boulevard, Warrington WA5 7FZ He seemed quite helpful with my contact with him, although he does take a few days to get back to you. Border Collie of Scotland

"Otelo" have sent me a provisional decision, upholding my Complaint, and suggesting that I accept an apology plus £100 Compensation from BT, to cover "my out-of-pocket expenses involved with making my complaint, an estimated 4 hours involved with trying to get BT to resolve my Complaint over the 6-7 month period" PLUS formal directive advice to BT to ensure monthly bills are received by customers at least 12 days prior to the 'Payment Due by..' date shown on the bill, and that BT's computer system is adjusted to make sure no automated texts or phone calls are sent out until at least 5 days have elapsed since the red "Reminder" late payment bill has been sent. By the way, BT has admitted in their Response to "Otelo" that every customer's computer account stored on their main system, HAS a check box which can be ticked by Supervisors in order that the customer does not receive any automated texts or phone calls in respect of late payments. Apparently, my customer account had a glitch that meant that although every time I phoned BT to complain, and the advisor ticked this box, as soon as the window was closed by the advisor, the ticked box cleared itself... Hhmmm...yeah, right !! This is the "Otelo" rule that allows compensation to be made - When the Ombudsman makes a decision which requires your company to do something to put things right for you, your company will abide by this decision. We may ask your company to offer you: A product, service or some practical action that will benefit you An apology or explanation Up to £5000.00 including VAT. The Ombudsman may also make a recommendation to your company that they change their policies or procedures. If, after investigation, we decide that your company is not at fault, we will clearly explain our reasons for this in writing. Will keep you informed, Border Collie of Scotland.

B.T. Automated Texts and Phone Calls Over a 6-7 month period, BT kept sending automated texts and phone calls about 'non-payment of our last bill'- up to 4 or 5 times every day, and sometimes starting on the actual day we received our monthly phone bill by post. What was most annoying was that we received these texts and phone calls, anything up to 2 1/2 weeks before the 'Payment is due by xxxx' date shown on the actual bill. Despite making 2 Formal Complaints in writing to the Correspondence Centre at BT, Durham, and demanding that they respond in writing to these, BT ignored everything and didn't even acknowledge receiving the Complaints. As we have NEVER been in arrears with any of our monthly bills, in the many years we have been with BT, eventually I had to complain to 'Otelo' who accepted we had a valid Complaint. Currently 'Otelo' has been investigating our Complaint for 8 weeks, but they say BT has been 'difficult' in responding to their enquiries. 'Otelo' tells me that they intend to ask for compensation on my behalf. I will keep you all informed as to the final outcome. BT - "It's good to talk......" ???? :lol: Border Collie of Scotland.

We have had a BT phone master socket in our hallway for over 20 years. 7 years ago, as we live over 4 miles from our village exchange and was getting low volume on received calls, BT came out and installed a mains powered line volume amplifier in our loft, between the hall master socket and the phone line coming in from outside. We have no access to this volume amplifier as it apparantly is sited high in the loft, under the roof eaves. The engineer brought down a separate cable from the loft, with an AC Mains transformer on the end of it, and this had to be plugged in to a mains socket 24/7 to power the amplifier. The master socket in our hallway wasn't touched. Last month, the original master socket in our hallway went dead- couldn't make or receive phone calls, and no broadband DSL signal, so phoned BT Faults who said there was a fault at the end of our phone line. The engineer came out and found the original hallway master socket was corroded, he replaced it in 15 minutes, and tested everything was then working ok. We got a bill from BT last week for a repair charge of £125 incl Vat. After disputing this charge with the Faults section, BT phoned back to say the charge was being upheld as...... 1) The hallway master socket WASN'T the master socket, as since BT installed the loft line volume amplifier 7 years ago, it had changed to being an extension socket, as unknown to me, at that time the engineer had added another socket under the eaves of the roof, in the loft, in order to add the AC mains powered volume amplifier to our phone line. 2) This new 'Master Socket' which is 15ft up in our loft, had a socket on it which a phone could be plugged into, thus the hallway socket is definitely only an extension socket (though it was the same socket that we have always had). We should have used the socket in the roof to plug our phone into !!!! ) 3) Although the hallway master socket which was faulty was originally supplied and installed many years ago by BT (20 years ??), and is their property, as 7 years ago it changed to an extension socket, from that date was only guaranteed for 12 months, so any repair/replacement to it has to be charged- thus the £125 charge applied. 4) BT Faults also told me the engineer had reported that the hallway faulty socket had corroded, and also had old paint inside it. Our hallway hasn't been painted for many years, and the socket has worked fine up to last month- after all, it was over 20 years old!!! 5) Finally, I was told the £125 was to be added to our next bill and if I didn't pay it our phone would be disconnected. I have already got a current investigation of a Formal Complaint against BT, being dealt with Otelo, regarding receiving automated calls about non-payment of our monthly bills, up to 5 calls daily, over a 6 month long period, sometimes starting on the actual day we had our monthly bill delivered to us, and although we have NEVER been in arrears with any of our bills, during the many years we have been with BT. So, can BT disconnect me during this current Otelo investigation? As soon as I receive the new bill with the £125 charge added to it, how do I dispute it on a higher level, in the meantime not getting disconnected? Have I the right to ignore making another complaint about the £125 charge to Otelo, and instead immediately take out a civil claim for damages, court costs, and the removal of this charge, against BT, at our local Sheriff Court ( I live in Scotland) ?? Any advice or similar experiences would really help me with this problem. Thanks. Border Collie of Scotland.

I've had Broadband from Tiscali for the last 19 months, but early last month, (April), their DSL signal from our local phone exchange failed, and after 3 hours phone conversations with their 'tech' dept, (in India) they promised to restore the service 'within 2 days'. 3 days later, no service, no promised return calls from their 'technical engineers?' so more phone calls, then on the 4th day, Broadband back on, but went off again after just 2 hours !! Back to more long phone calls @ 10p minute, eventually had it restored again after another 4 days, so was off for over a week. Spoke to their Customer Diservices dept in Milton Keynes, on April 12th, who promised me that 'as compensation for the inconvenience and phone call costs, we have immediately credited £30.00p to your Tiscali Broadband Account, so you won't have anything to pay for the next 2 monthly bills...' I normally pay £14.99p monthly on the 6th of each month, and at this time was up to date with payments. So when May 6th came, as I knew I had £30.00p credit in my Tiscali Account, I didn't bother to ensure I had enough in my Bank account to cover the due £14.99p as I had been told it wouldn't be collected. Except Tiscali tried to take £14.99p out of my Bank Account- I got charged a Penalty Fee {Halifax) of £35.00p for non-payment, and Tiscali are now threatening to cut off my Broadband service as I didn't pay them the £14.99p on May 6th. !! I phoned up Milton Keynes 3-4 more times to complain, and was told an explanation which both I didn't understand, nor could the telephonist who spoke to me. They say my Bill which is made up around the 20th of each month, to be collected from my Bank on the 6th of the following month, covers all the days in that specific month, and all payments, etc made to the account up to the 20th day of that month. So the Payment which was returned 'unpaid' on May 6th, covered Broadband service from April 1st through to April 30th, and Payments/credits received between March 20th through to April 20th. Get it ????? difficult, eh ?? When I explained that the £30.00p Credit was made to my Tiscali account on April 12th, which meant it went through by April 20th deadline so no £14.99p should have been taken from my Bank Account on May 6th, as I was in credit, the telephonist agreed, but said that I had still to pay the May 6th £14.99p 'so that your Tiscali account can show that you are in £30.00p Credit, even though you have had a £30.00p Credit Balance showing since April 13th..." Confused ??? ..not as much as I am... I wrote a Formal Complaint to Tiscali at Milton Keynes on May 10th- sent it by Registered Post and give them 10 days to respond else I told them I would sue them. They didn't reply, so I phoned them again, to be told they had no trace of receiving this Complaint. Royal Mail Tracking Service shows it was delivered to Tiscali, at 09.13hrs, on 12th May. Had enough of Tiscali messing me about, so I went to our local Sheriff Court- Small Claims section yesterday { I live in Scotland) , and took out a summons for the £30.00 credit, £14.99p they wrongly claimed, the £35.00p Bank Penalty Charge caused by their incompetence, £44.00 Court Costs, plus another £30.00 for the costs involved with all the useless phone calls and letters. I'll post an update when the Summons is served on Tiscali. By the way, Tiscali has now 3 addresses - their registered offices in Soho, London, - a Customer Services section in Milton Keynes, and another Billing and Account section up in Inverness, Scotland, so it makes life difficult.