I am writing to formally complain about your undated letter which I received today threatening to register me with credit reference agencies.
We have repeatedly complained about the poor customer service received from BT since we transferred our phone and Broadband on 24th May this year when we moved house to our new address above. Our experience of your customer service has been truly appalling.
To summarise our complaints:
1. We arranged for our phone to be transferred to our new address on 24th May; our order number was VOL 012121991259413. It took nearly seven weeks before BT bothered to re-instate a previously connected line in the property, and a further two weeks for the internet to be provided. We were told by your staff that the telephone transfer was separate from the internet transfer, and that we would have to re-apply for the latter service.
2. We had to make numerous calls to 0800 800 150 and on each occasion we had to wait between 30 and 40 minutes before we spoke to a human being; on a number of occasions after hanging on for over an hour the line just went dead.
3. When we eventually got through it was difficult to understand what the BT employee was saying as their English was very poor. Generally, they were rude and abrupt and used phrases like ‘Everybody has to wait’ or they would just lie and make false promises such as ‘the engineer will be with you on such-and-such a date’; we had 7 such promises of an engineer visit but only one actually materialised. On each occasion we had to wait in all day and then travel over 10 miles in the evening in order to pick up a mobile signal to call BT again. Your voice message indicating we could probably resolve our problem by going on-line was very annoying particularly as we had no internet access because of BT’s failure to transfer our phone and internet on time. We had to wait a further 2 weeks before BT bothered to install the internet and then at speeds of only 1-3Mb.
4. When we lodged our complaint (Vol 012122105370447) we were written to by Nadia Oakley to our old address on 30th June (5 weeks after we moved) and advised to call 0121 230 2061 if we had any concerns; when we called this number all we got was an immediate voice-mail but no response to our messages.
5. We were then written to by yourself on 14th July (again, to our old address, even though BT was given our new address on 23rd May) advising that we should contact the Ombudsman Services: Communications if you were unable to resolve our complaint satisfactorily.
6. After contacting BT, again, about the poor service and the lack of any progress with our complaint, we received a bill for £204.88p. This was blatantly an error because we were being charged for the period 11th August to 10th November (having moved house on 24th May).
7. We contacted BT again and, as with previous communications, were promised that the bill would be amended and a new bill showing a £0 balance would be sent to us.
8. Four weeks later we received a revised bill for £58.35p. Again, this was incorrect as it covered the period 24th May to 31st August. The only conclusion we could make at this stage was that this error was due to either incompetence or fraudulent practice.
9. We contacted BT again on 28th September (after waiting another 53 minutes to speak to a human being and not a voice recording advising that they were ‘very busy’) only to be told another lie that the bill should have read £0 and that the account was closed and that we would receive an email to that effect within 5 days. Your staff said that although they had our email address they could not and would not email us for at least 5 days.
10. Sixteen days after we last contacted BT we have still not received any confirmatory communication, but in the intervening period we have received two threatening letters from you.
11. We have also received erroneous email reminders; but always sent from a no-reply email address. The only contact details given either don’t connect us to the department concerned or advise us to contact your 0800 800 150 to lodge a complaint.
12. We have wasted hours and hours on the phone; and we have been lied to so many times. We have yet to speak to someone from BT that can provide accurate and truthful information.
It is blatantly evident that you are overseeing a department that is either totally incompetent or indulging in fraudulent practice; only you can decide which modus operandi best describes your department.
If I were to conduct my professional practice in the same manner as you and your department I would expect to be struck off my professional register.
In conclusion, therefore, I would seek confirmation that you will:
1. Instruct your staff to answer the phone within 3-5 rings with a human being rather than a voice message.
2. Instruct your staff to be truthful and honest at all times and not to lie to the customer just to get them off the phone.
3. Instruct your staff to follow up any communication with a confirmatory email or letter that same day.
4. Instruct your staff to speak in clear English without the background noise of an overseas call centre drowning out any conversation.
5. Instruct your staff to check all invoices for accuracy before posting them to customers.
6. Instruct your staff never to criticise or accuse another member of staff of lying or incompetence.
7. Before sending threatening and intimidating letters to vulnerable pensioners under your signature, you should check that you have the correct information before sending any such letter to a customer.
8. Instruct your customer services staff to answer any messages left on voicemail that relate to complaints.
9. Instruct your computer staff to not send out ‘computer-generated’ correspondence without checking the facts first.
10. Instruct your BT Open Reach staff to stop selling super-fast broadband to customers (stating it has speeds of up to 50Mb) when clearly it is not Superfast Broadband, but we are being charged for it; your sales person assured us we were getting Superfast Broadband, whereas your Engineer who visited the property said the nearest Superfast Broadband was three miles away.
When can we expect honesty from BT?
