BT can't read their own diagnostics

This is taken from the thinkbroadband.com website with a complaint about BT staff.

Some of you may recall that in the "digital divide" thread I mentioned that as part of BT's "local improvements" they had installed a new underground box at the base of the pole, leaving the 40-odd year old cable and the half-mile cable above ground totally untouched.

Barely a week after BT's "improvements" my business line developed a really bad crackle, so I phoned 151. I told the woman dealing with the call that the fault would inevitably be the really old cable, or the overhead cable, because we have to call BT out at least twice a year to fix faults on it. She ran a line test, and she told me that my line was 4km long (it isn't, it's just that part of it is aluminium), and that tests revealed that the fault was very close to the exchange, so it wasn't the cable.

The next morning a BT man turns up. It didn't take him long to find the fault - the joint where BT's old underground cable joins the overhead cable, only 500 meters from my house.

So, not only will BT not invest in replacing their worn-out plant, their personnel can't read the diagnostic equipment they have invested in !

What a pity that there is no competition around here for phone lines - I'd really love to take my business away from this clueless, profit driven outfit !

Original Source

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BT Dissatisfied Customer Complaint

Here is the latest BT Customer Service complaint I have received.

Dear BT,
How I would I start this letter I don’t know, if you ever had a dissatisfied customer and wrote a complain letter in. First thing I would like to know is what is the procedure to deal with it.

15 January
I rang B.T at 6.10pm put an order down to come back to B.T provider I was satisfied by one of your customer service person that my line will be changed in 5/7 working days so I was happy with that.

19 January
I made the second call to B.T providers to let them know they have changed my number, so kindly can you change my new number to the old one I was told from this person
BT can do this in 5 working days taking all my details and putting my order through.

26 January
I contacted B.T again to ask why it was taking so long - he started taking my details and told me there was no order placed so I need to place a new order to bring my old number back with B.T.

I was very angry at this time but still I made a new order and told BT I need the old number back as soon as possible because I have home business that only runs through internet so please treat my order very urgently. I was told I would not have to contact the BT department again as my order will be dealt with ASAP.

2 February
I made another call to B.T asking why is my order taking so long to take place and I would like to speak to a BT Line Manger. I spoke to the Line Manger in the BT complaints department and went through all the details again. They told me I would have to wait a few more days as my order has been placed and they are waiting for the number released from the other company so I was fine by that few more days - "that’s it" he said.

11 February
I made 5th call concerning change of my number. I told BT to put me through to complaint department - by this time I was sick and tired of putting new orders in every time I called the B.T department as I have mentioned at the starting of my letter I have a home business running through my internet.

I take all new orders so I need internet running all the time, cutting the story short, I hard very harsh words with the customer services person in complain department as I was very upset, so 1.45 min to this call to complain department he told me that every thing will be done by Friday 13 February just call back in the morning on this number 0800 800 313 and talk to customer option team tell them that you are putting new order in.

13 February
I made a call at 8.15am just before I leave for work. I told BT the entire scenario and told her word for word what their Line Manger had told me to say. First response she told me was "this is not possible - it doesn't work like that".

I asked why not, it's your manger I am talking about who said every thing is fine know so deal with it - I got same answer again - no its not possible it take at least 7 working days to deal with this kind of order - I was really upset about this and I put the phone down as I was getting late for work.

So I hope you read this email and reply back to me and I request you not to say sorry to me because you’re sorry doesn't help to bring my business back and the damage that it has caused me the loss that I have to go through the problems that I have faced - I am a 9/5 working class mother with 2 children.

I just hope you learn your lesson and stop messing about with people like me who have been with BT for last 5 years. Please give more training to your BT staff on customer service please.

A very unsatisfied BT customer.

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BT remain 1st in Broadband Market

BT has topped 4.7 million broadband subscribers, cementing its place as the UK’s biggest broadband provider, according to its latest quarterly results.

BT Broadband (www.BT.com) added 83,000 new customers in the last three months of 2008. “In the maturing broadband market, we remain the UK’s number one retail broadband provider with a customer base of 4.7 million,” said BT.
"We remain the UK’s number one retail broadband provider"

While the company also increased the number of subscribers to its digital TV service BT Vision and its wireless hotspot service BT Fon, overall BT Retail saw a 0.7 per cent drop in profits, due in part to a seven per cent fall in home phone call and line revenue.

BT Vision reached the 400,000 mark in the last quarter, up from 340,000, while BT Fon membership - which allows BT customers to share a secure part of their home broadband in return for access to other Fon hotspots - increased by nine per cent to reach 163,000.

The use of BT Openzone minutes nearly doubled compared to last year and “BT Openzone is now also available at more than 50,000 worldwide locations through roaming partners”.

The company also revealed plans to roll out its 21 Century Network, which allows BT and other providers to offer speeds of up to 24Mb, to 40 per cent of the country by April 2009.

Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “BT is a trusted name for many consumers, but in these difficult times it’s doesn’t offer the best value for money.

“A lack of discounts or special bundled prices means that BT can’t always compete on price with the cheaper local loop unbundled (LLU) providers.

“Customers could save a packet by switching broadband to an ISP like O2 Broadband (www.O2.co.uk) - which has an award-winning service and 20Mb broadband for less than £10 a month for existing customers - or TalkTalk Broadband (www.TalkTalk.co.uk) - which offers some of the cheapest broadband deals on the market,” he concluded.

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BT Still Facing Phorm Probe

In the UK, phone giant BT is still being questioned about its use of customers’ data without their permission, during a trial of Phorm’s online ad targeting platform ‘Webwise’ back in 2006.

UK officials are currently being pressed by European privacy watchdogs to take action against BT over the secret test which involved 18,000 users over a two week period.

The European Commission has previously sent three requests to the UK authorities asking what they intend to do with regard to the tests, which it says potentially violated European sweep data privacy rules.

‘The Commission may have to proceed to formal action if the UK authorities do not provide a satisfactory response to the Commission's concerns on the implementation of European law in the context of the Phorm case,’ a European Commission spokesperson said. The Commission made its most recent request for feedback last month, and an agency spokesperson said the group expects to receive an answer soon.

Phorm has offices in New York, London and Moscow, and works with Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Publishers, Ad Networks and Advertisers to serve ads to subscribers based on their web-surfing histories.

BT and Phorm ran a legitimate trial of the WebWise monitoring and targeted advertising system in December, and the telecoms giant is currently assessing the findings before deciding whether to proceed to full rollout.

Web sites: www.bt.com and www.phorm.com

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BT Dialing Tone Problem - Another Complaint

Here is yet another complaint regarding BT lines and BT customer service. If anyone has any information that could help with this complaint then please leave a comment underneath.

Dear Sir

I had a problem with my line over two weeks ago and spoke to an agent in a call center. I was advised that before I call out an engineer I check that the problem is not with my equipment. I was asked to plug a corded phone into the test socket and if there was still no dialing tone, then the problem did not lie with me.

I did this and spoke to an agent again and explained that there was still no dialing tone. She told me that the the problem was not mine and that she would arrange an engineer visit. An engineer came and said there was a problem with the line and he would need to fix it. At no point did he mention any costs would be liable to me. I of course thought that because I had been told it was not my problem then there would be no costs.

I then came home form work the following week to find a bill for over £300 and I obviously thought this was a mistake. I telephoned and explained my situation and got passed around many people and eventually some one took my details and sent an email to the correct people on my behalf.

I heard nothing about this for several days and then come home to a curt answer phone message saying that I have to pay. I have emailed back saying that I would like to speak to somebody because I had been assured that it was not my fault and therefore I was not liable for the costs of repair.

I find it really frustrating and scary that I cannot speak to somebody regarding this and I am really worried about this bill in the current economic climate.

Please can you look into this for me and ideally reassure me that I will not have to pay this bill as I had been told I would not.

Yours with much hope

Nigel Bennett

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