to expect bt to help when my circumstances change?

[ldt87]

Hi i was hoping for some perspective here and any suggestions about how i might make bt help me!
My husband was made redundant not long ago and although we've tried to keep our head above water we are struggling massively on benefits with 2 children at the moment. My husband has just come off the phone to bt where he asked them if they could help us reduce our bill in any way considering our circumstances. Bearing in mind that our current package is being offered to new customers at half the price we pay is it unreasonable of me to be gobsmacked at the total lack of empathy we've been shown? We've been told no. End of. Considering it will only cost us 60 pound to leave them it looks like they've just lost a customer. Be warned before you take out their products that if you find yourself in the shit they won't give a damm.

So sorry. Did you opt for the 'leaving us ', option?

BT is a business and therefore needs to make a profit from the products its sells. You wouldn't go into Tesco and offer them £80 for food that costs £120, would you? And if BT did cut your bill, what would stop others from calling up and also claiming to have money difficulties in order to get a reduced bill?

Home phone/broadband etc are not essential services. If you can't afford them, you have to do without them, same as I do without a car because I can't afford it. Harsh but fair.

I asked them to reduce my bill a couple of years ago and they changed me to a cheaper package. Didn't they offer to do that for you?

Im more than willing to cancel and will be paying the cancellation fee next week. I don't expect sympathy from them, just understanding. At the end of the day i am 14 months through my 18 month contract, i think that shd tell them i am being honest!

Should sorry

No they didn't offer anything, that's what surprised me, i thought we could go cheaper and they said they couldn't help. I do know its not their problem by the way, i just thought they might offer better customer service than this.

Did you tell them you wre leaving? They usualy offer you allsorts if you do that

Yes i did, but can't cancel straight away as i don't have the money to say the early cancellation fee. Its catch 22 at the moment.

I will sort it out eventually, just expected better i suppose. Thanks anyway everyone.

"You wouldn't go into Tesco and offer them £80 for food that costs £120, would you?"

No, but Tesco wouldn't be offering cheaper food to new customers...

Might be worth ringing them again. How long have you been with them? Is it just the 14 months or were you with them before?

Just the 14 months. I was with them years ago then went with sky for a bit.

I will try again. Nothing like having to beg for help when you've already his rock bottom eh? Thanks for the suggestions.

Is it free to phone them? Their customer service has got worse recently though. I'd change if I could be bothered.

Im not sure if its free or not actually. I might try email instead.

Hi OP sorry to hear your having difficulties at the moment!

BT actually have a special package for those in receipt of certain benefits (not that they tell anyone this)

Can't remember what it is called but do a quick google search and it should come up!

Google BT Basic. Worth a try?

Thank you I'll look at that.

It's not bad customer service for them to not reduce your bill. It's business. They aren't there to provide a public service.

Oh dear...I've just left Sky for BT because Sky's customer service was atrocious. Both when talking to me, and recently, where it seems the executive team has managed to replicate my name and address across several accounts. I'm getting daily letters intended for other people, detailing people's financial situations. They are addressed to me, but are always intended for someone else on the inside.

For reference, it appears that they don't reduce bills either. Unfortunately, the poor families that they have refused don't even know that they have been refused, because I've got their letters.

Phone up again when you can actually afford to cancel, and see if that makes a difference. I've never known them not to offer to reduce - hopefully it was just one person being abrasive, rather than new company policy or something.

Thanks i will call next week aiming to cancel there and then.

I've just switched my dad from BT because they are horrendously expensive for both line rental and calls.
They didn't offer any sort of incentive to stay.
To be honest, you would be better off with another provider when you can afford to move.
Sorry for your situation OP. It must be very hard.

I cancelled bt over a year ago and am certain they offeredme a better deal. We declined anyway because their customer service was shit.

With O2 now who seem to be a little better. And cheaper.

Op could I just offer a word of caution here too?
If you cancel with BT and pay the exit fee and then, at some future date, decide to go with another provider (or even back to BT), you may (depending on what package you opt for and with which company) then find that you have to pay a "reconnection fee".
This can be £20, £30 or £40 depending on circumstances so if you intend to keep your landline but just go with someone else you would be better to switch rather than cancel and then reactivate.
I know it's not BT's fault that you are in this situation but it is hard and given that you have completed 14 months of the contract it would have been good customer care to try and see if they could offer you something cheaper.
As it is, they've probably lost your custom forever now and that can't be good business sense either.
This sort of thing will happen more and more as people find themselves made redundant.
Hope you manage to get this sorted.

I actually think that it is bad customer service, and also bad for business, to not at least offer to change a customer to a cheaper package, if the result is that the customer cancels and goes elsewhere, and tells lots of people about how shit their experience has been.