Anyone else been "mis sold" a BT phone contract??? please help

[pinkprincess1206]

We are havinga huge issues with BT. We signed up to the what they called "basic package" in june 08. We were told that it was a 1 year contract and if we terminated within that time we would have a termination fee to pay. we just have recently instructed a different provided to take on our line and have today received a letter from BT stating we are being billed for a terminating the cotnract early!! we cotnacted them and spoke to them as obviously 1 year cotract would take us to june 09.... only to be told that it is actually a rolling contract. neither me nor my partner were aware of this and when I told i feel that they mis sold the product to us the man said we should have received a call in month 11 yto renew the cotnract- we did not. i told him this and he insisted we would have.. he then put me on hold and after a few mins he came back and said that it may have been sent out on the bottom of a bill at some point.
My arguement is that this was not the service we requested and also that we were unaware of this element...can anyone help??????

Happened to us. We couldn't get out of it though we tried and tried.

They are very sneaky BT.

sorry about the awful sp.... really mad and keyboard getting it!

hmmm - I had problems with BT and found the email for their CEO. PA responded within about half an hour and resolved issue. Can't remember email address but will see if I can find it. If not then have the email saved in a folder at work and can check tomo.

Just tried to Google it to figure it out. I could remember the PAs first name and looks like she moved on in March 2009! Will try to find original email address.

Well I have found this. The name seems to ring a bell but couldn't be sure if it is the right email (maybe it is an old CEO) - worth trying though. [email protected]

And sorry to over load with excessive emails but just found an article that says he only became CEO in June 2008 so probably is still the right guy!

My problem was seriously resolved mega quick after weeks of confusion from BT so worth trying!

thanks,that is great. will defo email him. Il keep you posted.

We had a similar issue where we found out on trying to move from temporary accommodation that we'd been put onto a full year's contract without being notified.

I was very very tough with the call centre on the phone (for a long time, was unbelievably boring) and eventually got offered a discount on the penalty fee. I told them that in that case I would be making a formal complaint, and they then scrapped the whole thing, straight away, while I was on the telephone.

I thought it was a shocking system - what if I'd been less certain that we'd never asked for the contract/vulnerable/old/less bolshy? They'd have had the hundred pounds or whatever it was off me for no good reason at all. I ought to have made the formal complaint anyway, but we were in the middle of moving house and I never managed to.

Please do keep us updated. I will be interested to hear what happens.

It is the second time I have used the CEO route - once with Vodafone also and it has always got the desired result! I wasn't asking for anything unreasonable - just that they did what they were meant to do!

If that fails complain to Ofcom they have a load of policies and stuff on mis-selling they should be able to help!

OK... Probably going to regret this but, big, deep breath, I work for BT. Not, I hasten to add for the bit that handles domestic stuff. Very seriously, if you email Ian Livingstone (CEO) (as advised above) it is very likely that the situation will be resolved. Having said that, it's outrageous that you have to go this far to get the issue sorted.

And I did think about name changing but, well, it seemed cowardly.

Hi Sleigh Belle! Interesting to hear that it does work in general. Not that I thought I was particularly special - just pleased to hear that it does still worj.

It is a shame that it has to go that far but really did get my problem solved almost instantly where as I had been faffing around, being charged wrong amounts, told wrong days for set up and called back by people who spoke very little english and didn't have a clue what I was talking about for a good view weeks!

Anyway, nice to have some inside info!

It is a PITA but if you keep writing letters you will get somewhere. I had huge amounts of sht the odd problem when i moved a couple of telephone accounts in 2007 but was eventually credited with overpaid DD amounts, about £400. Also this year, looked into changing supplier and found that I had been overcharged plus was tied in to contracts I didn't know about and have managed to get £600+ credit back to my account. These are business tel nos so maybe diff to personal but the lesson is be strong and don't give up (BTW I pay some of my BT bills by cheque and they tried to start charging me for that, I simply deducted it and have never heard another word). (Also I know of a much better supplier of telecoms but I am new here so not sure if I can pass on details?)

ooh misread instruction on striking out!

Wine - wish that no-one ever had a bad experience with BT

I know this will sound hollow when people have had the horror of scripted contact centres; repeated errors; and generally poor service but "big BT" really does care about customers and customer service. Quite frankly, no customers = no BT.

Sleigh: I agree that they must do! I think the problems almost seems to occur with communication. It seems that rules get put in place and no one knows why or things are just dealt with in a certain way because that's the way it is. If you actually speak to someone who is allowed to do something other than what the computer or script says then you get somewhere!

It is the same with all big companies I think. And it is frustrating because you know that a lot of the people you speek to do genuinely want to help but can't do anything because they have to stick to the rules! I worked in an accident and breakdown call centre for a few years - it was horrible when you really wanted to help someone but just couldn't!

Sleigh, brave woman! Its not your fault

However can I just say that I FUCKING HATE HATE HATE HATE BT, REALLY i cant think of another compnay that i hate and despise as much as BT. For many years that have been taking advantage of their monoloy position and fucking their customers left right and centre

they screw people like this and then you can never get through to anyone. I once spent 45 minutes on hold trying to resolve a similar issue, thats the bit that gets me!!!! if you want to buy thewir shitty boradnand you are through in a nanosecond. have a real issue, prep[are to kiss a morning bye bye

This is taking the piss I agree, email this Ian chap and let us know how you get on.

Sorry Porca, I'm not stalking you, seem to post after you a lot lately

I too hate BT. I'm not mad about my bank or my gas supplier but I really hate BT.

I too was put on an annual contract because they rang me when I was intending to search for a cheap phone supplier and what they were saying made sense. I realised later (and there was no chance to cancel I don't think) that they had made the wrong comparison. My BT bill that they said would reduce if i had a different (yearly contract)plan, in fact included a late fee , so they put me on a more expensive plan.
I kept meaning to complain I was mis-sold but never got round to it [sigh]. Really hope you get a result and thanks for the tip about Ian Livingston.

Yep - happened to me. took me four letters and constant demands to hear the original conversation (they tape them) but eventually was re-funded around £150.

Ladies - this is just awful. I don't work in that part of the business but I will be sending this thread on.

And just a bit of background (if you weren't already aware):

I do realise that we have a monopoly position but the prices for our services were until very, very recently totally controlled by Ofcom. We weren't actually allowed to charge as little as other suppliers (who are using the BT network) in order to keep the market competitive. The original network was not, of course, paid for by BT but was part of the telephone service provided by the GPO (I'm even old enough to remember this) hence we have to share and play nicely with other providers!

I think, like most people, we all want our company to be providing an excellent service and it's really personally upsetting when it doesn't. I have no authority to speak for BT but I am personally very sorry that you've had such a bad time.

Now, I'm off to send this thread on and see what happens.

BT overcharged me repeatedly on my direct debit, assured me that it had been changed every month, then overcharged me again the next month. They also wouldn't let me claim it back until the next month either. When I finally left them they lied on the phone about what they could offer, then capped it off with a really nasty "Sorry you're leaving' letter which said they wouldn't hesitate to pass my details on to debt collectors if the final bill wasn't settled (this was while they still owed ME money)

I would never use any of their services again, I'd rather go without.

Sleighbelle you sound lovely.

I obviously don't know how high up BT you are; nor who you're going to pass this thread to, but I'd strongly suggest deleting your post where you encourage people to email the CEO direct before doing so - you might trust the person you're sending this thread to but there's no way of knowing who it then goes on to later and while I don't personally think you've done anything wrong, some people might feel it was unprofessional to tell people to do that, and you're about to "out" yourself by sending the thread on.

I hate BT too. I've pretty much resigned myself to never being able to get out of contract. We agreed to a 14 day trial of whatever the BT TV thing is last year. The set top box for it never turned up but they won't let us out of the 2 year contract that we agreed to when we agreed to add the telly bit - despite never getting the telly bit! But I spent hours on the phone and in the end just decided the stress it was causing wasn't worth it (not to mention the wasted time) so, well, they won.

Anyway. Sleighbelle, like I said, you sound lovely

Can I just say that (with the brief exception over the broadband) I've always been pleased with the service we get from BT? Especially when we've gone for the less official route of talking directly to the men in BT vans!

I spent ages trying to sort out an over-charge with a BT call ctre. When I rang again they would claim I had never called in the first place. In the end I sent a registered letter copied to Ofcom. Someone efficient sounding from a -wow!- UK office called me (obviously my telephone number was on the letter) and sorted it out immediately. I asked why she was now responsible and not some off-shore ctre and she virtually admitted that a complaint has to get to a certain 'level' (registered letter? copy to Ofcom?) before her team stepped in. Believe me the time and extra stamp money you spend in the Post Office is worth it in terms of blood pressure saved. I now communicate with all utilities in registered letters as I would when living abroad.

PS - oh yes I think technically its recorded delivery - whatever - just anything that looks more 'legal'.