This topic

Maddening unknown ERROR prevents me from getting on BTHomeEssentials

LumiRusu — Sun, 07 May 2023 16:27:49 GMT

I have been trying REPEATEDLY since LAST YEAR (yes, you read that right) to apply for BT Home Essentials, as I qualify for it ( I've been in receipt of Universal Credit for over a year, with no other source of income).

The problem is, every time I get to the verification page, the system returns an error message reading "There is a problem with the info you entered. Check your details below and try again". Well, I did check them, COUNTLESS times, they are CORRECT!

I called the BT Customer Service repeatedly, and they checked themselves. Everything appears accurate on the file. Everyone puzzled.

I then also called a few times DWP, to check if my name, my date of birth, my National Insurance Number are correct, and they are!

I have kept hitting the same wall since March 2022! I've been sent from pillar to post to no avail. During this period, I had months when I got exhausted by getting nowhere with my application for BT HE and sort of 'accepted defeat', continuing to pay £50-60/month for my BT bill, whilst I should have been paying only £20/ month or so if on a HE contract!

I have now reached the end of my patience, and the bottom of my savings pot. I can no longer afford to pay each month three times more than I could possibly afford, and nobody seems able to help me get to the bottom of it, and find out WHAT THE PROBLEM is.

I offered BT to provide all the necessary evidence that I am a Universal Credit recipient and have no other source of income, but they responded that only if the system verification went through and showed me as qualifying for BT H E, I could switch to it.

I told them I was disposed to terminate earlier the current contract (which ends in Jan. 2024) without having to pay the high early termination fee (I could not afford that), and to start clean slate with a new BT contract if that helps. Again, was told that the system might still throw the error if the underlying cause (which nobody seems to know what is) does not get fixed.

The point is I DO QUALIFY. Yet the computer says 'No!'

What details exactly are being cross-checked with DWP, so we can look AGAIN at those and see what - if anything - does not match?

PLEASE HELP!

I can provide all the necessary info to the BT moderators who can help look into this totally unfair, and utterly frustrating situation.

Many thanks!

Re: Maddening unknown ERROR prevents me from getting on BTHomeEssentials

gg30340 — Sun, 07 May 2023 16:33:56 GMT

One thing you have not mentioned/confirmed is are you the BT Broadband account holder as named on the bill and is it spelt correctly on the BT account/bill.

Re: Maddening unknown ERROR prevents me from getting on BTHomeEssentials

LumiRusu — Sun, 07 May 2023 16:37:10 GMT

Thank you for your prompt reply, Distiguished Sage!

YES, I am the BT Broadband account holder, and my name is spelled correctly on the BT account & bill, exactly the same as it is on the DWP records.

Re: Maddening unknown ERROR prevents me from getting on BTHomeEssentials

gg30340 — Sun, 07 May 2023 16:38:19 GMT

I have notified the moderators of the forum about your problem. Once they have read this they may be able to help. They will advise you by posting on this thread.

Re: Maddening unknown ERROR prevents me from getting on BTHomeEssentials

LumiRusu — Sun, 07 May 2023 16:45:02 GMT

I just checked again... on the bill, only my first name's initial appears next to my full surname. I am guessing that is a standard, right?
On the BT account details and personal info details on the website, my name appears in full and correctly spelled.

Re: Maddening unknown ERROR prevents me from getting on BTHomeEssentials

LumiRusu — Sun, 07 May 2023 16:47:13 GMT

Thank you very much!

Re: Maddening unknown ERROR prevents me from getting on BTHomeEssentials

Les-Gibson — Sun, 07 May 2023 19:27:30 GMT

Try entering your personal details exactly as they are on your BT bill, including your postcode if for some reason it is shown wrongly

Re: Maddening unknown ERROR prevents me from getting on BTHomeEssentials

DanielS — Mon, 08 May 2023 13:48:10 GMT

Hi @LumiRusu,

When we submit our request to the DWP we send across your National Insurance number, name and date of birth.

They need to match the DWP's database exactly. That includes any special characters such as '-'.

I'm going to send you a private message so we can try and work out what's causing the rejection for you.

Thank you

DanielS

Re: Maddening unknown ERROR prevents me from getting on BTHomeEssentials

LumiRusu — Wed, 10 May 2023 13:27:51 GMT

Thank you, Mr LesGibson!

I already did what you suggest..., to no avail!

I think there is something wrong at the back end of my file on the DWP system..., probably a minor difference that causes all this trouble!

Re: Maddening unknown ERROR prevents me from getting on BTHomeEssentials

LumiRusu — Wed, 10 May 2023 13:31:55 GMT

Thank you, Daniel!
I replied to your private message with all the info you requested.
Indeed, the dash in my double-barrelled surname may cause trouble on various technology systems, because they 'translate' it differently (and some of these systems, such as certain airlines etc., did not even recognise the dash, they just joined together the two surnames, as I experienced in the past).

Re: Maddening unknown ERROR prevents me from getting on BTHomeEssentials

LumiRusu — Wed, 10 May 2023 13:33:33 GMT

Dear gg Distinguished Sage,
Thank you so much for alerting the moderators to this issue! Your support is much appreciated!

Re: Maddening unknown ERROR prevents me from getting on BTHomeEssentials

JohnC2 — Thu, 25 May 2023 12:13:42 GMT

Hi @LumiRusu, just to update the community that this has been resolved now and you're on the Home Essentials package. The error was the house number missing off the address record with the DWP. Once this was corrected the order was placed and completed ok.

Cheers

John

New BTHomeEssentials subscriber now, THANK YOU, JOHN!

LumiRusu — Thu, 25 May 2023 13:10:04 GMT

... and may I just say a big THANK YOU to @JohnC2 for his patience, resilience and not giving up on my long-standing issue with the verification stage of the BT Home Essentials application!

He was very dilligent, kind, knowledgeable, dutiful in replying and processing all the info I provided, and progressing swiftly the findings to reaching the final solution.

The BT Customer/ Technical Support need more people like John!

A very grateful customer.

Kind Regards,

Lumi R-M