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Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

natashajay — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 22:38:43 GMT

Today an engineer from EE came to my nans house and informed her she had been misled into being put on a plan for 900mbps, with Halo 3 and free wifi package. As a vulnerable pensioner who lives alone, the sales team were made aware that she only uses two devices in a standard home, but somehow they sold her a plan that had the internet speed to power ‘a small business’, luckily I caught this during the 14 day cool off period and Ofcom’s General Conditions for Vulnerable Customers state BT are legally obligated to ensure she is on a fair tariff suitable for her needs, so i assumed this would be resolved quickly and fairly by simply calling customer support to issue a refund and switch to a more suitable plan. However, when I called the customer service team to ask to put my nan on a fibre 2 plan and strip the unnecessary add-ons I was repeatedly stonewalled despite stating she is in her cool off period and a vulnerable woman who has been sold an inappropriate plan. I spent three hours on the phone to multiple call centre staff who lied about how much it would be to move to a lower speed (£86), who refused to give me the call reference number and refused to pass me to their manager to speak to, some even hung up on me! I explained multiple times that she is a vulnerable old woman who has been sold the wrong plan and I am within my rights in the 14 day cool off period to amend this. After speaking to 6 sales people in the space of three hours and getting nowhere I asked for a deadlock letter because I was under the impression this customer service is violating Ofcom’s regulations, I was hung up on again and no one gave me a deadlock letter. I couldn’t even get them to revert my vulnerable pensioner nan to a fair plan in her cool off period, let alone ask for a refund for the year she has been overpaying for her broadband. I have been completely stonewalled and the only option would be to change providers, how can I get past this stonewall and ensure my vulnerable nan isn’t misled and sold the most expensive package again?

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

Kimberlin — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 06:54:54 GMT

@natashajay Send your story to your local newspaper and to BBC Watchdog:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2DQwStWpWjfYJQprQFN70TS/watchdog-on-the-one-show

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

Ali_A — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 10:29:23 GMT

HI @natashajay

Sorry to hear that you feel your grandmother may be on package that is in excess of her requirements.

We want to give all our customers an excellent service but if you feel your situation hasn't been handled the way you had hoped we want you to know how we can fix it. Please visit our Complaints code of practice page for details about our handling process.

If you'd like to raise a case please visit Make a Complaint where our dedicated team will look into the details, take ownership and get in touch with you.

Ali

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

imjolly — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:16:00 GMT

@natashajay

use the code of practice link and then send email to the customer resolutions team they are the Executive level complaints and you should get response and assistance

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

iniltous — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 10:21:23 GMT

Clearly EE is the appropriate place to complain, as BT are not the provider posting here is inappropriate , what is odd though is the statement that an EE engineer visited the house , even if this is a mistake and it were an Openreach engineer acting on behalf of EE , they are instructed to make no comment on the end users ISP or their relationship with them , else be accused of favouring or disparaging individual ISPs , this can land the OR tech in considerable trouble as it breaks Openreach ‘equivalence’ undertakings with Ofcom .

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

garybs29 — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 10:23:18 GMT

@iniltouswrote:
Clearly EE is the appropriate place to complain, as BT are not the provider posting here is inappropriate , what is odd though is the statement that an EE engineer visited the house , even if this is a mistake and it were an Openreach engineer acting on behalf of EE , they are instructed to make no comment on the end users ISP or their relationship with them , else be accused of favouring or disparaging individual ISPs , this can land the OR tech in considerable trouble as it breaks Openreach ‘equivalence’ undertakings with Ofcom .

See, I'd say EE too but they specifically mention halo 3 which is a BT package not an EE one so I'm wondering if the mention of EE is an error

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

Kimberlin — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 10:29:42 GMT

This whole BT/EE thing appears on the face of it, to be a mess. EE are BT irrespective of what brand name they appear to be choosing to confuse some of their customers. This is clearly apparent from numerous accounts of folks calling BT only for some to be ‘guided’ (allegedly) to the EE side of the business. Funny how there aren’t any stories of EE guiding customers back to BT?

The apparent/alleged staff sharing from forums to call centres to engineers is all a bit dim. They really ought to get their act together.

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

chrisjp — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 10:33:27 GMT

I'm afraid this is what happens when you incentivise all your call centre staff with commissions for upselling. Ofcom should prevent ISPs from doing this.

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

garybs29 — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:04:41 GMT

@chrisjpwrote:
I'm afraid this is what happens when you incentivise all your call centre staff with commissions for upselling. Ofcom should prevent ISPs from doing this.

What a fantastic idea. "Oh sorry customer I'm not allowed to upsell you the brroadband you want as Ofcom have said I can't"

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

natashajay — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:10:52 GMT

Unfortunately my vulnerable nan didn’t want 900mbps, Halo 3 and free wifi discs, she is with BT and the engineer was sent on behalf of EE who informed me of this, they misled my nan into getting this package and I have call recordings of calling the line listed online for vulnerable customers and getting through to the billings team who stonewalled me again.

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

natashajay — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:12:15 GMT

BT are the provider. This is a vulnerable customer and when I called the line listed online for vulnerable and inclusion cases I was put through to the billings team, I have call recordings of this as I was stonewalled again.

Blocked from reaching Vulnerability Team (Audio evidence held)

natashajay — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:22:57 GMT

Hi everyone,

I am posting here in desperation to get the attention of a BT Community Moderator. I am trying to sort out an urgent issue for my elderly, vulnerable grandmother who lives alone, but I have been completely stonewalled by the standard phone lines, I am willing to share audio recordings of this.

The Situation:

My nan was recently put on a 900Mbps plan with Halo 3 and add-ons—a package with enough speed to power a small business, despite BT being explicitly told she only uses two basic devices.

A visiting engineer openly confirmed to her that she had been completely misled regarding her actual requirements.

Luckily, I caught this within her statutory 14-day cooling-off period. Under Ofcom’s General Condition C5, BT is legally obligated to ensure vulnerable customers are on a fair tariff suitable for their needs.

The Issue with Customer Service:
I spent three hours on the phone (including with the listed vulnerability support line) trying to revert her to a standard Fibre 2 plan and strip the unnecessary add-ons. Instead of help, I faced shocking treatment from the phone agents:

Six different sales people gave conflicting information, including claiming it would cost £86 to downgrade.

Staff repeatedly refused to give me call reference numbers or escalate me to a manager.

Multiple agents actively hung up on me when I mentioned her cooling-off rights and Ofcom regulations, and they refused to issue a deadlock letter.

What I Need:
My nan has been overpaying for a year, but right now I am just trying to protect her within this 14-day cooling-off window. We have been completely blocked from exercising her legal rights.

Can a BT Moderator please look into this as a matter of urgency? I have full call recordings of the stonewalling, and we need an official complaint raised, the cooling-off change backdated, and a fair, suitable package applied to her account immediately.

Thank you.

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

imjolly — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:33:26 GMT

as I posted previously just email customer resolutions as they are highest complaint level and you will get some action rather than continually calling and getting nowhere

Re: Blocked from reaching Vulnerability Team (Audio evidence held)

gg30340 — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:43:34 GMT

@natashajay

You were advised by a moderator in message 3 what to do.

I have merged your "new" post onto this thread as there is no requirement to post the same problem twice. It only causes confusion and repetition of answers.

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

garybs29 — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:46:18 GMT

One thing that's not clear too, is the vulnerable marker on the account too? All good saying she is but it needs to be noted on the account too

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

iniltous — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:00:18 GMT

Your attempt to clarify has (for me at least ) simply confused the issue even more …if BT are the supplier and you are correct in claiming your relative was mis sold products they clearly don’t need , then what have EE got to do with it , no EE engineers visit consumers in their homes , so why was this engineer there , who was the company they worked for , I guarantee EE didn’t knock on the door , with the sole intention of notifying the occupants of being misled by the sister company of BT , your post suggests this visitor was present for engineering reasons .

If this were an EE representative the only likely scenario I can see is if it were an EE door to door salesperson who were canvassing the area , trying to sign up customers from other ISP to EE , and when your relative answered the door to a salesperson , the intention the EE representative had was to get the occupant to switch , and when told the current BT broadband arrangement, clearly they have a vested interest in selling their own product, and diminishing the existing provider, even if it’s EE and BT the two ISP involved, this is door to door sales after all , no sign ups , no wages , this is hardly honest council , it’s a case of ‘well they would say that wouldn’t they’ .

If you don’t have power of attorney you can’t just call and expect to be dealt with as if you do , however the simplest way , if the account holder is unwilling to have ‘unpleasant’ conversations is for them to call , answer the security questions, identity confirmation etc then tell the BT agent they will pass the phone onto someone that can act on their behalf, that presumably will be you …I suspect you called and expected to be treated as the account holder and that isn’t possible, not just with BT but every organisation, you saying you have permission is not sufficient.

Lastly as pointed out several times , the way to complain , if BT have sold inappropriate products to a vulnerable individual, ( and the EE involvement is effectively irrelevant ) , has already been pointed out .

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

natashajay — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:56:58 GMT

The customer service team have refused to amend her account to show she is vulnerable despite her being eighty eight years old.

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

natashajay — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:58:45 GMT

Respectfully, I have my facts straight. I am on the account as a spokesperson and an account manager. An EE engineer was sent out to sort out her pay as you go home phone, I have had people from BT when i call customer service lying about being from EE so perhaps he lied too. I have audio recordings I am willing to share.

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

garybs29 — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:01:40 GMT

@natashajaywrote:
The customer service team have refused to amend her account to show she is vulnerable despite her being eighty eight years old.

Any other health issues too though? Respectfully just age alone may not be a vulnerability

Re: Vulnerable pensioner nan mis-sold 900mbps

natashajay — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:02:49 GMT

Vulnerability comes under someone having a low capacity to handle financial shocks, namely someone on a state pension, which is the case for her, she is not tech-savvy and was completely misled into buying a package completely unsuitable for her. Regardless of whether YOU believe she is vulnerable or not she is in her cooling period and it is her statutory right to be able to change her plan.