My (nearly) 92 year old Grandmother has been with BT for the last 50 odd years. Last year, having been paying an unacceptable amount for her landline we applied for her to be moved to the BT Basic tariff, something she was eligible for. After a serious amount of to-ing and fro-ing, this eventually happened.
We then decided that for the extra £4.85 per month we would get her broadband. This was ordered in mid January, and connected towards the end of January this year. This is where the problems started. Since the broadband has been activated, she has been unable to access her caller display. As a vulnerable, elderly person living on her own and subject to several nuisance phone calls per day, she has found this upsetting and stressful. Despite speaking with several different people, this has still not been resolved.
Then, to make matters worse, on 5th April she received a phone call from BT advising her that she had not paid her latest bill. She has always received paper bills from BT and has at no time cancelled them to move online. Given that she does not have a bank account, she relies on the paper bill to make the payment at her local post office. She has also never made a late payment on her account for the whole time she has been a BT customer. The person that she spoke with confirmed that a bill hadn’t been sent out, but that one would be, and she would receive it within 4 -5 days. This has happened again, on the 9th, 16th, 18th, 19th, and most recently the 27th, when my Grandmother contacted BT after receiving a Final Payment Reminder letter. This letter frightened and distressed her, and so again she called the number on the letter only for her to be told the same thing. This afternoon we took her home only to find out that her telephone line has been restricted.
Given her distress, I have made the payment myself online. She needs to be able to use her phone because she lives on her own and is vulnerable. She has made a complaint about the service that she’s received, but I don’t think it’s been taken seriously. She’s also been waiting nearly 4 weeks to receive a bill that by now must have been sent at least half a dozen times, if BT have actually sent the out when they’ve said they were going to. Additionally, she was informed by one customer services Advisor that she would need to pay an additional £2.50 to receive a paper bill from now on. When we took out the BT Basic package, we we assured that she would not be charged extra for receiving a paper bill, and indeed, checking the BT Price List Section 15 Subpart 5 it explicitly states that “accounts with the following services will not incur paper bill charges: ... Customers on BT Basic”.
I’d like for someone from BT to address this to a satisfactory level. They have caused my grandmother a serious amount of distress and worry, which is entirely unacceptable. Given that she is also on BT Basic they should have a fair understanding of her situation. When I spoke with her when she told me her phone had been limited she was obviously crying. Thanks BT for degrading such a good customer and wonderful person.
