How do I know if my complaint is logged?

[FreyaBentos]

Hi. I was sent a letter telling me that I had to convert to full fibre  and have both phone & broadband from BT or lose my phone service. I was offered a deal of Broadband for £25.99 and phone for £12 p.m.  When I called to accept, the salesperson said they had no knowledge of this deal and persuaded me that the lowest price per month on offer was £9 more. In fear of losing phone, I accepted under protest. Next day I called again to ask why package wasn't available as offered. The second person also said they had no knowledge of the written offer. I said I would cancel and start again, but they strongly advised me to wait until all the engineering  had taken place and then make the call to adjust.  Said they'd put a note on my account to say I was going to do this. Three months later (!) the conversion has been done.  As advised, I put in an email to the complaints dept stating my case. I am really quite hard of hearing and being on the phone is a penance, so I put it all in writing. This was a week ago. I've had no acknowledgement - and when I get up the complaint page, It tells me that I can track the complaint, but there is no link to do this.  How do I know if the complaint has been logged or not - or how it's doing?  

[FEDUP2016]

Hi 

I had a very similar issue to yours last December which was initially was NOT dealt with properly.  

I strongly recommend that you make a make a call to Customer Services and ask to go to Complaints and absolutely insist that  you speak to the duty manager.  0800 800 150

Actually I ended up with Exec Complaints and it turned out to be a very expensive settlement  for BT

I most strongly advise that the BT MODERATOR steps in to deal with this straightaway.

Do not accept the engineer since you will be forming a contract, and you have a statutory cooling off period to change your mind over anything.

When you are  in the right, politely stand your ground until you receive adequate recompense and matters are resolved to your satisfaction. 

I could dig out the papers to substantiate all of the above & the issue is recorded herein. 

[FreyaBentos]

Hi - and thanks very much for your reply. I have already had all the conversion work done, the engineer/s have been and gone - and, as advised, I waited until this was over before  writing in my complaint. So, perhaps I've been too trusting - and messed up!  The sales folk said they had no knowledge of the package offered - and the original letter was worded in such a way as to be quite ( in my opinion) intimidating.  However, the sales folk also said they couldn't offer what was not on their database to offer.  It was suggested that the databases might not have caught up with the posted letters. However that may be, either  the salesfolk were misinformed, or I was. Or both. Not blaming any individual - just intend to get the deal offered. I just don't know if my written complaint was ever received, or actioned, or what.  I don't know how long these things take on average. If I have to phone, of course, I will - I just dread it, that's all. But - though I'm quite old and rather deaf, I am still quite capable of digging my heels in. And there is always Ofcom. Thanks for your help - and for the number! Glad you got your own case resolved!  

[garybs29]

Am I reading this right? An offer wasn't accepted then when calling back on a live system it wasn't availablr, am i right? Hardly grounds for a major complaint, you refused an offer there is no entitlement to it at a later date

[FreyaBentos]

hello garybs29

Not quite.  The offer was written in a letter to me, telling me that due to the upgrade from copper to fibre, I could no longer get phone & Broadband from different providers. I had phone from BT and B/band from EE. The same folk, I know.  The written offer was "Switch and Save" and couched in very urgent terms. I called the number given within 24 hours to accept - but was then told that by salesperson on the other end of the line that they - the salesperson - had no knowledge of this letter or the offer. It wasn't on their database. The letter was really quite coercive, saying, "You'll lose your service if you don't take action." I took the deal the salesperson said was the cheapest one available - but under protest.

So, no, I didn't refuse the offer. I tried to accept it within 24 hours of receiving it.But was told there was no such thing on the database.

The following day, on the same number, I called to try again to get the deal I'd been offered in the letter and spoke to another person who also said they had never heard of this letter. 

When I told them I would cancel yesterday's transaction and start again with someone who knew about the package in the letter, I was urged not to do that, but to let the original deal stand until conversion from copper to fibre had taken place. 

After many delays (nearly 3 months) I've now been converted and, as suggested, I attempted to adjust the deal using the "misinformation" heading in compaints section to get some resolution.

I wished to know if the complaint had actually been logged. I did exactly what was suggested by the salesperson - but I've heard nothing.

[iniltous]

How much were you paying when on SMPF  , combining the costs of the BT  ‘line rental and calls plan’ and EE broadband ? ,and  how much are you paying now ?, and what was the cost of the supposed ‘deal’ that was on offer to customers like you that were on SMPF .

If you have proof of the cost you were offered (the actual email or whatever ) , and it significantly less , perhaps you can post the evidence here , taking care to obscure any personal information.

You seemingly appreciate that shared metallic paths (SMPF) cannot exist any longer , and your inaction previously , for the last 10 years or more , you had the option to move onto a cheaper arrangement (both services from the same provider) which  suggests the unnecessary extra costs you happily paid , were never a priority until now , which seems odd , to be suddenly concerned about getting the best possible value, when for the last decade you were paying substantially more than necessary , you were never previously motivated you to do anything about it.

Calling regular customer services is pointless , if a particular department of BT , charged with getting customers off SMPF had some cheaper options than  those available to the general public , if the communication you got apparently offering these ‘only for SMPF customers’ prices I’d expect a different customer service number on that notification you received.

[FreyaBentos]

Hello iniltous, and thank you for your input.

The issue here is not that I am "suddenly concerned"  but that I appear to have been misinformed in writing about the particular deal that was currently on offer. The number I was given on the letter was 0800 032 6279.

I retain the letter, and my notes on all previous phone correspondence, together with the names of everyone I spoke to on the phone about this matter, and what they said.  I don't know how I can post a copy of the letter in this forum. Don't know how to do that. I have no camera and no mobile phone.

I agree that calling regular customer services is a pointless exercise.

[iniltous]

So the communication was a letter sent to your address ?, if you can’t scan it , and don’t have a mobile with a camera to take an image and attach it , then perhaps you can completely and exactly transcribe it here , word for word ,

FWIW , if it’s a case of ‘trust me bro, that’s what it said’ it’s difficult to to give much credibility to it, that’s not to say it’s false , but two people could read the same information and take away two different interpretations.

FYI , it does seem that BT employ a system where unanswered calls , are re-presented to the general customer service representatives, that presumably considered a better option than giving callers a busy  tone , or if out of hours a recorded message saying what the business hours are for that particular department.
You haven’t stated what price you were supposedly offered as a ‘deal’ and what you currently pay , and although it’s a reasonable argument to say ‘ it’s more the principle not the price’ , if you state what that offer price was , a judgement on if that was ever a realistic price can be made , if for example, an offer of less than £20 was made , for F2 broadband and PAYG telephony , the question why would they make an offer like that, just to get you off a legacy arrangement, BT had the option to simply say , we will convert your line to telephony only at the prevailing price (£32) unless you do something about it

FWIW , I’d expect your offer to join BT for both services to be no better than what a new customer would get for the same package, why would it be any better ?

[Alex_H]

Hi @FreyaBentos,

Welcome to the BT Community

I have sent you a private message to help with getting your complaint picked up.

Alex

[Alex_H]

Thank you for confirming, you have submitted it to the right place initially then, so it will have been picked up or in the process of being picked up, but I have forwarded your details on to our team now for them to take a look and help get this sorted. I have included all the information in your posts so they can investigate and you should hear from them within the next few days.

Thanks

Alex