Pending refund

[jefitzs]

Has anyone experienced anything similar with a final bill refund from BT, and if so, how long did it take to resolve?

My final bill dated 20 June shows a £488 credit due back to me. I was initially told a cheque would be sent, but it never arrived despite me chasing it.

I then called BT on Monday and was advised that a bank transfer had been arranged. My bank details were taken and I was told the money would arrive within 5 working days.

When nothing arrived, I contacted BT again today and have now been told that no bank transfer was actually processed and that the issue has been referred to an “offline team” for investigation.

A formal complaint has now been raised.

I’m trying to understand:
● Has anyone had a refund referred to an offline team before?
● How long did it take for the team to contact you?
● Were you eventually paid by bank transfer or cheque?
● Is it normal for a refund request to go missing after bank details have been provided?

Any advice or experiences would be appreciated, as I’ve now been chasing this refund for several weeks and still don’t have a timescale for resolution.

Thanks in advance.

[iniltous]

How did you rack up a credit of nearly £500, I guess this isn’t an overpayment by you but compensation for a delayed installation or delayed repair….if it is compensation usually you effectively have a period of ‘free’ service where no debit of your nominated payment method is made , until the credit is used up by your normal monthly debit .

[jefitzs]

Thanks, it was my final bill and therefore a cash refund is due. 

[iniltous]

So it is an overpayment , where clearly you want your own money  returned because you had systematically been overcharged and this was real money taken from your account , or it because your account is showing a credit balance because of a compensation based credit applied to your account and you want to withdraw this like a small lottery win ? ,

The  reason for asking , if this were a delayed installation for example and represented around 1-2 months delay, then you would still be expected to honour the rest of the minimum term  , possibly 22-23 months , a delayed repair ( and you were already outside a minimum term or close to its expiration seems less likely )  , the fact you say it’s a final bill suggests it’s not a delayed install so it’s a little unclear the origin of this , your money you want back or BT money you want to get ,as it’s your ‘entitlement’ .

unless you think you can raise a new customer order , the installation is delayed , you see the compensation build up and decide to cash out irrespective of the contractual obligation, possibly on the basis that the early termination charges will still be less than the compensation credit …if that the case withdrawals many not be ‘automatic’ as £488 will be subject to various reductions and may take a while to work out .