I have been round to establish the situation.
1. Her phone now appears to be working and she can make and receive calls.
2. I have established that there is no other answerphone plugged in, so the 1571 service is working. No-one had explained how the new phone which BT gave her works. I have tried to ensure that she knows how to listen to messages.
3. She did not ask to be switched to Digital Voice. The first she knew of it was a email saying that a package would be delivered and she was informed that an engineer was coming on a certain day (a Monday). She had no choice.
4. The engineer who came on the Monday did not know what he was supposed to be doing, did not know how to fit DV and was unable to do the job, so another was booked for later in the week.
5. The second engineer fitted the supplied equipment (a new phone, a router, etc but not the voice adapter) and left, saying that someone would come round and show her how to use it. In the meantime she had no phone service.
6. That person came, but left without ensuring that she understood what to do. (She is mentally alert so it ought to have been possible to help her.) He said that another person would come to explain it all.
7. The other person came but she was still in the dark about how to use the answerphone and the facilities on the new phone.
8. She was left with cardboard debris and bits of tech such as the router strewn around. I know there is a bag to send stuff back to BT and I will take the bag to the post office for her, but she erroneously perceived a threat that she would be charged if she delayed. She can't 'just get to a post office'.
9. She is very upset that BT have charged her over £100 for this, when she didn't ask for it and she is very obviously a housebound, very elderly person in poor health. I thought the changeover was supposed to be free.
10. I have printed out the Vulnerable Clients form for her and one way or another we'll get it to her doctor for authentication. Thank you for the link.
11. She has decided to buy a simple mobile phone.
I am very disappointed that BT handled this in the way they did. I don't think that treating a very elderly client like this is acceptable or kind. I do think that BT could consider training for people who go out to explain the mysteries of the service to vulnerable clients. Elderly people aren't stupid but they come from a world with simpler technology and it's easy for us to take knowledge for granted.
I am very grateful for the ideas which you have suggested and it certainly meant that I was better prepared for going round to try and help her.
