Calamitous - 74 Year Old Mother Cannot Receive Calls - 3 Months!

[Nelson2016]

Correct. I edited the thread after the initial confusion with the original post. 

She has maintained her BT landline, although her mobile and BT TV were migrated to EE.

This is relevant to the entire problem as this has now been going on over 3/4 months. When she was originally contacted to renew her broadband package, she specially asked for her BT landline not to cancelled and she did not proceed. 2 weeks later her BT landline was cancelled without any warning as she was advised by a BT chat online staff member to wait for Black Friday special offers. She then received an apology and £10 credit from BT, but did not have a landline for almost a month (not connected at all). 

She was then told that it would be better for her to connect to Digital Voice as part of the new package (and also migrate her mobile and BT TV to EE) - she has not been able to receive calls from non BT/EE numbers for almost 3 months now. 

One last matter, the senior manager who I spoke to on her behalf to rectify the cut landline issue, told me that she did not need a new BT Hub for Digital Voice - incorrect - she had to wait another 2 weeks for that (you could not really make this up). 

An Openreach or BT technician has visited her house once. Amazingly, she was advised to simply turn off the hub again last week (after 3 months). 

While I understand that there are more important matters happening in the world, I do find the lack of customer care/support incredulous - especially when there are so many similar stories of not being able to receive calls from non BT/EE on this forum. 

This thread is not to complain, but rather to resolve the issue and make sure that it does not happen to other pensioners, who may not have a family member to resolve it for them. 

Paddy, the Moderator, has sent me a DM so hopefully it will be resolved. 

[licquorice]

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@Nelson2016 wrote:

This thread is not to complain, but rather to resolve the issue and make sure that it does not happen to other pensioners, who may not have a family member to resolve it for them. 

As a pensioner in his mid seventies I take great exception to your comment.

Not only am I a CL on this forum I am the 'IT guy' for half of the village. Don't equate age with lack of IT understanding.

[Jeremy69a]

"Taking great exception" is a bit strong. The OP has a 74 year old mother who may or may not be the granddaughter of Charles Babbage but who has been given the run around by BT as has OP. To try to solve this seems to take a quite absurd amount of time and effort. Lots of this, I fear, is what is convenient for BT rather than the user.

Hopefully with a moderator involved progress might now be made but it is surely not uncommon for users not to be particularly IT proficient and perhaps that is more common amongst the elderly. I have a 92 year old MIL who can cope with ordering the shopping online and sending an email but, if confronted with something new, often has considerable difficulty even if it is quite simple. If you are a wizzkid in your 70's then good for you. I am called upon from time to time to fix other peoples computer problems, because they assume that as I have an IT background I am all seeing/knowing. If only!

I have also reached the advanced age where I look back at three score and ten and wince.

[Nelson2016]

I was referring to my mother and other pensioners who are not as proficient with technology, although well done to you for helping so many others on this Forum.  She could not have resolved this without my intervention and it has still been incredibly difficult to do so. 

The purpose of my most was to resolve the issue for my mother, rather than to cause any offence to others.  

A poll conducted for BT Group by OnePoll.com in mid June 2023, found that older people want to build their digital confidence. 

“The research indicated that older people tend to struggle with digital technology, as just 13 per cent rated their ability as ‘very good’.

More than half (57 per cent) say they would like to be better at using and understanding digital technology.

Not being shown how to use something (40 per cent) and finding new tech complicated and overwhelming (29 per cent) are the major factors holding this age group back.

And nearly a fifth (19 per cent) would be more inclined to build their confidence with digital technology if they had someone show them how to use it.

AbilityNet has been working with BT to roll out training to older people in areas of the UK, to increase their confidence using tech.” 

Victoria Johnson added: “For younger people – especially those in the Gen Z demographic, or younger still – tech has been a part of their lives forever. Many will have grown up with the internet, smartphones and streaming services from the day they were born.

"These are huge digital advances that people born decades earlier will have to make big adjustments to, so it’s no wonder there are still gaps in their knowledge.

“Our new Senior Skills programme aims to help close this gap and get the older and digitally excluded generation feeling more tech savvy.”

[WSH]

Speaking as a retired tech in his late 60’s, I can see both sides of the argument here.

While this is getting somewhat off topic, I would point out that the idea that “the younger generation knows all about it” is fundamentally flawed.  Most of them use IT regularly but don’t have a clue how anything actually works.  For example, most people on this forum don’t even seem to appreciate that Wi-Fi and their broadband connection are two separate things.

The assumption that all old people are necessarily incapable is similarly flawed.

[licquorice]

Exactly so