BT Openworld a word of warning -*Resolved*-

[bloodline]

If you are planning to take your Amiga (or any other computer for that matter) to the information superhighway via the magic of BT's Openworld bradband service. Please take heed:

I have just recieved a letter telling me that due to my Phone line being registered toa new name, my Openworld contract has been breached, I now must pay the remaining value of the contract (nine months left = £270) and my service will be terminated in 2 days (seven days from the date of the letter, that seems to have taken 5 days to get to me :-? ).

Given the fact that I have not changed the name of the Phone line holder, and that I am up to date with all my bills, I find this rather unfair.

Attmpts to talk with them by phone and by Email, have failed, with them refusing to accept that I have not changed the name of the Phone line holder...

My advice STAY AWAY FROM BT Openworld.


Note:
I never had any prblems with Telewest.

[seer]

Shouldn't they then be able to give some proof that the line was indeed registered to a new name and who made the change ?

Not much help offcourse if they refuse to talk to ya...

[bloodline]

seer wrote:
Shouldn't they then be able to give some proof that the line was indeed registered to a new name and who made the change ?

Not much help offcourse if they refuse to talk to ya...

The best the poor little spod on the end of the phone line could suggest was that I follow their 5 stage(!?!?!?!?) complaints procedure... but I still have to pay the £270 and will have no internet access :boohoo: and I can't afford a new service provider :-x

[seer]

I can't really imagine what a 5 stage complaint procedure is... Try to call again if you haven't allready... If they won't want to help you, I'm sure there are other means to get answers from them.. (Consumer protection et al)..

Sorry, don't know how I can give you any better advice, don't live where you live..

[bhoggett]

@bloodline

It's no so much BT Openworld as BT in general. Their staff are told to automatically assume that the customer is mistaken and that no mistake was made at the BT end. I had problems with them earlier this year and it took me ages to sort it out. When I'd finally convince one operator that I was right and they were wrong, they would assure me things would get sorted or else they'd pass me on to someone else. Then nothing would happen or the line would go dead and I would have to start from scratch again.

First, make use of their complaints procedure and take the name of the operators you speak to. Second, do not pay the rest of your contract, since it is up to them to prove that you have breached your contract. Counteract by telling them that their evidence is wrong and you will be claiming compensation for any restriction of service, and demand that they provide you with documentary evidence of their claim. As I've found out, BT like to bully you and the only way to deal with them is to bully them back. Go on the offensive and don't take "no" for an answer.

[bloodline]

bhoggett wrote:
@bloodline

It's no so much BT Openworld as BT in general. Their staff are told to automatically assume that the customer is mistaken and that no mistake was made at the BT end. I had problems with them earlier this year and it took me ages to sort it out. When I'd finally convince one operator that I was right and they were wrong, they would assure me things would get sorted or else they'd pass me on to someone else. Then nothing would happen or the line would go dead and I would have to start from scratch again.

First, make use of their complaints procedure and take the name of the operators you speak to. Second, do not pay the rest of your contract, since it is up to them to prove that you have breached your contract. Counteract by telling them that their evidence is wrong and you will be claiming compensation for any restriction of service, and demand that they provide you with documentary evidence of their claim. As I've found out, BT like to bully you and the only way to deal with them is to bully them back. Go on the offensive and don't take "no" for an answer.

Cheers bill, I'm going over my contract with a fine tooth comb, I will stand up to them.

[amigamad]

Attmpts to talk with them by phone and by Email, have failed, with them refusing to accept that I have not changed the name of the Phone line holder...

my mate steven had a bill for just over a £1000 once. He got the telephone bill and some of the calls were listed as calling his own number from the same phone  and others were complete crap he never paid and complained and it went down to £100 he let them cut his phone line off and went to ntl  instead.I had bt surftime internet for off peak use only, but they cut me off without telling me i think it was because i put the computer on autoreconect but i got no letter  of warning or email although that hardly ever worked . I paid what i owed cancelled it and went to ntl and got 128k broadband for less money with no restrictions its now 150k and £17.99 a month  its fast enough for me but i might move up to 600k sometime later.



[color=669933]BT SUCK[/color] :-)

[bloodline]

amigamad wrote:

Attmpts to talk with them by phone and by Email, have failed, with them refusing to accept that I have not changed the name of the Phone line holder...

my mate steven had a bill for just over a £1000 once. He got the telephone bill and some of the calls were listed as calling his own number from the same phone  and others were complete crap he never paid and complained and it went down to £100 he let them cut his phone line off and went to ntl  instead.I had bt surftime internet for off peak use only, but they cut me off without telling me i think it was because i put the computer on autoreconect but i got no letter  of warning or email although that hardly ever worked . I paid what i owed cancelled it and went to ntl and got 128k broadband for less money with no restrictions its now 150k and £17.99 a month  its fast enough for me but i might move up to 600k sometime later.



[color=669933]BT SUCK[/color] :-)

I badly want to go back to Telewest or go to NTL, but neither serve my area... :boohoo:

[Ni72ous]

My mate has Demon Broadband, it seems to be a very good service, no cap and its only £25 a month, might be worth a try.

[bhoggett]

@NitrousB

Demon Broadband still uses BT's service, and they can still make life hell for you as I found out to my cost (even though my broadband was never with Openworld as such)

They cut off my service - entirely their mistake - but it took me a week to discover what happened, persuade them they were wrong, and then get my service reconnected. Even though it was BT's fault, I had to go back to my provider and ask them to get me reconnected despite the fact that it wasn't their fault at all, and then they had to chase BT up so that the idiots would get me reconnected. Of course, it was days before BT told me I had to do this, as they kept saying they would be fixing the problem and then ignoring me.

[Tomas]

Yeah you should try calling again... I have noticed that it really depends on the person that answer the phone at the isp, some are nice but most arent...

[amigamad]

I badly want to go back to Telewest or go to NTL, but neither serve my area..[/quote

Thats a pain . :-)

[Doobrey]

[color=669933]BT SUCK[/color]

Too true, I`m still waiting for them to come back and fix the noise on my phone line (again !!).
 The engineer they sent round was an absolute muppet (apologies to any furry puppets out there). He didn`t even know what the master socket looked like, and wouldn`t believe me when I showed it to him . Only after he had opened every socket in the house did he finally open the one I had first pointed to.
 Anyway, he traced the fault to the exchange, and said he`d be 10 minutes. 20 mins later, he knocks at the door and says "Why didn`t you answer the phone?? I`ve been ringing to tell you it`s all fixed"
 Trouble is, the phone never rang..so he then proceded to check the wiring and phones in the house, as they must be the fault..not his "repairs"!
 "Hmm, must be the exchange again" he grunted, and headed back down the road.
 5 mins later the phone rings.. "Hello, it`s the engineer, just you the phones ok now!"
As they say, third time lucky and the phone is crystal clear now...when it`s sunny and dry ..the slightest hint of rain, and the phone sounds like a Ham radio
 :-x
 

[Vincent]

I can only regurgitate what people have already said, but I'll say it anyway :-)

Do NOT under any circumstances let that bill be paid.  Refuse to pay it until you have seen some proof of the name change.

If you have kept all your previous BT bills, you have all the proof you need that the name hasn't been changed.  If the bills are still coming to you with YOUR name on it then BT definitely are wrong.  If the name was changed then the bills wouldn't have your name on them.  Also, you won't have asked them to change the name of the account, so you can ask for that proof.

If you don't get a straight answer from BT within, say, a week, go to the Trading Standards.

Go to:

Trading Standards - enter your postcode to find out where the nearest office is.

Consumer Complaints - this seems to be linked with Trading Standards, but I'm not sure exactly how

Hope that helps :-)

Oh, I'm with Telewest, not had any really serious problems with them.  We'll NEVER go back to BT - we never had the net when we were with them, but we never plan to either ;-)

[JurassicCamper]

First write a letter.  
You want a responce within 7 days, remember to keep a copy.

If you have no joy.

Write a letter to BT MD, enclosing your original letter with there written responce.

Then go to Oftel.