BT - unethical practice & mis-selling

I upgraded my Broadband service with BT in January from option 1 to option 2 . Before upgrading I had done my research to confirm that existing discounts can be carried over. The FAQ section on BT's website clearly states that "When you upgrade your BT Broadband - for example from 'Broadband' to 'Unlimited Broadband' - you transfer with it any discounts as well as the remaining months of your current contract. The only exception to this is if the higher broadband option has a special offer." I specifically drew this to the attention of the BT sales person in my conversation with him and got him to confirm that this will be the case with this transaction. He assured that indeed my discounts would be transferred and the welcome to BT email I got even indicated that any special offers would continue as agreed. Imagine my surprise when I received my bill earlier this month and no discounts. I called BT this morning after 9am and spoke to someone in a call centre who admitted that they had made a mistake and this was likely to be a case of mis-selling. She transferred me to Andy in 'customer options' who didn't seem to have the details of my case. I had to start over again and then he tried fobbing me off to billing but when I insisted that I had been transferred to him to resolve the issue he then said he would escalate the case upstairs - apparently this meant he would refer the case to a manager who would listen to the original conversation in January and get back to me in 4 hours time. Guess what I didn't get a call back from BT, so I decided to call them back at about 4.30pm. It was back to the call centre again with the same questions and the same inane statements that weren't addressing the issue. She didn't ask for my reference number and even when I offered it she ignored my offer. I asked what action had been taken about my complaint and she couldn't tell what had been done. It was at this point that I realised that I was just wasting my time and decided to explore other alternatives such as using this forum to highlight the fact that BT doesn't honour it's contract, does not abide by the statements on its own website and does not follow it's own code of practice. I intend to complain to the ombudsman about this unethical practice on the part of BT and would also consider terminating my contract on the basis that BT has not kept it's part of the bargain. A brief scan of this forum indicates that unethical business practices are becoming the norm with BT. I also intend to tweet about my experience and write to other consumer groups to share my deep dissatisfaction with BT.

Hi Joe,
Welcome to the forums. I'm sorry to hear of the problems you're having with your service. If you click on my name to the left you'll see a link to a contact form under the "about me" section - if you fill out the details of your issue into this form, we can take a look at your account and see if we can get this problem sorted out for you.
Dean
BTCare Community Mod
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More miss-selling and unethical practices

To whom it may concern,
Like other users I seem to have been the victim of BTs unethical practice of misselling.
I had BT broadband but had my telephone line and calls with another company.
When my contract came to an end on both BT were offering a combined package of BT Broadband and Telephone for a fixed price with 3 months free. They said they would handle the 1 months cancellation of my telephone line with the other company. As it happened they did not and I ended up paying for the month during my free BT period.
I let this ride as sorting it would have been to much trouble. But now I find that when I have my first bill from BT that they kept my existing BT broadband account and added another account for the telephone so I now have two bills and they do not add up to the agreed amount. The net effect is that my bill has risen substantially when I should have been saving.
This is not something that I agreed to and BTs lack of written documentation of the deal is underhand.
As the telephone and broadband is essential to my work no doubt I will have to pay but if I treated my clients in the same way my business would suffer.
Yours faithfully
Mark Alliston
Solved!
Go to Solution.

this is a customer help customer forum and your posts do not go to BT as you need BT assistance and not customers have you tried the online chat and if they can't help the contact the forum mods who are the only BT employees on the forum
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BT mis-selling deal £23.60

To whom it may concern.
I've just spent 75 minutes on the phone, 60 of them on hold. I've spent a lot of hours already on this and I have only just 'joined' BT! Previously, my internet experience had been a happy one.
I was contacted by BT and I agreed to a package of unlimited broadband and anytime calls and line rental for £23.60. It was the only deal that I had heard of in the 9 years i had been with my old ISP that persuaded me to change ISP's.
Turns out what I had agreed to is not what is appearing on my bill, Option 1 is on my bill with it's 10gb limit. I specifically said to the guy on the phone that I did not want a 10gb limit. He said there was no limit whatsoever. When I questioned how they (BT) could do it at that price, he responded 'BT own the lines'.
I have tried contacting BT 5 times now. I need to know in writing that this will be rectified. I would not have changed ISP's if it was a 10gb limit. I am now unable to rejoin my old ISP. The 9 years of loyalty and the benefits I had accrued with my old ISP are now gone. Thanks to BT I am more than disappointed.
I've looked up mis-selling and it appears BT have been practising it for a while. I feel so stupid for accepting what a person from BT said on the phone. But then again, sat in my front room in the evening I don't expect anyone to rip me off, especially not by someone who can have access to my phone number as this chap from BT did (and still has).
I've been lied to and made to feel like I have done something wrong. It's not fair. I didn't agree to the contract that i have been given. I agreed to unlimited broadband, anytime calls and line rental for £23.60 a month, with no hidden charges.
I repeatedly asked the man who phoned what the catch was, how could BT do it for the price, that the reason i hadn't gone with BT before was the 10gb usage cap, he replied that there was no catch, BT owned the lines , there was no limit and I could use it 'as much as you like'.
I have been advised to put my complaint in writing so that is what I am doing. I did speak to someone on Saturday who sounded convincing, but i have no proof of that call and have heard nothing since.
Hope there is someone who can help and advise me on the correct procedure, maybe even get the matter resolved without resorting to a deadlock letter and OFCOM or whatever the ombudsmen are called. I really didn't want this hassle.
Thanks in advance.
Mike (duped)

To know one at BT, but to anyone contemplating making the mistake of joing them - DON'T !!!!!
Oh Dear this all sounds horribly familiar. I was misold a package for unlimited broadband, anytime calls and line rental. I was quoted £26.80 by the salesman and in celebration of my new found deal, I wrote a post it note with the amount in big red numbers in felt tip pen, with a smiley face next to it and stuck it to the front of my Mac. This was to indicate what a result I had just had and to remind myself to adjust my monthly outgoings on my excel spreadsheet.
When my bill came, it was more or less the same as my previous bill and I was somewhat confused. I actually thought that BT had made a mistake and had not yet changed my contract over to the new one. I made the kind of confused face one of my dogs does (the less intelligent one) when he gets told off for being a bull in a china shop, by bashing into my lower leg and cutting me off at the knees. Oh yes, speaking of being cut off, I also had the pleasure of having the phone put down on me by a 'customer services' person the first time I tried to complain, after being on the phone for what seemed like an eternity. I should have realised that this was a taste of things to come.
To cut a long and tedious story short, a lady called me, told me there was no evidence of miselling after listening to a small section of the conversation. I suggested she listened to it in its entirety. She called me back and said that she had done so, but quite frankly she could have been having a cup of tea and a kit-kat at her desk browsing the net for all I know and on calling me back told me what I already knew she was going to tell me.
Im not going to bother to tell you what I said to the BT representative, because anyone with half a brain cell would have mentioned the same obvious things such as:
1.Why would I take out a contract that I was happy with and then wake up one day and say to myself "I feel like not being happy with my BT contract today, even though Im happy with it and although Ive got mountains of seriously difficult studying to do, Ill waste my time and call them and complain"
2.With regards to which party has anything to gain or who is more likey to indulge in miselling, it is a company providing a service which the customer is paying for and not the customer, who is paying for that service. The customer loses out, no one else.
LACK OF IMAGINATION
Why would you treat your customers like this for the sake of grabbing an extra 12 months out of them, only to lose their custom for the rest of their lives, while they make it their mission in life to tell every single person they can, that BT is untrustworthy and greedy.
BT (this bits for you) - have some humillity, be less greedy and stop behaving like a bank, because believe me, you will lose A LOT of custom and if another provider has the foresight to stop this practice of locking customers into contracts by the end of the telephone call, with no way of changing their minds AND making contracts shorter and more flexible, which has now happened with the mobile phone market, you will see a massive exodus of customers like you have never seen before.
So, I am locked in with BT for another 12 months - what joy. I will have to put up with BTs greedmongering until next year, but at least I know I am honest and straight and that when I do my job, I actually help people, rather than rob them.

Slow Speed - Mis-Selling Story

I join BT recently on Option 3 unlimited.
Bit of a starting fiasco with wrong dates, two hubs arriving etc etc.
Settled down and was getting 3.2Meg download on an 'up to' 8Meg line.
Friend a couple of streets away gets just over 6Meg so called BT, first mistake.
Told I could have my line prated from 8Meg to 20Meg, needed some changes at the exchange and I would get a much better speed.
3weeks and 10 calls later, support established a line fault and engineer visit arranged.
During 3 weeks, told several stories including my ip profile had been set at 14.78Meg.
Engineer came tested my wiring, visited the cabinet in the next street and concluded.
I will never get more then 5Meg
It was 20Meg at the exchange, 7Meg at the cabinet and 5 at the house.
Seems only way to get near 20Meg is move into the exchange.
How far from the exchange am I, just 2km or 1.24miles !!
Angry & Frustrated at BT.
Poor support, mis-leading information from several different support folk.
Over selling broadband services, trying to get you to buy Infinity fibre optic, and get the old copper cables in the street replaced at your cost not BT's.
I understand about distance from the exchange, line quality etc etc.
But if you say' up to' 20Meg then this should be the average most people get, not what it can do theoretically, or at the end of a fibre optic cable in the exchange.
If I buy a 2.0l car that can do up to 80mph but I only get 20mph out of it, I am going to be angry and disappointed.
Mis-sold broadband - you bet
Will it get any better - no, not until the street cabinets or your house is cabled with fibre optics.
Should I have gone to Virgin or Sky - YES

rayr wrote:
Points taken.
BT engineer told me Infinity is fibre optic to the cabinet but copper cable to the house remains so removing some of the signal loss from exchange to cabinet. CORRECT
BT technical support told me they put fibre optic to the house.
Usual mis-information from BT. No BT do offer a fibre to home in some areas TWO options fttc and fttp
How are you suposed to make any sense or rational decision based on conflicting information.
All published speeds are estimated, (3 to 7.5 for my area) and according to the BT engineer are not totally reliable as each house can have different cabling issues. Even those next to each other can vary.Yes even internal extentions can be the cause ot that and they are not bt's responsibility
That's why they say 'you will get the best speed for your line'. Correct as do other isps
Using the car analogy you can at least test drive a car and if it does'nt do 80 mph as promised, dont buy it!
With BT they sell 'up to' 20Meg as it is good marketing and looks similar to Virgin/Sky.Sky use the same bt copper pairs as do BT and other isps
They can clearly tell you the speed at the cabinet, so why not be totally honest and when someone enquires tell them ' the speed at your nearest cabinet, 500yds away, is 7Meg'
We can all guess the reason why they do not do this.
So it is mis-selling, they know the speed at the cabinet but still sell 'up to 20Meg'. CORRECT the statement UP TO is used again as all other isps state not just BT
We have cable in the street and Virgin bombard me with offers every month, wish I had taken them now!
Only my loyalty to BT made me stick with them, not any longer.
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Mis-selling of BT Broadband

Hi,
Just a question to see if anyone else has had a similar experience to me regarding the selling of BT broadband packages.
I called the BT order team regarding the £16 a month unlimited broadband offer that I had seen online. It had 6 month free broadband and a £25 Sainsbury's voucher over an 18 month contact.
I stated that I would like to sign up for this offer and tranfer from sky broadband. The member of the BT order team then informed me that they had another offer that was only available over the phone and was probably better for me. They explained that it was effectively the same deal that I had seen online but over 12 months and it included anytime calls but I didn't get the £25 Sainsbury's voucher. This seemed like a better deal to me so I signed up for it. I also signed up for the line rental saver.
Having had numerous other problems and delays in getting the phone and broadband connected (thats another story) I recieved my first bill. Given I was expecting 6 months free broadband and given I had already paid my line rental i was surprised to see I had a bill of nearly £40. When I spoke to BT regarding this they told me I was being charged for calling features that I was expecting to get for free and that my broadband package was £23 a month and there was no 6 months free on this package. Needless to say I was not very happy. I have tried to contact BT's customer services to try and get this resolved but I have found that their customer service is nothing short of woeful.
If anyone could assist in how to try and get this resolved it would be much appreciated.
Regards
Alex

Hi Alexpeet,
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Unethical Practice

My dad got back from a trip to Vegas. While he was there something stopped working on his HP Touchpad that I had loaded with Android for him. He wasn't able to get in touch with me so he went to the closest best buy. They told him there that he downloaded a virus onto his tablet through an email and that it would cost him $200 to fix.
I have so many issues with the blatant lies your geek squad told my dad to trick him into handing over $200.
1) there was no virus, it was a video file (that I have watched safely on my computer) that caused the crash
2) the hp touchpad was only $149 at best buy. Why would you charge $200 to fix it?
3) all the geek squad did was wipe the system, which is about 2 minutes of work, and left my dad with a blank tablet
If this is how best buy treats it's customers that trust what they're saying is true I am disgusted with your business practices. My dad deserves a full refund based on the geek squads deception. This could have been resolved by simply restarting the tablet.

Hello Amkof,
I’m sorry to hear that your Dad’s tablet not working as you both expected. Glitches unfortunately happen, and when they do, we’re there to help out however we can with our Geek Squad Technical Support (GSTS) plan. Regardless, I can understand how aggravating this might be, and I do hope to provide some clarity into the situation.
1) It sounds like the HP Touchpad may have been modified by you when you changed its operating system to a different one. While it’s your decision to do this, it can sometimes cause severe performance issues and could be why your father was experiencing technical difficulties.
2) Usually when a customer is charged $200.00 to fix a software issue like your father’s, it indicates that our GSTS plan was purchased. This covers not only this device, but two others as well for one full year.
3) If the operating system was causing the glitch, the first step in resolving the issue would be to reset the tablet. I’m sorry if that wasn’t properly explained at the time of service.
Having said this, I do want to discuss your situation in further detail. However, due to our Privacy Policy, I would need to speak with your father directly. Please have him register for the forum using the e-mail address tied to his My Best Buy account, service plans, or his www.bestbuy.com account. Once he does, please have him send me a private message with the following information.
· Full name, phone number, email address, and home address
· The customer service pin that is near the middle of the receipt
He may send me this message by clicking the “Private Message” button next to my signature below.
Thank you for posting!
Alex|Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
Private Message

Unethical practice regarding expired subscriptions...

I need some help and don't know who to turn to. I tried chatting with someone via the customer service chat option and that was unsuccessful.
Here is what happened...
I recieved this e-mail from Skype...
Action required - Your subscription is expiring in days as your credit/debit card has expired
Your Unlimited US & Canada subscription will expire in days on May 13, 2013 because the credit/debit card linked to your Skype account has expired. As a consequence the payment for your subscription cannot be completed.
You can reactivate your subscription, including any Skype Numbers you have, up to 90 days after it expired by choosing a different payment method.
Sign into your account to update your payment method to ensure your subscription continues.
Remember that you can change the payment method for your subscription when your credit or debit card is expiring.
Talk soon,
The people at Skype
So, I was confused on the date and missed updating my information by two days, but I thought there would be no problem as the e-mail clearly states that an expired subscription can be reactivated up to 90 days after. Well, turns out it can't be reactivated...or at least that is what I am being told.
I am so frustrated because I have had this subscription and rate for over 3 years. It seems completely unethical to send out an e-mail stating that it can be reactivated and then not hold to that promise.
Has anyone else had this issue? Did you get the same e-mail? Have you been able to reactivate an expired subscription? Up until now, I have been so pleased with the Skype service. I had a subscription and online number and was a paying customer for over 3 years. I am so frustrated now that I don't want to have anything to do with Skype.
If anyone can share similar experiences and how it was resolved, I would really appreciate some help.

Hello,
Please explain your issue so we can assist.
TIME ZONE - US EASTERN. LOCATION - PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA.
I recommend that you always run the latest Skype version: Windows & Mac
If my advice helped to fix your issue please mark it as a solution to help others.
Please note that I generally don't respond to unsolicited Private Messages. Thank you.

Mis-selling of services, ofcom and poor service..

Just three of the many negative points I will be advertising about BT on any forum I possibly can.
A week of complaining and getting hung up on by "managers", along with lies and contradictory information from almost any person I have the dissatisfaction of talking to.
I shouldn't be surprised. BT were the same with my dads account and it seems the same with so many others on here.
Just today I have had Nina drop my call, then Moulisha passing me through to his manager who hung up on me as he didn't want to discuss my issues. Now I'm onto Niraj who is having "system issues" and so can't help.
At least your infinity package you sold me is as good as those 7 other individuals told me it would be... Oh yeah I forgot, after 2 days off work waiting for an engineer, your rather angry and rude back office staff call to tell me you don't actually do it in my area!
At least she kept interrupting and talking over me to stop me complaining on that occasion.. Like a true professional, even when I left my phone on my desk I could still hear her shouting at me like it was my fault you lied to me to get me to sign up.
That's ok though cos you will have my internet working by the end of this week like you promised me every time I have called.. What's that Nina??? Next Wednesday? You can't do anything as I have a open order for infinity??? The same infinity you cancelled without telling me on the 25th of November as you don't provide it in my area??? Oh well, at least you always have the option of hanging up on me!
At least you didn't charge me for sending out the router for infinity that I can't get in my area. Oh you have charged me!?? Oh good.
But that's ok as you do care at least as your going to get your magic department to call me back tomorrow (Tuesday), or tomorrow (Wednesday), or tomorrow (Thursday)??? No, tomorrow still hasn't turned up yet. Must mean a different thing in that part of the world (The North West of England if anyone was interested).
Thumbs up guys.

Welcome to this forum.
This is a customer to customer forum only, where forum members, who are only BT customers, can help each other with BT Retail products and services.
Anything you post here does not go to BT. Although the forum is moderated by BT, not all posts are read.
This is a public forum which can be viewed worldwide, so please do not post any personal information, especially phone numbers, fault numbers, address information or email addresses, as this could be used to impersonate you.
If you have posted such information, then please edit your post, and delete it.
Thanks
There are some useful help pages here, for BT Broadband customers only, on my personal website.
BT Broadband customers - help with broadband, WiFi, networking, e-mail and phones.

Mis-selling of BT package

Hi.I'm writing on this forum on behalf of my sister, who is unable to do so herself as she currenty has no internet access, courtesy of BT.
Her story begins with a phone call from BT - she was a Virginmedia customer with phone, internet and cable TV for £40 - the sales person offered her the 'full package' and said that she would get more choice of films, sky sport - exactly the same unlimited calls and internet access as with Virgin and all for £10 a month less. My sister is a disabled pensioner...but even I would probably have fallen for this as it sounds like a great deal doesn't it? Unfortunately it didn't quite turn out that way - the phone was taken over by BT and even though the salesperson said they would take care of cancelling Virgin etc it appears they didn't!( So whilst using BT she was still being charged by Virgin for 3 months..but that's another story)
The BT guy truned up to fit a BT vision box - it hadn't been delivered - he then advised that she'd need to have an aerial fitted for him to be able to set up the box(when it arrives!) he estimated cost around £100....are they kidding? Of course none of this was mentioned on the phone call...surely this one question from the salesperson would have stopped her going ahead with her BT order.....um, yeah, that's probably why it was never asked. So she can't have BT Vision - turns out she doesn't get unlimited calls or unlimited internet access either.She had carried on using her phone(same usage as £40 from Virgin) and racked up a large bill with BT.Has complained to BT, as a pensioner she can't afford the kind of bills they keep sending her. She now owes £330 allegedly...and has had her phone and internet cut off!!!Disgraceful BT.If we try to call you, as soon as her telephone number is entered it takes you dtraight to a recording payment message...message being we don't want to speak to you until you have paid your bill.
The worry for me is I live a long way away from her and the only way to keep in contact is via phone or internet - she lives on her own and in a flat(weith very steep stairs) and I'm worried something will happen to her and she has no way of contacting anybody. This is without the constant worrying herself sick over BT bills and how she's going to pay them!
Despite letters and requests for the recording of the conversation from BT nothing has been sorted out - except for a 'contract' change, which she knew nothing about. It seems that BT salespeople are misleading people in an effort to make their sales............anyone else having these kind of troubles?

Welcome to this forum. This is a BT domestic customer to customer help forum, any messages posted here do not go to BT. The only BT employees on this forum are the forum moderators.
If you would like to contact one of the UK based BT Care Team who moderate this forum, they should be able to help you.
They can be contacted using this link BT Care Team
They normally respond by phone or e-mail, within three working days, however you should get an immediate confirmation, with a tracking number.
There are some useful help pages here, for BT Broadband customers only, on my personal website.
BT Broadband customers - help with broadband, WiFi, networking, e-mail and phones.

Re: Mis-selling of BT Broadband

I am a little miffed with BT, well to be honest with BT Local business, I received a call from a man who sold me my BT Infinity package six months ago stating that it would be much cheaper than my old broadband, again with BT. However, after receiving my first quarterly bill I was astounded to find that my BT Internet charge had risen from £170 per quarter to £280 per quarter. I thought that perhaps there were administration charges and/or set up costs etc. After receiving another bill in the last week I now relaise that this is the bill that I shall be getting every quarter.
So you see, I'm very much annoyed that after being sold on the premise that I would have faster broadband at a lower cost I am very much dismayed that I now have to pay £110 more every quarter. On top of that, my BT Infinity broadband is not as good as my old service, I have to reboot my router every day because it doesn't register each morning and to top it all, I now have a crackly telephone line which I can only use infrequently because I can't hear the person I'm talking to on the other end.
This is not what I expected from BT and as this package is used for my business, I'm getting hacked off because it is interrupting my service to my clients.
I'm just looking for some light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

Welcome to the BT Residential Customers forum
If you are a business user, please could you post on the BT Business forum at http://business.forums.bt.com/
Thanks.
This is a customer to customer forum only, for BT Retail customers to help each other.
If its Business Critical, then you should be on a Totalcare Package.
There are some useful help pages here, for BT Broadband customers only, on my personal website.
BT Broadband customers - help with broadband, WiFi, networking, e-mail and phones.

Customer service mis-selling

A couple of months ago my contract ended and I couldnt wait to leave bt after being ripped off for 18 months .I found a cheaper deal elsewhere and was all set to switch but was talked round with an offer which was going to cost me £28 /month, my bill is now higher than it was previously and have been informed if I wish to leave it will cost me £140.Do bt save the telephone conversation recordings because my last words were "so if I agree the it will cost me no more than £28" yes was the reply so why am I paying £40

as I posted earlier it sounds like line rental has not been added as the 28.00 would be a calls and broadband package
I suggest you contact live chat at this link they should be able to help you
http://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact/c/2902/?s_intcid=con_intban_sanda_contact_us_chat_from_forums
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Unethical practices are taking Nokia down!!

I don't understand why whenever there is an update available for Nokia Ovi Suite, it is absolutely necessary to install before the software can even run!
Now my own laptop is not connected to the internet, the update has to be installed from the internet and this illogical process of Nokia won't allow me to connect to internet as I cannot use Ovi Suite.
Moreover, what if I DO NOT want to install an update??
I advise people at Nokia to start using the grey matter, if not theirs then buy from the market. God has given it you, the best you can do is use it.
Regardless.
MODERATOR'S NOTE:
Please voice out concerns in a tone that is respectful to Nokia and other users to maintain a friendly environment.

Dronzer wrote:but from last five days when I turn music player on then other applications are taking much time for starting.
Try to check the free space on both phone and memory card.
File system errors on the memory card can also be a factor, so you might want to check it as well.
Methods to check your storage device for errors:
Windows XP - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265
Windows Vista - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ph/windows-vista/check-your-hard-disk-for-errors
Windows 7 - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2641432
Good luck

Complaint about customer service and business practices

I am creating this post to make public a complaint i have about unethical practices and poor customer service with Verizon.
Here is the story:
A few months back our landline stopped working. Called Verizon and followed all of the troubleshooting steps to try and fix the problem. No dice. I called again- they said they could send a tech out to fix the phone line- and was told specifically that if the problem was INSIDE the house and involved the tech coming INSIDE then there would be a $91 service charge. If the problem was OUTSIDE the house, no charge. So cautious that the problem might be inside, I replaced the phone jack and tried multiple phones etc to make sure it was not an inside issue. Called back and scheduled an appt. The tech came out- was extremely friendly and immediately located and fixed the problem- IN THE BOX OUTSIDE. Said there was a short in one of the lines at the box. It took him less than 5 min. I said- that was easy! He said- yup- and will save you money too (by not having to go inside). That was that. The next month we got our statement (we're on autopay)- and there it was- $91 charge. I called customer service- and after some passing around and review of the tech's notes by the rep- that stated he did NOT enter the house, they agreed to credit us back the $91 on our next bill. That was last month. Statement arrives today- NO CREDIT. I call back. After more passing around I am finally told that it was not credited because our "request" was denied. What? I said? The request was reviewed and denied based on the "notes" showing that i was "informed of the charges at the time of service"? Um, what? No i wasnt. I was informed MULTIPLE times PRIOR to the appt that i COULD incurr charges if the tech came in the house. He did not- his tech notes even state that. So now i get passed to a supervisor. He tells me that the tech notes state that i was told of the charges at the time of service. Funny- the month prior to that when i first called the notes did not state that at all- they simple said that he did not enter the house. Somehow after my "request" was filed the tech notes were modified. The supervisor was very curt and short and said the case was already reviewed and denied- no credit. He then goes on to say that the reason for the charge was because the tech did work on a line that LED into the house? What? Don't all the phone lines LEAD into the house? And regardless- it was explained several times to me that the ONLY charges would be if he came in the house. I have been a loyal Verizon customer for years- but i was shocked and quite frankly **bleep** off. NEVER was i told about any charges during the service. In fact i was told the exact opposite- that there would be NO charges since he never entered the house. This is a horribly deceptive practice- and i am NOT HAPPY. I told the "supervisor" so- who didnt seem to care at all- and told him that i would consider canceling my service because of this- at which he happily said "would you like me to transfer you to cancelations?" wow. Unfortunately I am still locked into my 2 year agreement- however i will unquestionably be looking to switch to brighthouse after its up and will be recommending likewise to my friends and family. You simply cannot tell a customer one thing and then charge them for another. Dont they record all the phone calls for "quality assurance"? Well if so, then they need to listen to the calls i made prior to the appt to ensure that i would NOT be charged if the tech did not enter the house. I triple confirmed this. Verizon has completely lost any credibility in my opinion. NOT HAPPY.

so yesterday i posted the below complaint about my experience getting charged for service on my landline. After some "private chatting" with various verizon people i got the response that follows. unbelievable. i will without a doubt be canceling my verizon service as soon as my contract is up and will definately be recommending the same to friends and family.
here is my original post from yesterday:
I am creating this post to make public a complaint i have about unethical practices and poor customer service with Verizon.
Here is the story:
A few months back our landline stopped working. Called Verizon and followed all of the troubleshooting steps to try and fix the problem. No dice. I called again- they said they could send a tech out to fix the phone line- and was told specifically that if the problem was INSIDE the house and involved the tech coming INSIDE then there would be a $91 service charge. If the problem was OUTSIDE the house, no charge. So cautious that the problem might be inside, I replaced the phone jack and tried multiple phones etc to make sure it was not an inside issue. Called back and scheduled an appt. The tech came out- was extremely friendly and immediately located and fixed the problem- IN THE BOX OUTSIDE. Said there was a short in one of the lines at the box. It took him less than 5 min. I said- that was easy! He said- yup- and will save you money too (by not having to go inside). That was that. The next month we got our statement (we're on autopay)- and there it was- $91 charge. I called customer service- and after some passing around and review of the tech's notes by the rep- that stated he did NOT enter the house, they agreed to credit us back the $91 on our next bill. That was last month. Statement arrives today- NO CREDIT. I call back. After more passing around I am finally told that it was not credited because our "request" was denied. What? I said? The request was reviewed and denied based on the "notes" showing that i was "informed of the charges at the time of service"? Um, what? No i wasnt. I was informed MULTIPLE times PRIOR to the appt that i COULD incurr charges if the tech came in the house. He did not- his tech notes even state that. So now i get passed to a supervisor. He tells me that the tech notes state that i was told of the charges at the time of service. Funny- the month prior to that when i first called the notes did not state that at all- they simple said that he did not enter the house. Somehow after my "request" was filed the tech notes were modified. The supervisor was very curt and short and said the case was already reviewed and denied- no credit. He then goes on to say that the reason for the charge was because the tech did work on a line that LED into the house? What? Don't all the phone lines LEAD into the house? And regardless- it was explained several times to me that the ONLY charges would be if he came in the house. I have been a loyal Verizon customer for years- but i was shocked and quite frankly **bleep** off. NEVER was i told about any charges during the service. In fact i was told the exact opposite- that there would be NO charges since he never entered the house. This is a horribly deceptive practice- and i am NOT HAPPY. I told the "supervisor" so- who didnt seem to care at all- and told him that i would consider canceling my service because of this- at which he happily said "would you like me to transfer you to cancelations?" wow. Unfortunately I am still locked into my 2 year agreement- however i will unquestionably be looking to switch to brighthouse after its up and will be recommending likewise to my friends and family. You simply cannot tell a customer one thing and then charge them for another. Dont they record all the phone calls for "quality assurance"? Well if so, then they need to listen to the calls i made prior to the appt to ensure that i would NOT be charged if the tech did not enter the house. I triple confirmed this. Verizon has completely lost any credibility in my opinion. NOT HAPPY.
This post was followed by an online chat with a verizon person last night- who, after reviewing my acct and the notes on the acct said the following:
{edited for privacy}
WHAT? First off I WAS NEVER INFORMED THAT THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE OF WHERE THE WIRE WAS OUTSIDE MY HOUSE. I was simply told if the work/wires were ANYWHERE ON THE OUTSIDE of the house, which they were, then no charge. "Internal side of the NID leading into your home"- THIS WAS STILL ALL OUTSIDE! NO ONE EVER SAID IF THE WIRE WAS ON A PARTICULAR SIDE OF THE NID BOX I WOULD BE CHARGED! ONLY IF THE WORK WAS INSIDE OR OUTSIDE THE HOUSE! THIS IS CRAZY! AND ARE YOU SERIOUS ABOUT AN INSIDE WIRE MAINTENANCE PLAN? WHO THE HELL HAS THIS? OR HAS EVEN HEARD OF IT?
I AM SIMPLY AMAZED THAT A HUGE COMPANY LIKE VERIZON FEELS THE NEED TO BULLY AROUND AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PEOPLE LIKE ME. SHAME ON YOU VERIZON. CLEARLY I HAVE LITTLE RECOURSE HERE, HOWEVER AS MENTIONED BEFORE I WILL BE CANCELING MY SERVICE AS SOON AS MY CONTRACT IS UP (TO AVOID ANY RIDICULOUS EARLY TERMINATION CHARGES0 AND WILL BE RECOMMENDING THE SAME TO OTHERS. I WILL OF COURSE BE FILING A COMPLAINT WITH THE BBB AND ANY OTHER CONSUMER ADVOCATE GROUPS THAT I CAN - NOT THAT I EXPECT ANYTHING TO COME OF IT- BUT TO SIMPLY LET THIS GO ON RECORD. SHAME ON YOU. YOU CANNOT TELL A CUSTOMER ONE THING AND THEN DO ANOTHER. LISTEN TO THE PHONE RECORDS FOR WHEN I CALLED TO MAKE THE APPT- ALL I WAS TOLD IS THAT THERE WOULD BE NO CHARGE FOR WORK DONE OUTSIDE THE HOUSE...ONLY CHARGE WOULD BE IF WORK WAS DONE INSIDE. WOW. SIMPLY AMAZING.

Do you have to disclose your serial number when selling your laptop

do you have to disclose your serial number when selling your laptop

eBay is a buyer's paradise efemino. You have little choice but to yield to a buyer's will, however unreasonable it may be.
Buyer fraud is rampant. This unfortunate state of affairs has turned away many legitimate sellers of used equipment in recent years. eBay is now dominated by vendors beyond the reach of US law selling $1.99 items with free shipping from Hong Kong.
I am hardly a big seller, but when I sell electronic equipment I include a photograph of the serial numbers or other identifying marks right in the listing. I also put tamper-proof seals on anything that can be opened, and a note in the listing explaining that tampered items will not be accepted for return. I have never had a single return or complaint, but I have no intention of competing with the myriad of bottom feeders offering lower prices. Consider adopting similar practices when selling used Macs. You can include a sceenshot of About This Mac showing its serial number, as well one of the case exterior, to thwart fraudulent attempts to swap logic boards.
Without incontrovertible evidence of buyer fraud, a complaint to eBay will go nowhere. Take back the MBA, switched or not, and absorb the loss. Refusing to cooperate will just get your PayPal account frozen so that you can no longer conduct business.
Isn't eBay wonderful?

Line Disconnected in Error

So, around the 20th of August I received a letter from EE stating that they were in the process of switching my phone line service to their own.
This was apparently in error and they were notified of this, as were BT, within ten days of the date provided on the letter from EE.
An ofcom complaint was also filed on the 1st of September (I was suspicious of EE, as I'd never made an application with them and they failed to address their intended client by name so I assumed this was a case of them slamming customers in bulk). I'll be quoting from their official response to that complaint below.
So after hearing back from ofcom it turns out this may genuinely have been an error on the part of EE:
Spoiler (Highlight to read)
Turning to the information from Openreach, it suggests that EE took over your line on 3 September 2014. It also appears the transfer was performed in error, rather than intentionally.
When a consumer’s line is transferred without their permission, this is known as ‘slamming’ which is a form of mis-selling. Regarding an erroneous transfer, this can happen as a result of a consumer having their line switched accidentally. More commonly, it can occur when a customer has requested service but instead it is supplied to a neighbouring house.
This is primarily caused by current limitations in providers’ systems not reliably identifying the new property and therefore the wrong property is accidentally targeted for takeover. It would also mean the account would not be in the original customer’s name. Even so, an erroneous transfer is still not acceptable.
Turning to the information from Openreach, it suggests that EE took over your line on 3 September 2014. It also appears the transfer was performed in error, rather than intentionally. When a consumer’s line is transferred without their permission, this is known as ‘slamming’ which is a form of mis-selling. Regarding an erroneous transfer, this can happen as a result of a consumer having their line switched accidentally. More commonly, it can occur when a customer has requested service but instead it is supplied to a neighbouring house. This is primarily caused by current limitations in providers’ systems not reliably identifying the new property and therefore the wrong property is accidentally targeted for takeover. It would also mean the account would not be in the original customer’s name. Even so, an erroneous transfer is still not acceptable.
However... My line has actually been disconnected. This is despite calling BT and telling them not to disconnect my line, and no correspondence was received from BT to notify me of this disconnection until two days after it occurred.
On calling them to complain about this, on the day they disconnected the line, I was passed to a sales team who told me to wait two days and that they would call back. My issue would be resolved and it would take ~15 minutes.
So, after waiting two days they called as agreed. The call was from this point forward treated entirely as a sales call, offering me the standard three month introductory reduction of a few pounds per month "as an apology", and selling me up front line rental (I presume they are targetted on this) on the grounds that it's "what I had before" (it wasn't).
So eventually they set me up a new account and contract, with a new waiting time for reconnection of 14 days (plus the two days prior I spent disconnected). The complaint was not logged and no mention was made of the emergency reconnection service:
Spoiler (Highlight to read)
If it is the case that EE has now taken over your line, you should ask BT if they can use the emergency restoration process. This should enable your service to be restored quickly. However, if BT has chosen not to adopt this process then they will need to follow the standard order process which can take up to two weeks.
If it is the case that EE has now taken over your line, you should ask BT if they can use the emergency restoration process. This should enable your service to be restored quickly. However, if BT has chosen not to adopt this process then they will need to follow the standard order process which can take up to two weeks.
I can only assume from this, and from other forum posts, that BT have chosen not to incorporate this into their procedure for reconnecting clients. Which begs the question, why the hell not?
There was also no mention by the agent I spoke to of their code of practice regarding erroneous disconnections:
Spoiler (Highlight to read)
Disconnecting your phone by mistake
If we cut off your line by mistake, you can claim daily-rate rental credit. We’ll work out the compensation from
the moment we cut you off and take this amount off your next bill.
Disconnecting your phone by mistake If we cut off your line by mistake, you can claim daily-rate rental credit. We’ll work out the compensation fromthe moment we cut you off and take this amount off your next bill.
Spoiler (Highlight to read)
Daily-rate rental credit
If you don’t ask us to divert your calls and we fail to supply or repair your phone line on time, you can claim a
‘daily-rate rental credit’. We’ll work out the daily-rate rental credit by:
• multiplying your quarterly phone service rental by four;
• dividing this by 365; and
• multiplying this by the number of days we were late in installing or repairing your phone line.
• If you can prove that you’ve lost money as a direct result of us not being able to provide or repair your phone
line in the time we said we would, you might be able to claim that financial loss. You can find out about the
limits on how much you can claim for each line affected at bt.com/terms. You can claim a financial loss on top
of a daily-rate rental credit.
• You can claim for financial loss if you’ve asked to have your calls diverted, but not for the cost of extra mobile
phone calls you make within the first five days of us going over our promised times. The terms and conditions
in the contract between you and us apply. You must make your claim within four months of us putting matters
right. If you’d like a financial loss claim form, please contact us (see ‘How to contact us’ on page 18).
Daily-rate rental credit If you don’t ask us to divert your calls and we fail to supply or repair your phone line on time, you can claim a‘daily-rate rental credit’. We’ll work out the daily-rate rental credit by:• multiplying your quarterly phone service rental by four;• dividing this by 365; and• multiplying this by the number of days we were late in installing or repairing your phone line.• If you can prove that you’ve lost money as a direct result of us not being able to provide or repair your phoneline in the time we said we would, you might be able to claim that financial loss. You can find out about thelimits on how much you can claim for each line affected at bt.com/terms. You can claim a financial loss on topof a daily-rate rental credit.• You can claim for financial loss if you’ve asked to have your calls diverted, but not for the cost of extra mobilephone calls you make within the first five days of us going over our promised times. The terms and conditionsin the contract between you and us apply. You must make your claim within four months of us putting mattersright. If you’d like a financial loss claim form, please contact us (see ‘How to contact us’ on page 18).
In regard to their correspondence regarding the disconnection: I do especially like the way that they only bother to send letters and emails regarding them charging you for disconnection. Absolutely no warnings or notifications prior to disconnection (which according to ofcom's website, should also be sent by your current supplier) and my phone call to them to tell them specifically not to disconnect me was completely ignored.
Anyway, I thought I'd post on here as responses from the online complaints submission form are slow as hell. Hopefully a mod will pick it up as they appear to be quite competent based on responses to other forum threads.
Plus at least this way my issue will show alongside others in google search results (and oh my, does this appear to happen a lot.)

Hi Nihil,
Thanks for posting. Sorry you've had such a bad experience. I'll take a look into this for you. Drop me an email with the details. You'll get the 'contact us' link in my profile.
Cheers
David
BTCare Community Mod
If we have asked you to email us with your details, please make sure you are logged in to the forum, otherwise you will not be able to see our ‘Contact Us’ link within our profiles.
We are sorry but we are unable to deal with service/account queries via the private message(PM) function so please don't PM your account info, we need to deal with this via our email account :-)

BT - unethical practice & mis-selling

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