Messed about by BT

Question

Evening all,
I just wanted to vent a little about my experience so far with BT.
On the 3rd October I made the decision to go with BT for the new property I was going to be moving into. A good internet connection is essential for me as I often work remotely and have WebEx's and conference calls via Skype frequently.
On the 5th October I received a text message stating that my order would be delayed and that someone would be in touch to let me know what's going on. This did not happen.
A few days later I rang to see what was going on, the representative informed me that my order was with a specialist team as there was an existing line and that she would put in a request for them to get in touch by 8PM that same day and update me regarding my order. This did not happen.
I waited another day with no contact and rang back, again I was informed that someone would get in touch with me for definite that evening to discuss the progress of my order. This did not happen.
On the 11th October I received an email! With all the details I ever wanted. In this email was the date on which the engineer would visit, the 25th October. A little longer than I had hoped for but a date none the less that I could plan around.
The appointment was before 1PM today, at 1.30PM with no engineer in sight I rang BT who informed me that the engineer was delayed on another job but would be with me in the afternoon before 6PM. I was a little bit annoyed but still the same day so I can get on with my weekend.
By 5.30PM the engineer had still not shown so I rang BT again to just confirm that the appointment would still go ahead. After negotiating the labyrinth like telephone system once again I was told that no appointment could be made for this afternoon and that someone would ring me on Monday to re-arrange! I hit boiling point here.
I've dealt with quite a few broadband providers in the past and my last one was Virgin and if I wasn't moving to a non-virgin media area I'd have stuck with them. Everything was handled professionally and I could rely on them which is paramount to me.
It seems ironic that an established communications company seem unable to actually communicate to their customers!

Answer 1

Hi Johnstephenson and all
I'm sorry to be making such a negative post as my first on this forum, but I'm struggling to find a way forward. My experience mirrors your own, having had two engineer visits booked and two non-attendances. I am attempting to move my existing infinity service from my previous home to my new one. I made the oprder online on 7/10/13 and moved house on 11/10/13. The order inlcuded an instruction to begin my telephone service on 11/10/13 but this did not happen, despite BT cancelling the service at the old address. The previous occupiers at my new house had a T phopne line and inifinity broadband already, so no physical work should be needed at the house or at the cabinet and I asked to take over the existing line in order to make it as easy as possible. I genuinely cant see why an engineer needs to visit, as all the appropriate equipment is in place (cabinet mods, home socket mods, fibre modem, up to date hub), surely BT can just flick the switch to turn on the service! I called on 14/10/13 to find out what was happening and eventually got through to customer services (I assume in India) to be told that an engineer visit would be booked for 17/10/13. I reluctantly agreed, despite this being later than I'd hoped. My wife took the day off and no engineer attended, without any warning or apology. Customer services apologised but could not explain why the engineer was absent but said that the line was fine. We then received an email to say that another engineer visit would happen the following week on the 24/10/13. Again my wife took a day off and again no one attended. Again we called, this time to be told that there was a fault on the line (really?) and that it would have to be fixed. I was furious by this stage, but of course customer services are pretty powerless and cannot provide the infgormation I needed. That evening, we received a text message to say that our phone line should be active and sure enough it was (two weeks after moving in). But still no broadband. On the friday morning (25/10/13) we received a call from customer services on the land line to confirm that our land line was working (oh the irony) but that an engineer visit could not be arranged for our infinity installation until 7/11/13, another two weeks away! My wife took this call and hit the roof, stating thast this was absolutely unacceptable. We made a formal complaint on the BT website, having failed to speak to anyone with any influence and so far have recived no acknowledgement. I just found this forum and had to vent my anger somewhere that appears to have people who at least share my experience and might assist. As things stand, I have an engineer visit in two weeks and no certainty that it will be honoured, despite having paid for the service for two weeks already. I am appalled and if it is not resolved this week will be giving my business to Plusnet instead. I know they use BTs infrastructure and I may have to wait even longer, but BT do not deserve my custom on their performance so far. Johnstephenson, can I ask if your issues have been resolved and if so, did you manage to speak to anyone at BT to help? if so, who and on what number?