My BT experience

Question

I'd like to share my experiences with BT recently, to see if other customers have had similar struggles:
23rd Oct 2012: Placed an order for a new phoneline connection and broadband. Told the first available Openreach engineer's appointment was for 13th November 2012
13th November 2012: BT Openreach engineer comes out, but says he didn't realise that a new line connection was required (I had made this abundantly clear when I originally placed the order). He says that it will need to go back to 'survey'. 
I call up BT later that day. I am told that they won't be able to tell me when the survey will be done until the following Tuesday.
20th November 2012: I phone BT, as they hadn't phoned me as promised. I'm told that they will need another week before they can tell me when the survey will happen.
27th November 2012: I phone BT again (once again they didn't call as promised) , I'm told that it will be done that week. 
30th November 2012: I receive a phone call on my mobile, saying that the survey has been done, and the connection will be done on the 2nd of December. I was delighted - after already waiting more than a month.
2nd December 2012: Come home after work, hoping to find the house connected. True to form - it's not done.
3rd December 2012: I call up BT, asking what happened. They deny that there was ever a call telling me that it would be done by the 2nd of December. Instead, they now say that a telephone pole is required as part of the connection, and that this won't be done until the 24th of December! Christmas Eve!! I'm ourtraged by this, and explain that this is an area without any mobile 3G coverage, and that I'm from overseas, and that essentially I'm disconnected from family and friends without internet..... this makes no difference to the Mumbai based telephone operator.
10th December 2012: I am delighted to receive a call from a local BT Openreach engineer, telling me that the required telephone pole is being erected today - ahead of the proposed date of 24th December. I come home that the pole is up, and telephone cable has been run to the outside of my house. I assume that the local engineer's will now be able to finish the job within the week - as all that's required is for the cable to be run into the house, and connected to a phone plug.
11th December 2012: I phone the local BT Openreach engineer back on the number he has previously called me on. I ask if he knows when the job will be finished. Or if he could arrange for it to be done soon. As expected, he says that I'll need to speak with BT, as they just do the work as it's assigned to them.
I phone BT, and I'm eventually put through to another Mumbai based phone operator. He says that the work's ongoing, and that it will be completed on the 27th of December!!  I tried to explain that the pole has been installed earlier than they originally said, and that there's only a small amount of work required to finish the job. Of course, trying to convey this is like talking to a brick wall. I make no progress, and I'm not able to speak to anyone with any discretion or responsibility for the matter.
That brings me to my current situation - waiting (7 weeks so far). The above is a brief summary of events to date, but doesn't include the innumerable phone calls I've made, frustration I've experienced, and the amount of time I've spent waiting to be put through to a phone operator. 
I'm absolutely worn out by BT; by their ineptidude, lack of accountabilty, and terrible customer service. I really don't know what to do. It seems like there is no way to speak to anyone with authority in the matter. 
I'd welcome other peoples' experiences with BT, maybe this is the only way they'll listen to their customers?

Answer 1

I also agree, I am at the end of my tether.
I ordered a Broadband and Phone package on the 13th September and was told that my package would be activated on the 29th October after an Engineer had come to activate the line (it's a new build). On the Thursday before the appointment I received a text message to say that the engineer did not need to visit as he had been able to activate the line remotely and our package would activate up to midnight on the 29th
By the 30th our line was not active (i.e. no dial tone) so we rang the number, which rang. My husband rang customer services who after nearly an hour of line checking basically told him that there was nothing wrong. I rang that evening and spoke to someone whose name I could not pronounce, and after a very difficult conversation where he was rude and very unhelpful he told me that there was nothing wrong. I told him to ring our telephone number. He put me on hold and rang it where, shock horror, he told me that the line was crossed! He informed me that the earliest the engineer could come out to fix the problem was the 2nd November, which I reluctantly agreed to.
Then, imagine my horror, when on the 31st October, before I was even able to use our telephone and broadband, I had been billed, for telephone calls that the other person had made whilst my line was crossed. I rang, again, and managed to speak with someone relatively sensible who informed me that I was not able to cancel my contract (which I had wanted to do) because my line had been activated. I informed her that it was not and it was the result of the crossed line, but she said that they had to be given the opportunity to fix the fault before I could cancel. She also assured me that she had put a 'stop' on my account with a note saying that I was not to be charged for any line rental until the 2nd Nov and that I would be credited with the cost of the chargeable calls that I had not made.
I decided to make a complaint on the 31st and did so using the online form, because I was upset at the way I had been treated and I wanted to make sure that the situation would be remedied. No-one bothered to make contact with me and I heard nothing after the auto-reply. I then received my next bill, which did not have the credit added to it, as had been promised. On the 20th I made another complaint, and on the 21st someone rang me to 'try and sort it out'. I explained everything that had happened and the best he could offer was to get accounts to look into it and contact me. I asked that this be done in writing because I was fed up with people over the telephone promising to do things and then not deliver. Needless to say, I heard nothing further.
Now, to my horror, I see in my latest bill that not only have I still not been credited for the calls and line rental, I have also been charged for calls made from the 24th October, when the line was switched on but not active. BT know that I was only able to use the phone and broadband from the 2nd November, yet I am still being charged for them. I have today made another complaint and said that if a satisfactory outcome is not achieved by the 31st December I will be taking my complaint to the ombudsman because the 8 weeks will have elapsed.
We chose BT as both our parents have been lifelong customers, but I can say that after this I will never ever be a customer of BT again. It is a complete shambles, and a lot of time and effort from our end has gone into trying to reach a satisfactory outcome, but it is impossible to get anywhere with BT, and it is a complete disgrace.