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Question

I don't want to waste time on this forum. I've changed to Virgin - and thank God !
Here's the text of the last letter I wrote to Customer Service Director, BT plc, Correspondence Centre, Durham, DH98 1BT.  I got the briefest of replies, which dealt with none of the points I raised.
During April I was engaged in searching for a new flat. There were a number of possible candidates. I phoned British Telecom to ask about the service to the flat I favoured
Your representative told me that I could expect up to 4 Mbs in this are. That was a lie
The maximum possible speed is 2 Mbs. My IP Profile has typically been 1,2Mbs and currently you have restricted me to .9 Mbs and then to .78 Mbs
Given that I was at the start of an 18 month contract with you, I would not have moved to this address had I been told – truthfully – by BT that this area is the worst in Cardiff for Internet access.
In the same call your representative told me that there would be no problem providing a telephone service to 93 B because the line had very recently been in use and just needed to be switched on at the exchange That was a lie.
Before moving in, I plugged a handset into the BT socket. There was no 'soft dial tone' which confirms that an inactive line is still connected to the exchange. I notified BT three times, but was assured – in a patronising manner – that then line had been tested and would be connected Friday 30th May. It wasn't of course.
I notified BT by email. No reply on Saturday, nor the following days. On Tuesday an engineer called me. He told me my phone was working. I said it wasn't. He said he would check and ring me back within a half hour. He did not do so.
It was not until the following Friday, that an engineer called and the problem was resolved. By that time I had spoken to the landlord and discovered that the BT line had not been in use for some time. Previous tenants had taken the Virgin Media telephone service. The flat had been decorated and the condition of the BT cabling inside the house could not be guaranteed.
You have therefore deprived me of my telephone/internet service during the first week of May. You have not offered any compensation.
I now raise a matter which may seem marginal, but which speaks volumes for the way British Telecom manage their business. The BT website offers a 'BT Community Forum'. I registered to use it because I wanted to document my experience for the benefit of other customers. The procedure ends with a message saying that an email with a clickable link will be sent, serving to verify the identity of the person registering. No such email was received. I tried again. No result. I notified BT. No reply.
After perhaps six emails, a young woman phoned me. She wasted half an hour of my time establishing what I had already said in my emails. She said she would pass the matter on to technicians. No response – of course.
It is evident that BT does not allow customers to register to use the BT community Forum, for fear that you will receive bad publicity. Given the shoddy manner in which you treat your customers, I imagine that bad publicity is inevitable. The Forum is a sham.
I now come to the main issue – the provision of an Internet service. I wish once more to make it clear that it is not the slowness of this service that is the principal issue – it is the dishonesty of British Telecom personnel.
I add that I am being advised by an independent expert who is an ex-BT manager with knowledge of the provision of digital services in Cardiff. You will understand that the press are always interested in 'whistle-blowers'
If I had been honestly advised by BT that the area I was proposing to move to was poorly served by BT for digital services – and if I was experiencing the best speed that the line could offer me – about 1.5 Mbs real download speed – then I would consider myself bound by my contract with you. I would have moved to this area, knowing what performance I could expect.
However, as I have outlined above, my decision to move here was largely based on a lie told to me by your representative on the phone – that I could expect up to 4Mbs
In addition, the line speed has now been restricted to .78 Mbs. In my last letter I said that on the first occasion this 24 hour restriction was imposed I had complained and the peak time restriction was lifted. I had 1.2 Mbs off-peak, and .9 Mbs peak speeds.
This continued to the end of May. On the 2nd June ther 24 hour restriction was reimposed.
I have received an email from your customer service manager stating that this is simply because of 'long line length'. Very little technical knowledge is required to know that that statement is nonsense.
My independent advisor tells me that in fact technicians constantly 'tune' speeds in bad areas. Obviously you try to get as many customers under contract as possible by lying to them about the speeds they will receive, then progressively reduce their line performance in order to accommodate other customers
It is quite simply an outrage that BT should behave in this fashion, and nothing will please me more than having an opportunity to describe all of this in court.
I estimate that the damages in time and stress you have caused me amount to one thousand pounds. I look forward to receiving your cheque for that amount.

Answer 1

Hi sonsenfrancais,
Welcome to the forum.
I am sorry to hear you've now moved to another provider following some problems with the installation of your line and broadband speeds, if there's anything you'd like us to look into feel free to drop me an email at [email protected] with your BT account details.
All the best,
Stephanie
Stephanie
BTCare Community Manager
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