How I sorted my BT problem

Dirk Gently

Like many ppl on here, ive had trouble with BT. When I ordered broadband
(50 euro self install modem / 40 per month 3mb connection) it took BT 11 weeks to deliver the modem by post and it took me many phone calls giving the same information over and over again.
When I viewed my bill online it came to 355 euro. they charged me 115 for the modem instead of 50 and had a load of other charges which even they could not explain including an amount owing from my last bill which was fully paid up.
They also illegally switched my land line from eircom to BT. The landline is in my parents name and they would have had to get their permission to switch. After several phone calls they said they would fix the bill and switch my landline back to eircom.
However, I received my bill in the post on Thursday, still been overcharged. also in the envelope addressed to me was another mans bills with all his account details and his itemized phone bill. I made copies of all letters / bills and documents related to BT in my possession. I was about to go down the police station but on my way decided to pop into citizens advice centre.

How to beat them:
In the advice centre they told me a solicitor would write me a letter declaring BT in breach of contract, which means I wouldn’t have to pay the bill or stay with them for 6 months. So I walked into BT at upper grand canal street, Dublin 4, explained to the manager that I would declare BT in breach of contract if the mess wasn’t sorted out straight away. that was at 4pm on Thursday. At lunch time today BT rang me back and fixed my bill, gave me the universal account number needed to switch the landline back to eircom and gave me one month’s free broadband.
So as we all know, ringing BT is useless. They promise you the world and deliver nothing but overcharging. My advice to everyone is to physically walk into the BT building, speak to a manager and tell him that BT is in breach of contract. This approach worked for me and it was sorted out in a matter of hours.

some other points:
I have no direct debit set up with BT but they do have my bank details. I went into the bank before I went into BT and cleared out my account. I asked the bank teller to block any direct debit attempt by BT and was told that she couldn’t block them once they had my details. I recommend anyone who has been overcharged to close the account BT have access to, and open a new one and don’t give them the details. The manager in BT told me he removed my bank details from his computer and no attempt would be made by BT to debit my account. Tell them you want to pay your bills through the post office. this means that you control the money and only pay them if the bill is correct. A quick look through these boards will show you that once BT steal your money, it’s very hard to get it back off them.