BT Ireland - Billing Joke...

netbeatz

Hi all,

Been with BT Ireland Broadband Plus (Formerly Esat) For as Long as they have offered broadband in Waterford (i was a real jump at the first provider that floated by with a good deal).

But, recent events have totally shattered my illusions of a really good ISP.

I have been chasing them for the last 2 months, to rectify a billing issue. Basically, they took by direct debit money from my bank account to cover my 2 monthly broadband. No problem there. However, the money "vanished". My bank has told me quite firmly that the money was recieved by BT and never returned...that they (the bank) had fully honoured the transaction. Many Many calls to BT have resulted in me sending in statements etc (which i have no prob with) to assist their credit controllers. So i logged on to BT Ireland a few days ago, to see i am now being charged interest etc on my late bills, even though it is their fault. each time i call i am told it is still with credit control, it has been given high priority etc...last call was this day last week as i was promised they would be in touch within a few days...some joke. I am so P***ed off with them right now..

Anyone had a similar experience?

Netbeatz

fred funk }{

I had an experience a few years ago with eircom. I had ordered BB from them and i then cancelled my order a few days later, I had spoken to someone in eircom when cancelling and the order was stopped..no problem.

About six weeks later i get my eircom phone bill in the door and noticed they had charged my 200 plus quid for cancelling! So i rang them up and explained that they had made a mistake and that i had cancelled well within the allowed time, The person on the phone said that it was a mistake and that the money wouldnt be taken from my account, Great i thought.

They then withdrew the money from my account. I rang them again and explained the story and was told that i hadnt cancelled and that they had no record of my phone call to cancel. I was transfered from one person to the next and had to explain the same story to each person, How annoying!.

They basicly called my a liar and a chancer, To cut a long story short as they say, I eventually had to send in my wifes itemised phone bill which had the phone call listed on the day and time for about seven minutes which they said never existed. They then wanted to credit my phone bill with the money but i refused and demanded a cheque, They said they dont send out cheques. I got my cheque in the end and now am eircom free and dont have to give them another penny.

I found eircom to be the worst company i'v ever had to deal with. I was shocked that a large company could have such terrible people skills, From the people who answer the phone through to the managment, I would rather give another company the extra few quid than deal with them again.

dub45

netbeatz wrote:

Hi all,

Been with BT Ireland Broadband Plus (Formerly Esat) For as Long as they have offered broadband in Waterford (i was a real jump at the first provider that floated by with a good deal).

But, recent events have totally shattered my illusions of a really good ISP.

I have been chasing them for the last 2 months, to rectify a billing issue. Basically, they took by direct debit money from my bank account to cover my 2 monthly broadband. No problem there. However, the money "vanished". My bank has told me quite firmly that the money was recieved by BT and never returned...that they (the bank) had fully honoured the transaction. Many Many calls to BT have resulted in me sending in statements etc (which i have no prob with) to assist their credit controllers. So i logged on to BT Ireland a few days ago, to see i am now being charged interest etc on my late bills, even though it is their fault. each time i call i am told it is still with credit control, it has been given high priority etc...last call was this day last week as i was promised they would be in touch within a few days...some joke. I am so P***ed off with them right now..

Anyone had a similar experience?

Netbeatz

Sadly if you do a search on boards you will find that Esat are notorious for thier accounts department. Its the one thing that would stop me every having anything to do with them. Emailing the Chief Executive used to be only way to get anything done but with him gone now no one (on boards) has yet come up with an alternative:(

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

Sadly I'm already having billing issues with BT, and I'm only with them 2 months

Although I'm just glad to be rid of Eircom (I still haven't received my credit note from them either)

ambrose :cool:

philtaylor

Been with Ireland Online since 1994 . Never had a problem with them but once Esat took them over went downhill . When I moved to a different internet package with them they started billing be for the previous package plus the new package via direct debit . They issured me the first one would be cancelled . Took 9 weeks to get the money back and even then they only gave me a credit on my account . However they still took Direct Debit instead of using the credit on the account . F?Muppets .

So to prevent this I swithched to credit card billing and got it sorted . Then last year when I moved from NetSmart or whatever it was called to Broadband , I rang them up and said I want broadband . However I had only fulfilled 9 months of the mim of 12 months contract with NetSmart . However of course sales where helpful and said thats not a problem as your increasing your monthly cost package and you are agreeing to a new 12 months contact it shouldn't be a problem . So I agreed.

2 months later there billing me twice , I contact accounts and they said I had to fulfil my initial account . They said they had no recored of that sales call . Only that I got the first name and second name of the person I was talking too ( always get there surname and first name when talking with BT) plus always ask them to enter a ticker on your account with the info you said on your phonecall.

They said they would look into it and never did so I just contacted the cc company and said the payment was in dispute and to cancel it . Then I get a phone call threathening late fees etc , when I politely said **** off i'll only speak to the head of customer services , of course when I actually spoke to a manager evrthing was finally sorted out.

Rubbish Company!

vibe666

your best bet is to email bill murphy directly, he's the boos, and the only one who seems to be capable of getting anything done. he's a nice guy too, and will pass you on to someone competent who will deal with the problem for you very quickly.

Bill Murphy <Bill.Murphy@esat.com>

mail bill. unless he's dead, I bet you'll have a reply within the hour. i mailed him at 6.30pm on a sunday and he replied within 15 minutes, and had someone on it first thing that monday morning.

damien

Bill has moved on. New man in charge now. Escalate it first to complaints@esat.com, if they do nothing for you then come back here and we'll go for the next level up.

Furp

I've been with BT for almost a year now on their broadband-telephone-line rental package, they deibit me every two months, and i am supposed to see my bills online, but i never have, eventually after lots of calls to 1904 i sent an email to bill murphy and he got it esacalated and after two weeks all my previous bills appeared online.

I thought that the problem had been fixed until my next direct debit was taken and my invoices are still not appearing on my account, their billing department is a real joke, iv requested my bills to be sent by post but this has not happened either I think ill be getting on to them again.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

Furp,
I'm in the same boat. Still can't see my bill online. Nothing sent our by post either. Plenty of phone calls and still nothing. I refuse to pay without seeing my bill first.

ambrose :cool:

juliuspret

BT really need to create an idiots guide to checking/correcting problems like eircom have had for a long time.

It would solve so many problems.

curieux2

BT still think that Jaz Coleman was the lead singer of their favorite group Billing Joke...

geecee

I have being having billing problems in work since April 2004 with Esat....
Still waiting for them to reconcile/rectify the issue...

Basically they charged us 640 euro on the DD for the initial install (instead of 135!) and they have continually tried to take 270 (instead of 135) out by DD every 3 months, despite the fact we are still in credit with them!

Problem is that as soon as I finally manage to convince someone in Esat that they are wrong and the the matter needs to be rectified... that person mysteriously leaves Esat... or we get a new account manager assigned and have to start all over again...

They are completely useless as far as I'm concerned, and would have been cancelled a long time ago, if there were any other suitable DSL providers in the area who weren't just as bad when it comes to billing...

netbeatz

well, i have been in touch with complaints@esat.com...

Waiting on a response from them,

Will let you all know what happens


Netbeatz

Repli

I swear trained monkeys could do a better job than their accounts department..
One of my friends signed up to IOL BB a few years ago and used direct debit as payment, then they didn't take the direct debit out of her mams account for over a year but still supplied the service (her mam genuinely didn't notice because they were a lot of transactions on the account)
Then they get a call one day demanding the €700 or whatever that they owed in one big lump sum, and if they didn't pay, esat threatened to "sell the debt to a debt collector"

JNive

not illegal but completely anti-customer friendly and due to complete inadequacies in their billing department.

I remember before when they were doing CPS ( EsatClear i believe) a saleman arrives, my mother wanted more info so he told her to sign a form, and he will send it out to her, so she signs. a month later what arrives, but an Esat bill for our phone £250 i think ( we had dial-up internet back then lol ).

Anyway, not only was it pure deceit by the salesman, but our account ( with Eircom ) was not in my mothers name, but in my dads name, so she had no authority over billing on the account, yet esat still switched it over, and without the account holders permission. After non-payment we received a letter, blah blah, so we replied with quite a strong complaint with the legal ramifications about their actions, needles to say, we received no more billing requests from them.

Mick F

Repli wrote:

esat threatened to "sell the debt to a debt collector"

ESAT can threaten all they like, "debt out-sourcing" has no basis in Irish or European Law.

I had this problem with NTL. I cancelled my account yet kept receiving bills for four months rental. I contacted them on four occasions (two x recorded calls and 2 x registered letters)

That was the end of the matter, or so I thought!! Two years later I received a "Final Demand" from a debt collection agency, who's name I won't mention here.

I immediately issued a civil bill for breach of contract, defamation of character, and exemplary damages, against NTL and the Debt Collectors. They lost through the small claims court all claims and expenses.

I found that their attitude is that of a bully; stand up to them and you will eventually win. In particular the District Judge in my case stated that they "have no legal defence, and should not have wasted court time; this matter should not have come to hearing"

dahamsta

Mick F wrote:

That was the end of the matter, or so I thought!! Two years later I received a "Final Demand" from a debt collection agency, who's name I won't mention here.

No reason you shouldn't, debt collection agencies that accept and attempt to collect fraudulent debts are scum of the earth and should be named and shamed. Esat's debt collection agency is or used to be "Legal & Debt Management". Both Esat and Legal & Debt Management tried the same bullying tactics on me and got told where to stuff their imaginary debts. They were also told in no uncertain terms that if they went next to near my credit record I'd sue the living bejesus out of them. I think I may have hurt their feelings, cos they never replied. Assholes.

adam

1huge1

fred funk }{ wrote:

I had an experience a few years ago with eircom. I had ordered BB from them and i then cancelled my order a few days later, I had spoken to someone in eircom when cancelling and the order was stopped..no problem.

About six weeks later i get my eircom phone bill in the door and noticed they had charged my 200 plus quid for cancelling! So i rang them up and explained that they had made a mistake and that i had cancelled well within the allowed time, The person on the phone said that it was a mistake and that the money wouldnt be taken from my account, Great i thought.

They then withdrew the money from my account. I rang them again and explained the story and was told that i hadnt cancelled and that they had no record of my phone call to cancel. I was transfered from one person to the next and had to explain the same story to each person, How annoying!.

They basicly called my a liar and a chancer, To cut a long story short as they say, I eventually had to send in my wifes itemised phone bill which had the phone call listed on the day and time for about seven minutes which they said never existed. They then wanted to credit my phone bill with the money but i refused and demanded a cheque, They said they dont send out cheques. I got my cheque in the end and now am eircom free and dont have to give them another penny.

I found eircom to be the worst company i'v ever had to deal with. I was shocked that a large company could have such terrible people skills, From the people who answer the phone through to the managment, I would rather give another company the extra few quid than deal with them again.

eircom sent you a cheque in the end
dosnt seem like something they'd do, did you take it to court of something lol

Solair

I can beat that with a tale from the old days of Cork Multichannel (The predecessor of Chorus cable in Cork)...

We moved into a house, phoned up Multichannel and asked them if they could install cable. They arrived up, took a look around the house and concluded that there was no cable and that we'd have to pay engineering costs which they would estimate.

They wanted to run about 10 meters of coax, down the garden basically. Quoted over £600. At which point we laughed and said forget it we'd go with satellite.

We got Sky (Analogue at the time) installed and a UHF ariel that picked up fuzzy deflector service version of HTV and BBC1/2 and S4C (C4 wales)..

Anyway, all was well..

We then got a bill for 1 months cable subscription. Went... mmm that's kinda weird. Rang them, they said oops, laughed it off and apologised suggested we disregard the bill.

Next month, second bill. 2 months cable sub.

We disregarded it.

A few weeks later, a final reminder suggesting that we pay up or be cut off.

Rang them, explained the situation. Once again, they were actually OK about it on the phone. Laughed it off. End of story.

A couple of weeks later. Letter from their legal department! Threatening us with all sorts of consequences if we didn't cough up.

Rang them up, explained. Got a very nasty person on the phone who accused me of lieing! I explained that we DO NOT have cable, have no decoder, don't have any physical connection to the network. Was told I better pay and the phone was slapped down!

At this point I just ignored it.

They started writing more and more letters.

Eventually, to cut a long story short. We brought the letters to the local garda station and said this guy at Multhchannel's harassing us. They gave them a quick phone call. Got a letter of apology and an offer of free cable!

You can be damn sure I didn't take the free cable offer!

Basically, if a company is harassing you for a bill that doesn't exist it's illegal. It's harassment and possibly extortion. The legal consequences for the company involved arn't exactly small. These companies don't have a right to bully you and don't let them away with it.

I've found with both eircom and BT Ireland, both of whom I've had billing problems with that the simplest sollution is a strongly worded fairly legalistic letter rather than trying to deal with them over the phone.
Send it by recorded delivery (Registered post) and keep a copy (and make sure that you let them know that you've a copy on file along with the delivery receipt quite important!)

channelsurfer

hmmmm at least they will take your direct debit. I changed banks and thought it was ok . but ended up getting a letter saying money was not paid. but it was there. anyway long story short they wouldnt set up a new direct debit without a new signed form even though there was no need for one. sent it back 3 weeks ago and rang today to check why the direct debit was not taken again. I was told by a not so pleasent lady that they never recieved it. i.e. it disappeared in bt billing dept. she would not take new details as I had to pay the outstanding bill. told her no the direct debit it set up please take it. anyway nope. she wouldnt even let me speak to a superivisor. I hung up told her comreg would deal with it from now on.
got the name of a customer complaints person and a direct number.rang her and she says its sorted now. she will send me conformation. all I want em to do is take a direct debit. its not rocket science..

Solair

There are new DD rules btw. The bill or invoice MUST be issued 14 days before any debit occurs to give you reasonable notice i.e. so that you have sufficient funds and that you're expecting it to happen.

This is a bank regulation check www.ipso.ie for further info.

It's not optional for BT.

It also saves the banks a lot of problems as customers can easily insure that they've sufficient funds to clear a direct debit, thus removing admin costs for the bank to bounce a DD request and notify the customer etc etc.

BT often don't issue bills at all!

Also, keep proof of postage. Saying that you haven't recieved something that's been posted is no legal defence. There's a general concept in law called the "postal rule" where by anything that is posted is deemed to have been received.

If they give you any nonsense tell them to talk to your solicitor.

uncivilservant

dahamsta wrote:

No reason you shouldn't, debt collection agencies that accept and attempt to collect fraudulent debts are scum of the earth and should be named and shamed.

They use Intrum Justitia now.

jor el

channelsurfer wrote:

all I want em to do is take a direct debit. its not rocket science..

You'd think so wouldn't you? I had the same issues with them at my previous address. They only ever managed to make one successful DD to my credit card and then they reversed that one a day later, and then billed me once again for non payment :rolleyes: Looking at my (old) online billing account I can see they are still billing me monthly for broadband that has been cancelled (and was fully paid up at the time) since February.

I'll just wait till that friendly debt collector knock on the door some day, then threaten them with legal action for harassment, fraud, breach of confidentiality, and anything else I can think of

[edit]
I just had a look at my account a minute ago and dowloaded the bill. Seems I now subscribe to BT home phone on this account too, which I never signed up for. This is a complete fabrication by BT. Perhaps it's time to write a strongly 'legal' worded letter now?

Scruff

Getting pretty annoyed at this stage. Moved over to them completely from eircom and got bb off them. First they continued to bill me for my subscription to IOL Anytime that i had cancelled a few months back (now resolved...i hope). Now they start sending me overdue payment letters for the last bill even though the DD went out of my bank to them 2 weeks ago. Rang them giving out and the lad on the phone went on about how they "sometimes" have problems with the dept that collects the dds and clears the bill.
idiots.
has anyone ever had any joy out of sending a complaint to their complaints dept or they as uesless as the rest of them?

Bogger77

Scruff wrote:

Getting pretty annoyed at this stage. Moved over to them completely from eircom and got bb off them. First they continued to bill me for my subscription to IOL Anytime that i had cancelled a few months back (now resolved...i hope). Now they start sending me overdue payment letters for the last bill even though the DD went out of my bank to them 2 weeks ago. Rang them giving out and the lad on the phone went on about how they "sometimes" have problems with the dept that collects the dds and clears the bill.
idiots.
has anyone ever had any joy out of sending a complaint to their complaints dept or they as uesless as the rest of them?

I'd same issues with them losing stuff. Only way to be sure of them recieving your letter is, get a name of the person you deal with. Tell them that you will send them the letter, addressed to them at the address on Grand Canal place. Hand deliver the letter, there's 24hr security, and building is open to cal into from round about 7:15am to 8pm. It's the only joy I've had

channelsurfer

I found their complaints dept to be very good. I actually had no joy with the muppets on the phone so I wrote and complained got a nice apology letter personllay signed with the name of a complaints person and her direct line. She said if I needed her again give her a ring. and yep I was glad I kept the letter cos last week the fools messed up again with my direct debit. I rang her straight away and she sorted it out in 3 minutes. she said to ring her in future if I had any problems. the question has to be asked though if she can do a thing in 3 minutes why cant they train all their staff correctly to do it instead of the complaint arising in the first place.

dub45

channelsurfer wrote:

I found their complaints dept to be very good. I ...................... the question has to be asked though if she can do a thing in 3 minutes why cant they train all their staff correctly to do it instead of the complaint arising in the first place.

You would think that the complaints dept would be in a postion to highlight in a fairly detailed way the exact issues that need to be addressed by senior management to cut out all the crap.

The question has to be asked how can a supposedly reputable company mess up so consistently without any of their senior people addressing the issue?

The cost to them of the ongoing messing around of customers must be ridiculously high and even though Bill Murphy was regularly praised here on boards for sorting issues out he must have been aware of the problem and yet apparently did nothing about it. This has been going on for years!

Wolverine_1999

Yo,

I pretty much had the same experience and am still awaiting a cheque of €106 now..

Apparently when they tried to take €53 from my account in February, it bounced, and they "returned" it to my account in March. There is nothing in my bank statement regarding €53 being returned to me. So I sent a letter and a fax in April proving this to them and asking for the €53 back, as i got billed €106 on the next deadline. I was speaking to someone and she told me it was taken care of and i should also write that i would like to cancel my subscription from now on. End of June arrives and no cheque or anything back. So i call and someone tells me that the person dealing with my request was doing it incorrectly and nothing was done. So this time i got the person's name and she is dealing with it personally. I am already getting the €53 back they took from my account at the end of June because my cancellation request never went through. I proved to her to i requested it though and she will refund me that. I am still waiting on the other €53 though, which i should clearly get back. It's as clear as crystal on my statements that i did not get the €53 back...

If i do not get the €53 back from the overbilling, who do i go to then?

zuma

Well Ive had BT BB for 4.5 months now.

I got it just as the trial was finishing so I have the 3month trial with 4th month free.
Now I got my Credit Card statement today and BT havent taken anything for this month!!!

Oh I also went over the cap last month by about 10GB...34GB instead of 24GB....and was expecting some sort of fine!!!...but nothing!

If they start sending me letters in a month threatening debt collector I'm not going to be happy!!!

Anyone else in a similar situation???

JTMan

We had BT Broadband for 1 year before we got our first bill ... :mad:

A mate of mine worked for some type of consulatancy job with BT and they said that highlighted to managment billing as been one of the worst parts of the BT Ireland operation. Nothing has changed ...

zuma

I'll leave it alone for another month and see what happens.

Speaking of downloading over the CAP has anyone ever been fined???

What I dont want it to get lazy and start to continuously download 30GB a month and in 6months have a MaSsIvE bill waiting for me!!!