BT Ireland - Billing Joke...

Paulobrien

I have had NOTHING but trouble with ESAT BT even since the so called "No Limits" on dialup days, I have had 5 occasions where they direct debited money for no reasons, and it was almost impossible to get it back.

I had to keep a record of all calls and letters where apologies were offered and promises of money to be returned...only to have to have the same conversation with someone else again almost every few days.

Do not give them any business, and also call your bank at its local location (not the head office or helpline) and block all ESAT BT Direct debits... you will not be charged. They also stung me 95 euro for a modem that I did not returne quick enough ... so I have advised friends to block their direct debits.

Sorry I ever did business with them and that I was stupid enough to return to them for broadband!!!!!

shoegirl

Mick F wrote:

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"

I don't think its entirely true that a company cannot outsource their debt. They are legally entitled to hire an agent to handle outstanding debt collections for them - most of the banks use a company in Ashtown and as far as I recall, most other companies deal through solicitors.

Having said that, you are correct in saying that if they hire an agent to collect a non-existent debt that is a billing error on their part, then yes, that is pure defamation under the law and you would be justified in taking them to the cleaners for it.

WillieFlynn

Another aproach is to send a letter to the person in charge of making sure they comply with the data protection act, asking them to correct the incorrect information (as they are required to do under the data protection act).

This has produced nearly instant results for me with various companies who filed to fix incorrect data. When I said unless it is fixed straight away I am reporting them for breaking the law to the data protection comminisner.

For more info on how to go about it look at Data Protection Commissioner's website.
Willie.

BTW here are BT's contact details:

Company Name: BT Communications Ireland Limited (t/a BT)
Ref Number: 4478/A
Reg Type: DC
Company Address: Grand Canal Plaza Upper Grand Canal Street Dublin 4
Contact: AudreyO'Sullivan

Sparky

got my bt bill today with it just for talk for 68 euros, i dont think this includes the 2mb BB or else it would be 100 euros exact since i dont use the phone for calls at all

Scruff

Esat\BT have the most pathetic and useless billing system in the world. Their incompotence is unrivaled in my experience. After being assured that the matter was resolved i recently a final notice letter threatening disconnection and the like. Have rang them each time and the last time i lost the rag and tore the idiot on the other end a new asshole (verbally of course). I'm seriously contemplating going back to eircom

Serbian

I feel everyone's pain in here. I subscribed to two BT connections in the last year with a Direct Debit to my account (one for the family home, and one for rented accommodation). Both times they took a direct debit of a seemingly random amount from my account. The bi-monthly fee for broadband was €93.99 but in the first instance they took €220 and in the second instance (which happened only a month ago after I cancelled BT and switched to NTL) they took just under €300.

Unfortunately I am still trying to get the first fantasy direct debit refunded so this was a real kick in the teeth when they went and did the same thing again. Both times the account was not "closed off properly", which may be true, but it still doesn't explain why they took exorbitant amounts of money from my account both times. You would think they would continue to take the same amount of money as always?

I received a call from someone in the BT Ireland billing department saying they were looking after my case, but they dialled directly into my mobile phone voice mail and they didn't leave a name. I think that sums up the distain with which BT treat their customers.

Benster

You're dead right BT don't care for their customers. I'm having awful trouble with their "customer care" after a relocation fiasco. They owe me money for service downtime (2 months of it), but can't seem to get that fact into their heads...

I've been through their complaints dept with no satisfactory result and I'm now wondering where I can turn to to get this resolved. The fact that they are much cheaper in the long run than Eircom was the biggest attraction to going with them for BB and calls, but after how I've been treated, I'm wondering if I'd be the bigger goon for staying with them after this.

Are folk absolutley sure that that Bill Murphy guy is gone as their head? I'm sure I saw his name on a BT web page recently...


P*ssed-off B.

JNive

somebody dialling directly to your voice mail is quite pathetic i admin, they dont even have the decency to talk to you in person, nor allow you to ask questions.

Utter contempt for 'customer service'

vibe666

my DD was being taken a week before i was paid, and so i cancelled it so i could pay manually when i had the money, but they kept taking it anyway and putting me overdrawn (3 times, bi-monthly) it took me 6 months to get them to stop taking the direct debit out of my account.

each time i cancelled it they set it up again without any paperwork of any kind. it even took 3 emails to the great bill murphy before it was fixed. each time it happened they promised that it wa sa mistake and that it wouldn't happen again, but it kept happening anyway.

i spoke to my bank and they said that BT have a paperless direct debit system where they can set them up without any paperwork at all, and the bank is powerless to stop them taking the money.

3 emails to bill murphy (once after each time it happened) eventually got it sorted, and i had to get someone to physically go through all their systems and remove my bank details so they wouldn't do it again. then i had them write a letter to my bank manager telling him that the overdrafts were their fault not mine and to not hold it against me. i got them to send me a copy too, for reference. good job too, as i'm trying to get a mortgage now, and i'd be fooked without that.
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zokrez

If you have a problem with Customer Service with any company, one should give the company the benefit of doubt initially. Make contact with them and outline what the problem is and then take note of names, times, dates etc.

I too had a problem with iolbb and I contacted Bill Murphy by email and had an email from the Head of Consumer Sales & Services, Pat McCabe on a Saturday who said apologised for the problems that I was encountering and that he would have my problem looked into first thing on Monday morning. I received an email as promised at 9.30am on the monday sorting the problem and reassuring me that I wasnt going to be on any bad debt list. This was followed up by a phone call to my home number later on apologising for the error. I don't think cock ups are unique to BT, I have heard similar stories about Eircom and UTV (are they still around, heard no advertising).

For the record, the relevant emails are:

pat.2.mccabe(at)bt.com- line manager boss
bill.murphy(at)esat.com - bigger boss
michael.maloney(at)bt.com - big boss

I don't understand what is wrong with their billing system. I pay by credit card and get billed every 2 months (just got an email to say that monthly rate is been decreased) but I have never received a bill. Can one register online without having landline with them. If so what is the account number I use as I never received one and will I get a further reduction of €2.50 per month becuase I pay by dd/credit card and no paper bill ?

dub45

Zakrze wrote:

If you have a problem with Customer Service with any company, one should give the company the benefit of doubt initially. Make contact with them and outline what the problem is and then take note of names, times, dates etc.
................

They have been given the benefit of the doubt now for years and years and do not appear to have even attempted to sort things out. Its disgraceful that they are allowed to continue to operate with such a manifestly appallling accounts department.

Benny_Cake

BT/Esat are without a doubt the most incompetent company I've ever had to deal with.I signed up in early 2004,provided my credit card details for direct debits,assumed everything was going fine as I have a good number of direct debits coming off my card each month (my bad,I admit).A year later,I'm moving out of home and I attempt to have the account changed over to my parents.As soon as I send off the new direct debit form,I receive a bill (the first in over a year),saying I owe them €651.34!Needless to say this was something of a shock to me.I immediately got in touch telling them to cancel the account and the new direct debit details.They replied to me saying that they had done this.I also asked for a copy of every bill for the time I had been with them,it took repeated phone calls from me to get them to do this,a month later.Realising I was basically liable,I came to a repayment agreement,and sent off a cheque in mid July.3 weeks later,the cheque had not been lodged,I get in touch with credit control to be told that my balance had been paid off.Perhaps they've written it off as a goodwill gesture,I thought hopefully.....

As if.Today I got a call from my parents saying that the full amount had just been taken from their account.This happened despite the fact that we have now been unsubscribed for over 2 months!Another call to the geniuses in credit control led to them claiming to be bewildered and saying that they would "do their best" to refund my parent's account,given I had already come to a repayment agreement.

Sorry if that reads like a rant.I just want to warn people to be very wary about dealing with these cowboys.Seems like I'm not the only one though....

dub45

Has anyone ever tried to complain to any of the offical bodies about BTesat? Surely a company that is so consistently incompetent should not be allowed operate? And surely to take from the poster's parents' account without anyones permission is as good as stealing? Have they ever featured on any of the radio programmes such as Joe Duffy etc etc or any of the consumer columns in the newspapers?

Benny cake why dont you write to the Chief Executive of BT and threaten that if your parents account is not sorted out within x days you will report BT to the Gardai for stealing. As far as I am concerned anyone who takes money from an account without permission is stealing!!

dahamsta

Out of curiousity yesterday I checked to see how they were doing with my account. Never billed me. Surprise surprise. Since my credit card is expired I'm going to pay them on MY installment plan, by cheque. And if they cut me off I AM going to sue them. It's not as if I don't have evidence of their incompetence...

adam

dahamsta

Unfortunately there has been a problem generating the bills on your account. However we have escalated this issue to the Billing Department who will have your bill generated asap.

Clueless apes.

I want to be informed of the full amount before any attempt is made to take the money from my credit card. Your billing system is shocking, an absolute disgrace, and it's been like that for nearly a decade. What kind of morons developed your software?

Sponge Bob

Oh Dear !

Of all the people to cross with an incorrect bill.

Scruff

Nice quote that. You actually got a response to an email? Thats fairly impressive in its own right. Whoever did write the software for their billing system should be lined up against the wall and kicked repeatedly in the nuts.
either that or its all done manually...

swoofer

i have probs as well, this company should be featured on that RTE rip off programme, tha might shame them into behaving with a bit of decency.

gb--

dahamsta

We have removed your credit card details from your account to ensure this will not be debited as requested.

Not attempt to address my comments about their billing system at all, surprise surprise. And what are the odds they'll try to bill me anyway, and then cut me off?

EDIT: Heh, I just remembered that I registered btireland-sucks.com when they had me jumping through hoops to set up with them a few months ago. Must do something with that.

dub45

dahamsta wrote:

Not attempt to address my comments about their billing system at all, surprise surprise. And what are the odds they'll try to bill me anyway, and then cut me off?

EDIT: Heh, I just remembered that I registered btireland-sucks.com when they had me jumping through hoops to set up with them a few months ago. Must do something with that.

Would there be any point in starting a petition and forwarding it to the Director of Consumer Affairs and Comreg and Joe Duffy:)

dahamsta

Received my first reminder today, advising me to pay the overdue amount using the payment slip at the bottom of my bill. That would be the bill I haven't received because I went with online billing, at their encouragement. So I logged into my account and much to my surprise - sh'ya, right - according to their site I still owe them a grand total of €0.00.

So now I have to go back to the customer service boss to get it sorted again. Pathetic.

adam