BT (British Telecom) have got to be the worst company I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with.
Recently I moved house and had to transfer the number and services etc, simple enough you might think. Make the call, give them my new postcode, no problem they say it'll be active on the day I move in. Tick the box on that job and move on.
Moving Day: Shit, the new house has no physical line. Call BT, another huge wait in the queue (on average a BT queue seems to be 20-30 mins - they will say less but see why later) only to be told "Ohh yes" that has failed the line test sir, so an emergency engineer comes out to install the line at a cost of about £250 (i cant remember the exact fee but was about that). He then says that my line has been disconnected at the "sub-exchange" (I am not sure what they are called but they are found between houses and the main exchange) and it'll be connected this afternoon. Anyway cutting a long story short(er) it took a total of 3 working days (5 in total - that's another shit deal, how can a huge service company still not operate 7 days?? I'm sure they do but use it to hide behind) to get the line working and numerous 30min phone calls during that time.
Yesterday I get a message on my voicemail that a stop has been requested on my line and it'll be in affect from 6th September, OK?!? WTF, springs to mind! So I ring them up and get through to someone in another country who a) struggles to understand me b) I struggle to understand them...after about 10 mins its confirmed what I already knew, yes my line will be canceled. "Well, I dont want that." - Cancel that stop order and Why has this happened (I am £90 in credit with them because they always over estimate direct debit payments by ridiculous amounts so in 3 months I am £90 in the black! (nice if you can get away with it I spose!) so I know it isn't the money). I get put on hold for 10 mins (which is a long time when you are sat on a phone) only to be told they cant cancel it, I need to call another number!! Classic! The other number is closed and only open 9-5. Super-Classic!
Call the number today who then tries to put me through to customer services (the people from last night who couldn't deal with it)....AAAAAA....my head almost explodes, scream and shout, put on hold again, speak to an Irish dude who then resolves the problem completely.
This rings true every time, I think they have people all over the place just answering the phone, they cant help and probably haven't even got a computer, they just answer the phone put you on hold and move you about from unhelpful person to unhelpful person. Nobody takes responsibility for anything in that company until you get the Irish dude who sorts it all out.
The most frustrating thing is that I have no choice...its BT or no phone line (no cable where I live). I could go with some company that sells me a deal for call minutes but still on a BT line, if I get a problem they tell me "I need to report that to BT and will get back to you".
Tossers.
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UPDATE: The line cancel I mentioned above came into fruition yesterday when I got home and my phone line had been stopped, strangely my Internet still worked but heh...so I call from my mobile (so I am paying) after the obligatory pass round the houses I speak to someone who confirms my line has been canceled, I had to tell me 3 times that I was NOT moving. He assures me it will be put back on ASAP and I will be contacted today on my mobile. Of course I wont receive that call but lets hope my line gets put back on - I was advised that would take 24-48 hours to do!! I suggest they upgrade because their current system is somewhat slow!!
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