BT Ireland

dahamsta

Sorry for the OT post, can anyone give me a direct email address or phone number for someone high up in BT? I've been trying to cancel a telephone line in an apartment I no longer occupy - luckily no-one else has moved in yet, since they could be happily making international calls and surfing kiddy pr0n on my account - since the 16th of last month, and I just can't get in touch with them. They ignore their ticketing system and email, and calls to their telephone numbers are queued to eternity. I'm thinking of resurrecting btirelandsucks.com, because the suggestion that their customer support has improved is absolute garbage.

(Pardon the rant.)

adam

WizZard

Ditto for me.
I'm trying to cancel a broadband subscription and cannot get through to CS at all. I can get through to Sales without any hassle, but not CS. Even when their "Press 1 to be called back" message comes on, pressing 1 has led me to Sales, Business Support, and some type of Volume Account management line.

Such a screwed up Customer Support system - it's the reason I'm leaving them. The irony of not being able to do so because of this dire "support" is not lost on me either

Tom Dunne

Actually, I could do with that number too. I am since Setpember last trying to get a bill out of them, when all I get is threatening letters, saying I owe X on the bill.

Staying OT: I asked a "Customer Service" Representative what the complaints procedure was and he gave me an e-mail address (complaints@btireland.ie) I asked how I took it further since I had e-mailed BT already and had not obtained a response, he gave me the number of Comreg. :rolleyes:

damien

Danny Mclaughlin is head of BT Ireland and NI. Emer Kennedy is the head of the consumer division.

The email system for the revamped BT is Firstname.Lastname@bt.com unless someone else in BT has the same name as you, then they add a number. e.g. firstname.2.lastname@bt.com

Danny McLaughlin is the only Danny McLaughlin in BT.
There appears to be more than one Emer Kennedy in BT.

Urban Weigl

I've never had any problems getting through to BT Ireland, though several times I had to hold for extended periods, so I just used the callback service (which worked great for me).

dahamsta

Thanks Damien.

Urban, looking at my Blueface callsheet I see one particular call to BT that lasted exactly 53 minutes. I've tried their callback system several (>=3) times, it's never called me back.

Of course I believe you, but it wouldn't be the first time one person has had exemplary service from BT, and ten people haven't.

adam

parsi

The callback has always worked for me as well. It made sweet all difference to the problems though - they still had to be dealt with via email to Kennedy and yer man Billwhatshisname...

dahamsta

That's what I had to do, and I got a response from the Head of Consumer Blah - a different one to the last time I had to do this, and apparently there's been at least one in between - about 10 minutes later. They looked into it, and promised a fix, although I won't actually believe that until I see it. Luckily I told them the last time that if they took money out of my account again without my permission I'd sue them, so they don't have my bank or card details. Of course, with this shower, this still leaves the risk of a debt collection agency and/or a blackmark on your credit record.

A fat lot of good that co-operation campaign did when the new CEO joined. And I was lambasted at the time for saying it was bullsh*t...

adam

Solair

I moved with an eircom line and to be fair to them the service was excellent.

I rang them and they disconnected the line there and then, barring all out going and incomming calls. Still a dial tone, but all you could dial was eircom customer care or 999 / 112.

The apartment I was moving into had a line with a "soft dial tone" i.e. it was disconnected, but still live and with a path back to the exchange. Activating that took all of about 3 mins.

It's no wonder there's such inertia in the market place here for voice calls when the likes of BT Ireland is providing such horrendously poor service.

Eircom may be pricy, may hold up broadband roll outs and may be playing being incumband for all its worth, but when it comes to customer service I'm afaid they're light years ahead.

No one other than BT can be blaimed for the ridiculous queuing times, the customer care people who can't do anything and the endless billing errors.

ComReg needs to start playing a role in monitoring these kinds of standards. Its very damaging to the image of the alternative operators if they can't get the basics of customer care right.

dahamsta

I paid line rental to Eircom in my last place, and they were also very efficient with me. You should be able to cancel a service at any time, but cancelling a line is absolutely critical because it could lead to massive bills if the next tenant is a scutbucket. Unfortunately I seem to remember the cancellation with UTV being not so straightforward, but their support had sunk to record lows by then.

The boss I've been talking to in BT has been very efficient, and followed up yesterday - Saturday - with an assurance that charges incurred after the day I moved out have been cancelled, and a final invoice is on the way. However as I've said before, situations like this simply shouldn't occur. I wouldn't mind, but they have one of the best products on the market technically.

I hold no hope for BT. I didn't believe the assurances of the head honcho the last time, and this is the final nail in the coffin for me. I'll never, ever buy a consumer-level BT product again, and I'll go out of my way to warn people to stay away from them. I'll keep the -sucks site for my collection though, just in case.

adam

Tom Dunne

I'm actually on the verge of going back to Eircom.

I am since last October trying to get a bill out of BT. In their latest bout of incompetence, they sent me a bill for last August/September, which of course I paid back then. This is despite numerous promises from them that they would get it sorted. Complaints@btireland.ie don't seem to be listening, since they ignored my last two (very polite) e-mails.

They are telling me I owe €150, but they can't tell me what it is for.

Krusty_Clown

Actually, I'm looking for their customer care and billing number.. I can't dial their 1904 number from my company's switch. Anyone have an alternative number for consumer customer care and billing?

I have the usual over-charging complaints - my 6th incorrect bill in a row. If this was bowling, I'm headed for a perfect score.

dub45

And dont forget the deposit farce:eek:

mayhem#

PM sent...

E.

dahamsta

dub45 wrote:

And dont forget the deposit farce:eek:

They gave me my money back bang on time, but I made sure they knew that if they didn't, I'd sue them in Small Claims the very next day. Of course they need to protect themselves from messers, but as ever with BTI the implementation was positively juvenile.

dub45

dahamsta wrote:

They gave me my money back bang on time, but I made sure they knew that if they didn't, I'd sue them in Small Claims the very next day. Of course they need to protect themselves from messers, but as ever with BTI the implementation was positively juvenile.

But that is what baffles me:eek: How can any major company or in fact anyone in business introduce a deposit scheme without a proper system in place for issuing receipts, accounting for the money and returning the money at the due time. Even the worst used car salesman would not try that on.

shinzon

he gave me the number of Comreg.

now that astonishes me, so to take if further then complaints you gotta ring comreg, beggars belief


Shin

thebman

shinzon wrote:

now that astonishes me, so to take if further then complaints you gotta ring comreg, beggars belief


Shin

Got the same thing contacting Perlico support. Guy said he couldn't do anything and that we should contact comreg.

pleba

i'm having awful problems with BT as well.

I won't go into the details of the problem as it woul take forever to write down but suffice to say they are 100% in the wrong.

Comreg have contacted them on my behalf, I've sent emails to complaints and customer care, phoned 1904 on numerous occasions and even went as far as sending a letter to Danny McLaughlin. despite all of this I have not been contacted once by anyone from their company.

I've never experienced such awful customer service.
Can anyone suggest any other form of communication? Direct e-mail addresses for Danny McLauginn and Emer Kennedy maybe? I've tried the former but surprise surprise no response. For a communications company they sure don't communicate well at all!

If Comreg don't have any powers to deal with them on this matter then there is no hope it seems.

Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks

dub45

pleba wrote:

i'm having awful problems with BT as well.

.............................

Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks

As you dont say what your problem is related to it is hard to offer suggestions however depending on whats involved how about the Small Claims Court? Joe Duffy show? Director of Consumer Affairs? Actually calling in to their HQ and refusing to leave until the problem is solved - if it is related to a direct debit you could call ipso - contact details at www.ipso.ie

Solair

I think BT might get a shock if they realise their residential customers actually exist. A large group of complainants sitting in their reception would certainly have that impact.

Benedict XVI

dahamsta wrote:

Sorry for the OT post, can anyone give me a direct email address or phone number for someone high up in BT? I've been trying to cancel a telephone line in an apartment I no longer occupy - luckily no-one else has moved in yet, since they could be happily making international calls and surfing kiddy pr0n on my account - since the 16th of last month, and I just can't get in touch with them. They ignore their ticketing system and email, and calls to their telephone numbers are queued to eternity. I'm thinking of resurrecting btirelandsucks.com, because the suggestion that their customer support has improved is absolute garbage.

(Pardon the rant.)

adam

I have been trying for a month to get the Cessation of Line Service Request form sent to me to cancel my line.
Each time I talked to a customer service person they said they would send it out, it never arrived.
Eventually one of them said it was on line, and so it is at http://eshots.btireland.ie/forms/

Overall I found BT to be very good but trying to get that letter sent out to me was real hassle.

losetheforce

Hi folks, Well I've done it, I've given up on BT after 5 months of trying to get an overcharge re-credited. I've logged complaints with ComReg, continually called "Customer Care", sent emails, now I just give up, I'm switching back to eircom!

Interesting things I've noticed on my odyssey are:

1 Wait times are much shorter when you get put through to the Derry call centre, but they don't seem to have the Q-buster facility there.

2 Calling the "Customer Care" 1904 number at approx 7pm (the time allot of people get home from work) is very dicey, you get the pleasure of 30 minutes on hold only to be hung-up on promptly at 7:30pm after being told the "Customer Care" centre is closed.

3 The only ways to lodge an official complaint are over the phone and by registered post. I tried it over the phone but it wasn't possible to get through so I was left with no choice but to send them a registered letter. Madness, considering BT are a high tech company...

4 ComReg have limited powers to deal with broadband complaints, and as my complaint related to an overcharge for broadband services, BT simply ignored my COMReg complaint along with the 10 emails and 100 calls I made to them and ComReg did nothing about it.

5 ComReg don't ring customers to update them or keep them in the loop.

6 BT never ever ever ever contact Customers, EXCEPT for their Credit Control department in the UK, who actually seem quite competent and able.

7 The only option left is to cancel your Direct Debit and wait until you've gotten back whatever it is you've been overcharged by and then switch, back to eircom preferably as UTV are almost as bad as BT and I've heard perlico aren't much better...


sayonara BT!!!

jwt

Didn't BT get a new head of customer services recently and was fixing all this type of stuff?

Does BT (UK) know how bad their Irish operations are, do they even care?

As for Comreg, the complaint procedure was designed by ex civil servants to minimise work, responsibility and accountability while technically complying with their legal obligations.

It's actually a master stroke of ingenuity if looked at from their point of view. (not the consumers POV)

yankinlk

hate to dig up an old thread, but no point in starting a new one. Its now 15 months since i originally signed up with bt and I have canceled them 3 months ago. Not because their service was bad - just the usual over charging fiasco that they always promise to clear up NEXT month. Well after 6 months it was getting more and more difficult to take the spiraling bill - so i gave up and switched to imagine.

Of course bt is still billing me - no surprise there. I have contacted comreg and no help - tbh i would love to get this monkey finally off my back. I want to pay them - but only what i owe them. AM i the last of the billing problem customers? Has everyone else got their issues resolved long ago?

Solair

take them to small claims court ...

kerash

yankinlk wrote: »

hate to dig up an old thread, but no point in starting a new one. Its now 15 months since i originally signed up with bt and I have canceled them 3 months ago. Not because their service was bad - just the usual over charging fiasco that they always promise to clear up NEXT month. Well after 6 months it was getting more and more difficult to take the spiraling bill - so i gave up and switched to imagine.

Of course bt is still billing me - no surprise there. I have contacted comreg and no help - tbh i would love to get this monkey finally off my back. I want to pay them - but only what i owe them. AM i the last of the billing problem customers? Has everyone else got their issues resolved long ago?

You are not the last, I quit BT 3 months ago after a year of overcharging, every bill i ever received during my time with them was overcharged, i also complained to comreg, which only resulted in someone from bt actually calling me, after long hours on hold, e-mailing ect. Every month i was told about the "credit" i would receive on my next bill, which either never came or was less that promised.

In the end i had a bill which was for over €500 I refused to pay until they cleared the overcharging and explained the reason for overcharging. The bill was magically reduced to €369, with a confusing and incorrect explaination of where they got the credit from, then i swiched back to eircom.

Couple of months later I received a bill for €189, I refuse to pay. Complaints officer rings me and tells me my bill has been credited and leave a balance of €150. I explain i will not pay, as BT would not resolve my issues for the last year. Credit control now want €189 to date.

I am awaiting a call from customer care, as i refuse to pay any more money to a company, which as far as i can see, only want to rip their customers off.