I have, in the past with my husband and 'the business' been with BT since 1973. They have been very good as far as I am concerned with straightforward telephone services.
But recently I have become unhappy with my Broadband speed after originally going from the standard package years ago, through to Affinity fibre, then to Superfast Fibre 1 Unlimited. I have been checking my speed a lot recently after my other PC / iPad issues, with it seeming to slow down, and I came out two weeks ago with a download speed, with the BT test, of 35.4 Mb/s.
When I was offered on my log in page a chance to upgrade to Superfast Fibre Plus with an "up to" 79 MB/s speed I, like the naive person I am at times on these IT things, thought that will do me.
Two weeks ago I upgraded online and within 24 hours I was informed it was all set up. Then last Monday I checked my speed; still 35.4 Mb/s.
I then went into "bring the supplier to book mode", and complained. Eventually getting through to a person who could help me, the line was checked at their end, with her stating there was a fault in the line / green box "in the street". Within two hours BT / Openreach contacted me to make an appointment to come and check my lines INSIDE MY HOME; I went along with it!
Tuesday finds an engineer inside my home checking my line and stating "everything is fine, you cannot expect higher speeds on your line ; in fact you have not been upgraded to the new package" !!!!!!
The engineer got an ear bashing from me about what 'centre' had told me, and what the hell was any check on my internal wiring to do with a fault "in the street?!!"
After controlling my emotions, the following morning I eventually got through to a few BT 'agents' who gave me different stories of what was happening, with one cutting me off. I checked my speed again and it had gone DOWN to 32.7 Mb/s!!!! I was actually told that I was "lucky" to get over 25 Mb/s on my line (I am within 3/4 mile from their main town exchange)!! They also kept on repeating the "added benefits" of my new BB package. I made it clear they mattered not, it was the principle of being sold something as a key feature of the package, taking my money, and not being able to deliver anything like the speed being advertised.
After this I then 'blew' and made contact with the account closure department and ripped them apart stating very clearly that "I have been conned by false advertising and seeking financial gain by that practice". You are advertising speeds for the Superfast Fibre Plus that cannot be attained even by half (Some of the BT staff, and Openreach engineer, eventually, when pushed, even admitted to that fact and could understand my point of view). The agent for the account closure department was good, and she started a process to resolve all issues as much as possible. After another 40 minutes on the phone they agreed to a credit for all the inconvenience and a failure to meet my expectations. "Please could I stay with BT?" I said I will see, but I at least would degrade to my previous Broadband package. I left it with them.
That afternoon I checked my speed again and it had, at last gone UP to 37.9 MB/s the best I have ever seen. I rang BT back up and told them I will keep to the new package on the understanding that the higher speed will be maintained, with them highlighting the new package will guarantee a £20 refund for every day the speed stays below 25 Mb/s (!!!!!)
Anyway, today a £30 credit has been applied to my account, but it has not stopped me from reporting BT to Ofcom about alleged "False Advertising to gain commercial advantage and financial reward". As I told many of the BT staff, in retailing if we tried to sell a product that we knew could not meet the specifications advertised and the requirements of the customer, with additional payment being taken, then we risked prosecution. This should apply to BT and all these telecommunication companies that promise the consumer the Earth when knowingly not being able to provide that level of service!
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Topic: BT Broadband Fight (Read 7114 times)