BT: Unbelievable.. (No, not a rant)

[BEANFro Elite]

This time last year, I wanted to get broadband, so I ordered a line with BT and then got Pipex 1Mb service.

Note, that I had done extensive research and I concluded that I should have no problems paying any bills as I was loaded and finacially sound.

So the days went by and I was surfing the net.

Fast-forward 3 months, and I was about to move house. So I warn BT prior to this and mention I'll be moving house on the 11th of July, gave them the new address (and I also gave them the new landline in case of any problems) I was moving to...at least I thought I did.

So I moved house and was waiting to get the final bill from BT. But nothing, so I assumed that they had taken the money from account as I had arranged with them beforehand.

Fast forward another five months and I discover to my horror that I do not have adequate enough a credit rating to get a phone on contract. "Odd" I thought, I'm up to date on all my payments, I haven't missed a single payment with Pipex or BT I thought.

So I immediately knew BT was who I owed money to.

So I phoned them up and asked them what was going on, they told me I had £7.21 outstanding to be paid, I asked them why I had not received a letter or a phone call to inform me of this and why wasn't payment taken from my account as was arranged.

They then told me my "address" and it was just wrong and that when I cancelled my account with them that all my bank details were erased, how nice of them to tell me.

This is where it gets messy, so they tell me my big bloated debt was given to a debt collecting agency and they also gave me the phone number for them.

So I phoned them but was told to get the account number from BT, so phone up BT again, they tell me they can't tell me the account number over the phone so they tell me they'll send it to me, I tell them my address again.

Fast-forward three days...receive the BT letter, phone the debt collectors again, they tell me thats not the account number as nothing comes up.

So I phone BT up again and ask them for the account / reference number for the debt collectors, they tell me that the debt collectors should have sent me a letter, so I remind them that BT presumably gave the debt collectors the wrong address as they took the wrong address earlier.

So I phoned the debt collectors AGAIN and they tell me I should get my old phone number I had when I was with BT and they can trace my account with them that way.

So on the phone to BT again, they give me my old number and I phone the debt collectors again and they tell me that my debt had been handed over back to BT in February this year much to my surprise.

So I phone BT again and tell them this new bit of news and they said thats not true and that another debt collector has it (the parent company of the previous debt collectors I mentioned).

So I phone the new debt collection agency, who after about 10 minutes of the "call center in India" guy finally understanding what I was saying, tells me that there was no record of any debt on their system in my name.

So guess what, yep back to BT again who say that they didn't have it and that the debt collector should have it, so they put me on hold while the senior credit guy phoned up the debt collector himself to see wat was happening.

After about five minutes he tells me theres been a big fat mix up and that he'll send me a payment slip which I can use to pay off my hugely embarrassing debt of £7.21, yes I'm so embarrassed, LOL

But my point is, I told BT my new telephone phone number (I'm not the account holder) prior to moving house and my mobile number so that should there be any problems they could phone me, so why is it that they didn't bother phoning me to ask why I hadn't paid them the money, and why didn't they tell me my debt had been handed over to a debt collecting agency and back. And isn't it a bit too much to get a debt collecting agency after me? LOL, Surely it cost BT a lot to do this, well more than £7.21 and to get somepne blacklisted for such a pathetic amount of money...

I have been unable to get a new phone on contract because of this but thats not even the point, as I'm now blacklisted because of this, how much longer am I going to be blacklisted for when I pay this debt off in a week or so and surely as none of it was my fault aren't I entitled to some sort of compensation?

I don't know, but I'll be in touch with BT and OFTEL if I'm still blacklisted...

I'd like to hear your views and / or any similar experiences with BT or whoever and what you did about it and what happened after...

[badass]

Heh. BT the last 4 major projects they all had about a years notice. Every single one has been messed up by BT.
I have to clear up said mess. I do so by phoning them. Constantly
They dont like me

[Stormsinger]

AFAIK, stuff like that can be lodged against you for years. I don't know if you can get BT to do anything about it, but for the most part, lots of companies use credit reference agencies, and sell them the information as well, its probably automated for updating purposes monthly/quarterly.

If they 'lost' your address it will cause all sorts of problems for this (and I know about lost information, I started college up in London the first year of poll tax, sent them all the information including the 'This person is a Student' official piece of paper and the notification that i was about to be living at the address, they lost the paper from the college saying I was a student, but managed to keep everything else to make sure they charged me the poll tax). If they don't have the correct address, they can't get in touch with you to work things out, and thus they probably rely on your credit rating being affected to force you to get into touch with them.

BT, like all big corporations, needs constant irritation before they manage to get anything done about what is, for them, a minor problem.

Hope you get it sorted

[chudley]

I believe you are blacklisted until you pay to be removed - a couple of hundred quid. Dont quote me on this though, but it is normally the address that is black listed and not the phone number. I know because I have moved into a new house that was blacklisted by previous occupants.

[Paranoid2000]

I believe you are blacklisted until you pay to be removed - a couple of hundred quid.

Credit agencies do not "blacklist" people, they maintain a list of what they believe to be accurate information about paid and outstanding debts and it is up to those who make enquiries to decide whether someone is creditworthy or not (see FSA.org: Is there a credit blacklist) - no payment is required to correct errors (though you need to pay £2 to see your credit file). There are a number of agencies that offer "credit repair" services that will try to charge you more, but these are virtually all scams and in many cases the methods they use could result in you committing fraud or deception - see Insolvency Helpline: Should I use a credit repair agency to fix my credit? and FSA.org: Should I use a 'credit repair' company.