Should I pursue my complaint about BT via the ombudsman?

September 19, 2013 5:53 AM

Four years ago I set up what should have been a phone/broadband package with BT. I have contemporaneous notes of the phone conversation to do this. It has only recently come to light that BT actually set up two separate accounts. Because I opted for online billing, I only saw details of one account when I checked payments. I knew another payment was going out of my account, but I thought it was line rental. I know that I should have made absolutely sure exactly what all the payments were for, but the bills and the details on my bank statements do not make that easy and I had no reason whatsoever to suspect that all was not in order. I am certainly out of pocket, although it is difficult for me to work out by how much. I have followed BT's complaints procedure and have been offered £65 as a final offer. I don't think this is enough, but wonder whether I have a strong enough case to make taking the matter to the ombudsman worthwhile. I would really appreciate advice on this. Thank you.
posted by BobAndJoy to Law & Government (6 answers total)

How much have you been charged in total for the extra account?
posted by drunkonthemoon at 6:40 AM on September 19, 2013

Can't comment on the ombudsmen, but this is the sort of issue that the Guardian's consumer columns (Your Money and Consumer Champions) work on so it might be worth firing off an email to them.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:42 AM on September 19, 2013

Did you write a letter to their complaints department in Durham? I fought them a few years ago over a similar cock up their end. I "won" in the end after sending two registered mail letters to the complaints dept, including printouts of all online communication, a breakdown of the charges they owed me etc. The online complaints procedure was utterly useless.
posted by ClarissaWAM at 7:00 AM on September 19, 2013

How much is your time worth to you? I can't see any reason not to do this nor why you can't insist they give you a breakdown of the overcharges. In any case, I don't understand the difficulty with just checking your bank statements to get your own figure.
posted by turkeyphant at 7:26 AM on September 19, 2013

Best answer: Trying to resolve a consumer complaint with BT is like climbing Everest. Many succeed, but they have to walk past the frozen corpses of the many who failed. There's no shame in deciding it's not worth it and giving up. Try Consumer Champions, and also maybe the BBC's You and Yours. However, you may notice that BT are frequently the subject of articles on both. Their effective monopoly on physical landline provision, plus the labyrinthine nature of the organisation, can make it very difficult to pin them down. I have edited out the swear words I wanted to put into this comment, but I will tell you that earlier today my flatmate told me he had been fantasising about having a nicely-bound copy of Kafka's complete works sent to all the departments we have spoken to so far between us.
"Oh, someone already did that," I said. "It got shelved with all the other training manuals."
Try to get them, but don't try too hard. I wish I could take this advice on board myself.
posted by Acheman at 7:53 AM on September 19, 2013

Response by poster: Many thanks for all answers. I have decided to accept the £65. I feel like a bit of a 'quitter', but think it could be an uphill struggle in light of your comments and very difficult to establish exactly how much I have overpaid - especially as BT are unlikely to be falling over themselves to be helpful with figures!
posted by BobAndJoy at 2:08 AM on September 23, 2013