Taking BT to Court

[andyb53]

I am considering taking BT to Court for breach of Contract Advice appreciated.
I took out Broadband contract with BT. It specifically stated that I would receive a GUARANTEED MINIMUM speed of 22Mbs This was in writing NOT an "up to" speed but GUARANTEED MINIMUM speed. . I discovered I was receiving between 9 & 19 Mbs max. I have asked BT 3 times to sort this and they have admitted 22 Mbs is unattainable . They are still advertising a typical speed of 36 Mbs. I have also since discob=ved that they INCREASED my monthly Direct Debit withouty notice or authority as they claim I was out of Contract (the one they are in breach of) and I was put on the standard rate without any nnotice. I am considering taking them to Court for breacj=h of the entire contract (over £1000) Do I have a case? any advice much appreciated

[GiganticK]

I'm no legal expert but am in the IT industry and work for an ISP. Usually if you are quoted a minimum guarantee speed there will always be something in the terms and conditions to explain how this is calculated. Usually the minimum guaranteed speed is not actually the absolute minimum guaranteed speed, despite it's name. This is because it's not really possible to guarantee a minimum speed to a consumer line infrastructure because there are simply too many variables at play, it's like a weather channel trying to guarantee it not raining, it's not really feasible to do. Normally an ISP would base the minimum guarantee by looking at your variables (e.g. distance from cabinet, connection type, area, load, your local network setup, etc) and comparing them with thousands of other customers who have similar variables and providing you with a guaranteed minimum speed estimate based on what they get.

So normally if you get a internet speed is lower than what the "guaranteed minimum" is, then usually the ISP is covered by this in their terms and conditions because they clarify it there. I guess if you get significantly lower speeds then you may be able to argue this.

I don't necessarily agree with them naming it "guaranteed minimum" as I can see how that would be misleading, but that is not my area of expertise.

[Amethyst]

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/d...peed-explained

just with above in mind