Nellys Mums Phone

[enaid]

Can someone check this letter for me when they get a mo please, any suggestions or corrections gratefully received enaid x


Dear BT,

On a visit to my parents this morning, I was met by my very distraught mother.
Although the BT phone bill is in my fathers name she is the one who pays it and she was very shocked and upset to read it was for £255.
I have been frequently asked to help them with their mail etc as the are now in their 80's and some of the mail they get they can not understand.
My mother had tried to phone BT using the number quoted, she failed at the third number to press for options and this made her even more distressed.
I then phoned and went through all the rigmarole we have come to expect before we get near to solving our problems.
When I got through to the right dept, I was told "Well the good news is, it is a mistake".
So right it was a mistake £178 for rental of equipment had been added to the bill. It was dealt with by that amount being knocked off the total and me being told that a new bill would be sent out for £77, a figure more in the liking to my parents quartely bill.
While I hold my hands up and have no doubt that mistakes happen, I find this totally unacceptable in being told your billing dept will be made aware of their error. On thinking this over afterwards my parents could well have easily had this paid by DD as per your letter that came with the bill.
Not only would they have proberbly never noticed this problem in that case, I find your £4.50 per quarter for having a paper bill sent, an insult.
Also having read the bill, you are charging them rental for equipment ie a phone as old as the hills that has proberbly been paid for 3 zillion times over.
I will purchase them a new phone and you can arrange to collect your equipment by prior appointment.

Yours
for enaids mum and dad

[Amy]

Re: enaids mums bt bill

As discussed Enaid, I will not be in the least bit offended if you don't like it, want to change it or choose not to use it all.

Here it is:

This morning (date) I visited with my parents. My Mother was extremely upset to have received their quarterly BT telephone bill in the post that morning in the amount of £255. Their usual quarterly telephone bill is in the region of £70-£80.

I am sure you can appreciate just how upsetting it is for an elderly couple to receive a telephone bill for such a huge sum of money way above that that they were expecting.

My Mother had tried to telephone BT to find out why the bill was so large using the number on the reverse of her bill. However, she is 80 years old and failed to negotiate the confusing myriad of pressing various numbers, various amounts of times in order to reach the the correct department. She simply hung up. Her inability to speak to a representative about her telephone bill left her even more distressed.

I telephoned BT on behalf of my Mother and I was able to reach a customer services representative. After explaining the problem of the unusually high telephone bill I was informed very simply "Well, the good news is, it is a mistake.” It would appear that £178 had been mistakenly added to their bill for rental of equipment. I was informed that the £178 would be removed, leaving them with a new telephone bill of £77 which would be sent out to my parents in due course.

While this outcome resulted in very relieved parents and I fully appreciate that mistakes are just that, mistakes; I feel that merely being informed that your billing department will be made aware of the error very casual and thoughtless not to mention uncaring verging on callous.

I find BTs entire attitude in the treatment of the elderly very worrying if our experience is anything to go by. For example, my parents do not wish to pay via direct debit they instead elect to receive a paper bill as they believe this allows them to retain control of their finances yet they are penalised £4.50 per quarter for the privilege of this. I realise that the £4.50 charge is not exclusive to the bills of elderly people but I feel it a failing of BT with specific regard to their elderly customers not to be given a discount or even better full remission from these fees.

My parents are also still paying rental for equipment that is so old and outdated that I am surprised they can actually lift it to make a telephone call. It surely must have been paid for many times over by now and I would be grateful if you would let me know how I may return it to you.

Accordingly, in light of the points I have raised above I would be grateful to receive your comments and also hope that you will be able to go some way toward reassuring me that you are willing and able to listen to your customers particularly your elderly customers because as I have pointed out, at present your system falls far short of being conducive to allowing the elderly to resolve these issues without the intervention of a younger person.

[enaid]

Re: Nellys Mums Phone

My mum has had a letter of apology from BT, I havent read it yet, will do tomorrow and let you know what it says.

[Amethyst]

Re: Nellys Mums Phone

Ace

[TANZARELLI]

Re: Nellys Mums Phone

Nice one. I tend to quote them from their own website back to them in regards to customer service to prove a point. Tey seem to have resolved this for your mom though so well done.

Tanz

[enaid]

Re: Nellys Mums Phone

Well the letter my mum got was just saying they knew about the error and she would get a new bill. She got a new bill and paid it straight away.
My letter was purely about the £4.50 charge and all the different ways I could get out of not paying it.
So I sent a copy of my original letter, their reply and a note attached asking them to please read the letter again and reply to the complaint as a whole.
Also as the letter came from the broadband dept I added a PS that my mum and dad don't have broadband, they don't even know what it is.
Letter being posted on OH's way out tonight lol.

[argentarius]

Re: Nellys Mums Phone

Well, I did say that it wasn't obvious what you were asking for.

Neither enaid's or amy's letters actually say "I won't pay the £4.50 in future". They both just say it's "an insult" or "an excessive penalty". IMHO neither of those points warrant an answer - it's a legal charge that they are entitled to levy.