This is an original blog entry I wrote in June. I have been meaning for some time to act on that which is reported below but the pain BT has caused me at the most difficult time in my life has kept me from taking the action that needs to be put in place.
As well as costing me a large sum of money this company has brought great pain and emotional stress to my well being.
Something has to be done. This company can not be allowed to get away with things.
I am seeking advice.
I am considering the following action:
Sending a copy of this account to every member of the BT Board.
Sending a copy to the consumer affairs editor of every national newspaper, television and radio station asking them to name and shame the BT employees whose names appear below.
What do you think ?
THANK YOU for taking time to
read this diary entry. It is
a long entry today. I would be so
pleased if you would take a moment to read all I have to say and to help me
expose certain failing elements in one of our country's largest companies.
If I were to ask you which is the British company you have
dealt with in the past twelve months that gave you the worst customer service
experience I wonder who you would name. I wonder if it may perhaps be BT -
British Telecom.
On the Trust Pilot review website there are 2,822 reviews
posted for BT. 89.4% give the company the very lowest possible grading with more
giving it two or three stars which still place it within the unacceptable level.
Let's pick another name we all know well and see how it
compares with BT. How about McDonald's ?
There
you go - an average of 5.6.
I scrolled though pages of BT reviews on Trust Pilot and
could not find a single person who had given BT anything but the very lowest
score.
Allow me to take a moment of your time and share some review
with you. I have been fair and objective in my selection, these are the most
recently posted reviews.
Do they match your experience of the company ?
I am going to share my experience with you in a moment but
before I do that let us take a look at the people behind this failing and
shameful company.
Meet Gavin Patterson, Chief Executive Officer of BT. It
is reported he earns 5.3 million pounds a year, could be true or possibly an
exaggeration. If it is true not a bad salary for being a failure. If it is an
exaggeration how much would pay to a man who has 89.4% bad reviews for the
company he runs ?
And this on the right is Libby Barr, BT's director in charge
of customer services. Of all the directors
on the register at Company House she
must be by far the most under-employed. Customer and service are not two words
that trip easily off the corporate tongue of BT.
Her is Libby Barr again, this time receiving This Is Money's
wooden spoon award for the company offering the worst customer service.
Apparently BT is the regular winner of this award.
You
would think, would you not, that any company winning this award just once would
get its act together and change things but not BT. I wonder if it takes pride in
its failure. Certainly Gavin Patterson does not look too distressed about
heading the country's worst customer service performing company. But hey
if you were paid 5.3 million pounds a year would you care ?
Libby Barr may not be smiling but do you think behind that face there is a
person who cares about the customers she is supposed to champion ?
In awarding BT the wooden spoon yet again This is Money said:
......what stood out this year was that, as well as poor everyday service, vast
numbers of complaints could be traced back to the firm's Openreach arm that's
responsible for sending engineers to fix faults with phone lines..........
Did you know
that BT has a dedicated department within Gavin Patterson's office to deal with
complaints that are sent to him personally ? I wonder how many other
company chief executives have to have a team of managers paid to fend off
complaints and protect their boss from the realities of life.
Here is my case
against BT, failing directors Gavin Patterson and Libby Barr are fully
aware of the case, at least they should be unless they have chosen to forget all
about it. It would be a safe bet they have but it would be an even safer bet I
will be reminding them very loudly until they start doing their jobs properly.
Look out Gavin Patterson and look out Libby Barr, your day of reckoning is
coming.
A year ago I was
having building work undertaken at my home. The incoming BT telephone and
broadband line entered the property in a position where a new door needed to be
located.
I asked BT to send an engineer to move the junction box. Initially I was
told by a call centre operative this could not be done as the junction box was
not faulty. An engineer could only call if the box was faulty. Being
unable to make the BT call centre employee comprehend and use common sense I
hung up the phone.
Calling again I did speak to a BT employee with more than a single brain cell
who was able to comprehend the situation and arrangements were made for an
engineer to visit. The length of time before a visit could be made was
unacceptable. BT agree this was unacceptable and offered a small financial
gesture by way of an apology. This has never been paid. The charge to be
applied by BT for the engineer to undertake the work was £120. The
original request for the box to be moved was filed with BT on 7th September
2016.
Ahead of the engineer's visit I received an e-mail and a text message from BT
reminding me of the visit and warning that if I was not at home I could be
charged for a missed appointment. Presumably £120. A time slot of 8am to
12noon was arranged.
I was told the engineer would contact me ahead of the visit. This did not
happen. Not hearing from the engineer I called BT and was put through to
one of its call centres half way up a mountain in the Himalayas. That call
centre operative confirmed the details and said the engineer would be there as
planned.
8am came and went - no engineer. 9am came and went - no engineer. 10am
came and went - no engineer. 11am came and went - no engineer. 12 noon came and
went - no engineer.
Eventually the engineer arrived at 4.10pm !
When the engineer FINALLY
arrived he was highly distressed and agitated. He said he had been trying
to call me to explain the delay. It transpired he
had been unable
to speak to me as BT had given him the WRONG TELEPHONE NUMBER.
Hey Libby Barr I bet you are proud of that within the catalogue of your customer
service operation !
BT had the correct number,
it is my phone service provider for goodness sake !
BT had the correct number -
OF COURSE IT DID, it is my phone service provider for goodness sake ! WAKE
UP LIBBY BARR ! BT had used the correct number to send me the text
message, the number was confirmed when I called BT in India. There can be
absolutely no excuse for BT giving the engineer the wrong number.
THAT IS INCOMPETENCE ON THE
HIGHEST LEVEL. If a phone service provider can not give its engineer a correct
phone number then who can ?
This engineer was employed
by an independent company contracted by BT, M J Quinn, but finally arrived in a
BT and Openreach van. Part of the engineer's distress, he explained, was the
fact that BT ALWAYS tried to blame the engineer if something went wrong and
never, ever accepted corporate failure. Libby Barr is that correct ?
The
engineer looked at the box which now stood in a hole in the wall where the
door needed to be fitted by the builder. The box and wires were protected
by plastic tubing the builder had fitted. The engineer said he was not
qualified to do this work. Why had BT sent out an unqualified engineer ?
BT knew EXACTLY what had to be done.
The
engineer tried to call his manager who he said would be able to come out and
effect the move. Unfortunately, he could not contact his manager. Perhaps
he had the wrong number or perhaps the manager had left for the day. Is it
acceptable for an engineer to be sent out to do a job without the security of
back up and support if such were needed ? The engineer took several
photographs of the junction box now sitting on top of the plastic sleeving the
builder had used to protect the wires. HE DID NOT PHYSICALLY TOUCH THE BOX.
Surely that would have been the most basic thing to have done.
Complaining to BT that I had a wasted day, building work had been delayed and
expressing my frustration at having had to be home from 8am to 4.10pm waiting on
a fools errand I was grossly insulted by BT employee Ross Valentine who offered
me £10 compensation. Do the maths - this person valued my time at £1.20
per hour. I can not stress too strongly how deeply offensive I found this to be.
Ross Valentine is part of BT's executive complaints team, those surrounding CEO
Gavin Patterson and protecting his 5.3 million pound salary from customer anger.
Ross Valentine thought I was worth just £1.20 an hour, may I suggest that £1.20
an hour would be an over payment for both himself and Gavin Patterson !
The next
day another engineer was sent by BT to "finish" the work
from the previous day. He arrived without BT advising he was coming and
without an appointment. PERHAPS BT HAD GIVEN ITSELF THE WRONG PHONE NUMBER
! This engineer had no knowledge of the circumstances of the previous
engineer's visit. He simply looked at the situation and said I AM NOT QUALIFIED
TO MOVE IT. A second UNQUALIFIED engineer sent out by BT. I wonder, does
BT employ any qualified engineers ? Again it is IMPORTANT to note the engineer
did not touch the junction box, he only looked at it.
Now here
is something so funny it is ridiculous but demonstrates clearly the defective
mindset of BT and shows the lack of loyalty its filed engineers have towards its
management systems. This engineer laughed and joked as he told myself and
my builder how his previous job before attending my home was to move a telephone
line at a local cement depot. That telephone line crossed a railway track.
One engineer, one BT van, a phone line and a railway track where high-speed
trains are racing up and down ever few seconds ! It make you wonder, does
it not, what calibre of administration BT operates which would send one man to
move a telephone line running overhead of a train line !
Speaking
with this engineer he said that the problem with BT's management is nobody wants
to take ownership of a problem and see it properly through to a resolution. How
right he has shown to be. TWO BT engineers who spoke ill of the company's
ability to look after customers. Not a lot of loyalty within BT ! Gavin
Patterson, Libby Barr, WAKE UP and look about the failing customer service
system you operate !
The next
contact from BT was a telephone call saying arrangements needed to be a call, BT
had the correct phone number on this occasion, saying arrangements needed to be
made for a surveyor to call. I was very angry and frustrated, as I am sure
you will comprehend, with BT so explained I was not prepared to accept any
further delay and insisted a surveyor visit that day or at the latest the
following day. I was told this was impossible, that's a word high up in
BT's customer service vocabulary and its first line of defence when a customer
complains or when a problem arises.
About one
hour later a third BT engineer arrived. No appointment had been made, no
telephone call to say he was coming - BT probably gave him the wrong number ! I
asked this man if he was a surveyor. he said he was not but had been sent
to look at the situation. he did not, as neither of the two previous engineers
did, actually touch the junction box. Indeed he did not even get close to
it but stood away from it as he spoke. In front of witnesses, my builders
working on the property, he spoke the most ridiculous nonsense imaginable.
he talked about digging up the driveway and putting in a brand new phone line.
The man did not have the first idea what he was talking about, he would have
been better employed as a clown in a circus. He obviously relayed this
back to BT where failing executive complaints team member Ross valentine failed
to undertake the most basic and proper checks which would have revealed the
gibberish this engineer had been speaking.
Without
properly checking the situation Ross Valentine then told me that I had to
contact Openreach myself to have a survey undertaken. let me repeat this,
I know it is ridiculous so perhaps I need to make sure my readers understand -
Ross Valentine then told me that I had to contact Openreach myself to have a
survey undertaken. Is not Openreach part of BT ? Did not all three failed
engineers attend in a van clearly marked BT and Openreach ? is not Gavin
Patterson the failed CEO of both BT and Openreach ? Does not Libby Barr
ensure the poorest customer service levels within both BT and Openreach ?
Ross
Valentine had difficulty with common sense, I do not. I refused to contact
Openreach, that was Ross Valentine's responsibility and not mine. I made my
original request to BT on 7th September 2016. the situation explained by myself
at that time was perfectly clear and not open to misinterpretation.
I do not see how it could possibly be my responsibility to have contacted
Openreach after BT had failed on three separate occasions. Contacting
Openreach was the responsibility of those managing my request, those who had
sent out THREE failed Openreach engineers, the same incompetent people who had
sent a single engineer to move a telephone line across an active train track !
Why the sudden abdication of responsibility ? Why change position and say
it was my responsibility ? True I probably had more common sense and
knowledge of how phone lines work than the average BT employ but it was not my
responsibility. I am the customer and BT the service provider. Oh I
forgot, Libby Barr does not understand what a customer is !
For me to
have contacted Openreach after the extended saga of BT's failures would have
been like an airline pilot entering the passenger cabin and asking for someone
to contact air traffic control and obtain clearance for him to land the plane.
RIDICULOUS
!
Ross
Valentine was not able to comprehend the situation. Not only this but it
became clear he lacked even the most basic ability to offer even the minimum
levels of customer service. But is this not standard within BT ? This is
the person who insulted me by valuing my time at £1.20 an hour. Shows the
calibre of BT's executive complaints team doe it not ? Or am I being
unfair ? What do you think ?
Failing in
his abilities to offer even the most basic customer service, to apply common
sense and do anything outside insulting me Ross Valentine said we had reached
deadlock and I would need to take my case to the ombudsman. What a cop out
and complete abdication of responsibility ! Next time Libby Barr receives
the wooden spoon for customer service she may like to take Ross Valentine with
her to the presentation ceremony.
While I
was waiting for the ombudsman to review my case, that is another story in
itself, I took a close look at the junction box myself, something NOT ONE of
BT's failed engineers had done. I found there was more than enough slack wire to
move the box to the position it needed to be. I discussed this with my
builder who very easily moved the box. FIFTY-FOUR days after my original request
to BT. FIFTY-FOUR days during which BT failed to send competent engineers to
look at the requirements for the box to be moved. FIFTY-FOUR days during
which I suffered the most appalling levels of customer service from BT. No, that
needs to be put another way - FIFTY-FOUR days during which I endured BT's
standard level of customer service. Libby Barr you must be proud.
Are you looking forward to another wooden spoon for operating the worst customer
service of any company in the country ? Do you have a trophy cabinet in your
office to hold all your awards for being a failure ? I guess it must be a
BIG cabinet.
BT thinks it is
going to get away with applying its usual poor levels of customer service to my
case but I would assure Gavin Patterson and Libby Bar they are not ! It is not
just that BT offered the most appalling levels of customer service but
what angers me so deeply is the thoroughly dishonourable way the company has
behaved. I strongly suspect that BT's executive complaint team is closing
ranks around Ross Valentine and preventing his failings being known.
I took legal
advice which said if I issued a writ against BT in the county court I would be
certain to win, it would then be up to the judge to decide the level of
compensation I was to be awarded. Winning my case would be a formality but BT
would use every trick it could to suggest I would not win. The delays I
experiences in having the building work completed at my property cost me money
and caused me considerable distress. I suggested a figure to BT for
compensation but would have been prepared to negotiate to £1,000. BT
continued to conduct itself in a thoroughly dishonourable way and refused to
respect myself as a customer and apologise for its abysmal failings.
While I was
dealing with the matter my daughter was taken ill with real failure. The
transplanted kidney she had received as a child was failing and she would face a
life on dialysis. Every day for four weeks in had either to visit my daughter in
hospital or take her to a clinic appointment. The demand on my time and the
stress of having to look after her did not need me to be concerned with BT and
its failing levels of customer service. I advised BT that the problem had
not gone away but I would make contact at a later stage to resolve the
complaint.
When I was
ready to pick up matters I wrote to Gavin Patterson. He did not even give
me the basic common courtesy of answering my letter. What kind of a man is
heading BT ? Or could it be that he was denied access to the letter ?
At that point I
decided to prepare a file to send to the consumer affairs editor of every
national newspaper, radio and television station in the country objectively
stating the facts and inviting them to name and shame those with BT who were
behind the failings in my specific case.
My daughter died
suddenly and unexpectedly on Friday 19th May 2017. BT's despicable conduct
hangs over me at a time when I am trying to come to terms with my loss. I can
not allow BT to get away with what it is trying to. I am publishing this
blog ahead of naming and shaming those involved in the media and asking the
media's help to take BT to court. Any compensation a court awards to me and any
fee a media company elects to pay to me for the story will not now go into my
pocket. My daughter's friends have set up a Just Giving website in her memory to
support Ronald McDonald House Charities:
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/OurRebekah I am sure I will have
no difficulty in getting consumer affairs editors to take up the case.
I wonder if BT
will ever become a company offering acceptable levels of customer service or if
Gavin Patterson, Libby Barr and its executive complaints team are happy to draw
their salaries as failures. I wonder if BT is big enough to apologise for its
failures, admit its dishonour and make a payment of £1,000 to that Just Giving
page ? I would even let the company have the concession of allowing the
payment to be made ex gratia.
I wonder what
the outcome will be but Gavin Patterson. Libby Barr and others you need to
understand I will do everything in my power to call them to account.
I WILL NOT STOP COMPLAINING UNTIL YOU DO THE RIGHT THING. I do not
remember the last time I lost an argument, it was not in this millennium !
