From this weeks Basingstoke Gazette.
A BEREAVED daughter has suffered months of problems with BT after her
phone line was mistakenly cut off instead of her dead mother’s.
Sue Wilson, from Fairthorne Rise, Old Basing, wrote to the telecoms giant
asking for the telephone number of her mother – who lived in Farnborough –
to be disconnected, a year after she died in 2008.
But BT mistakenly disconnected Mrs Wilson’s own landline instead, in August
last year – and that was only the start of the problems.
The 61-year-old spent hours on the phone to BT over the following months
trying to sort out the error, wasting money on her mobile.
Her phone was reconnected, but after receiving no calls, she and her husband
Brian realised they had been given a new telephone number.
She said: “We didn’t want a new number – we wanted our old one, which we
have had for 41 years.”
And after complaining and having her old number restored, she was charged an
£11 reconnection fee for the privilege.
The grandmother-of-five added: “I had given up the will to live after this.
I feel they should be accountable. I sent them two letters asking them to
get rid of the £11 on the account.”
Mrs Wilson refused to pay the costs, and explained why in the letter.
But BT then barred any outgoing calls and she also found she had lost her
broadband connection. She said: “I do Internet banking and keep in touch
with the family by email. We had to call up to get that all sorted.”
Mrs Wilson spoke to BT and they removed the outstanding amount from her
account and said she would be reconnected in 24 hours.
But the customer service adviser then told her another £11 would come up on
her next bill for a reconnection charge and she would need to call up for
that to be removed.
It was at this point that Mrs Wilson called The Gazette.
A spokesman for BT apologised for the situation and said it would be
resolved.
He later provided a statement saying: “We have been in contact with Sue to
apologise directly for the problems that have been encountered and distress
caused on this account. We have cleared the charge for the incorrect
reconnection fee. Also, as a goodwill gesture we have credited six months’
line rental on the account.”
Mrs Wilson said: “It’s a great pity that it needed us to contact The Gazette
for BT to do anything about it. But we are glad it’s all sorted out now.”