Suzy, Drinker Of Coffee

Regular readers will be more than aware of the battle I've had with BT over the last few months, regarding my phone line etc. and more. When I'd "left it" last time, the billing had been halted to allow for the last little bits to be worked out - like changing some of my extras on the line, and more. Yet, for some reason, I recieved a call this afternoon from someone in India querying the account... you've probably read about this before, but it's cheaper for someone in India to call and nag you, than it is for BT to send you a paper reminder.


So, he calls up, obviously reading my name off a screen. Twice, I tell him who I am, and twice he ignores me. I then said I was the only one here, and offered him my internal Employee Indentification Number (EIN) - it's not strictly work related, but does usually stop anyone asking further questions as to my identity. Anyway, he ignored that totally, and carried on to query the "outstandig balance on the account". I wasn't quite going to do a Student Grant and say "Yah I'll say it's outstanding, I'll take it in fifties..", but you get the idea. I said to him "You are aware there is still a pending high level complaint on this account?"


He's either ignoring me, or there's no answer to that on his sheet! Poor guy, now I feel sorry for him. "You are aware the account is pending further action" he says. This is good - considering that 60% of the account was cleared with the "goodwill gesture" credit I gained... but he obviously isn't looking, or can't see it. I repeat myself, namedropping the name and division who was dealing with my complaint. That isn't on his script either, so twice I get warned about further action pending. He then asked if I would sign up for direct debit. I refused, saying "I'd not decided to keep my service or move it elsewhere. "


I then started to explain a bit more, so he gets the idea.... but as I start saying "Sorry...", half way through the word, HE SLAMS THE PHONE DOWN ON ME!



I was then somewhat hysterical... but I could see why a lot of people would find something like that upsetting. Spoke to my contact who is dealing with the issues, and a few clicks later and there was no follow-up - at least, not until everything else is sorted out. Now, that's what I call a response team...