BROKEN Telecoms: BT’s a phone firm that can’t seem to answer the phone
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BT customers who call the helpline are routinely forced to be put on hold for 45 minutes or more.
Dozens of people have taken to social media to express their frustration and readers have reached out to Money Mail to file a complaint.
When we tried to reach BT customer service just after 4pm on Monday, an automated message said wait times were over 45 minutes. It took 50 minutes before our call was finally answered.
On hold: readers struggle to contact BT due to broadband and fixed line outages, and to cancel or renew contracts
Yesterday morning the automated message read: ‘We are very busy at the moment. If your call is not urgent, call back later.’
It took 55 minutes to get through.
BT seems to have been having problems with overloaded call centers for several days now.
The call agent we spoke to said the company had been experiencing high call volumes over the past week due to broadband outages caused by the wet weather.
BT’s slow response times stem from fears that customer service could take a hit in a major cost cut.
Chief executive Philip Jansen last week announced plans to save £3bn by the end of 2025, warning of job cuts and increased efforts to “automate and use technology to… lower costs”.
Readers are struggling to contact BT about broadband outages and to cancel or renew contracts.
Sophie Jefferson, 49, was put on hold at BT for 57 minutes Monday night after a technician failed to show up to fix her broken broadband connection.
The operations manager from London has been waiting for a repairman since October 28. In the meantime, she’d been given a mini-hub — a temporary Wi-Fi connection device — to make sure she had internet.
However, after receiving an email saying her case was closed and the hub would be shut down, she had no idea what was going on.
After waiting almost an hour to speak to someone from the BT customer service center, they confirmed that the technician had been canceled without being notified.
Sophie says: ‘The call handler gave me a new appointment, but couldn’t confirm that the technician would definitely come. She told me if they didn’t I should just call BT back.
‘ I said, ‘You must be kidding. I’m not going to try another hour to get through.’ ‘
Cutbacks: BT chief executive Philip Jansen has announced plans to save £3bn by the end of 2025, warned of job cuts and increased efforts to ‘automate and use technology…to reduce costs’
Debbie Johnston, 51, was on hold for more than 50 minutes Monday night while also trying to fix her broadband. The Northern Ireland wedding dress saleswoman found it nearly impossible to work from home.
She had also previously called on November 3rd and waited 45 minutes to report the same issue. “A company like BT should at least have a queuing system,” she says.
“You should be able to hang up and keep your place in the queue while waiting for a callback if someone is available.
“I understand that the company is very busy, but then it would have to get more staff. We’re all extremely busy – who has time to wait that long?’
Rick Harris, from Peterborough, was unable to reach BT when he had to renew his broadband contract.
The 57-year-old was given a half-hour wait on the phone. He resorted to using BT’s online chat service – only to find it unavailable at 3pm on Saturday, October 29.
The healthcare researcher says: ‘I really don’t feel that BT is acting in the best interest of the customer. The company is overwhelmed and understaffed.”
Money Mail is calling for penalties for large companies for not answering the phone within ten minutes as part of our Pick Up Or Pay Up campaign.
At the moment there are no consequences for companies that do not do this. We demand that consumer protection laws be updated.
Similar legislation was passed in Spain earlier this year. Businesses there are now facing fines of up to £85,000 if they don’t answer their phone within three minutes.
Last month, our campaign took a big step forward after the plea for a new law was presented to parliament for debate by Conservative MP Robert Halfon.
A BT spokesperson emphasized that the cost savings would not lead to job losses in call centers.
The spokesperson added: ‘We handle 100 per cent of customer calls in the UK and Ireland and aim to answer calls within 60 seconds, but we are deeply sorry that our customers are having to wait longer than usual to contact a UK. to speak. based advisor.
“We’ve hired over 3,000 consultants in the UK this year so we can continue to provide our clients with the most personalized and local service.”
BT says there are plans to launch a virtual queuing service.
moneymail@dailymail.co.uk
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