Florist says BT is ‘killing’ her small business

TELECOMS: Communications giant says it is taking action to resolve any issues

A popular Angus florist claims BT is “killing” her business by repeatedly disconnecting her phone line.

Jill Fotheringham, who runs Looping Lilies in Montrose, said customers are unable to get through to make orders, with Mother’s Day – one of her busiest periods of the year – fast approaching on March 22.

She says it is the second time BT has made the error – the first being in the run-up to Valentine’s Day – and that the telecoms giant has so far done little to rectify the situation.

Ms Fotheringham, who co-owns the shop with a friend, said the issues first arose when the shop moved home just a short distance away.

She said: “We have had issues since we moved in January. Instead of allowing us to keep our old number that customers know, they disconnected it.

“They eventually fixed it but the time it took hurt us.

“We take the vast majority of our orders over the phone so it’s a disaster. “It’s killing our business.

“Now it’s happened again and they can’t even explain why or at least let us know they are fixing it.

“They have re-routed the number to my mobile so I’m running around with a notepad in my back pocket trying to take orders when they come in.”

Ms Fotheringham, who is wellknown locally for both her shop and her campaign work in improving the safety of the A90 Laurencekirk junction, added: “We are already worried about coronavirus affecting our business like everyone else is.

“We get a lot of our flowers from the Netherlands and more restrictions will make this difficult.

“I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess at how many orders we’re missing out on.

“We just want it fixed. I feel we’re being fobbed off every time we speak to BT.”

A BT spokesperson said: “We’re sorry for any inconvenience Ms Fotheringham has faced with her phone and broadband services since her business move.

“We’ve been in touch and arranged to reconnect all of the services at her new shop as soon as possible.

“We’ve also sent our latest broadband router to her to give the best wi-fi connection.”

“We take the majority of our orders over the phone so it’s a disaster

Jill Fotheringham, co-owner of Looping Lilies in Montrose.