Big bill to move away from BT

MIKE and Betty Page were paying almost £80 a month for their phone and broadband package from BT.

Looking after her parents, their daughter Anita pointed out that her bill with EE was significantly less, so recommended they switch. So Mike switched to EE. All seemed well until, out of the blue, BT sent a bill for £336, which included the cost of Mike’s router and leads which he had already sent back to BT.

Mike, of Rugeley in Staffordshire, wrote to Raw Deal.

Before we could even answer, Mike got another email from BT threatening legal action.

With a little help from Anita, Mike and Betty paid the bill as quickly as possible.

The Pages are of a generation that pays its debts on time and will not be beholden to anyone if they can help it.

Raw Deal got in touch with BT, which, to its eventual credit, did the right thing in the end.

The next letter we got from Mike said: “I had a call from BT today and the lady explained that the charge for changing from BT to EE would be refunded in full.

“This was totally unexpected and really made our day.

“I can’t thank you enough and I feel sure that the complete change in attitude was as a result of the help you gave us.

“We have read your paper for many years and never thought that, at some point, we would need your help.

“Many thanks for all you have done.”

You may have noticed the news on Friday morning that BT and Openreach are to become separate companies. This can only be a good thing. It isn’t unfair to say that quite a few of the complaints Raw Deal sees are from BT customers.

Sharon White, of telecoms regulator Ofcom, said: “We can now expect better service from Openreach.”

We hope so, Sharon, because something certainly needed to be done.

We’ll be watching with interest – as will the rest of the country.