Best way to dispute item on BT bill, anyone?

Best way to dispute item on BT bill, anyone?

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Have just queried with BT why an item appeared on my bill dated 6 May to number 118507 Directory for 3.03 minutes cost £4.70. The adviser told me this is Directory Enquiries. I have not called Directory Enquiries for years and years and would not dream of doing so. But apparently someone did, and according to the adviser they must have used my phone. As I am the only one here and no-one else has access to my property, let alone my phone and I didn't make the call I told him this was unacceptable and put the phone down.

I sent a message to BT complaining via their website but I'll bet they give me the same answer.

Can anyone think of anything else I could do?

Replies (6)

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By carnmores
24th May 2011 14:55

i know its the principle of the thing

get your case right if you really want to persue this  ,personally i wouldnt bother

so check where else you called on the day in question and make sure that it does not overlap with any other calls - is your bill detailed enough to determine this - then ask again - your chances are very very slim if its a one off even in the small claims court

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By bernard michael bayly
24th May 2011 16:06

BT complaint

If it helps I had a situation where I was charged for being put through by BT Directory Enquiries when I wasn't. I complained to D Enquiries and they sent me a credit note However the number you quoted in your post is for Crosby Directory Enquiries whatever that is

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By Moonbeam
24th May 2011 16:49

Thanks for your thoughts!

Thank you both for taking the time to think about my situation! That already makes me feel better.

I am concerned that whatever BT engineer has hooked into my line will try the same thing again. This could never happen according to the BT person I spoke to but I have heard of this sort of thing before and I'll bet anything is possible if you have access to the technology.

I like the idea of approaching Directory Enquiries for a refund - it's just a very odd number, as Bernard says. If I had wrongly dialled, I would have surely heard that it was Directory Enquiries and put the phone down, unless they decided to bill me whether my call was taken or not.

Even in these difficult times even I can afford the odd fiver occasionally - but I don't want a precedent to be set.

I had already thought of Small Claims, but this is small beer as long as it's the only overcharge.

I suppose the best thing is to await the email response from BT's website with a reference number, telling me hard cheddar, and then I can save this in case I have other problems later.

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By listerramjet
25th May 2011 10:55

it starts with a complaint
you write to them explaining the nature of your complaint, ask them to investigate and sort it out. After giving them a chance to sort it, if they don't or can't to your satisfaction then you complain in writing to their regulator. And to mitigate the issue you could get them to block the offending numbers so you can't call them. Simples.

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By mark589
25th May 2011 14:41

BT are a pain in the *ss

I had a complaint with BT 3 years ago when they charged ne for something i didn't have.

When i rang to complain it took them 35 minutes to answer then the person who answered it didn't make any sense.

Eventually had a refund and out of nowhere a box of Thorntons chocolates arrived in the post courtesy of BT.

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By Moonbeam
25th May 2011 15:41

Well, BT are Good Boys after all!

A Customer Service person had just called to say as a goodwill gesture they will take off the charge this time around, as they agree that from past bills I never call Directory Enquiries. They hope that this won't happen again, but if it does then they will do a more in depth investigation.

The moral of this tale is do not call BT and get re-routed to India where you will get treated like dirt - use the BT website and with luck a person with intelligence will call you and be understanding.

What a shock! I am so used to using BT as an example of the lowest level of service I will have to switch to someone else for this from now on. Hmmm ......one of the energy providers would do!

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