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The BT saga part 3 – the one that got away?
You may recall I was complaining to BT about unfairly charging me £135 for replacing the master box at the front of my house. Oh, and also for failing to ring me back, poor service and having a dispute procedure that deferred exclusively to the expertise of BT’s own engineer. I had been unexpectedly charged…
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The BT saga part 2 – hello is anyone there?
You will hopefully recall my dispute with BT from my previous post: I had been charged a £135 engineering charge for the replacement of the ancient faulty master box in my house. BT believed that I was responsible for paying the charge as the homeowner responsible for causing damage to the box. However, I didn’t…
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The BT saga part 1 – chatty man
Having just moved into a new home, one of the things you expect is the phone line to be functioning. Unfortunately mine was not – and a cursory inspection led me to the master box at the front of the house (i.e. the box where the phone line first enters the property). It was hanging…
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Negotiating with a rogue landlord
A few years ago, I moved into a flat in London with some close friends at university – as most people do. Unfortunately, as is also all too common, our landlady was less than scrupulous. We had problems with mould which the local council eventually forced the landlady to remedy. But it was moving out…
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O2 internet – when is a cancellation not a cancellation?
I had been a customer with O2 since they were BT Cellnet. They had provided me with excellent service at a reasonable price for many years. However, when TalkTalk offered me internet for an outstanding price, O2 couldn’t match it (despite the opportunity I provided). It was therefore time to carry out a standard consumer…
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My ‘Next’ Consumer Issue: Like-For-Like Exchanges
Next, one of my favourite high street retailers, managed to provide me with 20 minutes of quite bizarre frustration last weekend – over £3. All because I had the cheek to return and exchange a faulty cream microwave. To the bafflement of the staff, the price of the microwave had risen in the three weeks…
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The difference between me and the BBC
The subject of administration fees came up just a week after I’d spoken to Cosmos Holidays (see my previous post). I was watching the BBC’s flagship consumer advice programme, Watchdog. As you can imagine, I was quite a fan – their hints, tips, stories and pressure have held countless people and inspired me. A case…
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Cosmos Holidays: tackling tricky Ts & Cs
When a close friend was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 21, it was a real shock. He was declared unable to travel and consequently had to cancel the dream holiday to the Canary Islands he had booked with his girlfriend. It was a distressing time for all involved and the last thing the…
