uncancelable broadband
I once ordered ADSL broadband off BT, but I said I didn't want a phone account with it. They said this was possible, and a week later I was using it.

One year later I was moving out of the flat and rang them up to cancel. Each time I'd get through to the broadband department, they'd tell my account code was special and one they didn't deal with and put me through to the phone accounts dept. Accounts would tell me that it was a broadband account and put me back through to broadband. Eventually (2-3 hours) I would be put through to a number that would ring out and eventually cut-off.

After going through this merry-go round process several times, trying to keep my cool, I asked for and got the direct number of this special department that dealt with my account number. Unfortunately, no one would ever answer the phone there. No matter how many times I rang, or what time of day, it would ring for several minutes before cutting out.

This went on for a few months, I tried to escalate it, but BT lacked a functioning complaints department. My saviour in the end was a guy from their technical faults phone department, of all things. After repeating all my issues, he admitted what I suspected, that the department that deals with my account code no longer exists. "BT is going through a lot of changes", he said. In five minutes he was able to cut off my account and cancel the line. He was unable to compensate days of my life spent on hold or talking to clueless dolts. BT has deeply flawed processes and incompetent people working in customer service, and I hate them.
( cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 10:51, 1 reply)

My mum
had the same experience with BT. All she wanted to do was transfer her old phone number to her new house when she moved house. Average phone call times to BT were over an hour and she was shuttled through many departments who asked her for all the same information but never sorted anything out. One day she finally got through to a normal person who knew what they were doing and the whole process took about ten minutes. Most BT monkeys wouldn't know their arse from their elbow.
(bryo, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 19:32, closed)