Yeah, that's my preference. Just a little reluctant to pay out the £200 it will costs to get out of my BT contract. Whether I pay out or wait til Feb when it expires, I'm definitely changing to Virgin - it's prewired though our heritage listed building and as such is the only alternative we can get. For now I just want BT to: a) honor what their customer service rep told me b) fix the problem (at the moment, they wont even accept there is one!)

Being your stereotypical laid back Aussie, I'm not used to boiling rage, but am currently suffering a very painful induction into the world of poor customer service and ask for your help. The issue is with BT Broadband billing and my English significant other is adamant "they are taking advantage of the relative monopoly they still have in certain areas of the country". Knowing the system slightly better, she usually plays "bad cop", but I feel it's time I deal with the challenges of my adopted home head-on i.e. I am the sole named account holder. On to business. In the six months that I have had the service, I have, on every occasion, exceeded the monthly download limit and been charged for excess usage under BT's Fair Usage policy. Specifically, the Fair Usage Policy states that you will receive a warning email if you reach 80% of your usage in a given month and another email should you exceed the limit, effectively warning you that from that point on for the rest of the month, you are being charged excess usage fees. In principle, I have no problem with this, I'm quite happy to pay excess fees that I knowingly accrue. However, as BT fail to provide an all-purpose service enabling you to keep track of your monthly download limit, customers are forced to rely on the warning emails clearly laid out in their policy. Needless to say, I have never received any such email. Incidentally, they do suggest downloading an independent net tracker to your computer to track usage, but as my internet is accessed by 2 PC's and 3 Games Consoles, this is not an alternative to the emails I should still receive as a matter of course. The policy is clearly not being adhered to from their end, which I find strange, as the obvious possible technology issues (spam blockers/firewalls or even having the wrong email address linked to the account) is nullified by the fact that my quarterly bills always arrive, promptly, via email. Logic prevailing, if I don't receive the email, I shouldn't be billed for the excess, but I have been on both occasions. When my first quarterly bill came in, I queried the charges and also raised the error around warning emails and successfully had the charges removed: a clear sign that BT accepted that they were in error, could not charge based on their own policy and believed action would be taken to rectify the warning email issue. WRONG. Three months later, having received no warning emails, my new bill was issued. Again, there are charges of £32.78 + VAT for excess usage. Here begins my customer service despair... On the 28th April I called BT Customer Service (unfortunately, I didn't record the staff members name) to, again, query the bill, request a refund and make sure this time that the email issue was resolved. After a discussion and a few periods of being on hold, the gentleman I was talking to came back on the line to assure me that from this point on I need not worry, he would take ownership of my issue, remove the excess usage charges and follow up with their IT to ensure the email issue was resolved. I got off the phone feeling very happy with BT's customer service (more fool me) until yesterday, 12th May, when I called to actually pay the bill, only to find that the full bill amount was still owing . The excess usage fees had not been removed. I queried this with the lady that I was speaking to, and she informed me that no notes had been made on my account regarding any phone call I made on the 28th April (effectively as far as she was concerned, I'd made no call). I explained the situation, however, she said that she wasn't in a position to authorise that refund and as such I asked to speak to her supervisor. At that point I spoke to a David Dougherty, the shift supervisor who informed me that as far as he was concerned, as the warning emails are automated, then I must be receiving them or a spam filter was blocking BT emails. When I argued otherwise, pointing out the lack of trouble in receiving my bill each quarter, I was informed that as all he had was my word that I was not receiving the warning emails, then he wouldn't be authorising the refund. I pointed out the refund had already been authorised by a previous member of staff but was informed that the staff member was wrong and as such that previous agreement would not be honored. Basically, a) bad luck with regards to refunding the fees, and b) the emails work fine so wont look into that either. Obviously unhappy with responses tantamount to calling me a liar, I asked David to escalate the complaint to his manager. The next day I received a call from Jerry Love, the Duty Manager (nothing, if not, great names at BT). Jerry also informed me that as the emails are automated, he believed that I was receiving them and as such, the fees would have to be paid. I again argued that the only email that I have EVER received from BT is the Bill. So, I went back to my expectation that the original agreement with regards to my phone call on the 28th April be honored, that being the refund and the follow up to ensure the email issue is resolved. Jerry disagreed. Unfortunately it seems, if that's what I was told, the staff member was in error and would be retrained. As the Customer Service officer on the day left no notes, he was effectively saying that he didn't really believe me. I pointed out that this is unacceptable customer service and that regardless of the error, it was their error and as a customer I expect that what I am told will happen will happen. I requested that Jerry listen to a recording of the conversation. He actually then admitted that if I was told in the recording that I would be refunded then he would have to do the refund. Fortunately for Jerry, not all calls are recorded and, conveniently, he discovered my call was one of these. As such, Jerry's final position was that I would have to pay the bill and that was final. He did however throw in that they are hard on their staff to ensure they always leave notes on accounts when customers call, as not doing it is a bit of a regular thing ; not the best thing to tell a customer who is already not impressed with what is taking place. Onwards and upwards, I am now at the point where I am awaiting a call from Jerry's manager, a Majella Duggan. Jerry informed me that as per their SLA, she would have 48 hours to call me. That was three business days ago and I'm still waiting for her call. I would be extremely grateful if anyone could provide some sanity, as in the last couple of days I feel like I'm hitting my head up against a brick wall. As it stands, BT's position is that the outcome of the call from the 28th April is void. That I pay the fees and that there's no problem with the warning emails. Clearly there is and given that I've no other way to track my usage, my future bills will continue to have the same issue. I want to end all association with BT, both phone and internet, and try my luck with Virgin (the only alternative in our listed place -no sky dishes allowed), but there in lies the real corker; if you cancel, you have to pay out the contract, which with at the moment would total about £200. Something I'm not willing to do, as I view it as a reward for incompetence! Does anyone have any advice??! Cheers, Cameron