Failed BT credit check, any advice....

[Decanus]

Hope you can help.....

 

I have been a BT customer for several years, both landline and broadband, and currently have a BT Hub and broadband package.I have always paid by direct debit, and have never had a problem of any description.

However, I recently tried to upgrade from Option 2 to Anywhere, and although the order was initially accepted, I was told that I had failed the credit check.

 

I am a bit annoyed because I have had an exisitng account for quite a time, and this would just mean adding an extra £10 a month to the direct debit I currently pay!They are saying we are happy for you to pay £20 a month, but not £29.99, which I think is ridiculous. They also upgraded me to Option 3, the level just below Anywhere!

 

My problem is, I think ,my recent struggles with a credit card company to reclaim charges led to a default. Do you not think that some common sense would prevail here, though, in that my ongoing relationship with BT has been perfect.

 

I am wondering if this was a computerised credit score, and if I appeal to humans they might take a different view. Any ideas?

 

Just seems ridiculous they are happy to take £20 a month, but not £30.

 

All ideas, help etc welcome.

[barracad]

It's not a case of the difference being £10 a month. The fact is that your current option is for landline use only (low-risk) and the option you are looking to get involves a mobile element (medium/high-risk). As far as I know, they don't conduct any credit checks at all for landline services, but they do for mobile which is why you have this problem.

 

You can of course appeal to them as you have suggested, but I imagine they have fairly rigid guidelines as to who they will and will not accept as customers for certain products.

[davethorp]

I have a similar thing going on with virgin media

 

They are more than happy to take £60 a month off me for the landline, broadband and TV element but try and get a mobile with them for £10 a month and they run for the hills

[locutus]

Their is a credit check for land lines, but the result will be a deposit.

[buzby]

Agreed, BT and VM credit check all customers. For virgin Mobile, you have to remember this was a virtual mobile company long before the cable company changed it's name. As an NTL customer I remember receiving flyers offering mobile phones as 'special' rates as "we are the same company" only to find Virgin Mobile were rejecting 60 of applicants because of spurious information on their credit file (mismatched DoB's or wrong postcodes) - it made a mockery of the 'one Virgin' brand, I don't believe in 2008 anything has changed, as Virgin Media and Virgin Mobile are run on different systems.