Bulldog Broadband Still Sucks
Two weeks ago, one of my credit cards was cloned.
I pay for my internet connection using that card so, after cancelling the Visa, I tried calling Bulldog Broadband to update my payment details.
No one answered that day or the next or the next or …
This morning I held from 7.50am to 9.40am. Finally I hung up and called their sales line. The phone was picked up within two rings.
The sales person, however, was obnoxious when he realised I was an existing customer and hung up on me.
I called back and demanded to speak to a manager.
She apologised, took my new card details and promised to have my account updated with the correct details. It took less than 30 seconds. Too bad I had already wasted close to 20 hours listening to hold music in the last fortnight.
So, if you are struggling to get through to Bulldog I advise you to call their sales line instead of their Customer Service, Technical Support or Finance departments, none of whom ever answer the phone. It’s 08000 15 16 17. Be assertive.
Any company that cannot be bothered to properly staff its Customer Support areas deserves to have its sales lines tied down with non-sales issues. If this starts hitting them in the wallet by preventing new sign ups then maybe they’ll do something about the problem.
If you do not have a Bulldog account and are tempted by the adverts - resist!
March 11th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
Post script. It turned out that the sales manager lied to me to get me off the phone. No message was sent to finance. My account was not updated. No apology was made when, after finally getting the credit card details changed, I complained about this.
Bulldog subsequently charged me twice for three months rental and - as of this date - have still not refunded my money in spite of repeated promises to do so. Avoid this company like the plague.
April 2nd, 2006 at 9:28 am
Bulldog really does suck balls when it comes to customer service. I have been trying to get my line cancelled for at least a month. Just got a reply today.
April 3rd, 2006 at 4:47 pm
Hi Khalid, make sure you cancel your direct debit direct with your bank/credit card company. Although Bulldog claim they have cancelled your account, chances are they’ve kept it open and passed it on to a customer retainment team who will contact you in due course and try to convince you to stay with the company. Bulldog have a massive backlog in this department (suggesting they’re losing a lot of customers) and it may take them so long to contact you that you will be billed for the account you thought was closed before they do so. Hopefully this won’t happen to you and even if it does you will get the money back in the end - but save yourself the hassle and instruct your bank/building society not to pay them. Good luck!
April 12th, 2006 at 7:34 pm
Hi Tim,
Have no words to describe the service that I have had so far from Bulldog. Have sent 2 e-mails and my partner has made atleast 15-20 calls. No reply yet. Do you think contacting Consumer Protect is a good idea. They have debited £ 30.00 from our account, when they should have only debited a £ 1 to switch from my cable company to bulldog.
April 12th, 2006 at 7:50 pm
Hi Balaji
Sorry to hear you’ve been having trouble too. I have finally been refunded for the three months rental I was overcharged after I made an official complaint. I’d advise you to do the same.
Email complaints@bulldogbroadband.com stating that you are making an official complaint and explain your case. If they do not reply within 30 days then you can take the matter further by first approaching their official third-party complaint resolution company - details on the Bulldog site: I can’t remember the name off hand - then, if that fails, to Ofcom.
Most of the staff in the complaints department are excellent. You probably will not get a response until right at the end of the 30 day period but when you do they should be able to resolve it. Don’t bother wasting any more time on Customer Services and Finance. Even if you can get through on the phone, they won’t be able to help you. Best of luck getting your money back.
PS Ofcom won’t investigate until you’ve exhausted the complaints procedure detailed above but you can still make a complaint about Bulldog to them via their website which will be logged against the company. If enough people do so, Ofcom may put pressure on Bulldog to smarten up their act.
June 7th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
You guys are lucky!!!! 1 year on still no phone, still no internet and someone else answers my phone number! Cant get my phone number back and Bulldog wont talk to me because they cancelled my line???? Yet my phone number is being diverted to someone else… and before you think they allocated my number to someone else, no thats not his number? ithink maybe i an take them to court, anyone ie credit card companies etc. could be giving my details to someone else? What do you think?
j
June 29th, 2006 at 1:47 pm
Hi,
Bulldog has gotta be the biggest disaster ever to rear its ugly head on the public market.
I have had endless troubles with them, and I am copying in an email I have sent to them various times to NO avail.
I have spent hours on the phone to them, and not one person has been able to help me in the slightest!
So I feel it necessary to make this info public.
after some digging around, I have found the contact details and some tel numbers for some more important yet probably just as incompetant as customer services agents.
so here it is.
Use it! flood the bast*rds with everything you can!
Gladys Elia
Bulldog Communications
Tel: 020 7164 1064
Email: GladysElia@bulldogbroadband.com
Emanuele Angelidis - Chief Executive –
emanueleangelidis@bulldogcommunications.com
Kevin Paige - Chief Networks Officer -
kevinpaige@bulldogcommunications.com
Bernard Buckley - Director Human Resources - bernardbuckley@bulldogcommunications.com
Keith Badman - Sales Director
keithbadman@bulldogcommunications.com
Andrew Morley - Chief Commercial Officer
andrewmorley@bulldogcommunications.com
Elaine Safier - Head of Entertainment
elainesafier@bulldogcommunications.com
Stefano Cantarelli - Chief Technology Officer
stefanocantarelli@bulldogcommunications.com
Carlo Soresina - Sales and marketing director, business
carlosoresina@bulldogcommunications.com
Harry Clarke - Customer services director
harryclarke@bulldogcommunications.com
and a copy of my email sent to them:
Bulldog Team,
I have been a bulldog customer since April 2005.
I have 2 complaints which I would like you to Deal with Promptly!
Complaint number 1.
My first order made back in march 2005 was made for your super@ctive offer of £25 a month plus line rental of £10 a month, totalling £35 + any call fees. I set up a direct debit for payment of your services which was taken with military precision from your accounts department(seemingly your ONLY efficient department!!)
After a few months of being billed correctly as agreed, I noticed on one particular month, You billed me £57. I initially thought that it was due to high rate of calls made by me and subsequently thought nothing of it.
About 2 months later I checked my account again to find again that I had been charged £57 a month and had been for the preceeding number of months AND ALL subsequent months up to AND including June 2006.
I DID not agree to any service package costing a total of £57 a month even including VAT. Your site does not even offer a residential package nearing anywhere close to £57 a month including VAT.
During the initial stages of your service at 4meg, I received very good download and upload speeds nearing 4 megs and was happy with your service. Subsequent to your announcement that all bulldog customers would be upgraded to and 8 meg connection, my connection, download and upload speeds plummeted drammatically! Effectively making me pay in excess of £57 a month for LESS than a 2 meg connection. Which Quite frankly is daylight robbery and completely UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have made several calls to your numerous departments within bulldog to address this issue, and either being told I was talking to the wrong department or that my complaint would be dealt with promptly to absolutely NO AVAIL!
This issue has been ongoing since October 2005 AND NOTHING HAS COME ABOUT FROM IT!
Accordingly, I wish to formally make the following requests to Bulldogbroadband:
1) I receive adequate reimbursement for overpayment of services provided under account BDOL1176*** promptly!
Complaint number 2
Recently, I have moved residences and consequently had to notify Bulldog of my change of address in order to relocate your service to my new residence.
After being told that Bulldog was unable to transfer the service I was receiveing in my previsou residence, I was informed that I need to cancel the old package and place an order for a new one to be installed.
After waiting nearly 1 whole month for my previous order to be installed in april 2005, I was understandably concerned about your efficiency.
Thankfully, the new order has been installed and is up and running.
There is however, one gleaming fundamental problem with the service. And it is here that my complaint lies.
When speaking to the sales agent on the phone, I specifically told him that I want the fastest of your service packages available to my location - he confirmed that that was an 8 Meg connection, to which I agreed would be fine. The sales agent informed that there was a package for £25 a month + line rental making a total monthly payment of £35. I agreed that this would be in order and placed the order accordingly.
This order would include a free modem as well.
Subsequent to installation, numerous online speed tests (adslguide.co.uk) and endless hours of waiting on you costomer services number, I have established the following:
- According to adslguide.co.uk, and +- 10 speed tests at avarying times, I am only receiveing a 1.2 meg connection.
- A customer service agent informed me that my account is capped at 2 meg; of which I am paying a total of £45 A MONTH FOR!!!
- The package supposedly included a free modem - of which I have heard nor seen nothing about!
- I have spent in the region of 4 hours on the phone to Bulldog over the last two days - friday 16th June and Monday 19 June - 90% of that time has been on hold. The remaining 10% of the time has been spent giving my account info (again…), explaining my problem and then being promptly told that the person I am talking to is completely unable to help me with my problem and I must re-dial and select a cocktail of user options.
Consequently I have spoken to customer service representatives in all departments including -
CUSTOMER SERVICE ENQUIRIES;
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
SALES
BILLING ENQUIRIES
NETWORKING FAULTS
BUSINESS ACCOUNTS
BUSINESS SALES
BUSINESS TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
and a host of other departments I didnt even know existed.
I wish to make this blindingly clear - AT NO POINT, WAS ANYONE IN ANY DEPARTMENT ABLE TO ASSIST ME WITH MY PROBLEM. I was continually told to redial and speak to a different department.
I have furthemore established that after being on hold for 30 minutes means you will be automatically disconnected after which you have to redial and start the whole painful process again!
THIS IS UNNACCEPTABLE!!
Accordingly, I simply want these issues cleared up as soon as possible.
I had no obligation to return to bulldog after spending over a year with you - however I decided that the service I reecived, although far from perfect, was sufficient for me to continue making use of your service. It seems that I may have given bulldog more credit than its due.
I therefore would like to formally make the following requests:
1) My service package being changed to THE ONE I ORDERD - being the 8mg unlimited option as seen on your web site, being £19.50 a month + line rental of £10. WITHOUT ANY CHARGE WHATSOVER TO ME OR MY ACCOUNT! this was an error of Bulldog and I should NOT have to, and WILL NOT pay for it!
2) You deliver the free modem I was supposed to receive by virtue of a new order.
3) You refund any and all monies to have been debited from my account as a result of YOUR faulty customer service.
4) YOU offer some form of compensation for the Poor customer services and technical services provided to me over the duration of my custom to Bulldog Communications since April 2005.
Consequently, I will withold all payments ‘due’ to bulldog on either of my accounts UNTIL these issues are accordingly dealt with by a competant member of Bulldog Communications AND I have received a call from such person or department to discuss this matter!!
Furthermore, I will continue to send this email to the Bulldog Communications until such time as my complaints are adequately dealt with!
Finally, If Bulldog Communications is unable or unwilling to deal with these complaints I EXPECT bulldog communications to cancel my accounts with you and reimbuse any and all monies owing to me by virtue of overpayment and inadequate service provision on your part.
Should you not deal with this issue, I intend to instruct solicitors in this matter to take legal action.
I would also like to inform you that I am in contact with a representative from BBC Consumer Watchdog Department who are informed of my predicament and are intersted in the the progess thereof. And in light of the Fact that your company appeared on the show last year i am confident that you would not appreciate any of the negative publicity cuased thereby.
I look forward to your communications and am confident that you will deal with these issues efficiently
June 29th, 2006 at 2:05 pm
Jack and Jason, your experiences are worse than mine. I would advise you to start a formal complaints process: the details are on the bulldog website (which I can’t access on this browser - says it all - so I can’t link to it…). Once you have exhausted that then Ofcom will investigate. They won’t touch your complaint until you’ve followed this process however.
As I said above to Balaji:
“Email complaints@bulldogbroadband.com stating that you are making an official complaint and explain your case. If they do not reply within 30 days then you can take the matter further by first approaching their official third-party complaint resolution company - details on the Bulldog site: I can’t remember the name off hand - then, if that fails, to Ofcom. ”
I notice they’ve stopped taking on new customers but hope to reassure their old customers by guaranteeing the same level of customer service…
Best of luck!
July 31st, 2006 at 8:07 am
Hi guys
Yep, bulldog really does suck. Worst most frustrating company in the world. I told a customer services person so this morning and she - agreed! Gulp. Boring story, details not compelling, but am trying to get refund on a router I did not order which arrived anyway, and a refund on a line which was not cancelled so have been billed for two months for two services. Luvly. So far, only about 10 calls including a full 15 minutes on hold last week and now it seems no record of either conversation. A pox on all their houses.
August 1st, 2006 at 4:31 pm
Hi Tanja! Sounds like you should keep a careful record of each and every conversation you have with Bulldog staff since they’re clearly not keeping good records themselves. They’re definitely one of the most frustrating companies I’ve ever had to deal with - but at least in their case it seems to be a matter of structural incompetence unlike Carphone Warehouse (my other bete noir) where the bad service seems to stem from a ruthless desire to get and hold onto sales commissions at any cost. I’m sure you’ll get your money back in the end - follow the advice above about making an official complaint and people with the power to actually help you will (eventually) get in touch and resolve things. Best of luck!
August 5th, 2006 at 4:14 pm
Hi,
I am simultaneously pleased and annoyed by finding this thread.
Last year, I agreed to get Bulldog installed, as I really missed not having an internet connection. At the time, Bulldog had some good catchy offers, and it was th £1 connection charge which I really liked.
The guy came and hooked up the telephone line and the modem arrived a few days later. Only thing was the wires just would not stretch.
Not Bulldog’s fault admittedly, but knowing nothing about technology and computers, decided just to cancel after the three months. I thought it was my own fault for not checking it out in the first place.
So the first and final bill arrived, but I nearly dropped! There was a £60 installation charge on the bill, making it over £100 when it should have been £40! I emailed and said could the ammend it as there was a mistake.
Three weeks later, I got a reply saying a new bill would be sent.
Nothing arrived.
At the end of May, I received an email and letter advising me to pay up or else. I called twice, and spoke to two different people who didn’t have a clue what I was saying, but that I was wrong and had to pay.
I immediatley emailed the complaints department. Three weeks later, I got a reply saying they had investigated the matter, and I had to pay the full amount!
I have emailed back again requesting details of the investigation, but have still not heard anything. I tell everyone not to get involved with Bulldog. I never thought I would become so petty, but they drive me demented!
August 6th, 2006 at 11:21 am
Hi Zahn, sounds like you’ve exhausted their official complaints procedure. Time to contact CISAS and if they don’t help, contact Ofcom.
From Bulldog’s site: Complaints Procedure
3. Adjudication
If a complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction within 12 weeks of Bulldog receiving the complaint, you may appeal to the Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (CISAS), which is an independent adjudication scheme approved by Ofcom.
You may also refer a complaint to CISAS whenever Bulldog issues a deadlock letter to you with a CISAS reference number.
Contact details for CISAS are as follows:
Post:
CISAS
The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
12 Bloomsbury Square
London
WC1A 2LP
Phone: 020 7421 7432
Fax: 020 7404 7150
CISAS website.
Email: kkorubo@drs-ciarb.com
Good luck!
August 14th, 2006 at 1:26 pm
my account no. is BDOL 3761265, I want to enquire into why my account was cancelled on the 28th of june this year, i received a call aroung 8.45am, asking me to get in touch with bulldog, when i got back around 6pm, i phoen bulldog and i was told that i was rather the one who phoned bulldog that morning, i have important things to do than to rind bulldog as early as 8.45am. i really need a clear explanation into why my account was cancelled.
PLEASE REPLY TO OLUOLUBUNMI@HOTMAIL.COM
August 16th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
I am moving address and have been told by Bulldog customer service that I will have to pay £99 for a new connection as they can’t transfer my account to the new address does anyone any advice for me as i’m not satisfied.
August 16th, 2006 at 9:55 pm
Oluyemisi, good luck finding out why they cancelled your account. Sadly I suspect you’ll have to chase them to find out why.
Junior George, to be completely honest with you my advice would be to switch providers. If you really want to stick with them you could always cancel the account and wait for one of their customer retainers to try and convince you to stay with them - chances are, they’ll waive the fee or at least reduce it. Personally though, I’d see moving house as an opportunity to change to a better ISP at the same time.
August 18th, 2006 at 1:00 am
Well, it’s just gone 1am, and I was checking my e-mails before I turned in….. and I got a bulldog bill, despite the fact that I have cancelled my account. It was to be closed on July 21st.
I’m with NTL, so I checked the BT phone line which I had installed specially to use Bulldog, that is still live, and I can still log into my old. bulldoghome account.
Frustratingly, I managed to delete the e-mail from my NTL webspace, which I had saved, confirming cancellation.
I’ve read through the other e-mails, and some of it sounds familiar, particulalry the being cut off after half an hour, when I initially had trouble setting it all up.
I’m really very stressed about this now, I can’t afford to pay out any money, nor can I afford to get listed as a bad credit risk. I’m thinking of cancelling my credit card though.
I’ve e-mailed customer service, but I don’t expect anything to happen. I’m probably going to have a sleepless night now.
August 18th, 2006 at 8:42 am
Mark, hope you managed to get some sleep.
Check that the address you emailed last night is complaints@bulldogbroadband.com and that you have stated explicitly that you are making an official complaint. If not forward it to that address using those exact words. Start keeping a log of dates and actions for your own records.
Next call your visa company and/or bank and cancel the direct debit with Bulldog. You don’t need to cancel the card but do keep an eye on it and if Bulldog do try to take the money even after you’ve cancelled the direct debit, challenge the transaction with the bank/credit card company and explain what’s happened. Again, keep a record of who you spoke to and when. It helps. If you’ve cancelled the direct debit and told them not to honour the transaction you shouldn’t get any problems.
Try not to let these incompetent fools worry you. The account will get cancelled, they’re just being slow, and you shouldn’t lose any money. It’s frustrating but it’s not worth losing sleep over. Best of luck.
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Bulldog have been taking money out of my account and after several phone calls they now one person says it will take 48 working hours and another says it will take 28 daysto sort it out, they never phone you back when they say they will and you can never speak to anyone who knows their job even the complaints department is busy constantly I woder why.
The worse service ever.
I am thinking of reporting them to the police for theft.
Alan Mc Gonigle
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:12 pm
Bad luck, Alan. Perhaps you should dispute the transactions with your bank/credit card company that way at least you won’t have to pay any interest on them while waiting for the matter to be resolved. Good luck with your complaint.
September 21st, 2006 at 9:51 pm
*always* put everything to a company like this in writing. Not phone. Not email. If necessary you need to be able to prove what you said in court.
To those that have had their account cancelled - you should be rejoicing.. they are the most incompetent bunch of idiots I have ever encountered.
Bulldog must terminate your account 30 days after receiving the cancellation notice (I sent by fax and letter - I’m counting 30 days from the fax) - this is in the contract & they must honour it. Cancel your direct debit immediately after your final bill arrives.
They cannot claim not to have received the cancellation - legally it is up to them to prove this not for you to prove that you cancelled (although having a recorded delivery note does help speed things up). This is why cancelling by phone/email is a bad idea - they stand a chance of ‘proving’ you didn’t call (less so email, but courts aren’t tech savvy so it’s best not to risk it).
If they continue to try to take money out after the 30 days notice they have no leg to stand on. BD have been known to send copies of your previous authority to reactivate it & take money out - this is fraud. Report it to your bank immediately as they have no right to take money without authorisation.
Your credit rating cannot be affected long term - it’s an empty threat thrown around by dodgy companies like BD. It is easy to have a fraudulent black mark removed (and free - don’t pay any of those scam artists who charge for it).. the only ones that stick around are CCJs and there is no court in the land will find in BDs favour.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:21 am
Excellent advice. Sounds like they picked on the wrong man. Cheers Tony.
October 11th, 2006 at 10:26 am
OOOOppppsssl!!! I thought I am alone.
I thought it needs to be launched a dedicated directory services for those who have been bullied by the BullDogs, I mean the BullDog Broadband Services, on very first place
I would suggest another name for them which is “BULLSHIT BROADBAND” instead of BULLDOG. secondly I am wondering how come they were working under CABLE & WIRELESS I believe that is a company who knows the meaning of CUSTOMER CARE. I hope Bulldog will be sooner switching their business to Street Waste Collection. They dam care for customers and the support team is dumb, deaf and 28 days customer response policy is the pathetic in the whole market.
December 20th, 2006 at 11:52 pm
My son, a student decided to get bulldog broadband. His first attempt was cancelled by bulldog because his phone wasn’t connected. He then cancelled the second time because he found a better deal with Pipex. Both times Bulldog took £30 from his account.
That was in September. Despite letters, e mails and phone calls from my son, my wife and me, and promises from bulldog, he is still waiting for his £60 to be refunded.
We really don’t know what to do next.
By the way, Pipex turned out to be Pipex Homecall, and its useless - their servers can’t seem to cope with demand. They use Tiscali’s network, so they must be crap too. I’m with Talktalk. They are hopeless - customer services dreadful, speed snail-like, promises broken….
Are there any good broadband providers out there?
January 5th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Hi Guys!!
You wouldn’t believe what happened to me…moved into my new house in July and ordered the whole Bulldog package including a new phone line. Paid straight away £ 150 for the line and the router and was advisd that it could take upto 3 weeks to get connected. I thought well worth it for the price and speed…So I waited 3 weeks and Zilch happened so I got in touch with them and was given an activation date. 4 weeks on another activation date, another week a new date and so on. By then no engineer has been around to connect the line, no router has arrived and I was still off line. I’ve been through every dept that could possibly exist and spent hours and a fortune on the phone to incompetant customer serivces around the globe. Finally decided that enough is enough, called to cancel my subscription and to my horror they refused to do so because of a termination period of 40 days. Fair enough waited the 40 days and got back to them only to be told that it was 40 WORKING DAYS!!! Since then I called BT who managed to connect me in 10 days. We are now in January and believe it or not they have not refunded my £ 150 yet. I spent 56 mins on the phone today to no avail. They put the phone down on me countless times. No body seems to have a clue where my money is. And this morning customer services guy said they are still trying to connect me…lol. Bulldog must be the worlds worst company. I regret the day that I heard of that horrible company… Frustration is an understatement to say the least..
January 5th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
This email was forwarded to complaints@bulldogbroadband.com 30/12/06 so I am now leaving 30 days to see what comes of this. I called there customer services department and there isn’t even a number for the bleeding complaints team, Bulldog are shittest company on the planet.
Here is my case, I will update once I have a result. Enjoying reading, I just hope this email prevents people from joining them.
From: “Stephen Thomas”
To: Finance4@bulldogbroadband.com
CC: ……..@remarc.co.uk
Subject: RE: outstanding issue
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 17:13:26 +0000
Dear Bulldog Broadband
This is ridiculous, I gave you 3 days to reply to my previous email, dated 20th June and it took you closer to 3 months, I will not wait any longer. I want this issue resolved NOW.
Ignoring this email will result in legal action.
I await your response as soon as possible.
Stephen Thomas
From: “Stephen Thomas”
To: Finance4@bulldogbroadband.com
CC: ……..@remarc.co.uk
Subject: RE: outstanding issue
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2006 18:19:51 +0000
Dear Bulldog Broadband
Further to the last invoice (1855095 Bill number) I received from yourselves, my account finally appears to be correct and in credit for £26.17.
Here are the details for all the costs I have as a result of using your service.
£60.00 - Connection fee
£35.00 - Bank Charge due to DD not being set up at your and money being taken via debit card.
£28.00 Charge for going overdrawn
£39.13 - July 6th
£39.80 - 28th July
£40.25 - 20th August
There is no breakdown of how you came to this amount but I know this cannot include a refund for the £60 connection fee which I was promised I would be re-inbursed for.
The total amount your company has cost me is £179.18 & a further £63 in bank charges. The service was only used from 17/04/05 up till 20/07/05 and if you look at all the previous invoices you will see that all we ever used was £0.80 worth of phone calls which are on invoice number 291251 - 01/07/05. This dates up to the end of July and we asked for the service to be stopped from the 28th July as we moved out on the 20th July.
When I requested that the service be stopped on the 28th July, it wasn’t until 31st October until this happened, which meant I was still paying for the service.
The amount I was paying was for a telephone line and a broadband connection, but again all we ever used was the telephone line and that was only £0.80 worth of calls. I don’t feel the amount I paid is fair and have asked for this too be looked into THOUROUGHLY so many times.
It seems from the previous email you sent me, everything has been looked into except the consideration for re-inburement which I feel I should be rewarded.
If a cheque is sent to me for the amount of £178.38 which is the amount of money I have paid minus the £0.80 worth of phone calls we used I will rest my case with bulldog and this will go no further. I paid monthly payments to your company for a service I never had and all I asked for was some form of compensation, but nothing was offered.
Please send a checque for £178.68 to;
Stephen Thomas
//ADDRESS REMOVED//
And this matter will go no further, failing that I am determined to recover my cost and will take further action if I am not satisfied.
I expect to hear from a competent member of your management team within the
3 working days to rectify this matter.
Yours truly,
Stephen Thomas
From: “Finance4″
To:
Subject: RE: outstanding issue
Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2006 10:32:55 +0100
Dear Mr. Thomas,
Bulldog Communications Finance Team.
We have looked into your account and have found that since your previous contact with us the issue in question has now been resolved, if this is not the case could you please inform us of this and we will endeavor to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Should you require any further information please do not hesitate to reply back to us or call Customer Services on our free phone number 0800 404 8151. Please use the order reference in all communication.
Kind Regards
Thank you for emailing Bulldog.
—–Original Message—–
From: complaints
Sent: 20 June 2006 15:34
To: Finance4
Subject: e
—– Original Message —–
From: “Finance4″
Date: 23 May 2006
Subject: FW: Urgent Attention Required - bdol1327723
—–Original Message—–
From: Stephen Thomas [mailto:…….@hotmail.com]
Sent: 29 April 2006 19:06
To: Finance4
Cc: …….@remarc.co.uk; ……@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: Urgent Attention Required - bdol1327723
To The Manager,
I am absolutely outraged at the email which I have received dated 28/04/06.
The fee as mentioned below is 100% fabricated. We have tried on a number of
occasions to cancel our contract and each time have been told that this has
been successful.
The fact that I have received an email threatening the use of debt
collection agencies etc. has left me with absolutely no confidence in your
company or your employees. I think it is a disgrace that you can treat your
customers with this amount of disrespect and ignorance and now with
immediate effect I expect all charges to be dropped as I am seriously
considering taking legal action against Bulldog.
I also expect Bulldog to send every single piece of information acquired
from your database etc. which you have gathered during this sham of a
relationship. I find it a miracle that Bulldog have ever managed to keep a
single one of its customers happy as I have had nothing but problems and I
am just one customer.
I asked for the £60 connection fee to be returned to me on several occasions
and nothing has been done. I was prepared to let this charge subside as a
measure of goodwill on my part and you have completely thrown it back in my
face.
I am prepared to take this matter further unless some degree of compensation
is offered and a full and frank apology.
This bill as I’m sure you will agree is now to be wiped (see below for
evidence of cancellations and contact names of your employees)
I expect to hear from a competent member of your management team within the
next 3 working days to rectify this matter.
I am utterly disgusted that this has been permitted to continue for such a
lengthy period of time when I have been assured by members of your staff a
number of times that my contract is now cancelled.
I await your immediate response via telephone call on 07841 921246 and in
writing to confirm the above.
Yours truly,
Stephen Thomas
From: “Stephen Thomas” To: cancel@broadband.com CC: ……@hotmail.com Subject: FW: Cancel Services Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 19:20:56 +0000
Dear sir/Madam
In reference to this email I sent back in July, why have I recieved a bill for £80.49. I have just called your c/s department (Jonny) and they claim to have no record of this email I sent. This was definately recieved as I was called back by one of your agents (Ryan) confirming that monies owed to me would be paid, which you haven’t and that the account would be terminated, which you haven’t done neither.
I find your services very poor and at this rate will not be taking out another policy unless everything is corrected.
I await your speedy responce.
Stephen Thomas
From: Stephen Thomas” To: cancel@broadband.com CC: …….@hotmail.com Subject: Cancel Services Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2005 18:18:28 +0000
Customer Ref: bdol1327723 Account Number: 20013804 Invoice Number: 156751 Issue Date: 01/04/2005
Mr Stephen Thomas //ADDRESS REMOVED//
Dear Sir/Madam,
I recently took out a contract with you and have discovered some problems along the way.
Firstly I had a connection fee of £60 which originally I was told I did not have to pay as we already had a phone line installed. Then last month the money for the phone bill was taken out of an account with no funds in when I have filled out no direct debit form and could have used another account to pay the monies, as a result I incurred a £35 charge and a £28 charge for going overdrawn on this account.
Also, I received no information on the purchasing of a suitable modem, so we have never actually used this service to it’s full capacity.
Please would you supply me with some resolution to these queries.
I have recently changed address, therefore I require the service to be stopped for the time being with immediate effect. If the above problems are rectified as I see fit, I will then resume service.
Many thanks for your understanding in this regard, Stephen
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From: To: , Subject: Urgent Attention Required - bdol1327723 Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:12:42 +0100
Dear MR. THOMAS,
YOUR BULLDOG ACCOUNT - CUSTOMER REFERENCE bdol1327723
When you signed up with Bulldog, you gave us details of a credit card or Direct Debit that you wished to use to pay your monthly bill. Unfortunately, we have been unable to collect your final payment using these details. As a result, the balance of £149.54 as shown on your Final bill, is now overdue for payment.
You must settle this amount within the next seven days to avoid further action. This may include passing your account to a debt collection agency. If you have recently done this, then please disregard this letter and we are sorry for any inconvenience caused.
To make the payment, please take the following simple steps:
1. go to www.bulldoglounge.com 2. click on “my bulldog account” 3. enter your customer reference bdol1327723 4. enter your password (which we sent you after you signed up. If you have forgotten it, just click on “Forgot your password” and a new one will be emailed to you immediately) 5. click on “Make payment” 6. follow the instructions which appear on the screen
If you have any problems with this process or would like to pay your balance by phone, please call Bulldog customer support on 0870 024 0515.
Should you wish to discuss your financial circumstances in relation to this outstanding balance, we would ask you to contact customer support on the above number immediately.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your custom and hope to welcome you back to Bulldog in the future.
Yours sincerely,
The Bulldog Billing Team finance4@bulldogbroadband.com
_____________________________________________________
January 5th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Here is the reply I received 14/12/2006
Dear Stephen Thomas,
Thank you for your email. Firstly I would like to take this opportunity to
apologise for the late response to your query.
Having looked at you account I can see that your refund is £26 as the £60
connection fee has not been refunded as you phone line was connected and £94.5
has not been refunded as you received a phone line for 9 months which costs
£10.50 per month. If you wish to dispute this and make a claim for your bank
charges incurred I suggest you contact our complaints team
complaints@bulldogbroadband.com
Should you require any further queries regards this matter, please do not
hesitate to contact our customer service number on 0800 404 8151.
Kind Regards,
Bulldog Finance Team
January 5th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Mo and Stephen, you both have my sympathy. Best of luck chasing compensation.
Stephen, I’ve edited your post to remove your email and postal addresses because I imagine you don’t want your personal details up for the world to see. (I made a backup, so drop me a line if you’d rather I’d left them and I’ll restore your original comment.)
January 11th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
I was with Bulldog for 2 years, and had issues when I upgraded from 1Mb line (using a BT line) to 8Mb (Marconi Lines). When I switched, I have no connection for 17 days…their call centre is useless, as they have no access to information. I was so fed up, I contacted the CEO of Cable & Wireless, he sorted my issue withing 3days. I then joined BT and have had over a year of uninterrupted serives…you know what to do people…join BT.
January 28th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Thanks John. I’ve removed the link to your ebay marketplace page but I’ll leave your comment. My own experiences of BT wouldn’t encourage me to use them so I can’t personally endorse your recommendation but I’m glad they’re working out for you.
February 5th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
I joined bulldog broadband back in March 2004 on a half meg
line. I got a call from bulldog a few months later asking if I wanted to
upgrade to a one meg line I agreed. Firslty they failed to tell me my
number changed, since then I started to recive to bills one for my old
account and one for my new account I contacted bulldog and they told me
the old account would be cancelled and not to worry about it. A few
months down the line I recived another e-mail again requesting payment
for my old account which was paid up to the date of the new line being
activated. I contacted them again and they told me it was their fault
and they would sort it out. I then got another letter saying my phone
number would change again due to them originally giving me the wrong
number. I heard no more since until the other day when I got a letter
from a debt collection agency asking for payment for my old account of
£236.98. I contacted bulldog again and they could find no record of me
calling them apart from my last phone call they also had no record of me
being upgraded. They were unhelpful rude and had said I now need to pay
the sum unless I can prove otherwise. I asked them if I could speak to
the manager of supervisor and was told no one was available but to fax
my problem or e-mail as the finance system was down again on every
occasion I have phoned after half an hour in a queue they tell me the
finance system is down. I have now paid the bill even though they
admitted it was their mistake. Please can you help. Old bulldog ref
Bdol233439 New bulldog ref BDo;233439 My old phone number was
***** The number bulldog gave me was ********** The latest number bulldoghave given me ********** I have all of the invoices and bills they
sent me. I have also sent this letter to BBC watchdog and Ofcom.
Please see previous enquiries that I never go a response to BDR1107532X BDR41203X
Please help
Regards
February 7th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
That’s terrible William but sadly all too typical of customers’ experiences with Bulldog. I have detailed steps above in an earlier comment about the correct complaints procedure: I have to warn you that Ofcom may ignore your request until you have followed these. Best of luck with getting your money back.
February 20th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Bulldog failed to take the monthly subscription costs every month from my bank account and when I tried to get this sorted they withdrew the missed payments all at once without advising me and sending me overdrawn! Trying to get them to pay my bank charges due to their mistake is not happening as customer services apologise and ask me to send the relevent bank statements - which I have done 3 times and which end up not arriving at their fax/postal department.
I decided to cancel after the 12 month contract was up.
Now I’m moving house and contacted Bulldog to transfer my service to the new address. I was advised that I would have to cancel my existing contract and start an entirely new 12 month contract that I would be tied to (and no assurances that I would retain my terms and conditions). I am unable to cancel my existing contract without paying a cancellation fee and the remaining subscription costs until the end of my contract - unless I take out a new 12 months with them.
This to me is called BLACKMAIL!
I do not particularly want to stay with them for a further 12 months but don’t want to pay for there ’service’ when I’m not using it!
Severely tempted to just cancel the direct debit and not advise them of my new address.
February 22nd, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Hi Mark, it is tempting to do as you say but the danger is they’ll pass your details onto a credit agency and it will take you time and money to clear your name. Their treatment of you is appalling but sadly all too typical. If you only have a couple of months left on the contract, I’d be tempted to pay up and never have anything more to do with the company. Best of luck with a tricky decision.
February 26th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Yeah, came to the same conclusion. Going to research what ISP to go with next and try not to make the same mistake. It’s a shame really as I’ve never experienced any technical problems with the actual broadband - in fact I was very happy with it! Just wish they could sort out their administration and procedures.
Thanks for having a place for people to let off a little steam!
March 26th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Dear all
though you might be interested in my ongoing fight with Bulldog Customer Services. some lengthy emails copied in - you need to read from the bottom upwards
keep fighting and hopefully we will win!!!!!!
Dear all,
again I am not surprised!!!!!!!!!
I have yet to receive a response to my below emails and guess what my
telephone line is still connected to Bulldog. You business and customer
service is nothing short of a sham.
Whilst I understand that your code of practice states a 28 day turn around
for dealing with complaints I have not even received an acknowledgement that
my complaint has been received. Any decent organisation would have this as a
standard. In fact both BT and OFCOM have bothered to reply and yet this
complaint has very little to do with them.
It is clear that as a departing customer I am not important to you - fair
enough - just let me depart and return my phone line, which you are now
occupying illegally!!!!!!!!.
The below email was copied into enough people at Bulldog, senior people at
that, and yet not one has been corteous enough to reply. I am also not
stupid enough to realise that my emails will not neccessarily reach the
addressees but again your customer filter system should be good enough to at
least acknowledge receipt.
Further I contacted your customer service number again on Wednesday for an
update, surprisingly I was again connected to the billing department
(priorities I guess) and there were no notes on my account regarding any
email I had sent. You want people to talk with Customer Services and yet you
are not prepared to give your advisors the systems to handle the queries.
Furthermore, when I asked the advisor to confirm the name of your head of
customer complaints (Katrina Kenworthy) and your Chief Executive I was told
that they were unable to give me this information due to DATA
PROTECTION!!!!!!!!!!!! Get the law right, stop making excusues, and learn
about good customer service.
I was also promised a call back on my mobile regarding removing the markers
of my line - this is yet to happen!!!!!!!!
As mentioned previously I am a reasonable person and am more than happy to
have an amicable and productive conversation to resolve this matter, but I
am now only happy to have such with Ms Katrina Kenworthy, or whomever is
responsibly for your U.K. customer service. This needs to happen within 1
week of this email. Once again I can be contacted on my mobile on
07730517143.
If I do not receive such and my line is not returned to BT so that I can
arrange service from my chosen provider then I will have no option but to:
Report this matter to the Communications & Internet Services Adjudication
Scheme and seek appropriate legal advice.
I also recognise that reporting the matter to various press outlets, such as
Watchdog, is non-productive for neither party, however I will use this tool
if not suitable resolution is provided.
I will also be sending an email to this addressee list every single day from
Monday 26th onwards until contact from yourselves is received.
Once again , this can all be resolved.
Kindest Regards
Mr Matthew Hay
Matt Hay
—– Original Message —-
From: Matt Hay
To: Bulldog Broadband Customer Services Team
; complaints@bulldogbroadband.com;
katrina.kenworthy@bulldogbroadband.com;
stephen.woodruffe@bulldogbroadband.com; claire.danson@bulldogbroadband.com;
emanuele.angelidis@bulldogbroadband.com; keith.badman@bulldogbroadband.com;
kevin.paige@bulldogbroadband.com; bernard.buckley@bulldogbroadband.com;
andrew.morley@bulldogbroadband.com; elaine.safier@bulldogbroadband.com;
stefano.cantarelli@bulldogbroadband.com; harry.clarke@bulldogbroadband.com;
carlo.soresina@bulldogbroadband.com
Cc: William.Hayter@ofcom.org.uk; WhatsYourStory@my-bulldog-hell.co.uk;
catherineg@jefferies-solicitors.com; residential.services@bt.com
Sent: Tuesday, 13 March, 2007 10:20:15 PM
Subject: Re: Your enquiry ref. BDR1377678X
Dear all,
In a continuing thread I am absolutely furious and astounded at the lack of
decent customer service shown by Bulldog Communications.
You’ll note I have copied in various parties to this email in a hope of
finally drawing some sort of resolution to this complete and utter farce.
For full details of this complaint all the correspondence are contained
below.
It is with no surprise that a quick trawl over the Internet finds websites,
dedicated to the terrible customer service of Bulldog DSL, namely
www.my-bulldog-hell.co.uk, www.bulldogbroadbandsucks.blogspot.com,
www.bulldogdsl.biz, http://tinyurl.com/bedpr , www.zdnet.com,
www.theregister.co.uk, of which I have also copied in so that any enhanced
negative publicity for your awful company may be offered to any future
customers you hopefully will not attract.
It is encouraging in a way that so many other people have become
disenchanted and disappointed with the service received and provided from
Bulldog. However it certainly does not placate the circumstances of my
complaint in any way.
Working within customer services I know the importance of providing quick
and effective resolutions to complaints that can arise. Mistakes and errors
are unavoidable but the quality of a customer facing organisations is surely
determined by how such errors are rectified and corrected. Bulldog has
cemented the views of so many disgruntled customers by your lack of
effective resolution.
I would ask the senior management of the Bulldog team, whom I have copied in
as to whether or not they see the volume of complaints against your company
as acceptable and appropriate for the industry you work within. I would hope
that in sense you are not aware of the mass problems as highlighted by the
above website and other quick searches because if you are, how can you
possibly be satisfied that you are provided a 1st class option and
alternative to the increasingly competitive telecommunications market. If
this email and my complaint achieve nothing more than to open your eyes to
the inept customer service your organisation provides then I may have
achieved something at least.
To the crux of my problem then, the first part of the saga is as mentioned
below. Since I received confirmation that my account with yourselves had
been cancelled (email from Susan - Customer Operations Team - 28/02/07) I
have been able to make telephones and use the broadband connection. I have
however not been able to receive incoming calls, a facility which I’m sure
you can imagine is extremely important. I have requested on numerous
occasions that my line be transferred back to donor, i.e. BT so that I may
make alternative telecommunications arrangements. The above remains constant
as we speak.
As mentioned previously, I would expect if I was a new customer to Bulldog
then the transfer of facilities from BT would be seem less. In my opinion
the same should be true for an exiting customer.
After making a call to your customer service team on 3rd March I was told
the process could take up to 14 days to complete. Although I did question
this given I was and am receiving only a partial service I did accept it.
I have in the mean time received two email communications, quoting, and
wrongly I might add that, the account could not be discussed for data
protection reasons, which is strange given that Susan was happy to confirm
my cancellation of the 28th Feb using my *******@yahoo.com address. As I
have mentioned below Data Protection is far to widely and inappropriately
used by customer service teams. One would suggest to the senior customer
service managers of bulldog that unless you are absolutely positive of the
constructs of this law and how it applies to individual accounts you said
make it a dictate that customer service agents should not be quoting it
either verbally or on written communications. It is far too often used as an
easy get out from a difficult situation.
With no further resolution to the telephone problems nor any reasonable
response from your customer services teams I was forced to spend 40 mins
this afternoon trying in vain to contact your customer call centres. To your
credit all my goals were answered very quickly, although absolutely
inappropriately. My conversations with these teams was fruitless due to:
1. The menu choices offered at the start of the call do not relate to
customer services, in fact on three occasions of trying I arrived at billing
enquiries. A couple times I asked the operator to confirm I was speaking
with customer services, which they duly did. After embarking on discussing
the saga I was told that it was nothing to with them but in fact I need to
speak to technical. Thus I asked to be transferred. Ridiculously this was
not possible and the transfer resulted in me being transferred back to the
front menu. Another fantastic example of customer service!!!!
When I did eventually speak to the technical department I was informed it
was nothing to do with them and it was a customer service issue. Imagine my
surprise and my astonishment that I couldn’t be transferred back but would
again have to go through the menu options.
On my final attempt to discuss the situation, and bear in mind all I want is
for my ********* number to be transferred back to BT so that I may make
alternative arrangements as is my statuary right, I spoke with the menu
directed customer services. Again I asked to confirm I was speaking with the
aforementioned department and again this was confirmed to me.
Once again I had to explain the situation and once again I was told this was
the billing department and nothing to do with them. Clearly this was not
acceptable and I asked to be transferred to a UK Call Centre, as I was
speaking with a Malta based operation. Surprisingly this was not
possible!!!!!!!
Therefore I asked to speak with a manager, team leader or supervisor and was
told that there were none. After arguing the point that there must be
someone in charge the story changed to the supervisor was unavailable to and
most annoying that the supervisor does not take calls, they answer
emails!!!!!!!! Fantastic customer service yet again. Yet again I argued the
case that it is simply not good enough for a supervisor to not take calls.
Apparently they are based ‘upstairs’ and the call handler was not prepared
to either go and get them or transfer my call.
The call was rounded off by the call handler stating , “what the hell do you
think call operators are for.” Impressive customer service.
I would once again encourage the bulldog senior management to maybe carry
out some mystery shopping exercises and assess how good or bad you believe
the service to be. You cannot afford to be so far detached from your
customer base. I assure the business principle of poor customer service,
leads to reduced customer base, which results ultimately in no profitable
successful business. If my situation is repeated amongst your customer base
it will be no surprise to me that I read in a year or two that Bulldog has
fallen into financial difficulties and is no longer trading. I hope,
although I am not convinced that it will not be a surprise to you!!!
Therefore I am demanding the following:
1. A written response from Katrina Kenworthy, whom I and believe is your
Head of Customer Relations, to the issues raised in my first email as
detailed below with particular reference as to when my first email was
opened and read. It is clear I sent this on the 6th Feb and you promised to
respond in 48hrs and yet you proceeded to requested the transfer of the line
on the 9th Feb from BT
2. I want my phone line immediately transferred back to BT and a written
explanation provided as to why this has taken such an inexcusable amount of
time. I also want the confirmation of such being completed provided to me
via written communication.
3. I want written explanations as to why my original requests for answers
and resolutions were not provided to me by senior customer service managers
and why my request for such were denied to me under the obscure excuse of
Data Protection, when such communications have previously been sent to
*********@yahoo.com
4. I want a written apology and appropriate gesture of goodwill to be
provided by Bulldog for the inconvenience and stressful manner of the
service I have received. I have recently received confirmation from Talk
Talk that were unable to progress my order with them as they could not
access the line. Therefore I am unable to access a service from my preferred
supplier and will not now have telephone and internet provision for what
could be at least 30 days from whenever the line might be transferred back
to BT. Surely a huge infringement of my consumer rights.
5. I want written details of how and whom I should contact in relation to
raising this complaint with the communications ombudsman OFCOM or any other
appropriate body.
6. I have copied this email into BT Customer Service and would appreciate
their confirmation that the above mentioned telephone line has been
transferred back to them.
7. I want the above written correspondents sent to (copies to all):
********@yahoo.com
********@lets***-operate.com
and my home address as via post as detailed below.
8. I can not possible demand a want for this request but instead I would
like very much for a senior bulldog director to take time to assess your
customer services and look carefully into how they can be dramatically
improved. Employees of Bulldog may be unfortunate enough one day to find
themselves without employment due to financial failure or more aptly dire
customer service and training.
9. I am nominating my wife Catherine Hay as a secondary contact on the
account if I am not available. She therefore has the account holders
permission to discuss the account (Data Protection Act for you)
I am astounded at how badly one simple complaint can be treated. This
needn’t have got this far if simple and effective customer resolutions had
been adopted. All I ever wanted was to change my service provider. In the
digital age in which we live this should have been so very easy and I would
have left Bulldog a happy customer instead I have and will never have a good
word to say about this appalling business. To all the senior management of
Bulldog whom I have copied into this email you should be ashamed. The level
of hatred and disappointment that is present on the web is a shire
indication of how bad your services are and what a long long way your
business has to go to become a serious player in the UK telecommunications
market.
I will not let this matter lie until I have an appropriate resolution to my
many complaints and if none is received then I will not hesitate to contact
various press outlets, Watchdog, the ISPA and many other interested parties.
This is not a threat but an advisory note. However we have not yet reached
this final stage and I would end on the final note that I consider myself a
reasonable consumer. It is never too late to pull a serious situation around
and I would urge you to do so and retain the smallest of hope that this
matter can be resolved,
I look forward to and await your updates
Mr Matthew Hay
t: 07730517143
—– Original Message —-
From: Bulldog Broadband Customer Services Team
To: matty_hay@yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, 13 March, 2007 12:21:05 PM
Subject: Re: Your enquiry ref. BDR1377678X
Dear Mr Hay,
Thank you for emailing us.
Unfortunately, under the Data Protection Act we are unable to disclose any
information to anyone apart from the account holder. To verify that we are
communicating with the account holder and until you provide us with the
information below we are unable to deal with your query.
Please be advised that, we would need the following information,
1. Your order reference number (BDOL)
2. The email registered with Bulldog as this is necessary to verify your
identity and access your account, in line with .
On receipt of this information we will be able to review your query.
Alternatively, you can discuss your query with our Customer Services team by
calling 0800 404 8151.
Should you require any further information please do not hesitate to Contact
us on our free phone number 0800 404 8151. Please use the order reference in
all communication.
Order Reference: BDOL3614049
Kind Regards
Abigail Schandorf
Bulldog Broadband Customer Services Team
—– Original Message —–
From: “Matt Hay”
Date: 07 March 2007
Subject: Re: Your enquiry ref. BDR1371707X
Dear Mr Harkins,
you cannot be serious!!!!!!! Data Protection Act. I don’t think so.
I have never used my bulldog email account and for that matter do not even
know the address details of it. Furthermore I have provided reference
numbers, address details and mobile phone numbers, all of which will be
listed on my account details for verification. You are simpy using a law
that you clearly do not understand correctly to avoid answering my questions
and comments. This is not good enough and is simply terrible customer
service. As a result I will be copying this email and my previous
correspondence to OFCOM and pursing the matter through their conciliation
service.
I will however happily speak with you or continue to communicate with you
via my mobile phone details (*********) or via this email address. I am
happy to confirm security questions to progress further. I will not
communicate via the BUlldog email address, as I do not know it and there is
no easy route of obtaining this via BUlldog lounge.
Furthermore I would like to register my continuing disenchantment with the
resolution provided or more to the point the lack of which has been offered,
For over a week now I have been unable to receive incoming calls on 0161 ***
****. I am able to make calls and use the bulldog broadband connection. This
is suppossed to be a seemless process of transfer, and I expect it would be
so if I was a new customer to Bulldog.
Clearly, therefore I have received no indication from Bulldog as to the
status of my telephone and internet service and complaint. This has resulted
in my order with Talk Talk being cancelled and any subsequent order being
delay until such time as the service is cancelled, the phone line returned
to BT and the order rescheduled for at least another 30 days after this
happens. You’ll agree this is nowhere close to being good enough.
I await your response either by mobile phone or this email course,
Kindest Regards
Matt Hay
—– Original Message —-
From: Bulldog Broadband Customer Services Team
To: matty_hay@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, 7 March, 2007 4:07:02 PM
Subject: Re: Your enquiry ref. BDR1371707X
Dear Mr Hay,
Thank you for emailing us.
Unfortunately under the Data Protection Act 1998 we are unable to disclose
any information regarding the account to any one apart from the account
holder. In order to obtain the wanted information please contact us back
using the email address registered with Bulldog.
On receipt of this information we will be able to review your query.
Alternatively you can discuss your query with our Customer Services team by
calling 0800 404 8151.
NB We may require additional information. We do apologise for any
inconvenience caused.
Should you require any further information please do not hesitate to Contact
us on our free phone number 0800 404 8151. Please use the order reference in
all communication.
Order Reference: BDOL3614049
Kind Regards
Ryan Harkins
Bulldog Broadband Customer Services Team
—– Original Message —–
From: “Matt Hay”
Date: 28 February 2007
Subject: Bulldog ref: 3614049, BT ref: MR 7409 5047, Talk Talk ref :
OCv/1617245738/83712/6109
Dear Sirs,
to say I am annoyed is a little of an understatement.
As you will notice this email is addressed to Bulldog Customer Services, BT
Customer Services and Talk Talk Customer services.
The appropriate reference numbers are:
Bulldog - 3614049
BT - MR 7409 5047
Talk Talk - OCv/1617245738/83712/6109
Also you may find below my original email to Bulldog customer service sent
on the 6th Feb 2007 and acknowledged by return automated mail on the same
day with ref: BDR1339624X
If I may I would like to explain my current situation.
Over a year and a half ago I requested that BT provide me with telephonic
services and Bulldog provide me with Broadband Internet services.
I decided on the Bulldog package as it stated that an 8mg service would be
available shortly. A condition of this was that my telephone line contract
be transferred to Bulldog at the beginning of 2006. This was acceptable at
the time.
However I received 5 or 6 letters (postal) from Bulldog stating the service
couldn’t be provided as yet but they were expecting it shortly. This
continued with no available until the end of Jan 2007. At this point I had
lost heart and no longer wished to be a customer of Bulldog. I therefore
contacted Talk Talk regarding joining one of their packages. I signed up and
was told that Talk Talk would contact BT regarding transferring the
telephone line. They also gave me a go live date of the 3rd of March for
broadband provision.
I rang the Bulldog helpline on the 27th Jan and stated my intention to
cancel, I was however advised that a 30 day notice period was required. This
I found acceptable and common practice and agreed with the call handler that
I would make contact within a few days to arrange cancellation.
This I did on the 6th Feb but was unable to get through on the Bulldog
helpline after waiting for half an hour. As a result I decided to send the
below email stating my intention to cancel my contract. I deliberately asked
in the below email that someone contact me either by return email or via my
mobile number if this presented a problem. As no contact was made I assumed,
and I believed quite rightly so that there was no problem.
It was only today, the 28th Feb that I realised that my phone lines had been
transferred over to Bulldog. I had received a letter and account credit from
BT, which I assumed meant Talk Talk had taken the line from BT as per my
request. Bulldog had provided no written (postal) communication confirming
transfer of the line. They will argue this was sent via email to the
registered Bulldog address, but as I have never used this and all previous
communications have been sent via letter I would have no reason to check it
and in terms of customer consistency this is extremely poor.
However after an hour and half on the phone to Bulldog today I was informed
that they had indeed taken my telephone lines over. No one, including the
supervisor Kyle, could locate my below email stating my intentions, this was
only found when I provided the return reference. I am therefore not
convinced that it was read at all until today, which being 22 days after I
sent it is quite poor considering the 48hr SLA mentioned in the automated
response.
Talk Talk stated to me today that I would require a MAC code and a marker to
be removed form the line so that they could successfully complete the
telephone and broadband transfer.
When these two items were requested from Bulldog, I was told that A MAC code
was not required for my account and that I was to contact BT to get the TAG
or MARKER removed from the line. I argued this point and especially when I
was told that it was Data Protection Issue. How is that if I were to ring
Bulldog and ask to be a new customer that they would contact BT, or any
other service provider on my behalf to arrange all the required Markers or
Tags, yet they cannot to it in reverse. Data Protection is overused by
customer service departments and doesn’t apply in this case. It can be seen
as an easy get out.
Regardless I relented and agreed to contact BT and was told by Bulldog to
request a ‘return to donor’. This I did but was told by Martin on BT’s Tag
team that this was completely wrong and that as I was no longer a BT
customer it was Bulldog’s responsibility to request and action such
information. Martin however did inform me that the Bulldog transfer did not
occur until the 9th Feb, further indication that my below email was not read
and certainly not actioned. I would appreciate an explanation of this from
Bulldog.
After yet another call to Bulldog I eventually spoke to their cancellation
department in particular a Susan who advised me the cancellation would be
back dated to the date of my email, which would take me to the 8th March
2007. I told her that given the run around I had been given and the fact the
process of transfer had started after the below email that this was
unacceptable. She returned my call and had, had it agreed with her
supervisor that the cancellation would be effective immediately although she
was sure how long the marker would take to be removed from the line.
I have made note to several Bulldog call handlers that as a result of the
mistreatment I have received as a customer that my direct debit to them
would be cancelled below and I would not be paying for any service received
since the 6 Feb 2007.
Ultimately I am not convinced that Bulldog will action my requirements and
therefore I am detailing them for all parties to be in knowledge of via this
email.
1. I wish for Talk Talk to provide me with Telephone and Broadband services
as originally detailed with telephone services being provided as soon as is
feasible and broadband services by or on the 3rd March, as originally
agreed.
2. I wish for Bulldog Communications to cancel my contract with immediate
effect with no further billing to be issued.
3. I wish for Bulldog Communications to remove the marker or tag from my
telephone line so that the line can be ‘returned to donor’ that being BT so
that Talk Talk can complete the necessary transfer and the 0161 *** ****
number be retained.
4. I wish for Bulldog Communications to provide Talk Talk and or BT with a
MAC code, if required so that the necessary can occur with the least amount
of hassle.
5. I wish for all parties to acknowledge this email, and provide a
reasonable response by a senior customer services manager, within 72hrs.
Automated responses will be held for reference but will not be accepted as a
reasonable reply. Communications can be sent either return email or by post
to:
Mr Matthew Hay
********
********
Manchester
********
6. I wish for Talk Talk to include my wife’s detail on the account file,
those being Mrs Catherine Hay and thus give her clearence to discuss the
account as and when required.
Ultimatley, all I want to to receive and subsequently pay for is the service
agreed and ordered via Talk Talk, although I do feel that a written apology
from Bulldog Communications inclusive of an appropriate gesture of goodwill
is in order.
I do wish to conclude this unfortunate matter as quickly and appropriately
as possible hence me giving you the opportunity to respond at this first
stage. However I reserve the right to refer the matter both to OFCOM and
other interested parties such as Watchdog if I do not feel the issues
outlined are resolved.
I look forward to your replies and respective outcomes
Matthew Hay
t: 07730517143
e: matty_hay@yahoo.com
—– Forwarded Message —-
From: Matt Hay
To: customerservice@bulldogbroadband.com
Sent: Tuesday, 6 February, 2007 6:26:56 PM
Subject: cancellation of contract
Dear sirs
I am writing to confirm that I wish to cancel my contract with yourselves.
I have tried calling your helpline but was unfortunately not able to speak
to the correct person re: cancelling. I also waited in the queue for around
1/2 hour.
Therefore please take this email as notice of my intention to cancel the
contract as from 3rd March 2007 or the nearest possible date to this.
a/c BDOL3614049
Mr Matthew Hay
********
********
manchester
t: ********
I will be cancelling my direct debit with yourselves on the above date and
hope that this email suffices as notice. You can contact me on *******if you need to discuss further. Please note I am not interested in
discussing retention of contract.
I would appreciate acknowledgement of this email by return if possible.
Kindest Regards
Matt Hay
March 26th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
I thought I was the only person to be treated like crap from this ridiculous excuse for a service. They have now stopped me from making outgoing calls because I haven’t paid my bill, this is the bill that I had to ask them to send me and because of their incompetency I am suffering the consequences. They took the inital £1 activation fee but they insisted that they didn’t have my details!!! I don’t think there is any word to describe them, none of the ones I can think of are strong enough!
I am going to email every department as per Jacks’ email of 29.06.06 and see if I get an answer. I think is it a phantom company to be honest!
Will post a reply if someone replies to me…..
March 26th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Matt, keep fighting and keep us posted on your progress!
Diane, good luck. I’d advise making a complaint to Ofcom after following the procedures detailed above.
April 3rd, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Further to my above email
I am still am with BUlldog, still no contact still no resolution, still not happy,
however a further bit of information for which I thought you might be interested.
All my subsequent emails to members of the bulldog senior management team and those sent to both the complaints team and customer service have been blocked as spam. As below.
The error message indicates that your email was blocked as spam by our Signaturing anti-spam filter. Please try the following steps to resolve the issue:
A new and utter low for this shocking company - this is too difficult (well not really but hey ho) so lets just block the email address.
Still, my free broadband access will continue until they can be bothered.
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:59 pm
You have to laugh… I wonder what Ofcom would think of the fact that they’re treating emails to their complaints line as spam. I suspect that they would be less than impressed.
April 5th, 2007 at 11:40 am
I too have had the worst experience ever with Bulldog.
I made a post outlining some of the problems I had on my blog, the link is above.
Thanks for this post
April 6th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Thanks for the link.
April 22nd, 2007 at 8:28 am
Migratiion problem, Bulldog still suck
Hi all, I have been a customer wiith Bulldogbroadband for a year, I signed up April 20 2006, with 8meg package, in every day usage (speed test) only get 4meg or 6meg, speed is fine for me, but the line alway drop!!!
So I decided to switch to other ISP, and I have to ask a MAC (migration authorise code) from bulldog, and you know what…NO REPLY, and also BT can detect my phone line in their system?? Is Bulldog block their new customer on switching ISP???
Kindly advise what could I do?
April 22nd, 2007 at 10:28 am
Anthony, Bulldog by law have to give you a MAC code within five working days of the request.
There’s a clear summary of their legal obligation here: Thinkbroadband.
I’d advise you to contact Ofcom and start a complaints procedure.
I read recently that Pipex, who bought Bulldog, have laid off over half of their customer service staff so expect service to get worse.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Reading these messages certainly gives me some small hope that I am not alone! Bullshit Broadband are beyond thew pale, and as you know there is plenty of competition when it comes to corporate rip-offs and woeful lack of service…My particular experience is not very different - I know of several others with similar- but I thought it worth sharing.
After waiting an age to get connected - over a month from iniatially and ill-fatedly signing up- we suffered multiple failures in the service, without the slightest explanation ever being given. We also didn’t recieve any billing until Bullshit told us we owed them three months worth of hiked up charges…apparently you can only get the bill online. However, after we paid it, they were remarkably quick to then inform us we would have the account cancelled for late payment, and be billed for several hundred pounds for the remainder of it!!! Needless to say we told them where to go…if they threaten you, don’t be scared, remind them that THEY failed to provide what they said they would and if they want to go to court that’s fine, they won’t have a leg to stand on.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Good advice Ed. After winning your court case, you should then sue them for wasting your time.
May 4th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
I have had similar problems, fortunately I managed to get mysterious ‘additional’ charges credited back to my account. When I closed the account because of moving house I figured that as theri service is so crap they might continue to charge me - so I closed the direct debit.
So they opened a new direct debit and continued to charge me after I had moved house. They stole three months payents from me before I closed the new direct debit and rised the issue with them. Despite this they still tried to bill me - unbelievable!!
I have used the names and mail addresses on this blog to mail bomb them and report this to ciarb. I have alos demanded a refund from my bank under the direct debit gurantee - maybe this could be useful for the restof you guys.
If anyone wants support on BBC watchdog I’m in…!!!
May 4th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Another day, another unhappy Bulldog customer. Well done on taking this up with your bank, Stefano. It’s good advice for anyone else with a similar problem.
May 15th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
I have finally run out of patience with this despicable excuse for a company. They are by far the most incompetent, evasive, lying, conniving, robbing and cheating company I have ever had the misfortune to get involved with.
The final straw was when I found out that a ’supervisor’ that I had finally got to speak with the other day was simply a customer services agent impersonating a supervisor in order to placate me and get me off the line.
I have been repeatedly refused the opportunity to speak with any person in a managerial or supervisory position despite their own Complaints Code (Section III) stating that, “If they (Customer Services) are unable to help you, please ask to speak to a Team Manager, who will try to resolve your problem.” (see http://www.bulldogbroadband.com/residential/legal/code_complaints.asp).
The situation is such that I now do not have the faith in their service to believe that I am speaking to a person of responsibility whatever position they claim to hold.
Since Friday 11th May I have been keeping a journal of all my dealings with this fraudulent company. I have kept track of calls made, duration, who I spoke to, what bull they told me etc. I have also kept track of all telephone calls I have had to make using my mobile as a result of them suspending my telephone line.
It is my intention to invoice this company for costs that I have incurred. If necessary then I am prepared to incur the costs associated with pursuing my invoice through the small claims court with the intention of either getting Bulldog in to Court to defend themselves or to get a County court Judgement issued against them.
I would suggest that as many people as possible who can afford it and are willing to take them on should follow suit - the only thing that may have some effect on these robbers is litigation.
May 19th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Good luck Mike. Let us know how it goes.
Pipex - who bought Bulldog and are now themselves up for sale - are planning on offshoring Bulldog customer services so I guess things are only going to get worse.
May 21st, 2007 at 4:28 pm
I’m a Bulldog customer (1.5 years) and have not had any problems with billing or support.
Whislt Bulldog do appear to to provide very bad customer servicce to many people, some of the problems with migrations are industry-wide problems with the whole LLU set-up and BT Openreach.
Incidentally the new Ofcom rules on MACs do not apply to Bulldog lines. They only work for the ’shared MPF’ type of LLU where the provider doesn’t take over your phone line. Only way to seamlessly migrate away from Bulldog is the same way you migrated to them in the first place - what Ofcom calls the “Letter Facilitation Process”. However, there aren’t many providers that can do this (BT, other full LLU providers such as TalkTalk, etc.) and even then they are often unwillling.
May 21st, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Mustafa, many thanks for your comments and the information. It’s good to hear someone who’s had a decent experience of using them
The difficulty comes when you have a problem you want resolved and no one is able or willing to help you… Hopefully the information you’ve shared about the “Letter Facilitation Process” will help visitors to this site who are struggling to migrate away. Cheers
May 26th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
See my problem with Bulldog -
Please , take this letter as a finall complain.Should you not deal with this issue , I intend to instruct solicitors in this matter to take legal action.
I joined Bulldog Broadband in March 2006.My account number was bdol5406388.Have recieved my ‘get ready for instalation ‘ letter and my phone line number on it – 02031326163.Line has been activated few days later.I decided not to usemy phone line and not to buy hand set for this line becouse i had good deals with my mobile network.So i started enjoy my internet service.Everything was ok till i recieved my first bill.I’ve been suprised as it was 36 pounds to pay instead of 22.25 standart charge.On my billing there was few phonecalls made from my line (even if i didn’t have phone ).After this i contacted CS and they told me this is not misteake and i have to pay for this.
My next arrived bill was 59pounds and i have started to be worry about this.I’ve checked my bill and there was few phonecalls made to Brasil and Brasil mobiles ????
I contacted CS again and they told me again there is nothing wrong with my line .After that i faxed letter to CS on fax number 02071649100 (i have confirmation).In this letter i informed CS that i canclled direct debit from my account and i am waiting for respond from Bulldog.There was no answer from you and nex bill arrived with 127pounds to pay.I couldn’t believe you do nothingto sort this out , so i called CS again.
First call wos on 18/08/06 i spoken to Steven ( ref.11099502).During this conversation we noticed that i have different number conected to my house then this one on my bills.I was very happy after this as i thought this is the end of my problems.
Next day i contacted number from my bills (02031326163) and women picked up and she said to me that she is calls to spain , brasil and Bulldog doesn’t charge her for this – she pay only 22.50 ( this is what i should pay ).After this i thought i need to check what is mine real number so I’ve bought handset and ringed my mobile.Number displayed on my mobile screan was totally different than this one on bills , this number was 02081773991.Few days later i contacted CS again to check how is my case going.I spoken to Mohamed on 29/08/06 at 11.40 and then then to Louise in cancelation department and we all agreed that i need to get my correct bill for my real number.
But unfortuntly next bill was 116pounds so nothing changed.
After few hondreds phonecalls to CS i’ve been told that everything is sorted and i will recieve correct bill soon.But like before that never hapened .Next bill was 163pounds so in totall i had nearly 500 pounds to pay by misteake.
And again more phonecalls to CS and more promises.
In September I’ve decided to move to other town so I’ve been informed to cancel my contract.
After few months I’ve recieved letter on my old address remaining me that i still have to pay outstanding 500 pounds.I called CS and spoken to Jacki in billing departmen and she said that my case is passed to financial department.
In March 2007 i have recieved letter from debt collection agency that i need to pay this money back.My credit score droped down from good to poor and now i can’t even think to get loan for my new house which i would like to buy.I have been trying to contact debt collection agency on number from letter but there was no answer so i have left 3 messages 1) 03-Apr at 11.17 2)12-Apr at 11.10 3)15-Apr at 10.15.
I have never heard nothing back from them as well so i contacted Bulldog CS again on 26-May-07 (spoken to Leisly at 12.45) she transferred me to Technical Support Dept. and again to CS ( Vicky ref.15685775) and she informed me that i need to write letter to complain department.
I am dmanding the following :
- Cancel outstanding balance from my account
- Send me my final correct bill for number 02081773991 for period from 03/06 to 09/06
- Amend informations in National Credic Score system and credit reports agencies (like Expedian)
I can proof that my credit score was good ,before you charged me incorrecly for not mine phone number,and now is poor only becouse of your misteake.If this case will not be sorted and i will be refused to get a loan for my house becouse of poor credit score i am prepaed to go to court to sort this issue there.
I am waiting for your response by email or post.This is my new address :
May 26th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Radoslaw, that is terrible. I would take legal action if I was you. Best of luck in resolving the matter and clearing your credit record.
June 1st, 2007 at 3:37 pm
I have been with Bulldog for around three years. On the 5th of May I phoned them (got through immediately!) and asked them to cancel the account from 17 June, when the lease on my apartment expires. No problem, said the guy, It’s done.
However, on the 31st May I discovered that the line is to be cut from the 5th June (30 days from my original request for 17th June) because the system couldn’t handle a longer period! Worse, it was “in the system” and couldn’t be reversed. I spoke to the team manager, who explained that he didn’t actually work for Bulldog, but for an outsourced call centre, and that my request to be passed to his superior wouldn’t help, since that was the boss of the call centre and nothing to do with Bulldog management.
So Bulldog will cut my line twelve days before I want it to but it still took a hundred quid yesterday as I must pay till the end of my latest twelve-month contract.
I used to be able to go and talk to Bulldog in person at its office in Red Lion Square, London, but it left two months ago. I got from the team manager the name of Smale House, which is, in fact, a Cable & Wireless building in Great Suffolk Street in London. I went there this afternoon in the hope of talking to somebody with executive power but drew a blank.
I am NOT happy!
June 25th, 2007 at 8:38 am
Dear Tim, and fellow Bulldog Sufferers, I have been looking for many many months for of a way to try and share my frustrating and infuriating experiences at the hands of Bulldog Broadband, with others - in the hope I might save or deter some other unsuspecting from suffering, total and complete ineptitude as a customer of Bulldog Broadband.
Today, I first read over half of all the postings on your blog/website before concluding something more really should happen and that I humbly feel and would now suggest that ACTION needs to be taken. This could perhaps be in the following form:
I wonder if, through your blog/website, you might permit me to propose raising the stakes a little higher, and start a very simple campaign of public awareness, on the basis that “IT TAKES JUST ONE MAN TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD” I think that you are that Man! You have made a huge difference by taking the trouble to create this website, and share your awful awful Bulldog Broadband experiences with us. But you’ve also gone much further. In addition, you’ve given your personal time to comfort others and give strong practical advice on what they might do to resolve their sorry situations. And if “It takes just one man to make a difference in this world” then just think of the effect a whole group of us might achieve - I’m referring to your contributors, who I think might lend their support to an iniative - in order to make Bulldog sit up, take notice, but better still - CHANGE THEIR AWFUL WAYS, and treat Customers as a privilige and not an inconvenience.
My suggestion is this:
I think with a little effort, we might all be able to make a difference - what I would propose (with your agreement) would be a simple well designed poster, which I would offer to have designed, or better still, what might be more democratic and draw further attention to the “B.B.C.” thats the Bulldog Broadband Crisis, by the way, might be for a small competition from your contributors to produce the best high impact poster, something small, yet effective that is symbollic of our continued suffering, something which might drive Pipex/Bulldog’s share price down and down, until they invest, retrain and then offer an honest customer service department, who will be accountable, do what they promise, and carry this out when they say they will, and not politely tell you what you want to hear, apologise profusely, basically just LIE to you, because that will get you off their back, and let them get onto the next poor sod who has the same problem.
What I sense from reading your readers comments and poor treatment at the hands of Bulldog, is a common strong sense of feeling. And I am proposing to use that in a positive manner, as it’s very likely it could grow and grow gathering momentum.
I was initially thinking of something that initially could be produced on a laser printer, but now am thinking that if a good enough poster image could be centrally available for the public to to download, and print themselves (AND DISPLAY) in the back windows of cars, wherever can be seen by the public.
Initially I’d certainly be prepared to produce these and mail out free of charge to anyone who’s help such a cause as this by displaying a poster.
I am so incensed by Bulldog Broadband, that I would personally offer to (unless you would prefer to yourself) contribute whatever time energy and even some of my
hard earned cash to help educate an otherwise unsuspecting public. A clever Lawyer friend of mine always quotes ” THE PUBLIC HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW ” and I thing this is the sort of thing, I believe that the public would get their teeth into, rather like a Bulldog. My Father always used to tell me as a child “Once a Bulldog get’s got of you, they never let you go” and in reading your viewers comments, I have to ask the question, is that perhaps what Bulldog Broadband is synonymous with ?
—————————————————
TIM, I realised this is not very well structured, but please let me know your thoughts, I believe it could just make a difference. But welcome any thoughts or comments you’d like to make. Needless to say, please amend or delete anything here if you agree to post this submission. If you’d like to speak to me, my details are at the footer of this message. Finally whether or not you might agree to my suggestion, or any part of them, my sincere thanks to you for making this this facility possible - to voice our opinions to others, and I’m sure people will feel all the better just sharing their suffering, at the hands of Bulldog on your site.
Oh and please remember ” Bulldogs never let you go ” !!!
Thank you.
————————————————
Peter C. Moriai Monday 25th June 2007
sw9peter@btinternet.com
Flat G. 1-3 Groveway
Stockwell, London, SW9 0AH Mobile: 07702 436 617
June 25th, 2007 at 8:41 am
Dear Tim,
and fellow Bulldog Sufferers, I have been looking for many many months for of a way to try and share my frustrating and infuriating experiences at the hands of Bulldog Broadband, with others - in the hope I might save or deter some other unsuspecting from suffering, total and complete ineptitude as a customer of Bulldog Broadband.
Today, I first read over half of all the postings on your blog/website before concluding something more really should happen and that I humbly feel and would now suggest that ACTION needs to be taken. This could perhaps be in the following form:
I wonder if, through your blog/website, you might permit me to propose raising the stakes a little higher, and start a very simple campaign of public awareness, on the basis that “IT TAKES JUST ONE MAN TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD” I think that you are that Man! You have made a huge difference by taking the trouble to create this website, and share your awful awful Bulldog Broadband experiences with us. But you’ve also gone much further. In addition, you’ve given your personal time to comfort others and give strong practical advice on what they might do to resolve their sorry situations. And if “It takes just one man to make a difference in this world” then just think of the effect a whole group of us might achieve - I’m referring to your contributors, who I think might lend their support to an iniative - in order to make Bulldog sit up, take notice, but better still - CHANGE THEIR AWFUL WAYS, and treat Customers as a privilige and not an inconvenience.
My suggestion is this:
I think with a little effort, we might all be able to make a difference - what I would propose (with your agreement) would be a simple well designed poster, which I would offer to have designed, or better still, what might be more democratic and draw further attention to the “B.B.C.” thats the Bulldog Broadband Crisis, by the way, might be for a small competition from your contributors to produce the best high impact poster, something small, yet effective that is symbollic of our continued suffering, something which might drive Pipex/Bulldog’s share price down and down, until they invest, retrain and then offer an honest customer service department, who will be accountable, do what they promise, and carry this out when they say they will, and not politely tell you what you want to hear, apologise profusely, basically just LIE to you, because that will get you off their back, and let them get onto the next poor sod who has the same problem.
What I sense from reading your readers comments and poor treatment at the hands of Bulldog, is a common strong sense of feeling. And I am proposing to use that in a positive manner, as it’s very likely it could grow and grow gathering momentum.
I was initially thinking of something that initially could be produced on a laser printer, but now am thinking that if a good enough poster image could be centrally available for the public to to download, and print themselves (AND DISPLAY) in the back windows of cars, wherever can be seen by the public.
Initially I’d certainly be prepared to produce these and mail out free of charge to anyone who’s help such a cause as this by displaying a poster.
I am so incensed by Bulldog Broadband, that I would personally offer to (unless you would prefer to yourself) contribute whatever time energy and even some of my
hard earned cash to help educate an otherwise unsuspecting public. A clever Lawyer friend of mine always quotes ” THE PUBLIC HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW ” and I thing this is the sort of thing, I believe that the public would get their teeth into, rather like a Bulldog. My Father always used to tell me as a child “Once a Bulldog get’s got of you, they never let you go” and in reading your viewers comments, I have to ask the question, is that perhaps what Bulldog Broadband is synonymous with ?
—————————————————
TIM, I realised this is not very well structured, but please let me know your thoughts, I believe it could just make a difference. But welcome any thoughts or comments you’d like to make. Needless to say, please amend or delete anything here if you agree to post this submission. If you’d like to speak to me, my details are at the footer of this message. Finally whether or not you might agree to my suggestion, or any part of them, my sincere thanks to you for making this this facility possible - to voice our opinions to others, and I’m sure people will feel all the better just sharing their suffering, at the hands of Bulldog on your site.
Thank you
————————————————
Monday 25th June 2007
Flat G. 1-3 Groveway
Stockwell, London, SW9 0AH Mobile: 07702 436 617
July 8th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Pete J, that sounds annoying but compared with some people it sounds like you got off lightly. Hope the new place and presumably new and different broadband provider work out better for you.
Peter M, thanks for your kind words. You make a stirring call to arms but sadly I do not have the time to participate in such a campaign at the moment. By all means feel free to post further details explaining what you are up to but my own actions will have to be restricted to responding to comments on this post if I get a moment on weekend. Sorry I cannot participate more fully but best of luck if you decide to go ahead with your campaign.
September 28th, 2007 at 11:52 am
I’m closing comments on this thread because of a recent flux of spammers that automated methods are failing to block. Anyone struggling with Bulldog would be advised to follow the complaints procedure detailed above. Good luck to you all.