Sunday, June 18, 2017

BT Executive Level Complaints (Consumer): Request for 2nd Deadlock Letter for the Telecommunications Ombudsman (WITH UPDATE 19/6/2017)

Re: Blocks on public access to our Church and State website since 26 July 2016

From my earlier blog post's Update 19 June (8.05am):

"I have updated my blog post of 16 January with yesterday's 505th block on public access to our Church and State website since 26 July 2016. The blog post also not only reveals a record-breaking 52 such blocks in one week at the end of April (an unprecedented escalation that kicked off with our focus on Denmark's cartoon crisis; 94 blocks last month), but it reveals the daily targeting to fluctuating degrees of category pages throughout the site which continues to this day."

An unprecedented ten blocks in one day on 7 May with our publication of Atheist Ireland republishes 25 blasphemous quotes in solidarity with Stephen Fry. 21 blocks last week; five blocks yesterday; no blocks since midnight today (as of 8.05am).

The War on Free Expression

Last Thursday we had to suspend work on our Church and State website; see my previous blog post, Internet cuts: We have had to suspend work on our Church and State website in our current battle to stay online (WITH UPDATE 18/6/2017 RE: 18th Internet cut since 26 May 2017). For the time being, Declan is moving around the site material I have already published and I am concentrating my research on Denmark. It is not inconceivable that we may even have to suspend work on Facebook in our current battle to stay online. Declan copied British Telecom Chairman Sir Michael Rake into this complaint to BT's Executive Level Complaints (Consumer) about their account of what happened during an engineer's visit the week before last to provide us with a new, securely fitted master socket to replace a badly fitting master socket that was line tested on 25 May and found to be functioning perfectly:

For the attention of Sir Michael Rake, Chairman, British Telecom

Shirley Mackie
Executive Level Complaints (Consumer)
British Telecom

Address removed for email


16 June 2017

Dear Ms Mackie,

This evening I spoke with an advisor in the Ombudsman Services: Communications. I have been told that I must request a second deadlock letter before writing to them because your deadlock letter below has instigated a new complaint.

I refer to your comment in which you state as follows: "An engineer attended on 7 June, but was unable to complete the necessary work. The engineer explained he was unable to repair the current master socket and offered to provide a new, securely fitted master socket on the same wall as the existing socket. But you advised you did not want this."

I do not accept your version of what happened during the engineer's visit on 7 June (hereinafter referred to as the "Complaint"). Firstly, your account is at variance with the attached ACR recording from my smartphone that informs you that the engineer only stated before leaving my home that the work needed to be carried out by my landlord Family Mosaic, not BT. I previously provided your colleague Miranda Bracey with this recording on 7 June.

Secondly, your account is at variance with the attached engineer note from 7 June, which states as follows: "This is a Fibre customer and will need a Fibre trained engineer to be allocated." Thirdly, as you have conceded below, it was a third engineer who visited my home on 12 June and securely fitted a brand new master socket to another location on the same wall. He also carried out a comprehensive line test and could not find a problem with my line.

I therefore hereby request a second deadlock letter that provides me with BT's full and final position on my Complaint and refers me to the ombudsman service.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey



Declan received this response on behalf of Sir Michael Rake:

Hello Mr Heavey,

Thank you for your email to Sir Michael.

I'm really sorry that you've had to come back to us regarding this matter.

I will ask our team to look at the deadlock for you and contact you no later than Tuesday.

Best wishes

Tracy

Tracy Reid
Executive Level Complaints (Consumer)

27 May: British Telecom: We lose our Internet connection for the second time in two days, having not previously been disconnected from the Internet since our contract with BT commenced on 28 May 2014 (WITH UPDATE 17/6/2017 RE: 18th Internet cut since 26 May 2017)

UPDATE 19 June (11.44am): Declan has just spoken with an advisor in the Ombudsman Services: Communications. He read to the advisor the email below that he received from BT Executive Level Complaints this morning and then provided the advisor with an overview of the complaint (as above). According to the advisor, the ombudsman service could not accept the complaint because they can't tell BT "how to word their deadlock letters". Declan was told his only "next option" is to take BT to court!

Hello Mr Heavey,

We're sending you this email as you've got back in touch with us, after we've reached deadlock.

I know you're not happy and I'm truly sorry we haven't been able to agree a way forward. As we've already taken all of the steps we could to investigate your complaint, there's nothing more we can say. We'll keep adding notes to your account of anything you'd like to say to us, so as your complaint record is up to date, but we won't respond again.

How to get in touch...
find out more at www.ombudsman-services.org
Email them at osenquiries@os-communications.org
Phone them on 0330 440 1614
Fax them on 0330 440 1615
Textphone them on 0330 440 1600
Write to them at Ombudsman Services: Communications, PO Box 730, Warrington, WA4 6WU.

I'm really sorry that we can't talk about this anymore.

Best wishes,
Shirley

Shirley Mackie
Executive Level Complaints; BT Consumer



From My Picks:

9 June: Ministry of Justice: Complaint to the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice against the County Court at Central London, Royal Courts of Justice (WITH UPDATE - Day 10 18/6/2017)

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' - Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty