BT send incorrect bills, ignore customer complaints, fail to return calls, send engineers that don’t turn up and leave us on hold on the phone for hours.

Hundreds of BT Customers have contacted us here at BT complaints at your wits’ end because BT make it so difficult to resolve even the smallest niggles. You complain of ludicrously complex electronic switchboards, countless hours stuck on hold, phone calls not being returned and call centre staff who cannot even speak our language.

Thisismoney.co.uk produced a charter for the basic level of service they believe every company should provide. It starts by focusing on the telecoms companies which, despite being in the communications business, generate more complaints than any other industry…

Britain’s internet and phone companies show a shameful disregard for their customers – leaving 4.1m people unhappy with their service every year. Official figures show that an incredible 3.3m customers have been left waiting three months or more for their phone or broadband provider to resolve a problem.

A Money Mail investigation has revealed these staggering facts:

• One in four adults in the UK made a complaint about a mobile phone, broadband or landline last year;

• One in five of all complaints to phone companies are about bills being wrong, or overcharging;

• Just 30 % of people who complained were satisfied with the result – while a whopping 42% were left unhappy. By comparison, 46% who complain to banks and 49% to retailers are left happy.

The problems run throughout the industry, from giants such as BT, Virgin, Sky and TalkTalk to smaller players including 3 and the Post Office.

Customers have been shunted from one company to another, when they have been taken over by a rival. Those with Tiscali, AOL, NTL and Bulldog appear to have particular difficulties resolving problems.

So, today, we demand firm action by regulators to force these companies to end the shambles. Some of the main problems you highlight include:

• Bills for a service for which you have not signed up;

• Phone calls which are not returned, as promised;

• Engineers who fail to keep their appointments;

• Confusing electronic switchboards which result in you being passed from department to department;

• Being left on hold for extended periods of time;

• Staff who cannot understand that you are not a technical expert, but need simple, basic assistance, and;

• A failure to take complaints seriously, or even acknowledge there is a problem.

YOUR RIGHTS

You might feel stuck in no man’s land, where the phone or broadband provider holds all the power. But you do have some basic rights:

• If your wrangle has dragged on for months, you can move to another supplier, claiming they are in breach of contract. They should not charge you an early cancellation fee;

• You are entitled to have them fix your problem for free if it isn’t your fault, though getting their engineer to admit a problem is their fault can be hard;

• If you are left without a service, then any claim will depend on your individual contract. Business customers are able to get compensation for loss of service, but normal consumers often are not;

• If you have been overcharged, you are entitled to deduct excess charges from your bill.

Pay what you think you should be charged and then write to both the customer services and the billing departments.

Joanne Lezemore, senior solicitor with Which?, warns: ‘Customer services staff and billing staff often fail to communicate with each other – so while one knows that the customer is disputing a bill, the other will not have been told. ‘This can end up with the customer getting a bad mark on their credit file.’

The ace up your sleeve is the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, which states that services must be provided with ‘reasonable care and skill and within a reasonable period of time’. This not only covers the service you receive – but the way your complaint is handled.

For instance, if you have been stuck without broadband for months, then you could argue that the company has not given your problem reasonable care in reasonable time. However, you must take all the relevant steps to ensure that the company can provide you with the service – such as following the instructions on introductory computer disks that are sent to you.

A spokesman for TalkTalk says: ‘Is the service of telecoms companies as good as the best examples in other industries? Frankly, it is not. One of the major obstacles is that if something goes wrong then we are often dealing with a bit of copper wire buried beneath your house. However, we are doing everything we can to improve service and seeing what more we can do.’

BT says it judges its service against competitors and other industries such as banks. A spokesman says: ‘We regard customer service as one of the primary ways we can persuade customers to stay with BT or join. The cost of poor customer service is very high, as the business needs to pay more to sort out the issues that should have been dealt with properly in the first place.’

Here is the original post: British Telecom Complaints

You don't hear the words “poodle,” “tinfoil hat,” and First Amendment in the same sentence often, but they are?indeed?linked in a classic Facebook melodrama.

Dale Blank runs a Facebook page devoted to accumulating as many fans as possible for a farcical picture of a beloved poodle named Bitsy sporting a tin hat — perhaps a bit like the one you might mentally draw on someone who was espousing tiresome conspiracy theories.

Blank's intentionally clumsy Photoshop job, and his quest for fans, has a specific target — Fox News broadcaster Glenn Beck.? On Feb. 8, Blank created the page with the stated intention of proving that his tin-hatted poodle could accumulate more Facebook fans than Beck, a favorite among conservative talk-show fans.?

Within a week, thanks to several bumps from the blogosphere, the poodle was well on his way, claiming nearly 300,000 fans — and enjoying logarithmic growth. Beck's page stands at about 500,000.

(Full disclosure: both easily dwarf the Bob Sullivan fan page, which sits at a modest 3,400.? Take from that what you will).

But on Feb. 18, the Facebook police arrived and broke up the party. Blank's page wasn't removed, but it was “publish-blocked.”? He could no longer post updates or solicit fans in other Facebook ways. The fan-base growth ground to a halt.

That put the tin-hatted poodle at the center of a dispute over First Amendment free speech rights and censorship. There were virtual howls that Facebook was actively siding with Glen Beck over the Poodle, that perhaps someone at Facebook was siding with the conservatives, or at least had developed a hatred for left-wing sarcasm.

In the grand tradition of the Internet, that's overstating things a bit. Facebook, as a private company, has wide latitude in its ability to take down posts and pages that it decides run afoul of its terms of service.? Even Blank said he doesn't want to raise the possibility of a conservative, subversive anti-poodle attack — that's just the kind of knee-jerk reaction he's trying to mock.

“I'm not coming from a place where I think everything is a conspiracy,” said Blank, who lives near Milwaukee.? In fact, he didn’t really have his heart set on poking fun of Beck. He simply picked the most popular target, in part to demonstrate how cheap popularity is on the Internet and on Facebook.? “I’m not so much anti-Glenn Beck as I am pro rational thought.”

Still, the conspiracy theories appeared.? It didn't help that Facebook initially failed to give Blank an explanation for taking away his ability to publish. Then, when an explanation finally arrived this week, its vagueness only added fuel to the fire.

“A Facebook administrator looks into each report thoroughly in order to decide the appropriate course of action. If no violation of our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities has occurred, then no warning will be sent,” wrote a woman identifying herself as Marissa from Facebook's User Operations department, according to an e-mail provided by Blank. “If a violation has occurred, then a warning or more severe actions are taken. Unfortunately, for technical and security reasons, we are unable to provide details regarding the removed content. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

Blank wasn't buying that.

“Technical and security reasons? That's just a cover for the real reason,” he said. “I like to think it's not a political thing. When I see some of the pages out there devoted to (criticizing President Obama) that haven't been publish-blocked, you wonder a little.? But I don't want to delve into that.? I just want to know why I was blocked.”

Facebook offered a generic explanation to msnbc.com in an e-mail.

“Pages are meant for entities like public figures, musical artists, businesses, and organizations so they can share information, interact with fans, and create a highly engaging presence on Facebook.? They're distinct from groups or personal profiles and designed specifically for these entities’ needs to communicate, distribute content, engage fans, and capture new audiences virally through fans’ recommendations to their friends,” the statement said. “We restrict the publishing rights of Pages that impersonate other entities, represent generic concepts, spam users, or otherwise violate our Pages guidelines.? Unless they also violate our content policies, however, these Pages are left up so that those who are interested in seeing their updates and interacting with them can still do so. These policies are designed to ensure Facebook remains a safe, secure and trusted environment for our users.”

Some might find that explanation vague as well. But before providing some helpful speculation on Facebook's actions, it seems necessary to offer some context for Blank's Poodle-vs.-Beck vote-off.? When creating the page, Blank drew on a Facebook fan-building technique that's been around at least since January.

The “bet this can get more votes than that” format has exploded in popularity in recent weeks. There's even another Facebook page that asks, “Can this dung beetle get more fans than Glenn Beck?”? But Beck is hardly the only target.? The trend appears to have taken off with a page devoted to discerning whether a picture of a pickle — yes, the kind you eat — could amass more fans than the Canadian band Nickelback. The pickle, with 2.6 million sign-ups, has won the battle, at least for now.

Nor are the groups limited to witty liberals or music haters. A group allowing people to vote for a picture of a steak over the animal rights group PETA has amassed hundreds of thousands of sign ups.

?To its credit, Facebook has recently taken a hard stand against the presence of hate groups on its site, and is working much more quickly to remove offensive material.? That, in some cases, includes pages which serve no purpose other than to criticize famous people or organizations. Facebook users have reacted by creating these “this can get more fans than that” as a clever end-around to counter elimination of these “hater” pages. So Blank thinks that Facebook might be putting a halt to these new pages, too.

Blank spent a lot of time reading the Facebook policy for fan pages. They require that a fan page be devoted to some kind of sincere commercial enterprise, and the creator have a real link to that enterprise.? The rules became an issue during the Olympics, when a user created a fan page devoted to the wacky Norwegian Olympic team's curling pants. Facebook temporarily shut the page down, until the creator linked to a Web site selling the pants.

Blank feels he's satisfied the requirement by purchasing the domain BobTheWonderPoodle.com, and linking to that site.

Fast growth might be the problem.

Another possible explanation, according to Blank: Facebook keeps a close eye on groups that experience overnight, logarithmic growth.? In the wake of the Haiti disaster, hundreds of groups sprang up claiming that they'd donate $1 for each new member, or offering some similar crowd-gathering incentive.? The groups enjoyed astronomical growth, but — again, to the firm's credit — they were quickly removed out of concern that spammers might take advantage of members, and that many of the claims were fraudulent.

“There seems to be a crackdown on anything that shows rapid growth,” said Blank, a Web developer by trade. “But if they are trying to crack down on that, there is no clear policy.”

Also unclear – and a question that might never be answered– just how popular could a photo of a dog wearing tin hat be?

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Source: The Red Tape Chronicles

Warning: This post is a rant at BT. It describes a recent BT customer experience in trying to get the new BT Infinity service, based on fiberoptic cable. As it turns out, there are a few issues with this …

A few weeks ago I got a friendly phone call from British Telecom (BT), leaving a voice mail on my answering machine, saying that they now have fiber-optic cable in my neighborhood, and that they offer me an upgrade, as one of the first customers. Well, great idea! So I called them, and yes, this new BT Infinity was indeed available, and they referred me to the web site where I could find out more. I entered the phone number, and yes, the estimate of my speed would be about 20 Mb. So I followed the online instructions, everything quite easy and straight forward, and after a few minutes I got a confirmation email that the equipment would be sent soon and that an engineer appointment has been set up. Great – really good!

So in 1.March I stayed at home in the morning between 8:00-13:00, when the engineer would come and connect everything. I should have gotten suspicious when there was no package being delivered with the promised equipment, but then I thought the engineer might bring it. I checked online, and yes, the order was being tracked ok, and the appointment appeared to set up properly.

When nobody showed up that Monday morning, I called BT. And the nice lady with her strong Scottish accent tells me that there was a problem – the order never had “gotten through”. What about the confirmation email? And the online tracking? Nope, somewhere in “the system” the order was not processed, and no actual work order had been issues. Well, since this is such a new service, I could understand some glitches. So we rescheduled for the next week.

This time everything appeared to be scheduled properly: Got a confirmation SMS, also received a very nice custom-printed announcement, on glossy paper, individualised for my address, looking very posh! And the new BT Homehub arrived in the mail too. Great, was looking forward to get upgraded. So on 8.March I again stayed home in the morning, waiting for the engineer who was supposed to come between 8:00 – 13:00 (pretty long time window, but I can understand that sometimes the planning and scheduling cannot be done in smaller windows, due to possible delays and unexpected problems). When at 13:15 still nobody had shown up, I called BT; they tried to ping the engineer, but while I was on hold he actually called on the other phone line – he would be there in 20 minutes. Ok, I am a patient person.

He comes, sets up the equipment. There needs to be a new splitter installed, to separate phone from data lines. The data line goes into a white box which is probably the DSL modem. Then there is still the new BT Homehub, which now simply acts as a hub interface for the ethernet network, the WiFi, and the BT Broadband Talk. Works all fine, but the engineer’s measurement only indicate a data rate of about 4-5 Mb. It turns out that the fiber-optic connection is only going up to the last connection box, from where the data signal then is transmitted over the conventional phone cabling.

This speed is of course lower than advertised, but is about 8x more than the line supported before. So I am happy to leave it at this lower speed. The engineer drives away to check something at the exchange or the last connection box, maybe the speed could go up. He thinks that this low speed is due to the distance of my endpoint to the connection box, and he says that probably nothing can be done.

Ok, so far, so good – at least this is a much faster connection than before. And if the story ended here, I would have never posted it, despite the few little kinks in the process.

But wait, this is not the end of the story: after an hour, the engineer comes back, dismantles the whole setup, and puts back on the old previous connection which is at about 500 kB. What? “For legal reason, BT cannot give customers an access to fiberoptic cable at a speed lower than 15 MB”. Despite the fact that the line would support 4MB and was working ok without errors on the “fiberoptic connection”, I was not allowed to get this speed.

So all the grieving and tolerating of those BT delivery failures – for nothing. Hence the headline of this post – I hope many people read it!

Summary
What BT needs to fix in their rotten internal procedures and policies:

• They need to make sure that the BT Infinity service is only offered to people who actually will receive the promised speed. This requires both to revise their telephone marketing and their online phone test tool for checking available speeds.
• BT further needs to revise their online booking system for the BT Infinity offer, to ensure that customers’ orders actually are being processed.
• BT finally needs to revise their current “legal position” which robs the customers of the possibility to increase their broadband speeds by at least a modest amount. The policy of “all or nothing” is not customer-friendly at all.

Having said this, I will concede that all the people I have spoken to at BT appeared friendly and competent – so I have not given them a hard time at all but remained friendly and patient in my interaction with them. I chose not to complain to them by a phone call to their customer service – this would only hit the wrong person, the poor chap whose ears probably fall off from all those customer complaints. Instead I want to bring this disaster to the public, and I hope that it helps to change something at BT – this company simply does not appear to be able to fulfil its vision of providing adequate IT services to Britain.

Original post: British Telecom Complaints

Here is a BT complaint regarding the unlimited evening and weekend plan that BT customer service often like to sell customers.

Dear BT

I do not want your Unlimited Evening and Weekend Plan! I do not have a contract for this and never have had one so I certainly don’t want to “Renew” it as your latest letter suggests.

The charge was added to my last bill and I want a refund.

I am fed up with receiving unsolicited calls and letters from BT, I went through all this a year ago when you added some spurious cost to my bill and refused to remove it for months. Your people ring up and waffle on for ages giving at the very least misleading, if not wrong, information that cannot be checked until later.

I only take the line from BT, all my calls a through a different company as they are much more pleasant to deal with. If this treatment continues I will be reporting BT to any, and every, complaints service I can find and be forced to find an alternative to your service”

Original post created by: British Telecom Complaints

A broadband complaint sent in by a BT customer who experienced problems and inconvenience at the hands of BT.

Dear BT Complaints

Ordered BT phoneline and broadband in November 2009 whilst still living in Cyprus. Confirmed by letter that phoneline to be connected from 1 Dec 09 but didn’t get connected until 4th December 2009. On moving from abroad I needed a phone to contact removal etc. Had to go and buy a mobile phone from Tesco ?20.

Broadband not connected until 12th December – Needed internet to find a car, had to make phone calls on mobile and land line during peak hours when internet would have been used. I feel I’ve not been able to get a good deal on insurance either as would have used comparison sites – again no internet.

When we eventually got internet it was slow and even disconnected by an engineer outside our house! BT stated we could be charged ?120 if found to be our problem, I didn’t get a chance to charge BT for being their problem!

Asked to have direct debit on 1st of month – No,? you charged me for three months in one go in the middle of month putting me overdrawn costing me ?15. On my BT online billing it states that on the 1st March payment butit has still not come out – Why?

I was looking at getting BT Vision – NO WAY, WORST COMPANT SINCE TISCALI!!!

Here is the original post: British Telecom Complaints

Technology was supposed to make our lives simpler and save us time. In many ways, it's done just the opposite. Last month, we took a look at how often our gadgets let us down, and how screen-based devices are literally rewiring our brains and robbing people of focus and social skills.? But we left one of the more obvious techno-fear topics — information overload — for another day.?

A new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project suggests consumers are coping with the avalanche of information they receive in unexpected and often successful ways.? So today we’ll discuss?both that silver lining and the gray cloud inside of it.

Having all the world's information, and very nearly all the world's people, just a click away seems like a fantastic development for humankind. But how much is too much?

The Economist magazine recently reported that the total amount of information in the world is growing 60 percent annually, and that U.S. households digest 34 gigabytes of data per person per day.

That's not information overload; it's practically electrocution.? But the Pew study sheds some light on how U.S. consumers are dealing with the surge — they're getting a little help from their friends.

In a new report called “Understanding the Participatory News Consumer,” Pew says that one third of consumers have commented on news stories or shared them through social networking sites, half “rely on people around them to tell them when there is news they need to know,” and 8 out of 10 get or share links in e-mail.

“Consumers are using social networks to filter, assess and react to the news,” the report concluded.?

In other words, one sure-fire way to build Web traffic is to get a social network user to yell at all their friends, “Hey. Look at that!”

“Yes, there is a lot of that going on,” said Lee Rainie, who runs Pew's Internet research. “People are getting their news through recommendations in social spaces.”

New participation, new loyalty

Those are just a few of the findings in the Pew study, which suggested that consumers are driving news creation and even story selection like never before.? In a moment, we're going to ask you about the ways you consume news and deal with information overload.? But first, here are more tidbits from the study.

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While the changing online news user seems loyal to their friends and their recommendations, loyalty to specific online news brands is evolving differently. Only 35 percent say they have a favorite place to visit for news — contrast that with consumers' relatively fierce loyalty toward Coke or Pepsi, Burger King or McDonald’s.?

“There is some level of loyalty but it's striking that people didn't say, 'Oh yeah, all the time, I am always checking out this Web site,” said Rainie “We didn’t expect that. We thought people would have a favorite, even if they were just 'grazing' on news. We were betting the percentages would be reversed.”

On the other hand, Web users are loyal to a small family of Web sites they trust.? The majority of online news consumers (57 percent) visit only two to five Web sites to stay updated.? Only one in 10 users said they regularly visit more than five news sites.

Rainie cautions people on comparing the loyalty numbers to other media or other consumer products. Many people prefer one news anchor to another, or prefer Coke to Pepsi. But clicking on a Web site or blog represents a different kind of choice.? Picking Coke necessarily means picking against Pepsi, and watching one network means not watching another. But on the Web, people are free to split time among multiple sources.?

“You are not being disloyal if you click on a link from someone to another Web site,” he said. There’s no rejection involved. Online, people simply follow a click trail. “On the Web, it's more like an impulse buy.”

With consumers trusting a circle of friends to keep them updated, professional journalists are becoming just another member of this intimate circle that serves as filter, Rainie said.

“A notable number of Internet users are beginning to treat news organizations, particular journalists, and other news mavens as nodes in their social networks,” the report found. Fully 57 percent of U.S. adults use a social networking site, and 97 percent call themselves online news consumers.

New platforms

Pew's research makes obvious that consumers are faced with an ever-growing list of choices. Fully 26 percent of U.S. adults, 33 percent of cell phone owners and 88 percent of mobile users are what Pew calls “on the go” users, meaning they use the Web to access news on their phones, the study found.

Meanwhile, “participation” in news is nearly as popular.? Commenting on news stories — as readers do on the Red Tape Chronicles or Newsvine — has become almost a mainstream activity, with one in four respondents saying they'd done so. “On-the-go” news users are even more dedicated, with half saying they had engaged in personal commentary.

On the other hand, despite all the talk about Twitter (which just passed?the 10 billion Tweet milestone), only 3 percent of users said they'd Tweeted about news.? Twitter updates – either from professional journalists or friends – were the least commonly used news source among the general population, the study found.? But Twitter users are an intense and devoted bunch. Nearly 100 percent are engaged in sharing news online and in other forms of participation.

Tools vs. overload

This level of active participation is not what you'd expect from a group of consumers cowering under the mountain of data headed their way every morning. This group is not disengaging because they can’t keep up. In fact, the Pew study shows that people who participate in news stories are much more likely to follow that story over time, and to care about the outcome.? It's a mixed bag, Rainie said.

“Information overload is part of the story, but not the whole part,” Rainie said.? “Some people are participating because they have so much choice in news and in life. Some people are probably disengaging. ?But some people are more engaged. …? Some people do it because they can.? The tools (for participating) are very good now.”

Meanwhile, almost half of Web users (44 percent) say they have signed up for nifty technology that lets “the news find them,” Pew said.? They use an alert service, automated Web site updates, e-mail, or social networks to get headlines and stories delivered right to their screens. Slightly more than one quarter of Web users say they receive such passive news delivery at least once a day.

News snackers vs. deep divers

Clearly, some news consumers have changed their habits. Instead of spending 60 minutes reading a newspaper or 30 minutes watching a newscast, they might spend 5 minutes on a Web site or even just 60 seconds scanning headlines posted by friends on Facebook . This group is sometimes referred to as “news snackers.” Rainie calls it “drive-by” headline scanning.? There's concern that this group is learning less about their world and will be less able to participate in the political process. But even here, Rainie cautions against generalizations.

“We didn't ask equivalent questions in 1976, like ‘How many of you are done with the newspaper in 3 minutes,’” he said. “Obviously, some people just scanned newspaper headlines, too. Meanwhile, people who care about a subject now have a lot more opportunity to get documents, video clips, and commentary. They have the ability to dive deeply into stories, sometimes for hours.”

It's far too optimistic to suggest news consumers are winning the war on information overload, but Rainie thinks the new tools have at least given them a fighting chance.

“People are learning how to arrange the information universe around them, and learning how to be on alert in an environment that has this capacity,” he said.? “They are learning to open themselves up to more input from friends, and they can customize their sources to focus on subjects that matter to them.? The technology is quite robust for doing these things.”

But not everyone is being taken along for the ride.? Lurking behind this debate about the new news consumers is a potential widening of the digital divide. Will consumers who don't Tweet, use Facebook, leave comments or post cell phone video fall ever further behind? While about one-third of the Internet audience is now fiercely engaged in posting news stories, arguing online or linking to video clips within sophisticated social media sites like Facebook, a host of other Americans don't have high-bandwidth access or the know-how to get involved.

“This is a long-standing concern of political scientists in general,” Rainie said. “Even before the Internet there was a lot of evidence and research that people who were not deeply engaged with communication didn't take advantage of media sources, and, how would their voices be heard? … Online news participants are still upper class and well educated.”

This might leave consumers with a stark choice: participate or perish.

“People have to either be engaged, or be left out,” he said.? “Many people lack the technology and the tools to take full advantage of this new environment that gives them the capacity to be more involved.? We have to make sure that there is fundamental access to the new tools for participation.”?

What about you? Do you feel more engaged or more overwhelmed? Are you using new tools like Twitter and Facebook as much as Pew thinks you are?? Do you like participating in debates on blogs like the Red Tape Chronicles? Have you personalized news sources? Are there other news and information tools you are craving, or that you imagine would be helpful?? What subjects would you like to hear more about?? Leave your comment here, or if you prefer, discuss on my Facebook fan page, follow me on Twitter, or Tweet about this story to your friends.

The original post: The Red Tape Chronicles

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Visitors to FreeCreditReport.com will soon see this bold disclosure.

Like the song says, he should have seen it coming at him like an atom bomb.

The singer of those FreeCreditReport.com jingles might sound?a bit less peppy?now that the Federal Trade Commission is making the company behind the ads — credit bureau Experian — face the music.?Heavy-handed disclosures aimed at ending years-long confusion over free credit reports will begin to appear in the ads next month. The changes are among new consumer protections enacted by Congress in the 2009 Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act.

In one disclosure viewed by msnbc.com, the top of the FreeCreditReport.com Web site was covered with a large grey block with type that read:? “You have the right to a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com … the only authorized source under federal law,”? with an obvious link to the site.? Consumers who still want to sign up with FreeCreditReport.com would have to scroll down and enroll in the paid service offered by Experian.

“That's what we were aiming for,” said Maneesha Mithal, an FTC attorney. “Congress wanted?the disclosure to be really prominent.”

Many Web sites, including FreeCreditReport.com, claim to offer free credit reports, but do so only as a come-on for costly credit monitoring subscriptions services.?

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Market leader Experian, which owns the coveted FreeCreditReport.com Web address, began advertising heavily in 2003 after Congress mandated that U.S. consumers were entitled to?a free copy of their credit reports every year. The FTC has been in a legal battle with the site ever since. Experian has been forced to issue refunds and pay more than $1 million in fines, but that didn't quiet the crooning of Eric Violette, the star of the FreeCreditReport.com ads.

In what might be a first in consumer protection history, the protracted FTC-Experian legal fight actually included a foray by the government agency into comedy.?Last year, the FTC created a spoof ad, poking fun of the FreeCreditReport jingles while trying to warn consumers that they might end up paying for something they could get for free.

Throughout the legal wrangling, the FTC has fielded numerous complaints from consumers who thought they were getting their congressionally authorized free credit report, only to find they had been signed up for a $14.95 monthly subscriptions they didn't want. Msnbc.com has been inundated with complaints too, and has written several stories about the issue, including a 2007 piece titled “Don't fall for FreeCreditReport.com.”

It's hard to imagine the new warnings not putting a dent in the confusion – and that could be bad for Experian’s bottom line.

Experian does not break out its FreeCreditReport.com sales, but in advertising for the site the firm claims to have served 20 million consumers. ComScore MediaMetrix says the site is the No. 1 ranked “financial advice” Web site, with 6 million visitors each month.? Experian invested heavily in the market back in 2002, when it acquired FreeCreditReport.com for $130 million.

In anticipation that the gravy train might end, Experian has been spending about $70 million annually on FreeCreditReport.com ads, according to the New York Times.

The new disclosure law applies to any firm that claims to offer a free credit report, Mithal said. Anticipating the next round of regulatory cat-and-mouse, the rule requires the prominent disclosure to appear on every page where the words “free credit report” appear, she said.

Experian and its competitors must begin adding disclosures to their sites immediately, but the precise warning prescribed by the FTC doesn't have to appear until April 1.?That's why some visitors to the FreeCreditReport.com are currently seeing much more humble disclosures, with only a single line of text –?in a small font and not?hyperlinked — atop the page. The firm said it was testing different disclosures.

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Television ads also will have new warnings: visual and audio disclosures directing viewers?to AnnualCreditReport.com.

The Web site warnings were designed by the FTC’s Web design staff, Mithal said, after receiving input from industry members and consumer groups. It's unusual for a government agency to tell a?company precisely what to put on its Web site, but Mithal said the FTC has at times forced firms to include new disclosures through court orders or other rule-making procedures. This new disclosure has a bit more legal heft, however, arising from a direct order by Congress.

It's taken a long time — five years — for the FTC to settle on a way to clear up the confusion over free credit reports. What took so long?

“We've been monitoring the marketplace for a long time,” Mithal said. “We have had a lawsuit against (Experian), we've done (court) orders. But at some point Congress said this isn't working. So it's been a process.”

Experian, in a statement, said it was playing by the rules and has always done so.

“Experian has been, and will continue to be, in compliance with the FTC's rules regarding the marketing of free credit reports,” the firm said in a statement to msnbc.com. ?”We remain committed to clearly and conspicuously disclosing to consumers that the free report we offer is not the free annual credit file disclosure provided by federal law, and plan to comply with the FTC's rules by April 1.”

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Dear BT Complaints, I thought I would write to you and make you aware of the issues I have had recently with BT Vision / Broadband and phone connection. The story so far…two letters.

First Letter to BT

I moved on the 5th February 2010 to the above address, not wanting a satellite dish or cable I did some research on BT packages I applied on line for the More Access Package. I then received two letters dated the 3rd February 2010 (copies attached). The letter explained that an engineer would come to my flat and set up ‘everything’. I arranged to take the day of work, on that morning I had a call to explain that the engineer was off sick so would not be able to attend and would be with me the next day at 8 am.

At 10.30 the next day I called and was told that the engineer had been to the exchange and the line was working, it was however not working ,they would try and get an engineer to me. Why the engineer had not called to say that they would not now attend as I was waiting at home did not make sense. Your operator said that if they can fix faults from the exchange it may not be necessary to visit the flat.. If the engineer had called I could have explained that there was indeed a problem as the line was ‘dead’ I could have waited all day for an engineer that was never going to arrive.

A couple of days prior to that I had received two texts from BT which said that the line should be active and call this number if it wasn’t. Well it wasn’t so I called the number it was not answered until 10.30 I had received the text early morning, when it was eventually answered I was told not to worry and the engineer would sort it out when they came.

I was now waiting at home day two with no sign of an engineer, no BT Vision Box and no Broad band router. I phoned your call centre and this time the call was picked up by your Indian centre. The lady was unable to understand my query so I spoke to a supervisor Praven I explained the situation for about the fifth time. Praven said he would sort it out personally and call me back in 30 minutes. I received a call from the call centre not Praven. He had promised to handle it personally, I refused to speak with the lady and spoke to Praven, he could not understand why I would not speak with his staff I explained that he had promised to deal with me personally.

At this point a BT van pulled up outside it was an engineer, she came in to fix the fault. She was great. It was then I realised that she was just hear to correct the fault not to install BT Vision or Broadband. She fixed the line and left, I called BT to see where my equipment was:

• Vision Box not dispatched
• Broadband sent to wrong address and was on way back to BT.

The operator re ordered the Broadband Router and confirmed that the Vision Box would be sent to my work address as I could not take any more time from work.

Broadband has now arrived and was easy to set up; Vision Box arrived last week and was easy to set up.

I sat down last night to see what I could do with BT Vision, not a lot everything I wanted to do was chargeable, even 99p to watch a replay of a programme I had watched in the week. I could not see what the ‘More Access Package’ included; it seemed to be absolute rubbish. I considered cancelling it. I phoned BT to see what indeed I had. I can tell you what I didn’t have:

• The More Package
• Free calls daytime weekend and evening
• Replay
• Picture Box
• Kids
• Sport
• Music

I had not been given any pack and was on the basic option. The operator was unable to give me the More access package as that was an internet package and offered the Silver package which was new to me. She explained that it was the same. She could not set me up last night as I had an ‘open order’ So will call me back tonight to go through the application when I have already completed this on line several weeks ago……

I think you can see that this has been the most complicated, stressful and difficult application for something which on line looked so easy. I wish now that I had applied to Sky or Virgin.

I have been promised three months free line rental however I have no doubt that I will indeed be charged, and this offer from BT was made before the latest errors.

Iam writing really as I would like the whole process from application on line to installation reviewed as I think it has several serious downfalls. As a customer it has not been easy, pleasant or in any way enjoyable. As off now I still have no BT Vision.

Second Letter to BT
I write further to my letter of the 25th February 2010. As of yesterday I was waiting a call last night from one of your agents to correct my BT Vision and phone package. I had been told that it would be around 5.30pm. At 7.39pm I called your customer services after about 10 to 15 minutes to get through the agent could not tell me any information as there was still an open order.

This was now getting silly and very frustrating I asked to cancel my agreement and obtain my MAC code. I was transferred after another long long wait to Brian Faughy who took all my details and said ‘is it ok if I put you on hold?’ I said that was fine and what did he do ??? put me back in the phone queue. After another 10 minutes the call was answered by Anna who refused to help me if I could not supply my account number. I asked to be transferred to a supervisor and was put through to Shaila.

Was very nice and again I had to explain all my problems, she then transferred me after a long wait to Lee in your cancellation department. Lee was the most helpful and I thought understanding guy I had spoken to at your company. He understood but it was not in his power to help or put it right. He gave me a MAC code and I ended the call at 9pm.

I was stressed and angry I think the Brian Faughy incident was the final straw. This morning I have signed up with Plusnet for Broadband and Telephone and I really cannot face dealing with your company any more. I have cancelled the direct debit. I would ask that the final bill does not include any costs for calls made as I should have been on the free calls anytime package. Infact if I receive any bill for this fiasco I will be very annoyed. I think that you should pay me compensation for the two days spent waiting for your engineers and the many hours I have spent on the phone trying to sort this out. Please do look at my phone usage to see how long it has taken me to get to this point.

I guess I am more disappointed with the service I have received from some of your staff, why there is not a single person that could have helped make this an easy transition I do not know

The original is here: British Telecom Complaints

For the first time since the Federal Trade Commission started counting 10 years ago, the number of Americans reporting identity theft dropped in 2009, the agency said Thursday.? The drop was significant – about 10 percent – but doesn’t necessarily indicate the crime is disappearing.? The 278,078 reports taken last year still represent more than any year prior to 2008.?

Meanwhile, reports of other kinds of fraud to the agency skyrocketed by 24 percent, with consumers telling the FTC they had lost $1.7 billion in those frauds.? The median lost per complaint was $399.

Tops among this “other fraud” category were debt collection firms.? Nearly 10 percent of all complaints taken by the FTC involved debt collection, totaling nearly 120,000.? Debt collection complaints jumped by 11 percent from last year.

Other credit-related complaints also jumped, including complaints about credit cards, which more than tripled from last year.? Complaints labeled “banks and lenders” were up by nearly 50 percent.

The results can be found in the FTCs annual report of top complaints to its Consumer Sentinel database, which was released Wednesday morning. John Krebs, director of the Sentinel database, said the jump in complaints about financial companies should come as no surprise.

“These do seem to be in line with what we’ve seen given the state of the economy,” he said.

Krebs cautioned against viewing the drop in ID theft reports as a trend, because the complaints represent only self-reported information from consumers.? Still, multi-year drops in reports of a particular type of ID theft involving credit card fraud provide a reason for optimism, he said.

“Hopefully some of that represents increased awareness by consumers and increased vigilance by industry,” he said.

Once again, most consumers reported their first contact with fraudsters generally arrived via the Internet – 48 percent said e-mail, while another 12 percent said a Web site. Only 10 percent of complainers said their incident began with a phone call, perhaps an indication of the success of the Do Not Call list, Krebs said.

Other notable observations from the FTC data: Nevada is the state with the highest per capita rate of reported “other” fraud, followed by Colorado and New Hampshire.? Florida is the state with the highest per capita rate of reported identity theft complaints, followed by Arizona and Texas.

Credit card fraud (17 percent) was the most common form of reported identity theft, followed by government documents/benefits fraud (16 percent), phone or utilities fraud (15 percent), and employment fraud (13 percent). Other significant categories of identity theft reported by victims were bank fraud (10 percent) and loan fraud (4 percent).

Krebs said it’s hard to draw definitive conclusions from the raw data that the agency releases every year, other than to serve as warning to consumers that fraud is alive and well.

“Clearly whether the number goes up or down, ID theft and fraud are still major issues,” he said. “The key message is it’s still out there, and with each new situation that arises in the economy fraudsters try to take advantage of it.”

Krebs urged consumers to maintain a healthy skepticism and to take advantage of educational materials available on the FTC’s Web site, including a new video with tips on avoiding fraud and filing complaints.

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THE FTC’S 2009 LIST OF TOP COMPLAINTS
Rank	Category	No. of Complaints	Percentages
1	Identity Theft	278,078	21%
2	Third Party and Creditor Debt Collection	119,549	9%
3	Internet Services	83,067	6%
4	Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales	74,581	6%
5	Foreign Money Offers and Counterfeit Check Scams	61,736	5%
6	Internet Auction	57,821	4%
7	Credit Cards	45,203	3%
8	Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries	41,763	3%
9	Advance-Fee Loans and Credit Protection/Repair	41,448	3%
10	Banks and Lenders	32,443	2%
11	Credit Bureaus, Information Furnishers and Report Users	31,629	2%
12	Television and Electronic Media	26,568	2%
13	Health Care	25,414	2%
14	Business Opportunities, Employment Agencies and Work-at-Home Plans	22,896	2%
15	Computer Equipment and Software	22,621	2%

Original post: The Red Tape Chronicles

You probably have a workout buddy. You might have a dieting buddy.? Maybe you are part of a moms' support group or a car pool. Perhaps you decided to run a half-marathon this year, but only after one of your friends promised to train with you.?

So why don't you have a stop getting ripped off buddy?

We all know the power of social commitments and positive peer pressure.? It's oh so much easier to wake up at 6 a.m. and go running when you know a friend is waiting for you at the corner — and you'll face her mocking wrath if you don't show.

We also know that everyone hates overpaying for credit cards, pay TV or cell phone service — yet we're all busy and hate the hassle of fighting back. We're distracted, we dread all the time spent listening to hold music, we fear rejection.? We know we should, but we just don't get around to it.

Now's your chance to take a stand.

We're going to harness the power of public commitment to motivate one other to take on unfair fees and charges. ?Today, we're starting a new msnbc.com feature — the Red Tape Fight Pledge.? Click now to join a Facebook group devoted to helping you take on companies and monthly bills that just aren't right.? Pledge?to spend one hour in the next 30 days fighting against a company that’s trying to take you to the cleaners, then come back and tell everyone how you did.? Your stories will be part of upcoming msnbc.com Red Tape Chronicles reports.

But more important, you'll have made a public commitment to make that phone call or write that letter you've been putting off. To give up that one lunch hour to make sure your cable company isn't overcharging you. And you'll swap success stories and tips along the way.? Found a phone number that worked? Great.?Have a Web site that helped you find the right customer service department?? Tell everyone.?And if you hit a brick wall, share that too.?You might find an answer from a compatriot here.

To kick start the effort, here's a few ideas

*This month I will call my pay TV company and tell them I want the same discounted deal they give new customers. Why should I be punished for being loyal?

*I'll research a new credit card.? My bank has hiked my rate and lowered my limit, so it's time to shop around for new plastic. I tried 6 months ago, but I think it's time to try again. Things may have changed.

*I hate my bank, so I will research small community banks and credit unions.? I hear it takes a little effort to switch, but one solid lunch hour might be enough.

*I will carefully examine my 401(k) holdings. I've heard that some mutual funds have high expense ratios, and that those fees could eat up one-third of my retirement fund before I reach 65.? I will switch to low-cost index funds instead.

There are plenty of others.? So jump over to the Facebook group now and leave your pledge. And remember to come back within a month and tell us what happened.? We'll offer helpful reminders right in this space.

Now, fight for your money!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE 'RED TAPE FIGHT PLEDGE' on Facebook.?

(In this case, comments won't be accepted on today's blog. Place your comments on the Facebook?group, please.)

Author: The Red Tape Chronicles