• Choose your broadband provider carefully.
• Which of the UK’s most popular providers has the most complaints?
• Welcome to the Xbox Pass Glitch.
Want to change your broadband provider? After the gossip? solved.
In the UK, BT customers have been taking to the broadband provider’s online forums for several months to complain about being charged for signing up for Xbox Game Pass. My bill was charged an extra £10 a month even though I hadn’t requested a subscription.
Some customers noticed additional charges when they checked their bills, while others received emails thanking them for activating their subscriptions.
“Confirmation” emails received for Xbox passes that some customers did not want.
“We are extremely disappointed that the customers mentioned in this article had Xbox Game Pass Ultimate added to their accounts without their knowledge,” a spokesperson told the BBC.
BT apologized and advised customers to be wary of similar issues.
“We encourage all customers to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious changes to their accounts by contacting us as soon as possible.
“We will support them and guide them on how to take steps to keep their accounts safe.”
That’s not very reassuring. This clearly puts the focus of vigilance on the customer rather than the provider.
It’s unclear why the charges are being added, but it would take a lot of anti-capitalist paranoia to come up with a solid reason why it might be done maliciously. The scale of the problem is also unclear. One person discovered the surcharge as recently as Tuesday, but there is also evidence of complaints dating back to October 2023.
BBC employees affected by the issue were told by customer service that it was a “known issue”.
Sue, who was also affected by the issue, contacted BT after noticing discrepancies in her internet bill. “Xbox Game Pass was added to my account without my consent. I don’t even have an Xbox, so I thought that was very strange.”
Thinking she had been hacked, she called her broadband provider and was told it was an issue with BT. Sue was refunded, but she worries that unwary customers will unknowingly pay for the service.
Mr Craig, who lives in Aberdeen, said he learned of the charges when he received an email from BT and contacted the company through a web chat service.
He was told that the error was an issue between BT and Microsoft and that “this was randomly enabled and activated on people’s accounts”.
“The terms and conditions state that there is no free period for this and that you will be charged immediately. What I’m concerned about is that I’m not alone in this, and perhaps you’re the one who sent me the email.” There could be a lot of other people out there who don’t even realize they’re there.”
Virgin Media has been named the company with the most complaints about broadband, landline and pay TV services in the UK, receiving 32 complaints per 100,000 broadband customers between July and September 2023. This secret addition may have worked to BT’s advantage.
Ah, that’s it in front BT I’m talking about the entire Xbox Pass.
Ofcom said Virgin Media’s high number of complaints was due to the regulator’s announcement in July 2023 that it would launch an investigation into how difficult it was to terminate the company’s contract and how it handled complaints.
“As well as being fully committed to Ofcom’s ongoing investigation, we are investing in every area of our business to provide our customers with the best possible experience and are committed to resolving issues on first contact. , we’re focused on making it easier for customers to interact with us so they can get support when they need it,” a Virgin Media O2 spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Sky was the best-performing broadband provider, with just five complaints per 100,000 customers. NOW Broadband and TalkTalk, in collaboration with Virgin Media, received an above-average number of complaints about their landline services. The number of complaints against NOW Broadband is also above average, although Fergal Faragher, director of consumer protection at Ofcom, said there had been a “slight increase in the number of complaints” overall compared to the previous quarter. Ta.
Next quarter’s report will be interesting: Is an unnecessary Xbox Pass worth the higher complaint rate? If it doesn’t even come with the console, you’d think so.
