Sports fans are being warned to check their bank accounts, after a 'technical issue' left some families £100 out of pocket earlier this week.
BT Sport has apologised to customers after 'technical issues' led to customers being charged up to five times their regular £25 fee for their monthly passes, leading to an angry deluge of social media posts, with many people saying they had been shocked to see five separate debits from their bank account.
@hannasnowdon said on Twitter : "You have taken my monthly payment today but you keep taking it! You have taken it four times so far today! Please help can’t get anywhere with online chat," while @KeeKee74690889 asked: "Care to enlighten me why you’ve taken 4x £25 payment from me within the last 2 hours? Are you going to keep taking them every 30 minutes for the rest of the day? I have 0 emails from bt."
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While BT Sport were quick to try to reassure customers they were aware of the problem, this was cold comfort to one Twitter user, who had been charged nine times for her subscription.
@tracey_murcott said: "You tweeted 3 days ago about piece of mind when it comes to bills with special tariffs for low income households yet today you’ve taken 9 separate payments for BT sports out of my bank account today … how is this right and what will BT do to compensate?"
@BT_UK responded on Twitter: "We have resolved the technical issue and have cancelled all incorrect payment requests. We are contacting all customers who have been affected and apologise for any inconvenience this has caused," but that was not enough for some customers, who claimed that they had been told they would not get their payments back until up to three days later, and many complained that they could not afford to be without the money for so long.
@Fenman96 said: "Just cancelled my @btsport subscription as @bt_uk has taken out 4 payments instead of 1. Understand it's a glitch but some people just cannot afford to have so much of this money frozen from their bank. Especially after being assured following the 2nd payment that it was sorted," and @claireleexx said: "Iv just had another payment taken. 3 in total and need the money for shopping this morning".
A BT spokesperson said: "We're aware that some customers have experienced problems with BT Sport Monthly pass payments. We have resolved the technical issue and have cancelled all incorrect payment requests. We have contacted all customers who have been affected and we’re very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused."
If you are a BT Sport customer, it is a good idea to check your bank account to see if you've been affected by the issue. If you have, you can complain via BT's complaints page by either live chatting to staff, or logging your complaint via the complaints portal.
Alternatively, you can call 0800 800 150 or you can email on consumer-resolutionteam@bt.com.
BT Sport is thought to have around six million subscribers and has exclusive rights to show the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference matches. It also shows premier league and FA Cup games.
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