Trick Or Treat

When it comes to customer service, BT are only handing out tricks this Halloween. They tricked me into getting spammed. I contacted BT this morning to switch to their broadband + talk package, which will save me €10pm on my broadband bill. After waiting 30 mins for a sales assistant to answer the phone, I told him what I wanted and gave him all my details. I expressly stated that I did not want BT to contact me with special offers or to share my details with 3rd parties. At the end of our conversation he told me he would transfer my call to their credit service, who would set up my direct debit payment method. He told me he would give them all the details I had supplied him with, but warned that if I answered "no" to any of their questions I would be transferred back to him, implying that I should answer "yes" at all times unless I wanted to spend another 60 mins going through the same process again. The call was transferred, and the operator went through my details with me, notifying me that the call was being recorded. When he got to the information sharing section, he asked "Do you agree to allow BT to contact you with special offers, and for BT to share your details with its partners?". I was tricked, and left with no option but to answer yes! It is a typical ploy of websites to ask you to answer no to things twice, while you only have to answer yes once. But this was the most insidious trap I have seen yet, especially since the recording was serving as an official and binding record of my consent. British Telecom have a lot to learn about serving the interests of their customers, and I am close to having my fill of it. Their broadband product might be reasonably priced compared to the competition, but I am an inch from leaving them for their sneaky ways.