A grieving 70-year-old woman was without a phone line for 16 days after her husband died and a dementia sufferer was told to buy an iPhone in case of power outages, despite not knowing how to use a mobile.

The “alarming” examples are among the experiences a digital skills tutor Wendy Cleaver gathered from her students in the Barmouth, Tywyn, and Harlech areas, and who had been customers of phone and broadband provider BT.

In another example a retired farmer was said to be paying £355 quarter for a business line when he didn’t run a business any more.

They have prompted an MP to call for an independent audit of BT’s processes when it comes to dealing with elderly and vulnerable customers.

BT said it was “committed to supporting our vulnerable customers” but was unable to comment on the cases raised until “further details” are provided.

During her community sessions, run through Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor Ms Cleaver helps people get to grips with new technology.

She noticed some seemed to be paying higher tariffs often for services they didn’t need or understand, or were having issues sorting phone or broadband packages and needed her help.

“Many of my students come from the older generation, they didn’t grow up with phones and computers, some were vulnerable, widowed, living alone or disabled,” she said.

“They didn’t have the digital skills, knowledge or confidence to move between providers. Many stayed loyal to BT, a recognised name to them, some were afraid of losing their landlines.

“The digital switch-over has completely confused a lot and others found it hard to understand the tech- jargon, some didn’t understand the Digital Voice system”.

It is a technology that enables phone calls to be made over the internet instead of traditional phone lines.

Ms Cleaver said: “Some were upset and worried about the amount of money they were paying for telecommunications, some seemed to be paying higher rates, whilst others were out of their depth dealing with customer support”.

In one case a pensioner who had lost her husband had contacted BT to tell them his name needed to be removed from the account and hers put on, she claimed.

“She had never dealt with the finances or the technical side of things during the marriage, and the conversation with BT resulted in the account being cancelled, leaving her with no phone line for 16 days when she needed it the most, when she was grieving,” Ms Cleaver explained.

One gentleman had dementia, he and his wife were both over 70. They were moved to Digital Voice about two years ago. “When they said they had no alternative number in case of a power outage they were told to buy an iPhone,” she claimed.

“For two years they feared they would be cut off from the world because they didn’t know how to make calls on a mobile,” Ms Cleaver added.

One woman with Parkinson’s and a Medicare alarm, had been paying between £60-£70 a month for digital devices, she said.

She had asked for a better deal, after seeing Martin Lewis on the TV, but which had resulted in a complex situation which had taken five hours and 46 minutes of call time, with over 32 days to “unravel,” Ms Cleaver said.

In another case an 89-year-old disabled man with a lifeline pendant was paying on average £109 per month for just one laptop and mobile, she alleged.

The Cambrian News reported earlier this year that several residents in the rural community of Aberangell were left completely out of contact over Christmas when internet and phone lines went down and service did not return for weeks.

This meant that residents could not speak to loved ones over the festive period if they could not get out of the village to gain mobile signal.

Speaking in January, Ann Ward, said: “I am furious that we have been waiting this long for our phones and internet to be fixed.

“We have three sons and grandchildren who we couldn’t speak to over Christmas due to having no phoneline or internet.”

Around 30 case studies were raised with Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville-Roberts.

The MP said they showed an “alarming yet unsurprising” insight into the problems faced by many elderly and vulnerable BT customers living in south Meirionnydd.

“The volume of evidence includes BT’s failure to support vulnerable customers according to their needs, a lack of genuine empathy and understanding when dealing with complaints, the apparent mis-selling of products, and significant price discrepancies,” she said.

“It concerns me, there’s no specific call handling process in place to deal with the needs of elderly and vulnerable customers.

“From what constituents have told me, there seems to be scant acknowledgement of generational variations in confidence when compelled to switch from familiar technologies to new digital systems.

“They tell me of being overwhelmed by jargon-filled selling practices with limited opportunity to clarify and double-check what’s being offered to them. Many live on their own or haven’t the confidence or knowledge to challenge BT call handlers.

“It seems that BT’s ineptitude in complaint management is also having an adverse impact on customers’ well-being, with many elderly constituents telling me their experiences have left them worrying about their finances.

“It should be appreciated that many have little trust in BT as a provider but have remained loyal to the company for fear of losing their home telephone number or lack the skills to switch providers.

“The digitisation of our communication networks has left a cohort of the population out on a limb, without sufficient recourse to challenge and question network providers who are seemingly indifferent to the needs of elderly and vulnerable customers.

“Given the overwhelming nature of these complaints, surely this warrants an independent audit of BT’s processes when it comes to dealing with elderly and vulnerable customers.

“At every turn, the priorities of profit-making organisations seem to over-ride by default the needs of people who are dependent on the utilities they provide. This must be questioned, especially during the switch-over from analogue to digital telephone lines.”.

A BT spokesperson said: “We’re committed to supporting our vulnerable customers and continue to work hard to keep them connected and supported.

“We continue to run an extensive awareness campaign highlighting Digital Voice which is part of an industry-wide shift from analogue to digital landlines, this includes community advice sessions providing face to face engagement for customers in Wales.

“Working with AbilityNet BT are supporting 7,000 older people and disabled adults to develop their digital skills, confidence and ability to stay safe online.

“For our Welsh-speaking customers, we offer a Welsh language service, including dedicated helplines and billing options.”

“Without the information we need to look into these cases individually, we are unable to comment on these, however we welcome the opportunity to look into these if further details can be provided.

“We always encourage our customers to inform us of any changes to their circumstances, so we can offer the right level of help and the most appropriate products and services.

“Our guides will always try to identify specific needs when engaging with a customer, if a vulnerability is mentioned we’ll ask the customer if they want it registered with us.”