BT Line Repair

Treen

Last week I reported a faulty line. After a number of calls it was established that the fault was on the line leading into my house. When the engineer came to fix it he said it must be due to the fact I had had a new porch. I said that the porch had been a built a few months ago and that the line had only just broken down. Anyway after spending ages working out how he was going to fix it I suggested that he could put the line into the room above and run the new line down inside the house. He did this and now the line works fine. Today I received a bill of £205.63 from BT for the repair. I was shocked as I thought that if it wasn't your equipment that was faulty that BT would maintain their line as part of the contract. In fact it would have been cheaper to have a new line installed. Has anyone else had this happen to them and what did they do?

Treen

david29dpo

i have had this. we have a lot of faults and when i ring bt they always tell me before they come out if is not there equipment which is faulty there will be a charge. so i always disconnect everything before they come including extensions. they have still tried to say it my equipment!!, when i asked what, they have gone very quiet, gone to his van, came back and said it was theres after all!! total con!!

Steve_xx

ts_aly2000 wrote:

BT can be a bit unscroupulous it has to be said, especially as to what's theirs and isn't. Here's my story.

Telephone stopped working, was dead. Anyone who called got an engaged tone. Reported to BT, engineer came round a few days later. Identified the problem as being a faulty ADSL filter. Replaced the filter. BT charged £15 for a filter, and about £100 for the engineer visit citing that it wasn't their equipment at fault. The ADSL kit had been supplied by them only a few months earlier!!!!

Given all of this claptrap BT go on about not interferring with their kit, we didn't, and paid £115 for not breaking the law and going on a journey into the electrical unknown, with them wriggling out of it by saying it wasn't their equipment at fault.

They must think we're all electrically minded and naturally curious to sort out problems, sheeesh!!

This needs further investigation. As BT supplied you with the faulty filter I think that the supplier of the filter ougt to compensate you for the expense that you have incurred. So, claim the cost from the BT shop where you got the ADSL kit from. I think it's reasonable that you should be able to recover your costs.

bbb_uk

ts_aly2000 wrote:

..the onus could ultimately land with the company that erected the porch. Perhaps a bit iffy to have mentioned it to them that it was new (could have been cleaned ), even though it was probably nothing to do with it and a 30 year old solid core cable.

It maybe that the company responsible for erecting the porch maybe responsible but getting them to pay I'd say would be highly unlikely as it would have to be proved beyond a doubt that it was caused by them.

What exactly was the problem (cable cut, sheathed, etc) and where it about did it happen?

If it happened very close to the porch and it was feasible that when they erected the porch they accidently cut into the cable or sheathed a bit of the cable off then maybe at first it wasn't noticable but over time (with wind, etc) it made the cut or sheathed cable worse causing it to fail.

If the cut, or whatever it was, was a fair distance from the house/porch and whilst erecting the porch, the company would still of unlikely did it then you could argue that with BT.

Basically without the full facts (location/type of problem) it would be difficult to do anything but guess at who is or isn't at fault.

clark1982

Treen wrote:

Last week I reported a faulty line. After a number of calls it was established that the fault was on the line leading into my house. When the engineer came to fix it he said it must be due to the fact I had had a new porch. I said that the porch had been a built a few months ago and that the line had only just broken down. Anyway after spending ages working out how he was going to fix it I suggested that he could put the line into the room above and run the new line down inside the house. He did this and now the line works fine. Today I received a bill of £205.63 from BT for the repair. I was shocked as I thought that if it wasn't your equipment that was faulty that BT would maintain their line as part of the contract. In fact it would have been cheaper to have a new line installed. Has anyone else had this happen to them and what did they do?

Treen

Hi there,

BT have the responsibility of maintaining your line up to the line termination point (BT master socket). This maintaince does not included damage caused by you or any other third party.

terms and conditions
17. You agree to look after any of our equipment
on your premises. If you do not do so, and the
equipment is damaged, you agree to pay for
any repair or replacement.

Treen

Hey Thanks for all your replies. I'm going to write a letter of complaint about it as it wasn't my equipment that was faulty and I was not told it would cost anything. As clark1982 said BT have the responsibility of maintaining your line up to the line termination point (BT master socket). This maintaince does not included damage caused by you or any other third party.

terms and conditions
17. You agree to look after any of our equipment
on your premises. If you do not do so, and the
equipment is damaged, you agree to pay for
any repair or replacement.

I'll keep you posted

Thanks again

Treen

natjay_2

Treen wrote:

Hey Thanks for all your replies. I'm going to write a letter of complaint about it as it wasn't my equipment that was faulty and I was not told it would cost anything. As clark1982 said BT have the responsibility of maintaining your line up to the line termination point (BT master socket). This maintaince does not included damage caused by you or any other third party.

terms and conditions
17. You agree to look after any of our equipment
on your premises. If you do not do so, and the
equipment is damaged, you agree to pay for
any repair or replacement.

I'll keep you posted

Thanks again

Treen

it says in the bit above that BT are not responsible for damaged caused by you or any other third party, so if the damage was caused when you had the porch erected then it was damage to your line by a third party, this is why they have billed you

You will have been advised of possible charges when the fault was first reported

Treen

Thanks for your reply natjay but surely £205 is a bit excessive just to replace the wire outside. After all it only costs around £100 to have a complete new line installed.

Treen

natjay_2

Treen wrote:

Thanks for your reply natjay but surely £205 is a bit excessive just to replace the wire outside. After all it only costs around £100 to have a complete new line installed.

Treen

I agree that £205.00 is excessive and I would be just as annoyed as you are if it had happened to me, I was just making the point that they will have all the bases covered and I think you will be fighting a losing battle from the word go, but good luck with your campaign

hammy_the_hammer

i think you will have been charged at approx. £70 per hour or part of ( inc vat ) ..does this tie in with the time engineer was there ?

Treen

No it does'nt tie in with the time the engineer was here. He took no longer than an hour.

Treen