BT line faults that cause broadband problems

ComplexP

I want to tell you about my two years of problems with BT in the hope that anyone in a similar situation will learn from my experience. It is quite a long story but if you are experiencing slow broadband speeds and noise on your line you should read on.

My wife and I live in a rented house and the broadband connection has been dire since we moved in regardless of which ISP we were with. We'd get constant connection drops and the speed was locked at about 1/20 of what it should have been. At the same time we'd often hear broadband signal noises on the phone line when the ADSL router was plugged in.

BT told us that because the noise went away when we unplugged the router it must be the router or the ADSL filters that were to blame. This is a common misconception held by most BT call centre staff. In reality, a line fault can actually be causing a fault like this (known as a high resistance fault) but I only learned this after replacing all of my equipment and doing my own research.

I then noticed that the line would still crackle slightly even when the router was unplugged and the phone plugged directly into the test socket. At this point I raised it simply as a noisy line and did not mention broadband.

They ran several remote tests on the line and declared it was 'perfect' so an engineer would have to be sent out.

What followed over the course of the next 20 months was no fewer than 3 individual Openreach engineers who came to the property 3 separate times (on weekdays obviously, costing me holiday each time) and each time they ran test after test and declared there was nothing wrong that they could find. This was even though they could hear the noise.

Things eventually came to a head when I decided to hit it from the broadband side and raised a broadband fault through my ISP (Plusnet). Now something that I did not know about is that a broadband fault has to be dealt with by a broadband engineer and these guys are quite a bit more thorough than your standard line engineers. Also, BT will ONLY send out a broadband engineer at the request of an ISP, not an end user.

I was basically told that this guy was very expensive and that if there turned out to be no problem or that it was being caused by something I did that I would be landed with a hefty callout charge and in their opinion I shouldn't risk it. I stuck to my guns and insisted that a broadband engineer visit the property because I was still convinced there was a fault on my line.

So, this was the 4th engineer to visit and instantly I knew he was different. For a start he recognised that the noise could be caused by a line fault not just by my equipment. He then actually went up the pole outside my house (something none of the others had bothered to do) and found that where my line connects to the pole the connection was completely loose. A LOOSE CHUFFING WIRE!!!

He reclamped it and my line and broadband has been clear and fast ever since.

So remember, the line tests BT carry out are NOT 100% accurate and should not always be taken as gospel. Be warned though that you need to be 110% sure that you have eliminated your own equipment as cause because the callout charges can run into the hundreds of pounds.

Also, remember that 'normal' line engineers seem to have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to tracking down actual physical faults on your line (breaks, tears, loose wires etc). So if it's something that is effecting your broadband raise the fault through your ISP and keep hammering at them to get a broadband engineer to your house on your behalf.

I'm not quite at the end of my sorry little tale though, because yesterday I noticed that I had been billed £125 by BT for the 3rd engineer who had apparently reported that he could find no line fault.

I obviously disputed this, pointing out that the 4th engineer (regardless of him being a broadband engineer or not) had actually found what was a glaring line fault that the 3rd engineer had missed and I was not going to pay for what was essentially his oversight.

Initially BT tried to fob me off with their usual rubbish but I've had 2 years of learning how to deal with these people and they eventually agreed that the money should be refunded.

I told them they were lucky I wasn't pursuing them for compensation for my days off work and 2 years worth of poor line quality and slow broandband speeds. Theoretically I could argue they've cost me well over £500 in the last 2 years.

KILL_BILL

i would have made a claim for the 2 years of crap that they spouted off at least...............

ComplexP

KILL_BILL wrote: »

i would have made a claim for the 2 years of crap that they spouted off at least...............

I am still tempted to put a compensation claim through ofCom. That final callout charge really cheesed me off. What really makes my blood boil is that if this had happened to my grandmother she would currently be stuck with a £125 bill and still have a broken phone line.

It's only because I had the technical knowledge, confidence and financial buffers to take them on that I managed to get the result I did.

ComplexP

Thought I'd add another bit to this ridiculous saga.

Having now received my next bill from BT it appears that they intend to give me back my £125 in the form of credit on my BT account.

So, over the course of 16 months I might just get it all back.

Can I demand that the full £125 is refunded straight into my bank account? Not sure how that one works.