BT - What a mess!

Foggster

I am totally confused!

2 weeks ago, I ordered a new Broadband package for my brother. He has never had BB before, in fact he has never had a computer until then!

We placed the order on line and we were given 23rd March as the date of activation. Unfortunately the 23rd came and went with no activation and no BB box arriving. Called to be told there had been problems with the website and that orders werent being logged properly, apologies and gave a new activation date of 31st March. This was disappointing as my brother had bought his wife a laptop for her birthday and it was all suppose to happen together on 24th March i.e. going online, new lappy etc.

On 31st March, the BB box turned up and I went to his house, set it all up only to find that there wasnt BB on the line but the order letter stated that this could take until midnight to be activated. Of course it never happened.

He made 5 calls yesterday to BT and these are the replies:-

1. The line has been activated and should show in the next hour.
2. The line is being activated and should happen before midnight.
3. We have no order.
4. The line will be activated today or tomorrow but definitely by Monday.
5. BT have changed contractors which has led to a severe backlog and your line will be activated in 14 days time!

Each time we were expecting "April Fool" at the end of it - alas no, this was not a joke, this was real! :think:

So any advice? Is Point 5 an actual possibility? Anyone know?

moneysaver

I have had the same problem with BT, what a shambles of a company. I am moving in less than 2wks to a small village in west of Scotland, I am restricted to what isp I can go with so I chose BT, a mistake I might regret. Ordered online 28/03 new line & BB, it was confirmed by email straight away with an order number.

I tried to track it on 31/3 but the website does not recognise the order No TDGAA******0. So I gave them a call & it turns out they have no record of the BB being asked for, they also have changed my line connection date which did not suit me.

I then went through the whole process again on the phone & was assured it was ok with my original connection date, I was happy with this. I then receive an email this morning telling me about my phone line connection ( no mention about BB) activation date ( the wrong date).

I then called them this morning 40 minute call to be told the order had not went through & had to go through the whole process again, ordering phone line & broadband getting connected on my original date. I have never had BB from BT before & I might regret it.

PS. I also went through Quidco for £80 cashback with my original order, I don't think I will ever see this money, this was going to partly pay for my BB for the year.

Sorry this is a bit long winded but it is stressful enough moving house without this as well. I have been with 3 BB providers in the past & never had this bad a service with any of them.


Thanks for listening,
Moneysaver

penrhyn

At the end of the day, unless you are on cable, its down to BT to physically connect your telephone line to a DSLAM in your local exchange, doesn't matter which service provider you use.
How many layers of bureaucracy there are before it gets down to the poor sod who actually does the work in a mystery.

Foggster

penrhyn wrote: »

At the end of the day, unless you are on cable, its down to BT to physically connect your telephone line to a DSLAM in your local exchange, doesn't matter which service provider you use.
How many layers of bureaucracy there are before it gets down to the poor sod who actually does the work in a mystery.

We arent on cable Penryhn because we dont have cable in the wilds of Wales so I am not sure what point you are trying to make. I do understand a little of how BB is connected but to be fair I didnt ask that. We are also ruled by BT so it does matter what provider we have because they are still the ones who have to flick the switch!

Thank you moneysaver for sharing your experience and I hope you are on soon, I will keep you posted.

moneysaver

penrhyn wrote: »

At the end of the day, unless you are on cable, its down to BT to physically connect your telephone line to a DSLAM in your local exchange, doesn't matter which service provider you use.
How many layers of bureaucracy there are before it gets down to the poor sod who actually does the work in a mystery.

Not all ISP's are the same or there would be no point in shopping around.



Moneysaver

Foggster

Moneysaver

I have just been on the phone for over 20 mins with BT and had a good moan!

My brother is being sent out a dongle FOC with 1GB pre-loaded (£39.99) to placate him until he gets activated (well to placate his sister!!!).

Give them a call and see what you can get.

moneysaver

Foggster wrote: »

Moneysaver

I have just been on the phone for over 20 mins with BT and had a good moan!

My brother is being sent out a dongle FOC with 1GB pre-loaded (£39.99) to placate him until he gets activated (well to placate his sister!!!).

Give them a call and see what you can get.

Good on you. I hope they send out the dongle;)

penrhyn

moneysaver wrote: »

Not all ISP's are the same or there would be no point in shopping around.



Moneysaver

The point I was making was that they all have to rely on BT to connect the service up in the first place, in my case I was going with Sky BT's inability to do the work correctly resulted in a 3 month loss of Broadband.

macman

moneysaver wrote: »

I have had the same problem with BT, what a shambles of a company. I am moving in less than 2wks to a small village in west of Scotland, I am restricted to what isp I can go with so I chose BT, a mistake I might regret. Ordered online 28/03 new line & BB, it was confirmed by email straight away with an order number.

I tried to track it on 31/3 but the website does not recognise the order No TDGAA******0. So I gave them a call & it turns out they have no record of the BB being asked for, they also have changed my line connection date which did not suit me.

I then went through the whole process again on the phone & was assured it was ok with my original connection date, I was happy with this. I then receive an email this morning telling me about my phone line connection ( no mention about BB) activation date ( the wrong date).

I then called them this morning 40 minute call to be told the order had not went through & had to go through the whole process again, ordering phone line & broadband getting connected on my original date. I have never had BB from BT before & I might regret it.

PS. I also went through Quidco for £80 cashback with my original order, I don't think I will ever see this money, this was going to partly pay for my BB for the year.

Sorry this is a bit long winded but it is stressful enough moving house without this as well. I have been with 3 BB providers in the past & never had this bad a service with any of them.


Thanks for listening,
Moneysaver

Why are you restricted? You may be on a non-LLU exchange, but you can still use any ISP you like who offers a non-LLU product-which is most of them. However, they will all be reselling a BT Wholsale product.
For example, you could have gone with Plusnet Value at £11.99 rather than BT Option 1 at £15.99, (roughly the same package) or any of dozens of other reseller ISP's.
I don't understand why this 'I have no LLU options so I have to go with BT' myth is perpetuated?

moneysaver

macman wrote: »

Why are you restricted? You may be on a non-LLU exchange, but you can still use any ISP you like who offers a non-LLU product-which is most of them. However, they will all be reselling a BT Wholsale product.
For example, you could have gone with Plusnet Value at £11.99 rather than BT Option 1 at £15.99, (roughly the same package) or any of dozens of other reseller ISP's.
I don't understand why this 'I have no LLU options so I have to go with BT' myth is perpetuated?

Hi,
Plusnet I do not know much about, so I would not give my business to company's I don't know about. BT is a well known company, they are not the cheapest (cheapest is not always best) but most people I have read about have no trouble with the broadband service. I have been having trouble getting it up and running that is my issue with them.

Here is my exchange http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/WSSYM

I am with O2 at the moment but where I am moving to O2 do not offer the standard service, they only offer O2 access & I have not heard good things about it.


Thanks,
Moneysaver

macman

Plusnet are owned by BT but run independently. Generally well regarded on these boards.
I don't quite follow your logic about only giving your business to the well known brands. TalkTalk and Orange are well known broadband brands, but would you want to give your business to them?
Zen Internet regularly come top in broadband surveys, but the average user probably hasn't heard of them, simply because they don't have the huge advertising clout of the big brands like TT.
Plusnet Value on your exchange would be £11.99 and still runs over exactly the same network as BT, you just don't pay for inflated BT prices and lousy customer service.