AOL/BT.... Really fed-up

Aiadi

Hi everyone. I feel the urge to have a big rant and anyhelp would be greatly appreciated. I requested that my AOL BB be moved to my new home address on 21/07/2006 but the BB is still inactive in my new place. After several contacts with AOL and reassurances that everything was OK and the request was pending, I was told that the delay was caused by "a problem with my BT line" although they couldn't be more specific. This was followed by several contacts with BT that reassured me that the line is OK and ready for BB with no problems (as far as they could tell).
So basically AOL are telling me that it is a BT problem and BT are telling me that it is AOL's and the two do not seem to be able or willing to communicate with each other. Furthermore BT finally told me that BB problems are dealt with by BT internet wholesale which is apparently a different company the BT could not contact or deal with directly (despite it still having BT badge!!!!!!!!). The end-user (me) is also apparently unable to speak to BT wholesale to see what the problem is. The last time I spoke to AOL, I was told that they have contacted BT wholesale and the request had gone through but there is still no BB.
I am really fed up as it has taken me a lot of time and stress to try and deal with massive incompetencies. I have't been through a similar problem before and would appreciate any advice on how to proceed. Thanks to all in advance.

I decided today to call AOL and cancel the account with them but was told that they would not give me the MAC code immediately (which worried me) so I decided to wait for further advice from you guys before proceeding.

mrJ_5

AOL cannot give you a MAC, since broadband is not active on your line (as your post suggests) - if it has no broadband on it at all... and i mean sweaky clean - just start a brand new order with someone else

akmodi

Hi ,

Call Jason at 0117 9191107 -- he can solve your problems.

I had a similar problem -- and after getting fed up -- he solved this.

Cheers

gav123_3

hi Aiadi,u can hav a look here to find out if aol hav actually ordered bb u got to regista first though hope this link helps

http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=aol&Number=2645026&Search=true&Forum=All_Forums&Words=AbandonShip&Match=Username&Searchpage=1&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=2642731

If you are registered with BT's website, you can view full details of open and recent orders on you line, including the expected completion date.

Gazpablo

Three years ago AOL moved us from 512k to 1mb broadband and from that moment on we could not get any broadband connection whatsoever. AOL had us moving the computer to the BT master socket a few times and various other things over a couple of weeks but nothing happened. Eventually we asked to stop the contract but AOL locked us in, and it was only kicking up a persistent fuss and sending a letter threatening the small claims court that they relented. We were locked in for about three weeks. We then moved to Pipex and everything was fine until this summer when we got caught up in the Pipex Homecall mis-selling fiasco. It seems that eternal vigilance is needed in this broadband market which at times resembles the old Wild West.

Aiadi

mrJ wrote:

AOL cannot give you a MAC, since broadband is not active on your line (as your post suggests) - if it has no broadband on it at all... and i mean sweaky clean - just start a brand new order with someone else

Yes but according to AOL they have put the request to BT and therefore put a "marker" on the line which will need to be removed and this will take 10 days according to them. I thought if I am to go with this then I'll definitely be ending up in a limbo with no internet and a marker stuck onto my line.

Welliesorter

Aiadi wrote:

Furthermore BT finally told me that BB problems are dealt with by BT internet wholesale which is apparently a different company the BT could not contact or deal with directly (despite it still having BT badge!!!!!!!!). The end-user (me) is also apparently unable to speak to BT wholesale to see what the problem is.

Last year BT came to an agreement with the regulator (Ofcom) which introduces something called Equivalence of Input. Basically what this means is that BT is split into three divisions:

• Retail (bt.com) - provides services to end users
• Wholesale (btwholesale.com) - provides services to all service providers, including BT itself.
• openreach (openreach.co.uk) - employs the engineers who work on the line to your house on behalf of all service providers, including BT Retail and AOL.

The intention of this is to promote competition - it makes BT Retail just another service provider (like AOL, Pipex etc.) with no more access to Wholesale or Openreach than other service providers. It may be part of the same company but people who work for the different divisions have to behave as though they were separate and, there are very strict rules about sharing information between them.

If you ring BT yourself you're talking to BT Retail; the BT Retail person you spoke to would have been in very serious trouble if he or she had tried to help you with your problem by chasing it up with Wholesale or Openreach.

You are an AOL customer so your contract is with them. It's their job to chase the order with BT Wholesale if necessary. AOL shouldn't have told you to contact BT any more than your corner shop should tell you to take a faulty product back to the cash-and-carry where they bought it.

You may have your telephone line with BT, but that's all you're paying them for: a telephone service. I know it sounds mad, because the two things are obviously delivered via the same pair of wires, but it makes sense if you realise that these regulations are there to make sure that BT can't abuse its position in the market place.

By the way, the MAC scheme (where you ask one provider for a code to enable you to transfer the service seamlessly to another) is only voluntary. Ofcom is apparently considering making it compulsory (see http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/broadband/0,39020342,39281217,00.htm ) but that's still only a proposal.

Sorry if this post doesn't seem particularly helpful but I hope it does at least clarify things for you. It is definitely worth looking for info at adslguide.org if you still have problems.