BT Engineers callout fee

skintlass

Hi,
I moved into a new house and the quickest way to get a line connected was to go with BT, the engineer didn't come to the house but the circuit was switched on and although it worked fine for broadband which was why I needed it I reported to BT that the phoneline was very noisy. They said they'd checked it (remotely) and there wasn't a problem. I left it until I got a burglar alarm fitted and that needed a clear phone line so I called BT again.They sent out an engineer who confirmed that the issue was the connection outside the house and there was leakage on the connection to the house line. The engineer also replaced the master socket which wasn't a BT one. That was in July and I've just got a callout bill. Can I argue about the bill as the way I see it they should have checked the line properly when they connected me and the issue was outside the house.

spike7451

Yes,
Anything back from the mastersocket to the BT exchange is BT's responsibility,anything in the house after the master socket faceplate is your responsibility unless fitted by BT.However BT may try and dodge the bullet by claiming the was a non standard NTE5 master socket fitted.

This is a list of BT Openreach charges.They do the work for BT,looks like BT are trying to pass the charges onto you.
http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/pricing/loadProductPriceDetails.do?data=RfR0kn%2Fg259i4%2FgzFaOFlL%2FuVhXjMR5hQz3DdrCHJqBVrWsgMC%2F4dy9qJJFTkna2

https://www2.bt.com/static/i/microsite/help_and_tips/faults/faq/faults_faq2.html

Do I have to pay for a fault repair?

We can repair many line faults at the exchange or on the network. Others require a visit by a BT engineer. There is no charge for these repairs. We will only charge you when one of our engineers visits your property and finds that the fault could have been fixed by you. For example, if your phone is broken or has been left unplugged.

skintlass

Thanks Spike I will argue with BT then.

skintlass

Just got off the phone with BT, they had to go to a manager but they've revoked the charge. Yay!! Thanks so much Spike.

AzimScot

threatn them you'll leave and go to another company and immediately they will wave the charge imo.

skintlass

I didn't have to threaten, I explained the situation and pointed out (thanks to Spike) that it was their responsibility and they ended up revoking the charge, all very civil and the BT person I spoke to was very helpful.