BT Loss of Service

Bazzaboy17

Can anyone advise me on the following please.


3 Weeks ago in the early hours of the morning a speeding driver hit our telegraph pole and demolished it. Because it was still connected to the telephone cables it slid feet first into my drive. BT engineers were there the following morning and as I was working from home I watched as they disconnected the cables and cut up the pole then took it away. They left a pile of cables on the pavement and our telephone lines dangling from our houses into our front garden/drive.

Tracing the fault on BT.com it stated that the repair would be completed in 8 days which although a long time I thought was prob the case as it involved erecting a new pole.

That date came and went and not sign of anyone from BT/Openreach. There are still cables on the pavement and our telephone cables still flap in the wind. Then after exchanging EMails with BT each reply stating a different reason/excuse after 16 days I got a call from someone at BT saying that it had just come to light that our repair required a new telegraph pole. As I had watched BT
engineers take the old pole away it seemed strange that they never filed whatever report was required.

We are now 21 days in and I have just had a call saying they have no idea when they can repair out fault. Saying a "Cherry Picker" is required and the need to install mini traffic lights and the need to notify police local authority blah blah blah. Am I too assume that this is the first Telegraph pole ever to be demolished and my case is unique?

I explaned that as i work from home I need broadband contact and that at the moment I was paying expensive mobile broadband charges. The fact that it was costing more using my mobile rather than the home phone. And finally that I have an 80 year old mother who is not in good health and so I had bought her a mobile on PAYG so that she would not incure expensive call charges on her home phone by calling my mobile.

It just seems that after 21 days I am not getting anywhere. Does anyone have any ideas what might help? Is it likely I will be reinburst for extra costs?

Thanks for taking the time to read this I have rambled on a bit and any help would be very much welcome

Heinz

I'd get BT to redirect calls (free of charge) to my mobile as the first priority.

You must be due compensation for the downtime but don't expect big bucks - it's a pittance.

spike7451

In some cases,the are requirements where the local authority must be informed & permission granted by the authority before the work can be done,but normally the are provisions for emergency work tho.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/network/local/streetworks/

Buzby

If you have a business line (and pay the appropriate tariff) BT will compensate you for the days your voice service has been disrupted (but not for BB). If you only have a residential line, they will credit you for the period your line is not working so you will not be paying line rental for the period of no dial tone, and they may provide an ex-gracia payment to cover your inconvenience (which they will persue from the person causing the damage) but this will be at their discretion, you will have no right to claim compensation unless you arranged your own insurance.