BT or Developer?

michael74_2

This is probably more of a post to vent my frustration, but any advice much appreciated!

Moved in to a new house at the beginning of March, and had called BT to get the new line set up. I called on 5 March, we moved in on the 11th, and had an appointment for an engineer to visit on the 6 April. Not great, but what can you do.

The house is one of two houses set way back from the road (probably about 100-150m down a shared driveway). The developers had discussed with BT how they wanted to hook the houses up. It was agreed that the developers would run a "pipe" under the driveway from the edge of the pavement to the houses, with a pull cord down them for BT (or any other cable provider) to pull the telephone wire from the road to the houses.

This agreement has since been "filed" away by BT..

Also, the junction at the end of the drive that they would need to access is under the drive, with no easy access left by the developers.

1st engineer turns up - has a 15 minute slot, and in no way has the right tools to access the end of the pipe, drag through the cable & hook it up (I'd reckon it was a few hours work). So he leaves.

I call BT that evening (45 minutes to get through to someone in India) and I try & explain the situation, and am told they can rebook someone for 26 April. Very unsure they understand the extent of the work..but gave them all the details.

I call on the morning of the 26th to confirm the appointment (I hadn't received any confirmation before, whereas I had for the 6 April visit) - told by pleasant indian guy that the line is all activated, and all ready to use. Clearly it's not..so he tells me to call the faults department. Very helpful - they tell me the engineer is booked for 8-1pm (whereas online it says 1-6). But whatever, I was at home all day.

BT turn up for next door - an elderly couple live there - so I go out & explain the set up, and offer to give them the site managers number if they need it. 15 minutes of umming & ahhing, and they're off again.

The site manager turns up later that afternoon, and I get him to take me through what is exactly where - it's very clear it's a bigger job than standard. Either they have to use the under-driveway pull cord or put in telegraph poles down the side of the drive. So I call BT to tell them to calloff the engineer, as he won't be able to do anything - and I tell them this needs to be raised up a level, given it's more complex than connecting 2 wires. Again, a helpful woman, but she breaks the news that no engineer was booked for today...!!! Oh well, as long as it gets raised with the right department...

Then at 3.30 a BT engineer turns up!! You couldn't make it up...

Today, a revisit of an engineer for next door - the same 15 minutes of looking around & then leaving again.

Still without a line. And I'm very unsure:

1. Whose fault this is - BT or the developer.
2. How I should get the right department of BT on to this. I've been told that the engineers & the helpful woman are raising it further up, but I have no confirmation of this (and am don't have a free hour to call BT...)
3. THe developer says this was all agreed with the local BT planning/survey team (based in Redhill, Surrey). I can't find out how to get in contact with them.
4. Once we actually get a solution (if it's poles) - who should pay for these to be put up? Can't believe it will be free...

Almost 8 weeks now - and amusingly I've started being billed again from the line going live on Tuesday...that's another call I'll have to make, once I find the strength!!

Can it really be this difficult?!

michael74_2

And laughably, I have just received a text from BT telling me that they've fixed my fault...

BT_company_representative

Hi michael74

I have just seen your post and would like to look into this for you to see what is happening with the connection of your line and get it sorted out for you. If you would like me to help checkout my profile section were you will find my contact details and if you send these over I will gladly look into this.

Regards David

michael74_2

Thanks David - I've submitted it via the weblink. Just to add (and I should have included this when I submitted), this obviously effects both houses. Given next door are an 80 year old couple, and she goes into hospital in May, they should be prioritised over us. I've been making the calls to BT, but this does need to be sorted out for both houses.

Any help you can give to speed this along would be hugely appreciated

DVardysShadow

BT_company_representative wrote: »

Hi michael74

I have just seen your post and would like to look into this for you to see what is happening with the connection of your line and get it sorted out for you. If you would like me to help checkout my profile section were you will find my contact details and if you send these over I will gladly look into this.

Regards David

But there is more to it than just this line. What has happened here is entirely predictable. If OP had told us simply

Moved in to a new house at the beginning of March, and had called BT to get the new line set up. I called on 5 March, we moved in on the 11th, and had an appointment for an engineer to visit on the 6 April. Not great, but what can you do.

The house is one of two houses set way back from the road (probably about 100-150m down a shared driveway). The developers had discussed with BT how they wanted to hook the houses up. It was agreed that the developers would run a "pipe" under the driveway from the edge of the pavement to the houses, with a pull cord down them for BT (or any other cable provider) to pull the telephone wire from the road to the houses.

This agreement has since been "filed" away by BT..

Also, the junction at the end of the drive that they would need to access is under the drive, with no easy access left by the developers.

anyone could have predicted the rest. BT and Openreach are losing money hand over fist and playing desperate games with contracts just to keep afloat. And things have been so cut to the bone that this nonsense occurs. Think of the time and money which has been wasted, not just the developer and the OP, but BT Openreach itself.

Sorting the OP's problem is nearly a waste of time and effort - it is BT openreach's processes which need fixing.