Housing association blocking me getting a phone line

deepindebtor

The answers in the previous forum were telling me to enter, without permission. That is trespass.

I am not out to break any laws here, in fact I am seeking information to help me deal with this matter within the law.

I felt I had asked my question in the incorrect forum, so posted it somewhere I could get advice from people that deal with property as that is what the issue is with, not really with BT or a comms company.

I still do not have an answer in either forum that is legally sound.

HappyMJ

deepindebtor wrote: »

The answers in the previous forum were telling me to enter, without permission. That is trespass.

I am not out to break any laws here, in fact I am seeking information to help me deal with this matter within the law.

I felt I had asked my question in the incorrect forum, so posted it somewhere I could get advice from people that deal with property as that is what the issue is with, not really with BT or a comms company.

I still do not have an answer in either forum that is legally sound.

deepindebtor wrote: »

They have agreed to fit a key safe with a code lock but now they tell me that will not be done anytime soon as they do not have the budget for it.

They don't have the budget for it but maybe you do. Have you offered to pay for the key safe?

deepindebtor wrote: »

Now I find out that my housing manager will be away on holiday on the alternate date, they say I can collect the keys in the morning and return them that afternoon but they don't open till 9am and close at 5pm, however BT can come from 8am and up till 6pm so again I cannot comply.

And again here who cares if it's 8am to 6pm if they turn up at 8am tell BT engineer to prepare the work and the key will be ready at 9am.

deepindebtor

I have offered to pay for the same exact model they use elsewhere...I am still awaiting a response.

The BT engineer that was out previously said they could not wait, called their boss and was told not to wait. Asked his boss if he could travel the 20 min round trip to get and return the key, saving hours of BT Retail and BT Openreach time in further work and was told no he could not, their vans are tracked now and they could not justify it.

Werdnal

I cannot understand why BT don't have duplicate keys for all these cupboards. Surely if there was a BT fault and they needed access to the cupboard to check connections, the same problem would occur? I think your HA is being very unreasonable.

RobertoMoir

deepindebtor wrote: »

The answers in the previous forum were telling me to enter, without permission. That is trespass.

I am not out to break any laws here, in fact I am seeking information to help me deal with this matter within the law.

I felt I had asked my question in the incorrect forum, so posted it somewhere I could get advice from people that deal with property as that is what the issue is with, not really with BT or a comms company.

I still do not have an answer in either forum that is legally sound.

But you're not really going to get very different answers here. Not because (or at least just because) people can see that you've posted before, but because there is not a lot else that can be said.

You've reached an impasse and if neither side will move from their position your choices are to do the business with the keys as suggested or do without. Sorry if that sounds harsh but you have to be realistic.

DVardysShadow

deepindebtor wrote: »

The answers in the previous forum were telling me to enter, without permission. That is trespass.

I am not out to break any laws here, in fact I am seeking information to help me deal with this matter within the law.

I felt I had asked my question in the incorrect forum, so posted it somewhere I could get advice from people that deal with property as that is what the issue is with, not really with BT or a comms company.

I still do not have an answer in either forum that is legally sound.

I think the issue over reposting is not that you did repost, but that you did without mentioning that you had.

It may be that there is no answer which is legally sound apart from getting a court order to give you access to the cupboard. In your position, I would be getting an afternoon appointment and getting the key in time for that - and not returning the key until next day.

mallada

Make an appointment with BT for the morning (if thats the best you can do). Then tell your HA that BT are coming at 9am, when the guy from the HA turns up with the key, say BT just called and have been delayed an hour and half, would he like to wait or leave the key with you and come back to collect.

I would bet whoever comes out from the HA has better things to do than stick around anyway...

chris_m

Werdnal wrote: »

I cannot understand why BT don't have duplicate keys for all these cupboards. Surely if there was a BT fault and they needed access to the cupboard to check connections, the same problem would occur? I think your HA is being very unreasonable.

BT, like other utilities, have duplicates of "standard" keys - eg the triangular things used for meter cupboards. If, however, the occupant/managing agent has put a different lock on there is no way that any utility firm can have, hold securely and issue to their engineers potentially thousands of different keys - especially as the engineers frequently operate from home nowadays and only call into an office/store less than once a week if that.

We had an issue in our flats at one time where dossers started sleeping in our meter cupboard (an under-stairs cupboard so fairly large) so a mortice lock had to be fitted as well as the triangular utility one - however, the designated keyholder was the pensioner couple who had the flat right next-door to the cupboard, so were almost always available to provide the key or would happily lend it to a neighbour if they were going to be out at the time of an appointment slot.

deepindebtor

Chris your echoing what BT said at the start. They normally deal with either a concierge, a caretaker or a trusted resident.

There is no concierge or caretaker at this block, it is low rise, and company policy is, there are no trusted residents.

BT Openreach do not keep a key for this block either.

chris_m

deepindebtor wrote: »

BT Openreach do not keep a key for this block either.

Not surprising. Even if a site owner/manager were to provide any utility company with a key, it would still be impractical - I don't know about other utilities but Openreach use a flexible management system so that if a scheduled engineer is held up on a previous job another available engineer would be given the next job instead. As such, who should have the key? If the originally planned one has it, the replacement has to go and get it from them, which could be a 50 mile trip. Then there would be the issue of an engineer forgetting to return a key to a central location or not having the opportunity - or one engineer getting a repair job at the premises when another already has the key for an installation job. It'd simply be unworkable.

As to your HA claiming that BT were more flexible in the past, I doubt that very much. They have never offered appointments any tighter than AM or PM, indeed it used to be anytime in the day. The only way they can claim it's less flexible is because the slots are now longer so AM starts earlier and PM later to give a better chance of meeting end users commitments, i.e. possibly before they leave for work or after they get home. It sounds to me as if the HA just doesn't want to be helpful but think it will sound better if they blame BT.

I'm afraid the only solution is to keep pushing the HA or, as other have suggested, do it surreptitiously with a duplicate key. I take it you have checked the lock to ensure that it isn't a standard utility one?

BTW, Openreach are the only installers for BT - they have no customers themselves, except for communication providers (such as BT Retail, Sky, Talk Talk etc) who use BT lines. BT Retail and the other CPs sell the actual products (voice telephony, broadband, etc) that are carried over a line and contract Openreach to do the physical work of providing/maintaining the line itself.