Housing association blocking me getting a phone line

ruggedtoast

You may have to appeal to openreach's better nature. Not easy to locate unfortunately but you never know.

Can you offer to pay an extra call out fee for them to get the key, drive the bloke yourself?

Otherwise I would approach the HA and say that their intransigent refusal to allow you a telephone line is endangering your life due to you now being unable to call your doctor when your (insert unpleasant medical condition here) flares up.

theartfullodger

Knock on all the other doors in the place, introduce yourself (in the unlikely event that you haven't already done this obvious neighbourly thing..) and ask them what they did to get a 'phone line..

Someone will have a cunning plan!

Alternatively, do what I do when not staying at the wife's house (eg when in one of my houses in the highlands of Scotland, as now..) - use mobile 'phone/mobile broadband: With Android this is dead easy, standard software, and works, at the same time, from a single 'phone..

?Does your tenancy agreement permit running a business from the property??

Landlines are disappearing....

btw I think it is the Housing Assocation who are break the law by refusing you access to communications links.

Cheers!

Scully38

Speak to BT, explain your circumstances and tell (don't ask) them to put a note on the order that the access for installation can only be obtained during working hours of 9-5, if they keep getting called out and are unable to gain access they'll get the message. If the engineer comes out at the wrong time then explain to them what you told BT, and that its their fault not yours, and keep arranging appointments (earlier time is better). What normally happens is the engineer phones you before hand, give them your cell and explain that there are only certain hours they can gain access. Chances are they can rearrange the time to suit you. Alternatively if they keep turning up at 'wrong' times, then just keep rearranging the appointments until the arrive at a time to suit your needs, they'll get the message, or at least give you BT openreaches number to get a more suitable time so they're not wasting theirs. It's fiddly but might work and you won't feel guilty or frustrated. Not a great answer, but it's worked for me in the past.

chris_m

ruggedtoast wrote: »

You may have to appeal to openreach's better nature.

He is not a customer of Openreach, no end user is.
BT Retail is his chosen service provider and the only one with whom he has a business relationship. Any contact with BT will have to be via BT Retail, who in this instance are Openreach's customer.

iluvmarmite

Make a morning appointment for open reach and get the key the afternoon before from the HA, that way you will have it at 8am which is the time open reach state they start. Surely there is nothing valuable in the cupboard so whats the harm of letting you have the key over night and handing it back the next day.

Scully38

Speak to BT, explain your circumstances and tell (don't ask) them to put a note on the order that the access for installation can only be obtained during working hours of 9-5, if they keep getting called out and are unable to gain access they'll get the message. If the engineer comes out at the wrong time then explain to them what you told BT, and that its their fault not yours, and keep arranging appointments (earlier time is better). What normally happens is the engineer phones you before hand, give them your cell and explain that there are only certain hours they can gain access. Chances are they can rearrange the time to suit you. Alternatively if they keep turning up at 'wrong' times, then just keep rearranging the appointments until the arrive at a time to suit your needs, they'll get the message, or at least give you BT openreaches number to get a more suitable time so they're not wasting theirs. It's fiddly but might work and you won't feel guilty or frustrated. Not a great answer, but it's worked for me in the past.

iluvmarmite

And I think the title of the thread is a little misleading as you havent been refused a phone line at all, its just your having trouble getting a key to a cupboard to have the line installed.

chris_m

theartfullodger wrote: »

Alternatively, do what I do when not staying at the wife's house (eg when in one of my houses in the highlands of Scotland, as now..) - use mobile 'phone/mobile broadband: With Android this is dead easy, standard software, and works, at the same time, from a single 'phone..

At what cost/speed/bandwidth compared to fixed-line broadband?

Landlines are disappearing....

Actually, this is incorrect.
Completely contrary to analysts and industry forecasts, the number of fixed lines being rented is now increasing and has done for the last six months, reversing the shrinking trend that has been prevalent for the last five years or more as more people switched to mobile comms.
This is viewed as reflecting customers recognising the advantages of fixed-line broadband, speed, bandwidth and cost.

Enfieldian

Do you want me to pop round and kick the cupboard door in for you?

It will save you from having to post on here.....

theartfullodger

chris_m wrote: »

At what cost/speed/bandwidth compared to fixed-line broadband?

..........

Depends (bleedin' obviously, as does cost/speed..) as it does with fixed-line BB. Incidentally, re speed/bandwidth - ignoring the signalling speed issue vs. data-rate-speed debate, what do you see as the difference .. or did you mean data-limit-per-month..

I pay £15/mo for 'phone/txt/MobileBB and get faster than BT Broadband at the wife's house (Berkshire, c**p local wiring)) but yes, slower where I am now(Highlands of Scotland 66miles from the nearest M&S). I've had 4Mb+ on my mobile 'phone. Neither as fast as the Virgin cable setup I have at another property (I'd do almost anything to avoid doing business with Branson but his cable BB does work..).

Depends what you want. Mobile BB has one huge advantage - it's mobile!! You can use it