BT Installation - What exactly happens?

plumface

BT (or their contractors) will not connect any other socket in a new build property (house or flat) to the master socket.
They only connect the incoming line to the nte5 or external nte.Any connection past this point that requires connecting or repairing will cost you about £130, unless you meet a nice engineer! (tea and biscuits help!!)

chanz4

x4 wires, a small screw driver and put the cables in the numbered holes. very very easy, used todo it for bt

rob_wiltshire

LadyMorticia wrote: »

Anyway, I was wondering what exactly happens?

In my experience it went like this:
1) I agreed to pay a connection fee of £120 (or whatever it was at that time).
2) I booked an installation date and was told the BT Engineer would visit at some point on that day
3) I waited in all day for the engineer
4) By 5pm the phone line wasn't working so I phoned (from my mobile) to tell them nobody had been and was told the engineer had connected it remotely that morning without visiting the house and it was now working.
5) I told them it wasn't working.
6) They did a diagnostic check on the line and told me it should be working
7) I told them it wasn't working
8) They asked me to get a screwdriver, remove the front of the master socket, and check the wiring was connected (after a short discussion about the cheek of charging me £120 for connection and then expecting me to do their work for them I complied)
9) They agreed to send an engineer the next day so long as I promised to pay an exhorbitant call out fee if the fault was found to be in the house wiring.
10) I waited in for another morning
11) The engineer came and found the connection made the previous day in the BT cabinet down the road was incorrect.
12) He fixed it

Wouldn't it have been so much better if the first engineer could have either phoned or come 50 yards up the road to check the line was working rather than keeping us waiting in all day and causing BT another call out?

I hope it's better for you LadyMorticia!!

LadyMorticia

rob_wiltshire wrote: »

In my experience it went like this:
1) I agreed to pay a connection fee of £120 (or whatever it was at that time).
2) I booked an installation date and was told the BT Engineer would visit at some point on that day
3) I waited in all day for the engineer
4) By 5pm the phone line wasn't working so I phoned (from my mobile) to tell them nobody had been and was told the engineer had connected it remotely that morning without visiting the house and it was now working.
5) I told them it wasn't working.
6) They did a diagnostic check on the line and told me it should be working
7) I told them it wasn't working
8) They asked me to get a screwdriver, remove the front of the master socket, and check the wiring was connected (after a short discussion about the cheek of charging me £120 for connection and then expecting me to do their work for them I complied)
9) They agreed to send an engineer the next day so long as I promised to pay an exhorbitant call out fee if the fault was found to be in the house wiring.
10) I waited in for another morning
11) The engineer came and found the connection made the previous day in the BT cabinet down the road was incorrect.
12) He fixed it

Wouldn't it have been so much better if the first engineer could have either phoned or come 50 yards up the road to check the line was working rather than keeping us waiting in all day and causing BT another call out?

I hope it's better for you LadyMorticia!!

Bloody hell!

I just got a text earlier this evening saying that an engineer visit is no longer needed as they can connect us at the exchange. Slightly worrying now as it's a new build and from what I've read that usually requires work to be done in the flat.

plumface

LadyMorticia wrote: »

Bloody hell!

I just got a text earlier this evening saying that an engineer visit is no longer needed as they can connect us at the exchange. Slightly worrying now as it's a new build and from what I've read that usually requires work to be done in the flat.

In theory,if the engineer has done his job right in the jointing onto the site and in the connection into your flat,then BT could be right.
When i was a contractor to BT (10 years until November) we had to do all the cabling,all the jointing and connect all the mastersockets from every property to there network.We then had to connect your pair of wires to the exchange pair of wires in the green cabinet up the road.
If,for whatever reason,BT decide to change the pair of wires from the exchange to the green cabinet (and it happens alot:mad:) then the engineer will have to run a new wire in the exchange and in the green cabinet.Now assuming he jointed everything else correctly in the first place,he will not have to visit your property.
Lets hope its that simple

LadyMorticia

*sigh*

I just got a phonecall from BT saying that they do infact need to visit my property but that I can't keep my original appointment and had to re-arrange it for the 10th.

I'm due to get Sky installed on the 7th (when BT was supposed to be connected) and now I'm worrying because apparently you need a phone line for that and we won't have one until 3 days later. =/