Bt problems advice needed

ryouga

BT have treated me really bad, I had a phone line at my old flat, it wasnt working right, and BT said there was another line unused in my house, so I connected that one after they promised it was free connection to get charged full rate.

After many phone calls I got it free, I then moved to flat 2 and had no phone line, now the problem is it took BT over a month to install, plus on my bill they took about £13 in an early disconnection charge from my old address as I didnt have the line 12 months, when the original guy told me about line, he said 3 months, which passed.


Anyway also BT promised the connection charge would be paid over a couple of month period( cant remember exact time they quoted)

Plus BT have now cut off my outgoing calls facilitys so I cant even use phone, I reckon my broadband will be off soon.

Problem 1 they changed engineer date, meaning I took a morning off work, then he came round walked upstairs and refused to do job as he thought it was a reconnection not a new connection, meaning BT had to make another appointment making another 3 weeks pass, then BT promised me it will definatly be in that day, and the engineer did the outside wiring and said to book another appointment, so there went another 2 weeks, eventually the guy came round and was so lazy with wiring he put the box under my window in the furthest corner away in my living room, meaning I had to run a 10 metre cable to my router to get it working etc, plus damp drips onto the box etc.

I lost 3 mornings work, plus had a lot of stress getting it sorted.

I dont mind paying my line rental thats the thing, just dont think I should pay this massive charge in total, or at once, when I was promised it could be spread out, and the time I wasted on phone or waiting for engineer went into many hours.

ryouga

More trouble, I get a phone call, very confusing from a Indian based operator saying he was responding to my complaint, and he would give me compensation for the missed visits, and free installation.

7 hours have passed and still no phone and checking with BT they say the advisor promised nothing all he offered was to spread my connection and bill over 3 months!

kwt

I've had trouble with BT recently and found the only way to get it sorted was to e-mail the Chief Exec. It was then dealt with promptly and satisfactorily.

Link here to website with his direct e-mail address.

http://www.connectotel.com/marcus/ceoemail.html

olly300

Make a complaint in writing via recorded delivery:
1. State the mess they have caused
2. give them 7 days to sort you out the problem due to the time delay
3. inform them you will escalate the complaint

Then contact OFCOM by phone after the 7 days. 020 7981 3334

ryouga

Luckily the link provided with the cheif execs email did the trick! sent a polite but informative email saying I was unhappy with the company, and what the concerns were, got a phone call 9.15am this morning from high level complaints and a British person! who apologised, and told me hed look into case and ring me back in an hour, and he did almost to the second! and said there was a few problems but he was willing to refund the entire install charge and the first months call charges and line rental making the balance £0 and rang me back 2 hours later to confirm this had been done! my phones now working!

kwt

ryouga

Glad it worked for you. I've had to e-mail him twice about BT Mobile and its done the trick both times. It seems to be a quick way of getting your problem to high-level complaints, who have the power to sort it out.

MartinRenegade

Hello. I thought this would be the most appropriate thread to post in. I am having trouble with my BT line. The weekend before last, an engineer was up the pole outside my house. This was on Saturday. I was on the internet and a message saying 'Local Area Connection 2. A network cable is unplugged' kept flashing on and off. I have had this before and have learnt to ignore it. But that evening my 'phone line was dead. No sound when I lifted the receiver. I intended 'phoning them on Sunday but the 'phone was back on at 8.30 on Sunday morning, but the line was crackly. I had a neighbour try his 'phone plugged into my house socket. His 'phone crackled as well. I 'phoned BT. They said there was nothing wrong with my line after doing a test from the call centre. I was told that if an engineer came out and found that it was my 'phone at fault I would be charged £116. I didn't arrange for a visit. The next morning an engineer was outside. When he left an hour later the line was dead again. I 'phoned and was told that there did seem to be a problem - again after a test from the call centre. I was told that an engineer would be there after 5pm on Thursday. No one came. Just before 5pm I decided, for some reason, to see if I had internet access. To my surprise I managed to get on the internet. But the 'phone was still dead. I asked another neighbour to try his 'phone in my socket. Dead.

How can I be connected to the internet when the 'phone is dead? My internet connection still sometimes goes off or I have trouble getting on. And I frequently get the 'cable unplugged message'. I have been on the internet with the 'phone both plugged in and not plugged in. No difference. It can't be my 'phone that is causing the problem.

Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated. An engineer is coming out on Saturday morning. I don't want to be told that I must pay £116. Apparently, an engineer did come out last Thursday and needed access to my house but I wasn't in. I was in.

I am on AOL broadband.

Thanks.

Martin.

hollydays

We had a similar intermittent problem-It seemed to be relevant that we had had some workmen in and the junction box(not sure if thats the right technical term!) had been disturbed maybe- when you wiggled that-the phone crackled more.

sooz

we had the same intermittent fault.

does your phone line go after it has been raining?

we finally worked out that that was what happened with ours...every time we tried to report a phone line fault they said it was working, and the whole time our broadband worked ok.

finally, the morning the engineer was due to arrive, the phone line worked normally (naturally), but we realised that the sun was shining, so poured water all over the phone cable on the outside of the house....and it stopped working again

they replaced the cable free of charge - it had a very small hole in it!

MartinRenegade

Thanks for the suggestions. I logged onto the internet at about 8.30 this morning without any difficulty. No messages about an unplugged cable. But not long after posting the above post the line started playing up. The 'cable unplugged' message kept flashing on every few seconds. Still, I had about an hour of uninterrupted service.

And I have been on the internet now for over 15 minutes. It is going smoothly, so far.

Hollydays, I have wiggled the wire and tried pushing the cable in a bit more firmly. That doesn't seem to make any difference.

Sooz, I don't know if the rain affects my line. I haven't noticed. It all started just after the engineer fiddled with something up the pole outside my house.

I had a new cable run into my house about two years ago when I went on broadband (or Home DSL, as it says on my screen). But the line from the pole to my house has been up for over 20 years. There is probably something wrong with that. I live in a flat so the engineer wouldn't have been able to manually test the line except for the terminal up the pole.

I just hope they don't try to charge me £116. That is daylight robbery. But I don't think they will try to come that game with me. There is nothing wrong with my 'phone so it must be their line. If the engineer says that there's nothing wrong with the line I will take him hostage. Watch the news - I might be on it.

MartinRenegade

It's all sorted out. The engineer replaced a bit of cable outside. I asked him how I managed to get an internet connection when I couldn't get a 'phone connection. He said that the internet only needs one wire to be working as it's digital. The 'phone needs both wires in the cable to work. I forgot to ask why, in that case, there was interference and loss of connection with the internet. I suppose the faulty wire caused the interference.