BT fault and £129 call out

Tazadoobii

Just called BT for my mum, both phones are dead in the house and call them they show "busy". Spent 30 mins on the phone to BT and took me through the usual stuff. The fault isn't in the house they worked out, but they said an engineer could come out and if the fault was found to be in the house they'd charge £129!

I'm not sure what else to do now. I refused the service, obviously, as I found it too risky what they'd say they'd fix and what they wouldn't. I have no experience with setting up phone lines so they could easily persuade one of us and I'd end up refusing to pay the charge.

Who else can I call, what else can I check? Mum's paying for a service she can't use, and it seems the problem is here to stay!

Taz

Nilrem

Did you unplug any/all extensions and try one phone at a time into the master socket?

As long as you've ruled out any extension wiring (including socket doublers etc), and the phones by doing that you should be ok*.

The charge is for if say it's a fault with an extension cable, or one of your phones, in which case the fault wasn't to do with BT's gear.
Basically they're warning you that if there is a problem with your stuff, you're liable for the call out fees (some people will call an engineer out without having tried a different handset, or without having disconnected an extension that is damaged).



*One of the reasons I have a very old, very cheap corded handset on our line is that it helps rule out a problem with the handsets if/when there is a fault (it would be unusual for two separate handsets to go wrong with the same fault).

starving_artist

This has happened to me a few times. Don't believe what they tell you when they do a line test - I've been told before that the problem is not with them but then surprise surprise when an engineer does actually investigate the problem is at their end. In your case you say that they have already identified that it is not at your end so you shouldn't have to pay the call out charge. If you have any spare phones or can borrow any it's worth unplugging your equipment and putting in a different handset to see if that makes any difference.

Buzby

If you cannot fault find the issue yourself, find someone who can troubleshoot your installation - expect to pay £25 for a home visit.

If they confirm your wiring is not at fault, then you can ask BT to to fix their fault - and you will not have to pY BT's hefty fee.

Tazadoobii

starving_artist wrote: »

This has happened to me a few times. Don't believe what they tell you when they do a line test - I've been told before that the problem is not with them but then surprise surprise when an engineer does actually investigate the problem is at their end. In your case you say that they have already identified that it is not at your end so you shouldn't have to pay the call out charge. If you have any spare phones or can borrow any it's worth unplugging your equipment and putting in a different handset to see if that makes any difference.

Unless my mum can find the wireless phone I don't really, but I'll try plugging one straight into the wall now.

The cabling was done by my brother when the Broadband came in and he used some plugs used for electrics rather than the phone line, so the engineer would likely look at that and say the problem was in the house. I think it was just an alternative to soldering cables, or splicing. semi-permanent made permanent

Quentin

If you plug a phone in direct to the master socket, that will bypass your brother's handywork!

brewerdave

Quentin wrote: »

If you plug a phone in direct to the master socket, that will bypass your brother's handywork!

INCORRECT!!......If its a "modern" two part master socket then the phone needs to be plugged into the test socket hidden beneath the removable bottom part of the socket -this is a direct connection to the outside world ,independent of any extensions which are connected via the back of the front plate.:)

giraffe69

To unscrew a plate and use the test socket to try to save £129 seems worthwhile as a first step.

penrhyn

Some useful stuff here.


http://www.exbtengineers.com/line-fault-broadband-speed-test/

mattyprice4004

Quentin wrote: »

If you plug a phone in direct to the master socket, that will bypass your brother's handywork!

NO NO NO NO
If you can't offer solid advice, don't offer any. This could end up costing people £££.

You need to plug directly into the TEST socket to bypass any wiring. Using the Master socket will keep the other wiring active, which could be the cause of the issue.

Check your Master to see if the faceplate appears to have a horizontal line across the middle - if it does, remove the 2 screws, pull the faceplate away and connect the telephone to the socket hidden within.

If the phone now works, the issue is within your home. If it doesn't, the issue is outside your home and you shouldn't be charged.

On a separate note, I used to work at a major ISP and a customer saying 'my uncle / the Internet / my mate said to check this and if it doesn't work it's not chargeable' was common - unfortunately so was them being charged due to advice such as the above being commonplace.