Tenant rights landline Connection

PasturesNew

jjlandlord wrote: »

Mobile is reliable in rural areas unless in deep Wales or Scotland.
Or, they are really unlucky...
.

Rubbish. I can very very rarely find a mobile signal when in Cornwall. At my sibling's house I have to go upstairs on one provider's service only, clear the landing windowsill, open the window and stick my head out - and not move in case the weak signal drops. And I feel lucky when there that I can get any signal at all.

jjlandlord

PasturesNew wrote: »

Rubbish. I can very very rarely find a mobile signal when in Cornwall.

As I said, are you going to list me all the blind spots in England?

I made a general, factual, comment and you reply based on special cases (which fall into my "unlucky" category).

Next I'll say that plane travel is safe and I'm sure someone will reply "Rubbish. Have you seen the news?"

woodworm001

I agree that mobile is generally reliable, but I've visited Cornwall and if I lived there I would probably argue that anywhere with a signal was a special case.

Both EE and Vodafone offer mobile hot spot devices that plug into your broadband router (no help to the OP obviously!)

Alex121

Is £15,000 a typo?? My house had no phone sockets or phone line and BT quoted £130 to install a brand new line. Just checked their website and it's still that price (potentially cheaper depending on phone package).

I can't believe that is correct, maybe you ought to go back to BT and renegotiate the price.

princeofpounds

Alex121 wrote: »

Is £15,000 a typo?? My house had no phone sockets or phone line and BT quoted £130 to install a brand new line. Just checked their website and it's still that price (potentially cheaper depending on phone package).

I can't believe that is correct, maybe you ought to go back to BT and renegotiate the price.

That is the standard new connection charge. BT is not obligated to provide one in all circumstances. If you are 600m from cable then you may well not qualify, in the same way that you can only get statutory rate gas connections within 20m.

However, this is what I was trying to urge the OP to investigate further, as I have heard of many circumstances where BT overcharges for this sort of work. even charging the new connection fee when it wasn't actually needed.

I wouldn't even take their word on the lack of surplus connections on the existing line, personally.

Obviously they still probably do get the vast majority of these calls right, and things may have improved a bit from the early days of openreach, but even so...

oldbaldman

OP - how long have you been in residence, how are you coping with the lack of a landline so far?

From your opening post it appears that you may have been in there for 3 weeks or so?

Can you clarify, did your LL, or the previous occupant of the property you are now in share the neighbour's landline from next door with the house you are now renting? If so, is it not an option for you to approach the neighbour with a view to reinstating this arrangement and paying towards their cost?

Do you just want out for this issue or other reasons?

obm

tberry6686

Did the advert or lease agreement state that a landline was available. If not I don't see any reason for the landlord to allow you to terminate the lease early.

stator

Also contact your MP. Sometimes your MP will contact a company on your behalf and that will kick them into action and make an exception. Also contact the local paper, £15,000 for a phone line sound like a good headline to me

jamie11

Do 'party lines' still exist?

You used to be able to set them to recognise different numbers and have different rings.

eta from my days as a squaddie in the Royal Signals I know that a single pair of lines can carry multiple connections, something to do with side bands, mind you that was 50years ago now.

System

You can't have a party line with ADSL on it, the same applies to DACS