BT 1571 & BT Privacy problems?

Inspector_Clouseau

I am BT customer on their new system? what every that means. I ordered the 1571 answer service & BT privacy which inculdes the free caller display, but none of the services work. The guy told me the services are on by account but when someone calls me they can not leave a message nor do I see their number when I am at home.

I was given a fault reference number yesterday to see if there is a problem with my line in the exchange. I was wondering if anyone else had or is having problems with the same services? :undecided

Insp C.

Welliesorter

It's perfectly possible for services to be shown on your account but not actually be on your line and vice versa. It's happened to me in the past.

You can check if caller display is on your line by dialling *#234#. If it says the service is not available, it's missing. If it says 'callers' identities will be displayed', the service is there so you may need to check your phone.

What do you hear when you dial 1571? If it says 'this line does not have a call answering service...' and then tells you how to order it, it's missing. If you get a long-winded explanation of how it works, you need to listen to the whole message before you can use the service.

If it's been reported as a fault, it should be dealt with, but if nothing happens in the next day or so, try re-reporting it at www.bt.com/faults.

One tip with 1571: if you sign up for on-line billing you can check your messages on the BT web site. Very handy when you're away from home.

GONAD_2

If you're unlucky enough to actually get through to anyone, after a good hour being bounced around and ignored, they may tell you that the service isn't working (for new customers) and that they don't know when it will be.

Isn't it strange how they don't tell you that when you sign up for an account?

An elderly friend of mine who will not answer the phone without her Caller Display working is effectively now left without incoming calls and is very distressed.

Thanks a bunch BT, you're as rotten as you were when I switched to another provider, some 4 years ago.

BritBrat

I did read on newsgroups that they are now asking for payment as the service is now provided by Openreach and not BT, but I did look and could not find any more information on it, so I am not sure how accurate this is.

Is it definitely switched off? Dial *#234# and see what the message
says. If the message says "Callers identities will not be displayed"
then you can switch it on by dialling *234#

It would appear that BT are currently unable to provide caller ID as
part of BT privacy at home, and are even refusing to provide it when I
offer to PAY FOR IT... (keep in mind this is a service that they're
still actively advertising)

Initially I was told there was a "nationwide problem with the caller
ID service" ... needless to say this didn't wash as I work for a
service provider, and all of our lines have working Caller ID!! After
much arguing the explanation I finally got out of them is that there's
an ongoing dispute between BT Retail and BT Openreach which basically
translates as

"Openreach used to give us Caller ID for free, and we charged
customers £4 / quarter for it ... now they want to charge us £1.64 per
quarter and we think we should get it for free (even though all our
competitors have to pay for it)"

BT are trying to blame Ofcom's insistence on putting all providers on
a level pegging for this when in reality, BT just aren't willing to
pay for it ... and the customers suffer ... much like the current Sky/
NTL situation!

I don't care if i have to pay for it or not, I just want caller ID
back on my line and BT are adamant that its not possible... seems like
this is more of a problem than getting my x100p working with it (which
is what i thought the problem was to start with )

So far I've spent four hours on hold, and talking to, various
departments within BT

Anyone have any suggestions?

From 11 January 2006, Wholesale Calling Features such as Caller Display
are supplied by Openreach and their prices can be found on the
dedicated Openreach Price List which can be found at
http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/pricing/pricing.do
AFAIK, the only calling features which stayed with Wholesale are the
Call Minder/1571 products.

They're getting around it by saying it's "subject to availability/
survey" and that at present it is not possible to offer it on
customers provisioned through WLR3.

I work for a service provider and this is complete nonsense... BT are
just refusing to do it because they aren't willing to pay Openreach
for it.

suggests that Caller Display is available to all service providers and
is chargeable.

Certainly looks like BT Retail are wrong to just say it isn't available.

http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/products/wlr/downloads/wlr3_specific/WLR3ProductDescription_Issue%208.0.doc

Seems to be this WLR3 format again.

GONAD_2

Still no joy from BT and we tried the *#234# thing which says that the service is not connected.

BritBrat

Try giving this a ring and ask for the privacy option to be activated.

I would advise against having 1571 unless you like to waste friends and relatives money but the caller display is good.

0800 0223089

GONAD_2

But they can't activate it as it's not working for new customers, there's a fault. My point is that they're not telling people when they sign up. It can't be switched on, off or anything else.

The lady in question spent over 9 hours on the phone (mainly selecting options and being put on hold) to eventually be told that there's a national fault, it's been faulty for some time and they have no idea when the service will be up and running. They should have told her that when she signed up for the service in the first place, she was better off with her original provider.

BritBrat

There is no national fault, they just don't want to do it because it costs them money.

How many other posts do you see here titled "Why has my caller display stoped working" if it was a national fault there would be loads.

Then there is the question of false advertising.

Inspector_Clouseau

Thanks for all the info, spoke to BT again today and apparently the service has been fixed, tried calling my home from my mobile and hey presto caller display works also tried 1571 while I was at it again it too works. Pity it took so long

Heinz

Inspector_Clouseau wrote: »

Thanks for all the info, spoke to BT again today and apparently the service has been fixed, tried calling my home from my mobile and hey presto caller display works also tried 1571 while I was at it again it too works. Pity it took so long

On behalf of your friends and family may I ask you to switch 1571 off and buy an answering machine.

BritBrat

^ Just what I was going to say but I already did in post #6