BT don't have capacity in their exchange

Olokia

Hi,

Sorry for the massive amount of text.

I was hoping for some advice. I've recently moved into a new build, BT have known about this development and have had a long time to make sure that they have had capacity in their exchange.

We have a FTTP line which means that fibre goes straight to our property and we can have up to 300mb download speed. While this sounds great, it means that BT are our only supplier and we can't shop around for any deals or go to another supplier if they are being useless, which they are.

On the 13th October, a fibre engineer came to our house to install the router and connect up the fibre line, he then said its now ready to be ordered (this seems backwards compared to normal FTTC connections because he is installing the router first but whatever).

We ordered on the 14th October and was told that our line would be activated on the 19th October, which came and went and we were then told definitely by the 23rd October. That also went by with no activation. 24th October is when we were told that there actually was no capacity at the exchange and they were waiting for a link cable and we would get a phone call yesterday with an update.

We complained on twitter and sent emails to the CEOs to say this was unacceptable. We didn't think anything would come of it and nothing did apart from we were assigned a complaint handler.

The phone call was today and she left a voicemail saying that she would be dealing with us and she will give us another update next Wednesday. From the sounds of things, we won't be getting either a phone line or broadband for a couple of months at this rate while they install this link cable. BT are being very vague about timelines apart from telling us when they will next update us which has been late so far.

I'm on maternity leave and when my son is sleeping the only thing I can really do is watch netflix but I can't even do that at the moment. We bought a really expensive dongle from EE that has a very low cap of 30gb which isn't enough to stream tv or play the games in the evening that we are used to. My mobile is also faulty so I really need the landline as well until I can get my mobile fixed.

Is there anything else I should be doing. I obviously can't make them suddenly have capacity but they seem to be taking their time over it. And I think they should be paying for the dongle as compensation for the problems they are causing us but how can I make them think this? We can't even change supplier because there is literally no one else.

Thanks

iniltous

Anderws and Arnold and Zen are 2 other ISP's that provide service over Openreach FTTP infrastructure , so it's untrue to say only BT offer service over your FTTP.
If BT took your order and provided an appointment date , then they may offer something for the missed appointment and days without service from that contractual date ( if they gave you an appointment) but BT in this case are the ISP , and in the hands of Openreach to provide the infrastructure, and may have priviso's incase they are let down by thier suppliers (OR)

littleboo

Olokia wrote: »

Hi,

Is there anything else I should be doing. I obviously can't make them suddenly have capacity but they seem to be taking their time over it. And I think they should be paying for the dongle as compensation for the problems they are causing us but how can I make them think this? We can't even change supplier because there is literally no one else.

Thanks

There are other suppliers that offer FTTP - IDNET & Zen for example.

Olokia

I've never even heard of those companies before apart from doing a quick search online. They are even more expensive than BT anyway.

In any case, if there is no capacity in the exchange then surely these other companies can't supply us anyway?

littleboo

You said in your op that you that you didn't have a choice but to use BT, we've both pointed out that isn't the case.

Linton

This is one area where calling Openreach directly appears to help. I was told a similar story about the exchange being full by BT and given a couple of months timescale. Openreach told me that the problem was the local cabinet was full. A few days later BT rang to say it was now possible to connect my line.

adonis

Until you get your mobile phone fixed buy a cheap mobile, you can get them for less than a tenner.

Muhasib

If you can cancel the mobile data contract then do so and consider taking up a contract with 3 that allows 'go binge' as that will allow Netflix without affecting any data allowance.

buglawton

Linton wrote: »

This is one area where calling Openreach directly appears to help. I was told a similar story about the exchange being full by BT and given a couple of months timescale. Openreach told me that the problem was the local cabinet was full. A few days later BT rang to say it was now possible to connect my line.

I once tried to contact Openreach but found they wouldn't speak to me without a ticket reference from the phone/broadband company.

iniltous

FTTP is a bit of a niche product and the general customer service reps may not be particularly 'au fait' with the product....there is a customer service number to call just for FTTP , I cannot remember if it's a BT number or a Openreach number, or what the number is, but presumably a quick search on line will locate it.
As far as the OP, the other ISP's quoted may be more expensive than some but are well regarded as ISPs and probably better at describing what the problem is and may be better at applying pressure on OR to resolve it.

Linton

buglawton wrote: »

I once tried to contact Openreach but found they wouldn't speak to me without a ticket reference from the phone/broadband company.

If the complaint was about the performance of an existing line, yes you would need to go via the ISP but in the OPs case there isnt a phone/broadband company yet. Same as in my circumstances at the time when Open Reach were very helpful.