BT charge of £129.99 for fixing broadband fault!

Maz1963

I'm furious with BT. In September my broadband went very slow. I put up with it for a while but then it became virtually non existent, so I reported to BT. After some very frustrating calls, miscommunication, and one engineer no show on their part, a guy turned up and fixed it. He told me that the fault was at 'the centre' and he fixed it by connecting some kind of gadget to my line and resetting the speed. But, he also told me that my sockets were not quite right, so changed two sockets, one upstairs and one downstairs. So, it seems they were two mighty expensive sockets! I've checked BT Ts&Cs and it seems like they are within their rights to charge me. I have disputed. Someone is supposed to call me tomorrow.


It seems very bizarre, and very, very unfair. The fault I reported was slow, and then no, internet. That's what needed to be fixed, and it was. I didn't NEED two new sockets and the guy didn't say that this was necessary to fix the broadband, nor did he tell me this would entail a £130 fee!


Are they really allowed to operate like this?! I will dispute, even if I have to go higher (anyone got an email for any 'big cheeses' at BT?).

iniltous

When you reported your slow broadband, your provider should have tested your line to see if there was any obvious fault with it, if there is a detectable fault the tester suggests where the fault may be, ( at the exchange, in the network, or at or close to your home)...if the test suggests no fault or a fault at your home they stress upon you that if an engineer visit is requested and there is either no fault or the fault is on something Openreach are not responsible for ,like extension sockets, extension wiring, or faulty devices plugged into the line ( like filters, routers, Sky TV boxes, burglar alarms etc, etc) then you may be charged for the visit.

Were you warned of the potential charge if you requested a visit and the problem wasn't on the Openreach network ? If you were not warned ( they should listen to the call and check they gave you the warning) then they shouldn't charge, even if the problem was on your own 'stuff'.

Were you asked to plug your broadband filter/router into the master socket test port to eliminate things such as extensions sockets/wiring as being the cause of the problems, and if they did ask, did you do as instructed ?
If you did and no improvement it suggests nothing wrong at your home, if you didn't do what they said , and just insisted they send someone out, thats obviously taking a chance and shouldn't be too surprised a 'charge' followed.

If the problem was external to your house , and the work on the sockets was not really necessary , it sort of begs the question why did the engineer bother to touch them ? they wouldn't normally do that, they would do what you should have already tried yourself, connecting in the test port of the master socket, effectively the extension would be disconnected doing this.

What you need to do is get your ISP to challenge Openreach to check the engineers 'closure' notes on the fault report , if the engineer states the fault was external , then no charge should be raised, (and you are refunded the charge) if on the other hand the engineer stated the 'fault' was the extension socket and he fixed the extension and by doing so fixed the poor speed problem, then (because that was something you could have done yourself and was never OR's responsibility) the charge is valid,

Grey area could be if there was two issues (one internal and one external) presumably you should get a refund but why would the OR do the work on the extension and not just leave it disconnected and tell you not to reconnect the extension until you get it 'fixed' yourself ?
If you claim the engineer was wrong stating the problem was your 'extension' when it wasn't then it may come down to your word against the OR engineers word ( or notes on the 'job sheet' ) but as I said, they may well say why would the engineer even bother to touch the sockets if they were not affecting the broadband, and TBH sockets that are 'not quite right' means they are probably affecting you broadband speed which is what your complaint was in the first place

Maz1963

Thanks for your reply iniltous. If I'd known about the 'vaguaries' of this charge, I would have noted everything and asked questions all along. Sadly this happened at the same time my mother was in hospital for 4 weeks after a stroke and I actually drove all the way home from hospital especially to let an engineer in on the first call that was arranged, only to then have a no show! So my mind was not totally focused on questioning everything. What I clearly do remember is that the Openreach guy plugged the device in and very quickly fixed the broadband problem, and THEN went on to suggest that the sockets needed to be changed to something more up to date. Surely they can't fix the fault, which was clearly a problem at their end, and then go on to do something unconnected with the fault, and then charge me for that?!


Hopefully this will all resolve itself tomorrow, when someone is supposed to call me, but if they won't waive the charge, then I guess it's a lesson learned for me (and anyone else reading this!). Most definitely, the next time I have any issues with BT and have to call someone out, I will be asking questions all the way about charges. I often think that BT 'customer service' is getting worse, but this last experience with them was really bad. The whole process was very unprofessional, and then to be charged just adds further insult!

iniltous

Although your 'frustration' with BT is understandable, it's worth pointing out that you would have the same problem with Sky , TT or anyone else in the same circumstances, it was an Openreach engineer that visited, it's because OR raised the 'unneccesarry visit' charge to BT , that BT in effect passed the bill onto you, in the same way that if you were a Sky customer they would have passed that OR bill onto you..

..hopefully BT will challenge the bill with OR (if it's not justified) and you get a refund...the problem may be , say your line was capable of 15Mb, but you were only getting 8Mb, a combination of an external fault and 'dodgy' sockets , fixing the external fault gets the line upto 12Mb ( a good improvement but still short of the lines potential ) should the engineer leave it like that, or also sort out the sockets and get it upto 15Mb ?...and if he does what proportion of the charge is valid ?, as the socket wasn't OR's 'fault' but the external problem was ...it's a grey area

Maz1963

Well, that was easier than I thought. A very helpful guy called me from BT today and I explained what had happened. He himself seemed a bit puzzled as to why I had been charged the repair fee, and immediately said they would refund it.


My faith in BT is somewhat restored!


But, still a lesson for the future, now that I know the charge is a possibility.