How can I make a neighbour dispute official?

davidmcn

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Then walk off and ring your bank and stop the cheque.

And then they sue you on the basis of the stopped cheque - the law doesn't allow you simply to change your mind.

pinklady21

vet8 wrote: »

I spoke to the Open Reach guy when he called for the second time about 2 weeks ago . The pole they need to come from stands on the grass verge and he said that even if they take the cable along the road and avoid the verge they will still have to cross about one foot of the verge and they will still need the neighbour's permission.I find it laughable. I suggested they come from another pole the other way, but he said it had to be this one.

I have no idea what the neighbour's objection is to this. The odd thing he has always seemed friendly enough over the years, but he originally replied to BT saying that " he was unable to sign the form" now he will, but not at the moment.

Then you need to ask him, politely and in writing why he is apparently not agreeing to allow Open Reach to do the work necessary to install a phone line.
Then at least you might find out what the problem is rather than going on hearsay from Open Reach lackeys!

Smodlet

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Might be the best solution to go over the head of Openreach/BT. There must be some ombudsman/woman over the head of them and it might be the way to deal with this is to go to that person and quote this legal right and ask them to "kick the backside" of lower down know-nothing jobsworth (suitably phrased).

EDIT; With this awkward character first saying they won't sign and then "Yep...but not yet" - I'm wondering whether they are playing a game to try and get you to pay them a bribe to shut up being awkward and sign. Two options if that's the case I guess; 1. tell them you suspect this and they won't be getting one - so they might as well stop playing silly b&ggers or 2. pay them a bribe in the form of a cheque from one hand, the next second wave form at them to sign. Then walk off and ring your bank and stop the cheque.

Sorry, Money but I seriously doubt Ofcom would be the slightest bit interested. Openreach have done nothing wrong; they are just covering their rears (something they excel at) like every other business of any size these days. It is always someone else's problem, never theirs.

{Aside} Five years in telecoms; every provider who is not Openreach has to rely on them to some extent because they have more wires in more places than anyone else and once owned all the exchanges before they were forced to sell bits of some of them to their competitors.

The holding out for a bribe possibility had occurred to me, too.

vet8

PasturesNew wrote: »

Could it come up your back passage missus? An entirely different route. Not the preferred route, or shortest, or best ... but you presumably have rear boundaries where the land the other side of those belongs to known individuals/farms.

Unfortunately out the back we have 7 acres of land and then there are more fields, I think the nearest pole that way would be more than half a mile. I really do not think Open Reach would be keen to go that way as they hardly seem to be putting themselves out at the moment. I also assume we would have to pay a lot for it as BT only pay up to a certain amount which I forget at the mo.

vet8

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Might be the best solution to go over the head of Openreach/BT. There must be some ombudsman/woman over the head of them and it might be the way to deal with this is to go to that person and quote this legal right and ask them to "kick the backside" of lower down know-nothing jobsworth (suitably phrased).

When we last spoke to BT about this on Tuesday they actually suggested we should speak to our MP, although what he could really do I have no idea.

iammumtoone

Have you offered to pay him for access?


Ok not something your probably want to do but if you have to take another route for the cable its going to cost so this might in the long run be more cost effective (and quicker).

vet8

iammumtoone wrote: »

Have you offered to pay him for access?


Ok not something your probably want to do but if you have to take another route for the cable its going to cost so this might in the long run be more cost effective (and quicker).

We have not offered him any money but it might be an idea I suppose, annoying though that BT cannot just put the line in like the power company did.

moneyistooshorttomention

vet8 wrote: »

When we last spoke to BT about this on Tuesday they actually suggested we should speak to our MP, although what he could really do I have no idea.

Well - BT used to be "ours" (ie public sector)/ not sure if it still is "ours" (sorta lose track of just how much of our property has been sold off).

If there's one thing one learns when working for the public sector is that every so often someone writes to their MP/said MP is likely to send a letter to them/they all leap into action. Well - that's how it worked when I worked for the Civil Service at any rate.....

PhilE

You could make this official and win. You get your phone line and he sells for less.

You then have to declare a dispute when you sell your place. Of course, you could say that the neighbor in question has moved on and the dispute has long been solved. But to get full market value, you need to declare no neighbor disputes ideally. So may affect your price, may not as its been solved.

If you affect his market value, your then stuck with an idiot neighbor for a longer period of time, and one who hates you.

Just let him move on as quickly as possible, throw a party when he's gone and never have to think of him ever again.

Your lucky, wish my idiot neighbors were moving...

Smodlet

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Well - BT used to be "ours" (ie public sector)/ not sure if it still is "ours" (sorta lose track of just how much of our property has been sold off).

BT was "ours" for four years, until Thatcher privatised it in 1984. Don't you remember the "scandal" of MPs being allowed to buy more than their fair share of shares? Classic case of making the rich richer and keeping the poor down.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BT_Group