Watch out watch out VF are not in full control...beware of this issue and think before you leap!

Beerboy777

After 20 years+ of BT Broadband (who appear to gradually reduce guaranteed speed thresholds but increase prices via re-naming of products!) and at the end of my BT contract, I decided to switch to VF as the ISP. Superfast 2 offered the guaranteed minimum speeds BT did not in the same price range and as a Mobile customer I also got a small discount. On 3rd July I signed up with VF and was offered an activation date of 20th July. Without boring you with the daily calls to VF I have had to make and (false) assurances I got repeatedly that they would fix it and Openreach were indeed working on it, I still have no Broadband as at 5th August (despite numerous alternative activation dates coming and going). Luckily, nearly every VF advisor told me I would get compensated....umm, an inability to effectively work remotely, no subscription service access to Spotify, Netflix, Amazon and a 4G data network that runs at 2 bars at best if I hang outside an upstairs window and hotspot! I wonder how good that compensation will really be for the avoidable issue VF created.
The learning for all MS Savers is that VF do not appear to have a satisfactory SLA (Service Level Agreement) with Openreach in place, VF accept new contract orders and assume everything will be ok and activation miraculously happen after 2 weeks or so! VF do not appear to check that an activation date will actually be possible with Openreach and inform their customer (me) accordingly to adjust dates/avert an issue. Hence on 20th July BT cut me off Broadband and reconnected the phone line to VF. When asked why VF did not merely extend the service via BT until VF could take it over, they replied saying they couldn't do that as it would require a new contract between me and BT. Ok, so VF are really not interested in representing their new customers best interests it seems and are happy to blame Openreach and have no dialogue / agreements between service providers (lesson for Offcom here maybe!). It turns out that VF etc. cannot use the same ports as BT in the local fibre box so do not assume if you had it before it will continue to work!. In my case, the latest story is that the box will need to be upgraded by Openreach (as there are insufficient Ports) and VF have no control over this but get daily assurances from Openreach.....now, wouldn't that have been good to know on 3rd July or at least before a Customer is cut off service? Umm....A lack of process and communication all around I am afraid. Unless you can live without Broadband (like my 82 year old Mother) stick with your current ISP is my advice even if they are not the cheapest. It may make your anxiety levels and stress lower but you will be a few quid out of pocket!

The_Fat_Controller

Who are VF ?

Beerboy777

VF = Vodafone

Neil_Jones

Most likely Vodafone.

Although since the original block is a big block of text I tend to lose the focus of what the post is about when they're written like that...

iniltous

It appears you had FTTC with BT, you decided to switch to Vodafone FTTC and it went ‘wrong’, if the fibre cab is ( and maybe already was ) ‘waiting list ‘then orders cannot be satisfied by OR,   if you had looked on the checker site you would have known this, Vodafone should have advised you of this before processing your order ( it’s possible that it was just bad luck, 1 spare port and yourself and another person ordered simultaneously and the other persons provider got in first.)
Most providers will provider temporary exchange based ADSL in the interim, if they cannot provide the FTTC product they said they would.
As far as speed threshold, this is OR ( not BT ) and VF and BT will provider the same line rate , if the same product is ordered , and the ‘estimate’ is same regardless of ISP.
The assertion that VF cannot use certain ports in a FTTC cab is wrong, there is no pre allocation, all ports are available to all providers , but if you already have FTTC and leave provider A, and there isn’t a spare port , provider B cannot complete...the good news ( for someone ) is when your BT service was ceased, your original ‘port’ in the FTTC cab became spare, but if the cab was waiting list for you , it probably is waiting list for others, and some ISP may have already snapped up the port , not necessarily for a BT customer, it could be any ISP, could even be another VF customer

Beerboy777

Thanks for the useful info. and confirmation iniltous. They have built about 24 new houses in the village recently, hence you may be correct about waiting list. It is the most logical sense I have heard about all this to date. I was not aware of the potential problem (or a checker if I understand you correct) and wanted to warn others....Having had the higher speed previously via BT my assumption was that Vodafone could match that. They stated my average would be 71.6 to 76Mbps when checked but clearly didn't check anything else before processing the order. Can I check a cabinet waiting list somewhere or did I mis-understand that aspect?

Beerboy777

Found the Broadband availability checker, plugged in my telephone number.... but the service is not currently working is the message

iniltous

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL/telephoneHome

Just tried my number and it worked, NB, if you are trying a VF number it won’t work, but you can use your address.

Beerboy777

Thanks iniltous - I finally managed to get both the address and line number (multiple attempts) to return an answer (and with same results!)....FTTC (as requested) is Available from Cabinet 1 and in line with the speeds previously estimated etc. No sign of a Wait list showing. Spotted it stated last checked on 31st July so there is hope the data is accurate. If so, points to another potential problem somewhere

iniltous

If the checker says available, then try applying with a different provider , obviously unless you want do, do not proceed to ‘checkout’, if another provider will allow you to order FTTC , then whatever issue VF have with your application it’s nothing to do with Openreach , or BT, and entirely down to them....presumably you want to use VF, but if I was looking to move provider and they were failing at this most basic level , I may reconsider if they were the correct choice

Beerboy777

After another couple of no shows from OR and a promise of 13th now! Vodafone are merely doing the same thing repeatedly hoping for a different result it seems. OR say when they proceed to progress the job order that it fails to assign an engineer (nobody notices, after I call, VF finally ask for another engineer slot and so the groundhog day process goes). It is a technical issue and OR are looking to fix it apparently! Yeah right. No engineers are being despatched? No, only relating to this job I'm told. Why they don't pick up a phone to the local engineer supervisor and manually get another job assignment put in is not explained. Why another clean job order was not added 2 weeks ago is also not answered. My case is an "exception" and OR are dealing with it.....VF also are unclear what their SLA with OR is but assure me there is one! Funny if not sad...You are correct iniltous, basic failure of service does not bode well staying with Vodafone should issues again arise....