Now-Broadband 'systems issue' anyone else had this, or can advise please?

lindos90

My son is moving into his own place. He looked at all the broadband deals and Now-Broadband appeared to be the best deal. He did an online booking for an engineers visit and has just received an email from Now-broadband that Openreach have let them down and the only just told them that they can not visit.

The email dis not specify if Openreach just can't make that day, or refuse to come at all, but did advise my son that the installation has been classed as 'failed' and to rebook another installation date he needs to apply right from the start again (rather than just rescheduling)
He did reply and tried to clarify what the issue was and if Now-Broadband could provide the broadband at all. 

Their response was that it was 'due to a systems issue with openreach' which still really doesn't clarify it.

Does anyone know if a 'systems issue' is just simply poor admin/communication between the two companies, or is it to do with the infrastructure to install the broadband?

I did suggest he just tried a different company, but he says he has already paid them an installation fee of £60, and also if it is an installation issue with openreach, then other companies could have the same issues because they all use openreach engineers to set up broadband, so I think he feels a bit stuck now.

Any advice or suggestions please?

wongataa

Ask Now about the issue.

lindos90

wongataa said:

Ask Now about the issue.

He has! The only thing they tell him is that it is a systems issue with Openreach' which I explained above. He called them again today to try and clarify and sort it out and he was put through to three different people and was on the phone for over an hour with still no more insight. That's why I'm trying to see if others have has similar issues. 

iniltous

Your son has no contractual arrangement with Openreach, only Now , it may or may not be an Openreach issue that caused the appointment to fail , but that’s irrelevant, the order was with Now, FWIW , failed appointments should be compensated for , if Now are a member of the Ofcom scheme.
Ordering with someone else , may not necessarily be any faster ,  Now have a vested interest in shifting the blame so personally I would take this with a pinch of salt , it could be true , but it would be like buying a new Ford car , it breaking down because the battery is dead , and Ford blaming the battery manufacturer, it may be true , but you didn’t buy a battery separately , you bought complete a car, if the battery supplied was defective that isn’t really your concern, Ford are responsible, they can take it up with the battery manufacturer afterwards.

lindos90

Well he eventually got through on the phone to them (after waiting an hour and being passed to 3 people) he was told that the appointment was still on the system, even though Openreach are not coming, and they couldn't book another appointment until that one is taken off the system (no idea why they couldn't do it there and then) they said it would be off the system within 2 hours, and they would email him with details of rearranging an engineer. Obviously the email didn't arrive.
If I was him, I'd take his experience as a red flag and go with someone else. Their communication has been so poor. I dread to think how they would deal with any issues when someone is tied to a contract.
I think he will be lucky to get his £60 engineer payment back, let alone any compensation!