Bt callout charges (merged threads)

BritBrat

Ask for a copy of the enginners report to find out exactly what he did.

Did he enter the house?

Before anyone calls BT now they should plug a known working phone directly into the internal socket within the BT NTE box, then while you are there look for damp. Put an hair drier on it for a while, leave the cover off over night.

If you do all that you may still get a bill but you will know its a con.

Inigo_Montoya

Hello

My phone company, Onetel, part of TalkTalk have billed me for some work done by a BT Engineer and I am wondering if there is a possiblity it is not my responsibility to pay for it i.e. the phone company or BT should pay for it

Here is a summary of the situation :

I noticed there was a problem with my phone line as my internet kept dropping out and I also noticed quite a lot of static on the line

I phoned Onetel who agreed to send out a BT Engineer but warned me something along the lines of that "if the problem was inside my property" then I would be responsible for paying for the cost of the repairs but that if the fault was outside then I wouldnt have to pay anything - I did verbally agree to this but even so my understanding of "inside my property" has always been "everthing *after* the main BT box" since that the bit Im responsible for

The BT Engineer came and almost immediately found that the problem was in a junction box just inside the property (afixed to my back door frame) but importantly this junction box was *before* the main BT box and not something I am allowed by law to touch myself - the main BT box being further inside my house rather than the first thing the outside wire goes into - the junction box is the first thing the outside wire goes into instead

The BT Engineer swapped the junction box and that does appear to have resoved the problem - between entering my property & leaving it having fixed the problem he probably took around 30 minutes

Today I received my latest bill where I have been charged £171.41 + VAT for this half hour of work - pretty extortionate in my view even if I am responsible for paying for the work

My question is as follows - as the junction box was before the main BT box and therefore part of the wiring BT are responsible for maintaining as I am not allowed to touch it by law then can I argue that I should not be responsible for paying for the repairs ?

If anybody has a definitive answer to this question (either way) I would very much appreciate you posting preferably with references so I know its not just your own opinion

regards

normanmark

If its anything before the BT Master Socket in the house then it shouldn't be charged to you.

What i would do in your position is call up your telephone provider who arranged the engineer visit & ask for them to clarify the charges. Explain that it's been done on the line before the master socket & they'll raise this with BT Openreach.

topherxp

Sounds like your main socket my have been moved in the past as it is unusual to have a junction box inside the property. If that is the case, that my be why the charge as be raised.

Worth raising the dispute with Onetel who will go back to Openreach for the engineers report to clarify what the problem was and if charges apply.

GillzD_2

the might be taking a literal view of inside your property. because the junction box is inside your property, you are responsible for it even though you are bot supposed to touch it. i have had similarm problems with bt charges i keep hearing other peoples conversations on the line and i know it is not my equipment but they want me to dismantle the main socket which i dont agree with as in my view it is bts property and they should not expect customers with no electical/phone experience to try to take boxes apart!

fight it all they way they are trying to scam you. you never caused the fault it was caused by a faulty piece of bt property.

GillzD_2

bt try to scam alot of people this way - me being one of them! if they did not enter her property they did not fix something they she could have fixed herself (thought i dont agree with anyone having to try and fix bt property themselves) i would write to them as i have never been called back by them yet (this has been ongoing since sept 2007) and they just speak through a hole in their head

GillzD_2

flutterbyuk25 wrote: »

Hi all

this is a bit long winded so please bear with me.

we live just off the main road down a short (30ft) lane. We have always had a BT phone line here. Every time we have high winds there is a problem with the line and it goes crackly or cuts off.

Couple of weeks ago there was an intermittent phoneline and broadband service (we changed to BT Broadband in Nov). So mum reported the fault and an engineer came out. Whilst my mum rung BT to report this the phoneline cut out 4 times so there were aware of the fault but when they did a line test all was ok, hence they sent an engineer. Engineer could not find a specific problem. The problem seemed to fix itself then we had high winds so it started again. So once again reported fault, phone cut out twice during that call! Also reported fault with BT broadband router overheating and was sent a replacement.

2nd engineer came same day as new router. He checked the line and said there was interference due to the router overheating which may also have been causing power surges which would make the phone cut out. He very kindly waited whilst I changed router etc over to the new one and quelle surprise all was okay, and has been ever since.

Yesterday mum gets BT bill and has been charged £99 for each call out!!! :mad:

How can they charge this amount without warning? Also the need for the call out was due to their faulty broadband equipment!

Any advice on how to tackle this one? We have not yet spoken to BT as my mum wanted to wait til after Christmas

Thanks in advance and Merry Christmas to you all xx

in response to this i was told bt cant send out an engineer with out advising you of the charge coz "they have to tick the box" that was what i was told anyway me when i complain about a charge that might or might not be for an engineer. like ticking a box on a computer makes someone say something!! this seems to be happening all too often and they keep getting away with it!

deklan99

Nothing to do with BT.
Onetel who should query it with Openreach as normanmark and topherxp have stated.
It's Onetel who have onpassed the charges to the OP.

simpleguy_blr

Hi,

I had a problem with my BT Landline, The phone was always engaged and I could not make or receive any calls.

Caled BT as advised by their Fault Correction Service using the the testing socket provided I was able to use the Landline. They asked me to eliminate any SKY/Broadand connection test, I did as suggested, the phone was working only from the Test Socket.

So they fixed an appointment for a BT Engineer to come home and look at the isses. He promptly came home and had a look at the main socket and then at all the extensions, he said the fault was at one of the extensions, he identified and disconnected that particular extension, now I am able to use my phone and broadband.

Before leaving he said that I could be charges a call out charge and any labour as this was not a fault with BT but with an extension. I am a bit worried as I know that the BT Charges are quiet expensive.

Is there anything I can do to avoid being charged?

Many Thanks

BritBrat

No.

You will be charged well over £100.

Next time if it works in the test socket DO NOT CALL BT OUT.