An unauthorised cease put in my line by BT OpenReach

Con_2

I was originally subscribed to BT for my home line rental & billing. On the 21st of Feb 2008 I switched my line rental & billing to Sky. I was more than happy with the service for a little over a month, during which time everything worked perfectly.

On the 26th Mar 2008 my telephone stopped working. After contacting Sky to find out why they told me a 'Cease' had been placed on the line for an unknown reason and all they knew was that BT OpenReach (BT Wholesale) had initiated it.

Sky told me the only people who could resolve this was BT as it appeared as if another service provider was trying to take over my line. I know that I haven't requested this! :mad:

After ringing BT domestic they told me that only BT OpenReach can do this and I need to contact them, although they weren't allowed to give me their number. I've emailed both BT OpenReach and OfCom, although not had a response, yet.

Sky told me the only two options I am left with are:
1. Get BT to reconnect my line after signing up to another 12 month contract with BT before switching to Sky again after that.
2. Get BT to reconnect my line for which I pay BT £125.00 to buy out of the 1 year contract before switching to Sky again.

No one seems to be able to provide answers as to why this happened or how to get reconnected without paying the £125.00 or going back to BT for 12 months.

This to me sounds like some underhand dodgy tactic for me to remain with BT. Has anyone come across this before and how did they resolve this?

What I want to know is who authorised that my line be disconnected by BT OpenReach?
How do I get my line reconnected and working with Sky for my line rental & calls through Sky as originally set up?

Feeling confused, annoyed and abused.

Con.

withabix

This actually sounds like you have been 'slammed' by another telephone company, OR Sky haven't been paying BT for your line rental (which is what they do), OR you possibly haven't paid a Sky bill or haven't fulfilled a term or condition of your Sky agreement (like signing and retunring it for example), OR Sky have cocked up.

As it is BT Openreach/BT Wholesale who have done this, it WILL be one of the reasons I have suggested.

BT won't really give a monkeys about you being with Sky, because Sky pay them - they just buy line rental and call time from BT at wholesale rates IIRC and use other carriers on a least cost routing basis to route calls where appropriate.

Browntoa

or Sky not owning up to their own "mistake"

much easier to blame BT

normanmark

Sky need to investigate further to find out what reason the cease was placed on the line. This could be down to a number of reasons.

You should not be phoning ANY department of BT, you have no contract with them. Your contract is with Sky & therefore any technical issues they have to discuss with BT should be done by them & them only.

BexTech

...and now Sky are putting up their call costs, maybe not a good time to have switched line rental way from BT.

Con_2

withabix wrote: »

This actually sounds like you have been 'slammed' by another telephone company, OR Sky haven't been paying BT for your line rental (which is what they do), OR you possibly haven't paid a Sky bill or haven't fulfilled a term or condition of your Sky agreement (like signing and retunring it for example), OR Sky have cocked up.

As it is BT Openreach/BT Wholesale who have done this, it WILL be one of the reasons I have suggested.

BT won't really give a monkeys about you being with Sky, because Sky pay them - they just buy line rental and call time from BT at wholesale rates IIRC and use other carriers on a least cost routing basis to route calls where appropriate.

OfCom told me I'd been 'Slammed' but normally slamming involves unknowingly being taken to another telephone company. However in this case I have BT Wholesale have requested that I be Ceased from Sky but have not signed me up to another company, so I'm in a limb of having a dial tone and working broadband but unable to make or recieve telephone calls.

This may be because Sky haven't been paying BT for my line rental
But I know that I have paid my Sky bill and my Sky agreement is fine

Maybe Sky have cocked up, but with both BT Wholesale and Sky saying "it's not us please contact the other party" I'm left in a telephone-less no-mans-land. :-(

BritBrat

Ask Sky to install a new line for you.

Transfer the broadband/phone to new line.

Start afresh.

BexTech

BritBrat wrote: »

Ask Sky to install a new line for you.

Transfer the broadband/phone to new line.

Start afresh.

...and be stuck with the high call costs Sky are now charging.

normanmark

Con wrote: »

Maybe Sky have cocked up, but with both BT Wholesale and Sky saying "it's not us please contact the other party" I'm left in a telephone-less no-mans-land. :-(

It's sky's issue to pick up as you're there customer.

BritBrat

BexTech wrote: »

...and be stuck with the high call costs Sky are now charging.

He was changing anyway.


I agree a bad move.

ajcharlt

Hi there,

Exactly the same thing has happened to me and the time scales are uncannily similar. I switched to Sky from BT for calls and line rental on 18th Feb. One months good service, phone cut off on 25th March, broadband cut off on 1 April! I have managed to contact Ofcom who have confirmed that resolving the issue is firmly Sky's responsibility. They advised me to send a formal letter of complaint.

My current situation is; no phone (although I have a dialing tone), no broadband, Sky claiming that it is BT's fault and saying that they cannot reconnect the line as it has been closed down (i.e. it will cost them to reopen it), BT offering to reopen the line if I sign up to a 12 month contract, no idea who instigated the 'cease'. Looks like BT is my only option. So much for opening up the telecoms market! At least if Openreach took customer calls I could find out how the problem occurred. As it is I'm dependant on Sky to find out and I suspect that it was them, although BT ARE the company who stand to benefit most from this scam.