Property does not appear to have a landline

D.H · 11 September 2018 at 8:12PM

When we were going through broadband and fibre offers, no provider was able to make us a quote because our address does not seem to be in their databases, even though there is a landline present in the flat. Our landlord went to the property with a handset to check whether it was working, but it seems like it's deactivated. Eventually, we opted to get the broadband from our energy provider, Spark Energy. Their deal seemed to be the best choice, given that we're existing customers and they offered a 9 contract which suits us much more. We were supposed to get the broadband installed on the 17th, but we just received a call in which they told us that Openreach (the company that's supposed to install the broadband) is unable to find our address in their database, and so are forced to postpone the installation to the 27th. However, they had to change the address.

The building consists of two flats and a shop. The shop has an address ending with 1. The flats have an additional line, reading Flat 1 and Flat 2, respectively (Flat 2 is our address). Moreover, there appears to exist another parallel address for mail, which reads 1a and 1b instead of Flat 1 and Flat 2 and it has a postcode with one letter changed. When Openreach postponed the installation, they changed the address from 1, Flat 2, to just 1, which happens to be the shop's address. We will call Openreach tomorrow to let them know of that, but now we're unsure if they are going to install it at all.

Is anyone aware why noone seems to have our flat in their registers and what should we do about it? The cancelation deadline is on Monday and we want to be sure we will have broadband installed.

Sib2018 · 11 September 2018 at 8:20PM

I think you will have to get it changed on Royal mail, well that's what used to happen when I worked in telecoms years ago I would check with open reach just to make sure.

D.H · 11 September 2018 at 8:27PM

I doubt this is going to work since the database used by broadband providers is probably a different one to that of Royal Mail, and is most likely determined by the landline.

gt94sss2 · 11 September 2018 at 8:33PM

What does the address checker at http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/ say for your address/postcode?

This is the data ISP's see.

I doubt this is going to work since the database used by broadband providers is probably a different one to that of Royal Mail, and is most likely determined by the landline.

Ultimately, all companies do base their records on Royal Mail information so worth seeing what their find a postcode service says and correcting it if necessary.

When Openreach postponed the installation, they changed the address from 1, Flat 2, to just 1, which happens to be the shop's address. We will call Openreach tomorrow to let them know of that, but now we're unsure if they are going to install it at all

Note: you can't call Openreach directly -everything has to done via your ISP/telco.

PS: Some other ISP's including BT offer 9 months contracts too..

D.H · 11 September 2018 at 8:53PM

I used the address checker. For the postcode ending with Y, two addresses appear:
- Flat 1, 1 (followed by street, town, postcode, some numbers)
- Flat 2, 1 (followed by street, town, postcode, some numbers)
For the postcode ending with Z, two addresses appear:
- 1 (followed by street, town, postcode, "MR", "A000...")
- 1 (followed by street, town, postcode, 8 digit number, "XX")

If ISP's were to use Royal Mail addresses, then I'd expect the 1a/1b addresses we use for mail to show up, but they don't. How often do ISP's refresh their lists?

PS: we were considering BT's offer but they were providing us with inconsitent information regarding the installation fee, installation time, expected broadband speed, the possibility of having fibre installed etc. each time we rang them up. As such, we ended up dismissing their offer.

gt94sss2 · 11 September 2018 at 9:26PM

D.H wrote: »

I used the address checker. For the postcode ending with Y, two addresses appear:
- Flat 1, 1 (followed by street, town, postcode, some numbers)
- Flat 2, 1 (followed by street, town, postcode, some numbers)

If you get this - which I understand is correct from your post above - then your ISP should have had no problems placing the order for broadband.. the numbers being a unique identifier for your property.

Sadly, Spark CS didn't impress me the one time I was a electricity customer (for a short period!)

If ISP's were to use Royal Mail addresses, then I'd expect the 1a/1b addresses we use for mail to show up, but they don't. How often do ISP's refresh their lists?

Openreach uses a variety of sources - including the Royal Mail database as well as their records of addresses where they have previously installed lines.

If the Royal Mail database, doesn't have your correct address - it worth getting corrected and very easy to do. This will also avoid potential issues with ordering things online for home delivery and with banks etc

However, you're right in that while big companies will get a regular feed from the RM, how often they decide to update their databases is upto them

kwikbreaks · 12 September 2018 at 11:56AM

Openreach have their own database of phone lines. At one time their database was saying I couldn't have fibre despite nearby addresses showing as OK. I worked out that no house served from the same pole as mine showed as fibre ready yet others just a few doors away were fine. I eventually got it sorted through the BT CEO office only to have two Openreach no shows for the install and cancelling that and sticking with VM. I did eventually take BT based fibre a couple of years later.

Property does not appear to have a landline

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