Moving neighbours phone line due to an extension t...

I contacted BT to move neighbours phone line due to an extension to my house. Asurvey was done and the estimate given to move it a few feet from where it currently is. My neighbour does not want the telephone line to be moved to the proposed new location and wants it elsewhere. Obviously this will cost me more money. Should I be footing the bill for this extra cost to move it to a place of my neighbour's choice.?

Can you expand on your question, are you asking if your neighbour should foot the rest of the bill or should BT or Openreach?
If you are expecting BT or Openreach to pay the additional charge for your neighbour wanting it elsewhere that isn't going to happen.
If you feel your neighbour should foot the rest of the bill then that is really something you are going to have to come to some sort of an agreement on with your neighbour but at the end of the day you are the one who wants their line moving for your benefit.
Also can I just ask, are you paying BT Retail to do a Lift and Shift or are you paying Openreach to do a Line Plant Rearrangement, I am guessing a Line Plant Rearrangement as you did mention a survey being done and the only thing you can normally order through BT Retail is a Lift and Shift of the NTP inside your neighbours property.

Similar Messages

Cut neighbours phone line

Hi
I have just had new fascia boards fitted.
On the boards was an old cable which looked about 40 years old.
After speaking to my neighbour who has lived here for about this time he said it was an old ntl line, which he also had on his fascia and my other neighbours. He said it was now disused and could be cut down.
So I cut I all down on my property and one of my neighbours.
Our other neighbour then came out saying her phone line was not working and the cable was the phone line.
She said she was going to to call BT to repair it at £114 per hour to repair.
She is an elderly lady who also has a police line connected for safety.
I cannot afford to pay for this repair to be carried out.
She called them out today and they said we had a very old shared line, each house these days is normally single served by BT. This means they have now got to dig the pathway up and install a single line to her property. They are not sure if she will be charged.
Surely if there is an old setup in place and this now needs updating to the current methods of installation this should be done by BT?
Can anyone advise?

valks1 wrote:
Yes but this was a genuine mistake, we thought it was an old ntl line. If we knew it was a bt line then we would have left it alone. I cannot afford to pay thousands of pounds for the path to be dug up a d neither can my elderly neighbour.
You may be able to make a claim on your household insurance, if it was an accident.
Its not unusual for a number of properties to be served by a multi-pair cable terminated on a distribution block.
There are some useful help pages here, for BT Broadband customers only, on my personal website.
BT Broadband customers - help with broadband, WiFi, networking, e-mail and phones.

Moving the phone line to enter house in different ...

We woudl like to have the phone line moved so that it enters the house in a different location. Could someone give us an indication of costs involved so we can decide it it is more cost effective to use internal wiring or not.
Thanks

There is some information here http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/products/serviceproducts/timerelatedcharges/timerelatedcharges....
You would have to contact your service provider first, they would request a visit from Openreach, who would in turn do the work.
It is difficult to guess what the charges would be, but I would suspect they start at about £130.
There are some useful help pages here, for BT Broadband customers only, on my personal website.
BT Broadband customers - help with broadband, WiFi, networking, e-mail and phones.

Why do I have to move my phone line from Sky to BT...

I have just spent the last 14 days trying to move my broad band from BT to Sky, I was told by Sky that I have to have a new phone number and as I was getting loads of unwanted phone call I thought that it would be a good Idea. So any way I ordered a new number and broadband with sky.
Any way to cut a 14 day long story short, Sky cannot provide me with Broadband due to incompatible technology, so I really do not have any other option other than to come back to helpful BT. Just phone BT up to order my BB to be told that they cannot help me unless I move my phone number back to BT..........
When questioned about this I was told that "I have to have both phone line and Broadband with BT"......... NO I DO NOT, in February 2012 I moved my phone line to Sky and my Broadband staied with BT, as there was a problem switching it over, little did I know then what I know now.
So could someone from BT 'in the know' please tell me why I have to move my phone line back to BT

sorry mate.
Hadn't heard about TPON lines before today.
Doing a quick google search, found this:
"TPON stands for Telephony over Passive Optical Network
TPON was a method used by BT (now Openreach) mainly in the 1980s and early 1990s to deliver phone lines to new build areas where there wasn't enough existing copper capacity available. This decision was made before ADSL was envisaged, and as ADSL requires a copper pair route between customer and exchange, this means customers in TPON areas are currently unable to receive ADSL."
Hope all is sorted soon.
Cheers
jac_95 | BT.com Help Site | BT Service Status
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Problem with phone line after moving flats

I have moved to a new flats 3 months ago. We transferred our BT line (BT is our phone and internet provider) to our new flat, internet works fine, but the phone line doesn't! We are not able to call anyone, or receive any calls. Is it something we can do to fix it on our own or should we call an engineer? Will it cost us anything if we call a BT engineer?
THank you in advance!
Elen

Try the self help guide first
Fixing phone faults
If you are sure the fault is not within your premises, then you can report the fault here
Reporting Phone Faults
Provided that the fault is external to your house, then you should not be charged.
There are some useful help pages here, for BT Broadband customers only, on my personal website.
BT Broadband customers - help with broadband, WiFi, networking, e-mail and phones.

Moving a BT Infinity phone line

I have a Home Hub 5 with a BT Infinity line and the line enters the house on the ground floor at the main socket, where the router is currently located. Having just had building work done I want to move the socket upstairs but am not sure if the Home Hub will work off an extension lead from the main socket or whether some additional wiring is needed. Do BT still come out and move phone lines or is this a job that our electrician can do?

Hi nrt,
Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting, you'll need a data extension fitted as normal extension wiring can no carry the faster speeds. Check out BT Infinity Data Extension Kit and let me know if you want to organise this through BT.
Cheers
Neil
BTCare Community Mod
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Moving into a flat/new phone line

Hi, I'm moving into a flat on the 23rd April, and the people before are leaving on the 18th April.
There was a BT wall socket already in place which I noticed when we viewed it. Is there anyway I can check what I will need to do to have a phone line active by the time we have moved in?
Thanks

Hi Si_442,
Thanks for posting. You can place an order for telephone service here. There are a few options available for you to choose from. Let me know how you get on and if you have any problems drop me an email to [email protected] with the details and a link to this post for reference.
Cheers
David
BTCare Community Mod
If we have asked you to email us with your details, please make sure you are logged in to the forum, otherwise you will not be able to see our ‘Contact Us’ link within our profiles.
We are sorry but we are unable to deal with service/account queries via the private message(PM) function so please don't PM your account info, we need to deal with this via our email account :-)

No Phone Line for 1 week; moving towards urgent!

Hello All, I am posting this on behalf of my father.
Problem
Phone line has not worked for a week; BT broadband works. Context: he lives along a country lane, nearly all his neighbours are experiencing problems with their phone line, broadband or both. Becoming urgent? One of his neighbour's husband died this week and she has had no phone line to organise the funeral. She now has a mobile phone which she can hardly use, she is very elderly. That example was to illustrate that inaction can really affect people.
Actions Taken
1. My Dad phoned the BT fault line. BT (to give them credit) arrived the next day. They checked the wiring inside the house and confirmed the fault lay with BT. They then confirmed that they needed to dig up the road and the job was with 'Planning' and there was nothing more they can do.
Follow Up
1) My Dad did not get a reference from the BT guys that initially visited.
2) He has not heard back from BT of their Planning department.
3) He has tried to phone Customer Services but ends up in India and gets confused. He is elderly as well.
4) He did manage to use the Live Chat function last night and communicated the problem on his line. He got a text today to say it was all fixed and his phone would work. He got home and his phone did not work. Something he could not get his head around since BT texted him to say it would be working. Different generation, different values!!
Conclusion
I guess I am asking for help or advice. Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi Illogan,
Sorry about the trouble here.
I'll be happy to have a look into this for you and try and get the line up and going again.
Could you drop me in an email please? Use the 'contact us' form in my forum profile under the 'about me' section. You can find it by clicking on my username.
Thx
Craig
BTCare Community Mod
If we have asked you to email us with your details, please make sure you are logged in to the forum, otherwise you will not be able to see our ‘Contact Us’ link within our profiles.
We are sorry but we are unable to deal with service/account queries via the private message(PM) function so please don't PM your account info, we need to deal with this via our email account :-)”
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Post moved Phone-line

Post moved to Phones board http://community.bt.com/t5/Phones/Phone-line/td-p/877422
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BT do not provide or maintain the external network. This is done by Openreach who work for all service providers. BT do not get any special treatment.
Openreach would have given BT the next available appointment to do the work.
There are some useful help pages here, for BT Broadband customers only, on my personal website.
BT Broadband customers - help with broadband, WiFi, networking, e-mail and phones.

Moving home - delay in activating phone line

I booked a home move for Wednesday 17th September 2014 and received confirmation phone line would be activated that day on new home. new home has BT line and Infinity for previous customer. However phone line has still not been activated despite contacting order updates three times and them telling me each time I will get an update from line activation team within 12 hours. Told that infinity will take until 1st October but I really need phone line urgently.
Can get dial tone on line so needs activation in local exchange?
Any ideas on how to get this delat with quicker?
Thanks
Dave

Hi DaveFP
Did you manage to get this sorted yet? If you need any help please use the 'contact the mods' link in my forum profile to send in your details. You can find the link by clicking on my username.
Thanks
Neil
BTCare Community Mod
If we have asked you to email us with your details, please make sure you are logged in to the forum, otherwise you will not be able to see our ‘Contact Us’ link within our profiles.
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BT turn up = phone line disapears. Help!

Hi all
Just registered to the forum and seeking help to resolve a BT phone line fault at our home. I rely on forums these days almost more than the so called customer service lines. So any help would be very much appreciated.
On the 28th Feb I was working from home and noticed a BT Openreach van a few doors down. I was using the phone and Broadband almost constantly that day. After about an hour the BT van was still in our road. At this point I must stress that we have had absolutely no issues with our phone or Broadband since being at our house. Whilst online and making calls to and from work, friends and family I noticed all of a sudden that our line had gone and internet grinded to a halt. I carried out the normal checks which I am very familiar with, and noticed there was a complete cut to our line and service. At this point I looked out of the window and noticed two BT vans now in our road which at that point left in rather a hurry! Coincidence BT, I don't think so!
I immediately reported the fault online via a friends PC, I also called from a mobile (costing a fortune) and followed the usual long wait times and menu options to finally be informed that there was a fault on the BT line on the outside network.
We were informed that there was a major cable fault in our area which needed repair. We were told service should resume in 5 days on 5-3-13. We made some enquiries with neighbours and the local BT service status, nobody else seems to be affected. Coincidence that this major line fault and repair is only affecting us, again I don't think so BT.
Basically we have now been completely cut off for well over a week, using expensive mobile data and phone calls (most to BT to desperately follow up to find out what is happening). We have limited signal at home so now have to sit in a car down the road to connect to the internet via 3g or to make some calls, these days you just don't realise how much you rely on these things until they go wrong. BT customer service is shockingly poor, we have been fobbed off over and over again and I believe lied to about this fault and mis-led about the reason and progress which keeps being put back by days. Being an electrical engineer I have regular dealings with BT engineers and other communications engineers on my travels and know that it is not uncommon for mistakes to be made where lines are moved or disconnected when making adjustments in cabinets or exchanges, or even the incorrect lines being pulled due to a disconnection order, in fact it is far more common than most people are aware.
Having been a BT customer for many years and recommending BT to our customers for business (some which spend huge amounts with BT each year) I feel disappointed and disgusted at the attitude and lack of speedy response to faults (not just ours). We are getting told that the demand is too high and 'we are trying our best to resolve the issue', this is not good enough, the very least BT could do is be honest about what has or is happening. If I dealt with customers like BT does I would be out of business pretty quickly, the fact is BT holds all the strings and is too big to cope or to care (with the exception of a very few excellent engineers and staff) unfortunately there is no real alternative (yet). I just hope that someone has the ability to take responsibility for our fault (I know there are some good people at BT its just finding them).
Anybody please help and restore some faith.

is thereanything shown here http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/mso.php
http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/?
http://btbusiness.custhelp.com/app/service_status
http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/15036
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How difficult can it be to get a phone line instal...

First of all, for a communications company, BT are shockingly bad at communicating with their customers!
We ordered a home move for our phone line and Infinity services back at the start of Dec, and had an activation date of 19th Dec. The engineer duly turned up on that date and set about the install. The single socket in our house was not where we wanted it (no power socket close by for the broadband router), but he would see about moving that and all was good so far.
However, the engineer was struggling to get a tone on the line and after much to-ing and fro-ing and calling another engineer who was nearby, decided that the actual wires to the house were damaged somewhere between 30m and 250m from the house and as he was not qualified to do any underground works, he was going to pass the job onto another engineer. The next engineer duly came next day (on a Saturday no less!) to get us up and running. No dice. The engineer could not find the break, and we would have to get a new cable put in.
Now, apparently when our house was built the telephone cable was not put in with any ducting and ended up being concreted into the wall! So we would have to get new ducting and the works installed. He then went to paint up the pavement where it needed to be dug up to put the ducting in etc. Except the pavement was covered in leaves, so he sprayed the leaves. Hey ho - I knew where he had painted and I would be able to direct the guys if necessary. As the was the Saturday before Xmas, he was doubtful if the contractors would be before the New Year. The engineer did however get the broadband connection available.
Roll on the New Year and it's a stoney silence from BT, until the morning of the 13th Jan, when a contractor appearred at the door to say he was here to put in the ducting. I pointed out where it was going and left them to it. I glanced out of the window after a while to see they had made a 2ft gap in the hedge at the wrong side of the garden! I also watch in disbelief as one of the guys loaded his wheel barrow with spoil and wheeled it into the woods across the road and dumped it. These guys were the "dig things up" gang, another team were the "filling in" team and they would be along shortly to fill in the hole and re-lay the tarmac on the pavement. However, we at least now have the ducting from the street the house with a rope in the duct to allow a cable to be pulled through. Progress of a fashion.
A few days later, the hole was filled in and the pavement tarred. It then took a full week before another engineer turned up to actually pull the wire through the ducting and connect us up. Except he couldn't because the rope was jammed. So he passed the job back to somebody else. Then 2 days later engineers 5 and 6 turned up with a rodding wire to free off the rope. They couldn't free it off. They did work out that the ducting was probably dislodged by the "filling in the hole" team, thus trapping the rope. This would need the pavement dug up again to reset the ducting. Oh joy.
So, imagine my surprise when another engineer turns up one morning to install our line to discover he couldn't pull the rope through, then another engineer turns up in the afternoon to do the same , followed by yet another engineer the next day!
Meantime, the only communication from BT on the whole matter is when we call them to be told it is all in hand and it will be completed "in 2 days time", or we receive a text message saying they tried to call (no missed calls), and would try to call again in 3 days, do not call them back.
So far in this saga we have had 13 people at the house, not getting us a phone line, in nearly 8 weeks and absolutely terrible communication from BT.
A call to BT at the end of last week resulted in a promise that we would be fully installed by yesterday at 8pm.
I called BT this morning to be told that the external works will be completed by this Friday and they would then call me back to arrange an appointment for the engineer to come and do the install next week!
The only saving grace is we do have an internet connection (pretty vital for me as I work from home!) although I do have an extension cable running across my hallway and we have not been getting charged for line rental for the past 2 months.
I was told today that we should be getting compensation, but to be honest I am not bothered about that - I JUST WANT A PHONE LINE INSTALLED!
Rant over (for now!)

Hi smert,
I am sorry about the delay in getting your phone line on. It definitely sounds like you have been going through the mill lately with all the work being done and still no phone line.
Please send me in your details using the "Contact The Mods" link found in my profile and we will take it from here.
Cheers,
OlgaC
BTCare Community Mod
If we have asked you to email us with your details, please make sure you are logged in to the forum, otherwise you will not be able to see our ‘Contact Us’ link within our profiles.
We are sorry that we are unable to deal with service/account queries via the private message(PM) function so please don't PM your account info, we need to deal with this via our email account :-)
If someone answers your question correctly please let other members know by clicking on ’Mark as Accepted Solution’.

Trouble getting my phone line connected

My saga to date....
I contacted BT on 20th April to advise them that I was moving home on 29th April (to a newly built house). An engineer was arranged to come to my home on 10th May to carry out the connection. Prior to the 10th May, I had a visit from an engineer to assess the job. My house has been built in an older part of a village which still relies on telephone poles and lines going from the poles in to houses. During one of these visits, it was noted that I would need a pole placed in my garden to connect the line to, then the line would be connected from there. The reason behind this was due to the fact that my house is built low down, and to take a wire straight from the main pole would make it slope too low. I was quite happy with the solution put forward, and was happy that things seemed to be in hand. At no point was I told that the work would not go ahead on the 10th May.
This is when the problems start.......
I feel that I am living in the dark ages again. I have no phone line, hence no Internet access and do not get a mobile signal in the area I now live in! I rely on travelling to my daughters' house to use their phone and Internet access, which is not convenient.
The 10th of May came and went, and nobody appeared at the house, and I received no communication that work would not be carried out on this date. I phoned BT, and yes, I was talking to a call centre in India. When the operator finally grasped the issue that the engineer had not appeared she checked with her suppliers to inform me that there was a problem and that this would be assessed by the 14th May. BT would then advise me on the 15th what the next stage would be. Unhappy with this, I was eventually put through to the supervisor (waited 40 minutes on hold!). Got no joy from him, but the promise he would personally contact me on 15th. I had to accept this and hung up.
On Monday 13th May, I went online to check the progress of my order, only to note that my latest BT bill was ready. When I checked the bill, I noted that BT had started to bill me for my phone and broadband package from 10th May!. Blood pressure steadily rising, I contacted BTs billing department, yes once again an Indian call centre, to complain. Got the standard script from the operator - very sorry etc. During this conversation, it was realised that BT had the wrong postcode in for my house (it was the correct street, but the post code for odd numbered houses). The operator, against my pleas not to do so, cancelled my order, and set up a new order for the correct postcode. She assured me that she knew what she was doing and not to worry, everything would be fine (I had explained the saga to date to her). She set up a brand new account, allocating a different phone number, and requiring me to set up new direct debits - I'm not sure how she couldn't just change the postcode for my original account. A new connection appointment was for 21st May, and I was assured that there would be no problems I would be connected on this date.
The 15th of May came and went, and no phone call from the Indian call centre manager. I did not call back at this time, as a new appointment had been scheduled.
The 21st came, and an engineer did appear - hooray! He looked at the house and told me - I cannot do your connection. A pole is needed to run a the line to. He was able to tell me that my number had been set up in the exchange. I was more than a little angry and frustrated at this point. BT knew that a pole was required back on 6th May - why had this information not been dealt with!
Again I phoned BT, back to the Indian call centre. Explained the whole saga. He checked with his 'suppliers' to find out what was going on. Came back to tell me that further information would be available the next day. I was getting a little annoyed at the point. I explained that the work required was to erect a pole in my garden to run the line to. All I wanted was a date for when this work would be carried out. He could not give me this info saying his suppliers would not give this until the next day. I asked who the suppliers were - BT Open Reach, but he would not let me speak to them directly. He promised to phone me back the following day with the update - probably to get me off the phone. I again explained that I had no means to which he could contact me in my own home, and would require to go to my daughters house to receive the call. He agreed to phone me back at 10am on 22nd May - a time when I would go to my daughters. Yes, once again they failed to phone back!!
I again phoned back - yes back to India I went. Asked to speak with the manager - but the operator would not connect me saying he could help. Went through the saga once more - again got the text book apologies (which are getting rather annoying now). He contacted the 'suppliers' and promised that contact would be made with me within 24hours by the engineer with regards to the work being carried out. I told him that I had been lied to on so many occasions that I didn't believe that this was the case and asked to speak to BT Openreach to confirm this. He stated that this could not be done. Trust him, why would he lie to me - which I told him would be to get me off the phone. I left my daughters phone number as a contact.
24hours has now passed, and yes - once again no contact. I cannot face talking to another operator in an Indian call centre who will tell me anything to get off the phone. BT's complaints procedure is pathetic. I feel totally helpless in this. There doesn't seem to be any communication between anyone in the company. The call centre staff are telling you anything just to get rid of you. I suspect that I am now being billed on 2 accounts for a service I don't have, and no doubt will be another saga when I eventually get a working phone line.
I am no further forward to when this work will be getting carried out, and getting more and more frustrated. Is there any suggestions on where / who I can go to.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi
I am sorry to see you are having problems
I suggest you contact the forum mods they should be able to get this problem sorted for you this is a link to them http://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact_email/c/4951
They normally reply by email or phone directly to you within 3 working days they will take personal ownership of your problem until resolved and will keep you informed of progress
They are a UK based BT specialist team who have a good record at getting problems solved
This is a customer to customer self help forum the only BT presence here are the forum moderators
If you want to say thanks for a helpful answer,please click on the Ratings star on the left-hand side If the reply answers your question then please mark as ’Mark as Accepted Solution’

How long does a new phone line take to fit? Patien...

I ordered a new phone line in April and was given a date of 1st May 2013 for the engineer to call.
Having booked a day off work for the 1st May I got a text the evening before to advise that extra work was required on the lines outside my home and that they would be in touch soon. On 17th May I got another text to advise that my order for telephone and broadband had been CANCELLED. I phoned and a new order was placed (with a half-hearted apologies for the incorrect cancellation).
Text: 20th May. Apologies for the delay in booking an appointment.
Text 21st May: BT here. Your phone service is ready for you. You can find a phone's number by calling 17070 from it.
I did not not have a phione line.
Text: 30th May. To advise a new number.
Text: 30th May: Apologies for the delay in booking an appointment. Due to necessary additional engineering work. Next update will be 6th June.
Text: 5th June: BT here. Just to confirm you've set up online billing with BT, If you didn't please let us know at ... I didn't set anything up as far as I know.
6th June: Apologies for the delay in providing your service. No updates. Escalated the lack of infpormation and hope to have more news tomorrow.
7th June: Apologies for the delay on your order. I can confirm that we are awaiting the outcome of our escalation with our suppliers and are confident of haveing (sp) and (sp) update for you on 11/6.
Now, I am quite a patient person but I need a landline. I live 60 metres or so from a Post Office and even less from a main road. I can see a telephone pole from my back garden just 50 metres away. My neighbours have landlines. Why can't I have one?
S

Hi
I am sorry to see you are having problems
I suggest you contact the forum mods they should be able to get this problem sorted for you this is a link to them http://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact_email/c/4951
They normally reply by email or phone directly to you within 3 working days they will take personal ownership of your problem until resolved and will keep you informed of progress
They are a UK based BT specialist team who have a good record at getting problems solved
This is a customer to customer self help forum the only BT presence here are the forum moderators
If you want to say thanks for a helpful answer,please click on the Ratings star on the left-hand side If the reply answers your question then please mark as ’Mark as Accepted Solution’

14 weeks to get a phone line installed - £10 compe...

I moved house on 28/07 and after a huge amount of problems with Orange and after managing to cancel my account with them I ordered BT Broadband and Evening & Weekend Calls on 07/08/12.
I get 3 emails confirming my order, thanking me for choosing paperless billing etc.
My initial engineer appointment was on 14/09/12 which is 5 weeks and a long time. To quote BT: “It usually takes 15 working days from when you order. It can take longer but this is very rare.” (http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8317/~/how-long-will-it-take-to-install-a-new-line%3F)
I get a text and an email on 12/07 to remind me of my appointment between 1pm and 6pm. So far so good.
The router gets delivered at 12.30am. This is promising.
The engineer comes at 13.30pm, installs the BT Open Reach box in my flat and then asks me if I can open the electronic gate next door as he needs access to my neighbour’s pathway to activate the distribution point. I tell him I cannot as it’s not my building. We try the trades button on the door system. It doesn’t work. We try pressing random house numbers on the door system (there’s no flat numbers on the building) to see if someone’s home. Nothing works. I phone my landlord who tells me this is a council building. No one is coming in and out of the building/gate. After about 30 minutes of trying and waiting I tell him just to use his ladder and climb over the gate (it’s about 6 foot) and activate the distribution point. I’ll take the blame if someone complains. It shouldn’t be a problem as I live next door, I’ve got a BT Open Reach engineer with me and we have a perfectly valid reason to do it. He tells me he can’t do that because of health and safety riles and trespassing laws. Fair enough.
The engineer leaves but before he does he tells me that when I’ve got access to the pathway BT would be able to send an engineer within 24 hours to activate the distribution point. He also tells me there is no need for me to be there the next time as all the work inside is completed and the only thing that needs to happen is for someone to activate the distribution point which is located on a wall on my neighbours building accessible from the pathway. He points it out to me and there is indeed a black box on the wall which can be reached using a ladder in the pathway.
I phone BT to see if anyone can find out how to get access to the pathway as I assume that if BT has installed a distribution point there they must have a way for them to get access to it. Especially as the engineer told me there are 3 lines in my building so this must have happened before. I was wrong. I have to argue with the customer service person with a very poor command of the English language for 30 minutes. He doesn’t know what “the council” is and doesn’t understand whatsoever why I –and I quote- “Can’t just ask the neighbour to let the engineer in when the next appointment has been made”. I try to explain to him there is an electronic metal gate with a call system and I am unable to call anyone as there are no flat numbers on the outside of the building and asked if he was suggesting that I wait all evening after work until someone comes out and that even then, surely I can’t ask my neighbour to stay home to let a BT engineer onto his pathway because I am trying to get a phone line installed. He then presented me with another option: “We can install a new line from the road but this is chargeable by £350”. After 30 minutes of this and asking to speak to a manager several times –which was refused- I had enough and hung up.
Determined to get the problem resolved I rang again and got someone else on the phone. She was quite sympathetic and advised me to phone the council and see if they can help. She confirmed that I didn’t need to be there for the next appointment if someone could give the engineer access to the distribution point as all the work apart from the distribution point activation was complete. By this time it was 4pm on a Friday and she promised to call back at 4pm on Monday.
I called the council right away but they said the caretakers had gone home as it was late on a Friday and advised me to ring back on Monday.
I get a text from BT: sorry we missed you appointment etc.
BT calls me on Monday morning 10.30am asking if I’ve sorted it. I tell the person I was expecting a call from them at 4pm and therefore I hadn’t rang the council yet. He promises to ring me back on Wednesday at 10.30am.
I call the council later that day; they’re not very helpful and advise me to call them again on Tuesday.
On Tuesday they log the call and lo and behold. Wednesday at 8.30am, the caretaker calls me, gives me his mobile number, tells me the trades button on the call system will work before 9.30am and they can give them access remotely. If they’re coming after 9.30am, the engineer needs to ring him an hour in advance and he’ll come to open the gate. We’re getting somewhere.
I don’t get a call on Wednesday 10.30am.
I call them myself that afternoon and explain the above. The guy says he’s written it all down, everything will get sorted and I’ll get a text with the new time and date.
Someone with a very poor command of the English language phones me on Thursday. I asked why she is ringing me. She says it’s to makes an engineer appointment. I tell her she doesn’t need to ring me as I don’t need to be in the property and they should all the information needed as I called them the day before. She doesn’t have a clue what I’m on about. I tell her to read out what she has on her screen under the notes as I now don’t trust that the person the day before has written it down properly. She once again doesn’t have a clue what I’m on about. I ask to speak to her manager. She says he’ll call me back. 5 minutes later he does. His English is excellent and he seems to have found the notes and knows exactly what’s going on. This is encouraging. He says the first appointment they have is 03/10 (it is now 20/09) but he’ll make sure they get it earlier and he’ll ring me back. The first person that hardly speaks English calls back. She says the appointment will be on 03/10 between 8am and 1pm. I tell her that her manager told me he was going to make sure it was going to be earlier and ask her why he lied to me. She doesn’t understand what I’m saying. I try to explain to her that trades button on the call system will work before 9.30am and they can give them access remotely but if they’re coming after 9.30am, the engineer needs to ring him an hour in advance and he’ll come to open the gate. She doesn’t understand what I’m saying. I ask her to get her manager to ring me back as he speaks English. She says he’ll call within 15 minutes. I get a text 5 minutes later confirming my appointment for 03/10 between 8am and 1pm.
On 02/10 I phone the caretaker in the morning to let him know they’re coming on 03/10 between 8am and 1pm. I also called BT once again to check everything was clear, confirming they have the correct mobile number of the caretaker etc. They say they have all the information needed and promise that the work will be done.
I phone on the afternoon of the 3rd to check the work had been done and I am told that it hasn’t as the engineer needs access to a flat roof and the caretaker can’t provide him with that. I explain that the original engineer had been on the flat roof already and told me they only needed to get through the gate to activate the distribution point so I don’t understand why they now need to get back on the roof. The roof can be accessed with a ladder (which they all standard have with them) from the pavement anyway so why do I need to be there? They tell me that the engineer has tried to call me but my phone was switched off. I am 100% sure that my phone has been on all day and I haven’t received any missed calls. Also, after all of the above, I wouldn’t switch my phone off on the crucial day. The engineer is lying. After being on the line for 15 minutes (as it takes at least 5 minutes to go through the automated menu every single time you call them and it literally takes a minute for the information to come up on their screen every time they need to access a file) that I don’t have time to discuss this right now as I have an important teleconference with an overseas client and ask for someone to call me back that evening to discuss this as I am busy at work all day.
I receive a text 10 minutes later saying the next engineer appointment is 12/11 between 1pm and 6pm.
This is 14 (!!!) weeks after ordering the service. I phone back when I have a short break at work to discuss this and request a call back. Someone calls me back 5 minutes later and asked for my account information which I don’t have handy so I ask to hold on while I’m looking it up. She hangs up on me.
I stay late at work to write an email on the email form on the website with a watered down version of all of the above and I get a confirmation email that it’s arrived.
I get another text that evening at 8.40pm as well as an email saying -once again- that the next engineer appointment is 12/11 between 1pm and 6pm.
Someone calls me at 8.50pm saying that the next engineer appointment is 12/11. I tell him I know this as they’ve sent me 2 texts and an email already and that this date is unacceptable and ask to speak to his manager. He tells me I need to call the Order Management Department. I ask him what the number is. You’ve guessed it: 0800 0800 150.
Someone called Chris XXXXX calls me the morning after to discuss the email I’ve written the day before. He gives me the usual “Open Reach controls the engineers” story and tells me the appointment will not be earlier than 12/11. I tell him this is unacceptable and if the appointment can’t be moved forward I want some compensation for all the expense and inconvenience caused. He tells me that since I haven’t been billed yet I’m not eligible for any compensation but as a gesture of good will he will give me £10 which I’m normally not eligible for as this is only given to people whose engineer didn’t come on time. I try to explain that if the engineer would have called me as he said he’s done (and not lied like he’s done) I could have explained where the distribution point was and I probably even would have rushed home from work to finally get it sorted. We argue a bit about compensation in which he tells me he’s already doing me a favour by giving me £10. I stop the argument to discuss more practical issues and ask him if I now need to be home on 12/11. He says I do. I now need to take another day off work it seems. I ask him if the caretaker needs to be there as well. He says he does. I ask him if I should invite anyone else and provide tea and biscuits for everyone. I don’t think he gets the joke. We argue a bit more about compensation, we get nowhere. I’m now getting upset. He says he’ll call me back at 1.30pm.
He does and immediately I ask him for his direct phone number. He says he doesn’t have one. I ask him for his email address. He says he doesn’t have one. I ask how to get in touch with him. He says through the 0800 call centre or the form on the website. Now the line gets really bad and gets disconnected. There is nothing wrong with my mobile or signal, I have 5 bars and 3G showing but I can’t hear him and the line gets disconnected. This happens 2 more times. I get him back on the phone and I ask him to call me back on my work landline. He does and a number shows up on the phone (not the 0800 one that showed up when he called my mobile). I immediately write it down and tell him he just lied to me about not having a direct line. He says it’s a desk used by many people. I tell him that if I ring that number and he’s around there’s chance I could get to speak to him surely. He says it’s only used for outgoing calls. I haven’t tried to ring it and can’t be bothered to be honest. I stop this argument and bring the conversation back to compensation. I ask if he can at least give me a few extra months free or upgrade my account for free for a few months maybe by throwing in some telly or something. He says he can’t do that and they can review compensation once the line has been installed. I tell him that’s not good enough and that this whole story is going online and hang up.
Worst customer service I’ve ever experienced and it seems that I’m stuck with it because I’ve already got an appointment and cancelling and going with another provider will result in an even longer wait.
I’ve been offered £10 compensation for taking 2 days of work, hours on the phone, massive mobile phone bills, a lot of stress and 14 weeks without a landline or internet. Truly unbelievable.

Hi
I am sorry to see you are having problems with your BT Service
I suggest you contact the forum mods they should be able to get this problem sorted for you this is a link to them http://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact_email/c/4951
They normally reply by email or phone directly to you within 3 working days they will take personal ownership of your problem until resolved and will keep you informed of progress
They are a UK based BT specialist team who have a good record at getting problems solved
This is a customer to customer self help forum the only BT presence here are the forum moderators
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