Phone line cancelled

I set up a BT landline in my flat along with broadband about 3 months ago - after taking a month or so to finally start working we were quite pleased with the service until a couple of weeks ago when we recieved a letter saying that somebody had requested our number and unless we called within 3 days our account would be cancelled. We duly rang to say we did not want our line cancelled and thought that was the end of it, until 3 days later our phone line and broadband were cancelled. 2 and a half hours later, having spoken to at least 15 different people from numerous departments (all of whom were extremely unhelpful - some even told us we would have to pay a years line rental again!) we were told that our phone line would be up in 3 days and our broadband in 8 - no explanation for why we had to wait so long.
The phone line came back on in three days but eight days later there was still no broadband - we were told that the engineers couldn't find our postcode (the same postcode on our account and used to re-install the phone line) so it would be three more days. It has now been five and no help has been forthcoming and we are still without the internet. The problem is getting absolutely ridiculous and we are extremely annoyed with the service that we are paying for but not recieving.

SEB wrote:
I set up a BT landline in my flat along with broadband about 3 months ago - after taking a month or so to finally start working we were quite pleased with the service until a couple of weeks ago when we recieved a letter saying that somebody had requested our number and unless we called within 3 days our account would be cancelled. We duly rang to say we did not want our line cancelled and thought that was the end of it, until 3 days later our phone line and broadband were cancelled. 2 and a half hours later, having spoken to at least 15 different people from numerous departments (all of whom were extremely unhelpful - some even told us we would have to pay a years line rental again!) we were told that our phone line would be up in 3 days and our broadband in 8 - no explanation for why we had to wait so long.
The phone line came back on in three days but eight days later there was still no broadband - we were told that the engineers couldn't find our postcode (the same postcode on our account and used to re-install the phone line) so it would be three more days. It has now been five and no help has been forthcoming and we are still without the internet. The problem is getting absolutely ridiculous and we are extremely annoyed with the service that we are paying for but not recieving.
Hi.
If you don't mind me saying, this seems extremely weird. What phone number was on the letter to ring ? Was it actually from BT ? I can't say I've ever heard of people being "told" that someone else wants that number and the service would be cancelled if not acted upon.
There are a lot of unscrupulous people out there, and this sounds like one of them.
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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’

Issues ordering with 2 phone lines on one account.

After being on the phone for half an hour on Friday the woman seemed to understand everything but we got no confirmation message so I called again today and after spending an hour on the phone was told to call back tommorow.. Not getting my hopes up of it working.
The lady didn't seem to really know how to place orders when we had 2 diffrent phone lines on the same account.
Currently we have 2 phone lines, one without broadband and one on BT Broadband "Upto 8Mbps" and recently Infinity became available in the area. We want to get Infinity setup on the line that has no connection and once it is up and running cancel the current Broadband and the phone line it is on. I understand this will incur a £30 fee to remove the broadband (not sure if theres a further fee to cancel the phone line, the lady didn't mention one though).
On Friday the lady we talked to also said we would have to pay extra to keep the current call plan with Infinity doing this method but the lady I talked to today didn't mention it.
The forum mods are pretty good on here so I was hoping they could sort it out as I'm starting to lose hope..

After spending about an hour on the phone today it seems we got it sorted out.
Apparently you can't have 2 broadband packages on one account even with 2 phone lines so we had to get a seperate account setup just for the Infinity broadband. Once we cancel the old broadband though apparently we can merge it together and the price will go from £30 down to £26.
We wasn't given the account number for the new account but I assume it wont be an issue when the time comes to merge the accounts (however we do that I'm not quite sure).
But we got the confirmation email so I assume everything is okay... The Openreach engineer will be coming a week later than the original date we had planned but it will do I suppose.
Thanks

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
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’

Constant buzz on phone line and broadband disconne...

Where our BT phone line enters our house is under a very damp upstairs window. Every couple of years for the 20 years we have lived at the property, we have to report a fault and an engineer would come and replace the damp parts in the little connection box. Over recent times we have been charged the fee for this. The master socket is further down the cable at the bottom of the stairs and is usually OK.
Can we change where the phone line enters the house? The phone line is useless for phonecalls and is affecting our broadband speed and connectivity. The only other option is to scrap the line rental and get mobile broadband or one that doesn't require a phone line. Why do the engineers never fix the problem long term? We want to change to fibre optic, but the phone line will cause the same problems with this. If we cancelled the phone line and then ordered a new bundle, would we actually get a new phone line into the house, or would they simply reconnect the old, damp one?
Thanks for your help
Solved!
Go to Solution.

As this is a repeat fault, then some special help may be worthwhile to finally fix the issue.
I have asked a moderator to provide assistance, they will post an invite on this thread.
They are the only BT employees on this forum, and are a UK based team of people, who take personal ownership of your problem.
Once you get a reply, make sure that you are logged into the forum, then click on their name, you will see a screen like this. Click on the link as shown below.
Please do not send them a personal message, as they may not be on duty for a long time, and your message will not be tracked properly.
For your own security, do not post any personal details, on this forum. That includes any tracking number you are give.
They will respond either by phone or e-mail within 5-6 working days.
Please use the tracked e-mail, to reply, not via the forum. Thanks
This is the form you should see when you click on the link. If you do not see this form, then you have selected the wrong link.
When you submit the form, you will receive an enquiry number, so please keep a note of it
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.

Faulty phone line and broadband for 1 week - and B...

Please can a UK based BT Advisor / Engineer respond to this message as I'm desperately in need of help - and would be grateful of any assistance
Our housing development had lightning stikes on 30th Jan
As a result I lost my phone and BB connectivity as lines were damaged down the road
I reported this and was given an engineer visit for 5th today
BT enginerrs have been in teh neighbourhood for the last week
No show today for my scheduled visit though and no contact / feedback at all from BT
Rang up today and its cancelled as apparently "my fault has been remotely fixed" - definitely not
Also "we tried to contact you but got no answer" - maybe because my phone line is broken?
I'm getting absolutely nowhere with the help line -
I have told them I want an urgent resolution and I want to formally complain and I want a UK contact to help me resolve this - and that it I don't I'm cancelling my contracts - which I'm minded to do in any case
Still no call back from them on all that - and 1 week now with no connectivity at all
Please can somebody help get me talking to somebody at BT that can resolve this
Thanks
Steve (Sheffield)

If you would like to contact one of the UK based BT Care Team who moderate this forum, they should be able to help you.
They can be contacted using this link BT Care Team
They normally respond by phone or e-mail, within three working days, however you should get an immediate confirmation, with a tracking number.
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.

Terrible service trying to move a phone line - Not...

Hi,
I have been with my current BT phone line for 2 years and I was very happy with the service I was receiving. Therefore I decided to move my BT line to the new property I am moving into next month. I have called up BT for house moves, which arranged my move including setting up an appointment with an engineer and said that I will receive a confirmation quickly. In the meantime I have not received any confirmation and I was unable to see any order or appointment details online. This left me feeling unsure whether my order really was placed or not. As you can image I do not want to find myself in a situation where I take a day off work waiting for an assistant who is never going to turn up and waste my time having to do this all over again.
To gain some clarity, I emailed the customer service team listing all the details of my phone conversation with the assistant who placed the order and all the details about my account and the place I'll be moving. After a couple of days all I got was a generic response which had nothing to do with my original question. I resend my email asking for clarification and got nothing back. It has been 15 days since I spoke to the assitant and has heard nothing from no one so far. Things get more interesting after this:
Today I tried online chat with an assitant who told me that he can see that my order has been cancelled. When I asked why he said he will call me to explain. When I gave him my number he said "You live in Australia, right?". Which is ridiculous as my account clearly states that I am from the United Kingdom. When I asked him again on the phone why my order has been cancelled he said "Yeah yeah I'll just transfer you to the sales team and they can help you". I was then put on "hold" for 25 minutes waiting for the sales team to pick up my call. When they eventually did the lady who picked up the call said they don't deal with home moves (you can imagine my frustration at this point) and said she will transfer me to home moves which put me on an endless hold.
This leaves me in a sitaution where I have no idea what to do, even the assistants who are supposed to help me are unable to advice me. I think I am going to have to cancel my BT line and have to go with an alternative provider after the (lack of) quality of service I have experienced. The problem is I don't really know if my order has 'really' been cancelled therefore don't want to have to pay any cancellation fees if my order actually hasn't been cancelled.
This is incredibly frustrating as I now have to deal with the stress of moving a house as well as the stress of whether my phone order went through or not.
I am hoping someone here can advise me on what to do as this is my last resort.

Hi Stephanie,
Thank you for your quick response. I have just spoken to an assistant over the phone who told me that my order has misteriously been cancelled (still no one knows why?). After all of this headache I told her to cancel my BT line on a specific date and I no longer wish to move the line to my new address. She also assured me that I do not need to pay any cancellation fees. However in the confirmation I just got sent, I can see this section:
What you'll pay:
30 day rental liability charge - As we say in our terms and conditions, we need 30 days' notice to stop your BT services - so you'll need to pay for them for 30 days from the date you asked us to stop them. For more information about the 30 day notice period, go to bt.com/terms
My bill normally gets charged on the 30th of each month. I asked my line to be cancelled on 2nd of September. What I assumed (and what the assistant said) was that I am going to be paying until 2nd if September. I am very confused as to why I am being told this in the email?
Thanks

BT Phone Line Order – 9 months of total failure – ...

I've been trying to get a phone line and internet connection from BT installed into a London flat since the 07th of January 2012.
This email/letter does not contain every contact with BT in the last 9 months – as I have not kept records of all the dozens and dozens and dozens of calls, texts, and emails but it is a good enough list to show the general theme of total failure from BT in all aspects of both technical and customer service.
(I have re-written this and removed my 5 or so BT account numbers, the various fault numbers, the dozens of VOL numbers and removed any surnames of people in it in the hope that this will get posted.)
07 Jan 2012
Place first order for phone and internet. BT.com reference: <removed for forum post>.
You can only do Mon to Fri installs. My next day available day off work is 19 Mar 2012 so the line engineer’s appointment is made. 8am to 1pm. I am self-employed and it is not easy to take time off work. In fact it costs me money every time I have to take time off work.
19 Mar 2012
The phone line engineer is late. Arrives after 1pm. He looks at job and says he can't do anything. It needs a new line installed even though there is already a line installed? New line involves a cherry picker and another visit by the line engineer. More time off work. New phone is line installed into flat.
27th Mar 2012
I am informed that the new phone line does not work. Order is cancelled? I get no details on what the problem is and why I can't get a line or what to do next. I have no phone at home so I’ve not tried to use the line; yet BT has already cancelled my Order.
I called ‘BT help; somebody tells me the line is connected to the wrong exchange. I spend lots of time and many calls talking to people in India and I think other parts of the UK. People tell me they are going to call me back and don't. I tried to speak to supervisors in India but nobody returns calls. I’m getting nowhere for weeks and weeks. I give up; it all seems too hard…
7th June, 2012:
Over the internet I place a new order with BT for phone line and internet:
Your order number is: <removed for forum post>. Phone number: <removed for forum post>
6th July:
BT infinity engineer appointment. 8am to 1pm. He is late. After 1pm. He arrives, looks at job and says he can't do anything. He says the phone line does not work.
I inform him the order I placed with BT is for a phone line and internet. He says there is nothing he can do as he does not ‘do’ phone lines. Another day off work. Lost wages, lost time.
No phone & no internet.
Fault is raised:
Date closed: 6 July 2012
Fault/VOL number: VOL012-<removed for forum post>
Open Product affected: Phone fault
Telephone number: <removed for forum post>
Lots of calls to BT. But getting nowhere at all. They tell me there is no fault on the line but will send an engineer that I might have to pay for.
8th July:
Phone line engineer arrives 8am to 1pm. He is on time. He informs me all the existing work is incorrect. They have connected all the equipment to the wrong exchange. It should be the Putney exchange but they have attempted to hook me into the Wandsworth exchange - which won't ever work. Still no phone & no internet. He raises a fault number: LS6 W80 <removed for forum post>
10th July:
9am call from Open Reach engineer. This is not a scheduled appointment. I've had no contact from BT. I am at work. He does not know the problem or the fault number. I give him the fault number and call him back 90 min later. He confirms that I have been connected to the incorrect exchange and cabinet? He can't do anything to fix the problem.
I want somebody to call me with a solution.
I don't want to talk with more people in India who can't help me or even understand the problem. How can this be such a failure?
I use website to email in a letter with the entire listing of existing fault details/number, order numbers etc.
Thank you for your enquiry. We will respond to your enquiry as soon as possible. Please make a note of your enquiry reference number and use it in further correspondence.
Your enquiry reference number: 120710-<removed for forum post>"
One of the issues I am finding is that BT does not link previous faults with new ones, or previous Orders with new ones, or previous Customer Numbers with new ones. Every time I speak to somebody they cannot find any details of the history of these problems so far. BT keep on cancelling my Orders and placing new ones; raising new faults etc. But nothing is linked and when I speak to people for help they can’t see any of the history of the line, faults, address, etc.
19th July, 2012:
I get an email from BT. They have cancelled their own Order again.
Order cancelled. Your order number is: BTCAA6<removed for forum post>
Dear Mr HUNTER, We confirm your broadband order's now cancelled.
23rd July, 2012:
Email from BT as they re-raise a new Order:
Your order number is: VOL012-<removed for forum post>
Check out your account and more about your service
Phone line starts(SL-N)
Phone number: <removed for forum post>
24 Jul 2012 before midnight
Track your order - you'll need order number VOL012-<removed for forum post>.
24 July, 2012:
Email from BT as they re-raise a new Order:
Good news Your order number is: VOL012-<removed for forum post>
Dear Mr. HUNTER, Your phone service is ready for you.
BUT IT IS STILL NOT WORKING..
Sometime around this date BT Priority Help gets involved and lots more phone calls ensue.
27th July, 2012:
After I talk to priority help line and say please don’t waste our time anymore with line engineers that come around and say ‘we can’t do anything’.
BT Priority Help book another engineer visit & we need more time off work again.
The next line engineers visits and he says it is the same problem. He says he can’t do anything. He says it is connected to the wrong exchange. And leaves.
He says his manager will call me. Fault Number: LS6 WPE <removed for forum post>
28th July, 2012:
Call from somebody from BT asking about my street address.
They say the address might not be correct.
29th July, 2012:
Next day call from Franz’s, fault line engineer manager.
He says:
A new order is going in.
Equipment might not be installed in correct place. Correct place should be CAB7 PCB 7 Putney.
Some part of the equipment might still be pointing to Wandsworth.
A new order to the exchange is being place to do it all again.
The address BT has for this flat will not be the problem as it is a new line installed by BT.
I need to wait till Tuesday and see if it works.
A New Order is booked; again.
Monday 30th July, 2012:
I call the priority help line and COMPLAIN again that BT are getting nowhere.
I explain that whatever you have been doing since MARCH 2012 to get this line working HAS NOT WORKED. I repeated what one line engineer told me that it might need to be connected to another exchange. Not WANDSWORTH & NOT PUTNEY but one called PUTNEY/CHISWICK???
I explain to somebody from BT Priority Help Care the days and days and days I have lost trying to get a phone line and internet installed into this flat…
I get a call back 30 min later.
Lady on the phone tells me that all the previous 5 orders have been placed with Wandsworth phone numbers. She has created a new Order, Order number 6, and it is an Order with a PUTNEY EXCHANGE phone number because all the other orders have been for a mix of the wrong exchange and all have used WANDSWORTH EXCHANGE phone numbers – which would stop this working even if the line and equipment was connected to the correct PUTNEY exchange…
1st Aug, 2012:
Text message from BT saying they are having "systems issues trying to correct and update data in the background, and exchange problems".
Monday 6th Aug, 2012:
Voice mail from BT priority care team: Informed "Problems with Engineering and Exchange. They will call back on the 08th of Aug."
14th Aug 201:
Emails arriving saying that your new line is now working.
But it is not.
6pm - ish I am called from BT Sunderland priority help care. Lady does not know the details of the case. She tells me the line should now be working.
I explain there isn’t a dial tone.
She tells me there is an address problem. Probably.
I explain the 8 months of issues I have been having.
She tells me to not get upset. She doesn’t know anything about this case.
She tells me “It can actually take up to 12 months to get a phone connected in London”.
She tells me “that it can be very complex to get a phone connected”.
She tells me there is a long winded email attached to my case. I tell her that the ‘long winded’ email she is reading was written by me in an attempt to show all the problems in the last 8 months IN ONE PLACE – something BT seem incapable of doing.
She tells me I have to wait 10 days until the address team finish their address checking.
I explain to her that the line engineers have told me it is not an address problem.
She tells me there is nothing she can do.
28th Aug
BT priority Care called me. Told me that they are still waiting for results from the Address Team.
29th Aug
BT priority Care called me.
Told me that it is connected to the incorrect exchange now. Wandsworth… The same thing I was told last March.
I got ‘annoyed’ and tried, again, to explain the entire story to the lady on the phone.
She told me she cannot see any records of my orders back to January.
She told me that she didn’t understand what the problem is, and that the records they have shown the line was working in Aug...
I asked her to get her manager to call me.
No manager called me; instead I get a call back from the same lady later in the day. She is trying to help but we are still getting nowhere. BT Priority Care are just trying to do the same things again, that have failed multiple times in the past. They have no solution because they do not know what the problem is?
30th Aug 2012
BT priority Care called me; lady might have been called Sharon? Another lady anyway.
She tells me a new order is going to be placed to get the line connected back to Putney.
I ask to speak to her manager. She says she will call me back.
She calls me back and tells me that her manager Kelly W<removed for forum post> a BT Priority Care Manager Sunderland(maybe?) is going to call me before 6pm. This is the 3rd time I’ve asked to speak to a manager at BT Priority Care. Nobody calls me back.
All I get from BT since March are people trying the same failed thing, again and again.
Now they want to check with the address team. Again.
Now 6 months later after getting it connected to the Putney exchange, they want to put it back to the Wandsworth exchange, where it was originally – and never worked? I question this decision? I ask why this is going to fix the problem if it is the opposite advice to what every line engineer (5 of them) has ever said. I get told that nobody can answer that question.
Friday 31/08/2012
Another set of emails and text tell me I have a new line that is working.
But of course it does not. The phone line is dead. No dial tone.
Phone number is: <removed for forum post>
VOL012-<removed for forum post>
Monday 03/09/2012
All the BT priority care line numbers with the PIN numbers I was given have stopped working.
I can’t make a call to get through to the BT Priority Care Team anymore.
So I phone the normal BT help number…
An automated system tells my phone number is on exchange that is having a high level of faults for the last 2 hours and then it automatically disconnects my help call.
I phone back again and I have to NOT give my phone number for about 4 levels of automated systems to get to speak to a person. This time get through to a person. In India.
I ask for help trying to get put through to the Priority Help Care Centre in the UK. I am informed by somebody in India that all BT Priority Help Centres in the UK have been closed for good – since last Friday. I have to explain, again, the now nine months of trying to get a line connected – to the Indian help desk. I told to wait while she speaks to her supervisor.
I get put through to a different BT Priority Help Centre in the UK. Not Sunderland.
I speak to a man. He says he will email the Sunderland Help Centre and Kelly W<removed for forum post> and get somebody to phone me.
I ask him for advice on what I should do to try to get a phone line connected – after 9 months of trying. He says he will try and escalate it but he does not want to step on other peoples toes?
I ask him to CC in the CEO of BT to the email he is going to send to Kelly W<removed for forum post>. He thinks I am joking….
It is Wednesday night of the 04th of September 2012
Still no call back from Kelly or anybody from the Help care team. This is the 4th time I’ve requested a call back.
And now my PIN numbers for the priority call number have been disabled so I can’t call them.
Of course; why would you expect anything less?
LETTERS OF LATE PAYMENT:
In the last 6 months I’ve got multiple letters from BT telling me I am late in paying for my line service. I get ‘account overdue’ letters even though I prepaid the 12 months line service in advance for a line that has never worked.
SADLY:
There are phone lines in the flats below me, either side of me, and all down this entire street.
There are phone lines all over London. There are phone lines all over the UK.
But sadly not one that works in my flat. I’ve been without a phone or an internet connection since I moved in. 9 months ago.
MARS:
The Americans have flown a Mars Rover, which weighs a ton, from the Earth to Mars, landed it, and driven it around a bit – all on another planet - in the same time BT has failed to install a working phone line into a flat in central London? I wish it was this funny..
GIVEN UP:
So now I give up. My endless frustration at BT’s total lack of anything even close to coordinated fault tracking or anything like co-ordinated customer care service isn’t worth the time or stress any longer. 9 months of stress, lost wages while I’ve waited at home for engineers, and countless hours and hours of my time wasted on hold or speaking to people that can’t help.
YOU SUCK:
BT you are the total pits.
I don’t think you could suck more.
Some of my account numbers have been GB 1084 <removed for forum post>, GB 1099 <removed for forum post>, GB 1038 <removed for forum post>, GB 1105 <removed for forum post>
Dozens of other reference numbers: <removed for forum post>

Further onwards (actually downwards or backwards):
I did respond (last week) to the request to contact the forum moderators directly and was told that that they could not help because this is now being referred to Ombudsman.
Thanks for the offer of help anyway.
Two days ago I did receive another letter from BT. Dated after I was told that I would never get another letter from BT asking for payment for something that was never done. "You will never get another bill". I get another bill.
So more, painful, calls to BT in India. Have to explain the entire 9 month situation again. More wasted timed.
Asked to wait while supervisor is contacted.
Told she can't help but I should call this number: 0800 169 4109.
Which I did. But of course that number requires a number and a pin. And they don't give you a pin number. So they have effectively just cut me off.
So I have to start the entire 'call for help about this bill' processes again.
(Don't forget I've been talking to BT now since January 2012. 9 months, coming up to 10 months and I still can't get a working phone line and I still can't stop getting bills for something that has never worked).
Additioanlly on top of getting sent another late payment letter I’ve see no letter regarding the ‘Deadlock’ process between BT and I – as ‘promised’ by BT. I was told, verbally, the letter would go out last Monday. It is still not here. I want to know if the process has began. So I try to get help with that on BT Help Chat.
My goal in the chat below was to:
1. Get help with the Ombudsman process. I wanted to know why I had not received a letter from BT as I was told I was going to on the date I was expecting.
2. Get a phone number to speak to somebody about the Ombudsman process that BT had started.
3. Find out why I am still getting late payment changes for a line that has never worked - in the 9 months since the initial line order was created.
I was not given a number to call for help. Claire, the Help Chat lady, would not give me the number.
I was told I was going to be 'called back,' which I was not happy with as I know from 9 months of past experiences with BT that I will not be called back.
Sadly I was getting very frustrated by the end of the ‘Help Chat’. 9.5 months of tryign to get a phone line working in Central London has left me a little stressed...
Please note that today is the day after the chat transcript below. While Claire was trying to be helpful:
I was not called back. I received no help regarding getting details on what stage the Ombudsman process is at and what I have to do next.
9.5 months now. No phone line. No solution. Lots and lost of endless frustration.
Days and days and days of stress and my own time and hence money wasted.

I am unable to get a phone line

What a fiasco! I am moving house and have tried x 4 to get a line installed. On every occasion I have spoken to a BT representative I have been assured that I will get a phone line installed, I've paid the amount £124.99 then I either get called back or sent an e-mail to say that my order has been cancelled!!!
The house is on a new development, 5 new houses built, all other 28 houses have phone lines. I even cancelled my sky TV and and thought about having BT vision.
Moving is stressful enough without having this hassle. BT advertise 'Come back' to what??????
Any suggestions re: having a phone line would be much appreciated.
ceriann

ceriann wrote:
What a fiasco! I am moving house and have tried x 4 to get a line installed. On every occasion I have spoken to a BT representative I have been assured that I will get a phone line installed, I've paid the amount £124.99 then I either get called back or sent an e-mail to say that my order has been cancelled!!!
The house is on a new development, 5 new houses built, all other 28 houses have phone lines. I even cancelled my sky TV and and thought about having BT vision.
Moving is stressful enough without having this hassle. BT advertise 'Come back' to what??????
Any suggestions re: having a phone line would be much appreciated.
ceriann
Hi Ceriann.
Hopefully a Mod can pick this up in the next couple of days and get this sorted.
I find the whole story a complete mystery, since I believed that all new developments had a phone line provided by one company or other, probably by BT who may then pass on the connection to another company in the area with all the costs etc.
It sounds like the people you are contacting are doing a thing that seems to be an ongoing problem - and that is "not listening to the caller". To any Mod, can this feedback be passed up the management chain to someone that will actually take on board and take note.
http://www.andyweb.co.uk/shortcuts
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Having lots of problems with getting a phone line ...

this may be a bit of a long story sorry, but this has now stretched to nearly 2 months without phone and internet and i desperately need help as i rely on both for my business.
we moved in to our new house in october and ordered BT phone and internet on the 18th of October, we've now had 3 engineers out to connect a phone line but yesterday after the 3rd one turned up, and then left without informing me, i phoned BT to ask where he was to be told i now had to rebook my appointment for the 6th of December, nearly 2 months after moving into my house.
first engineer came on the 8th of november, a very nice man who explained to me the phone line in my house was 20 year old outdated underground line which was no longer in use by BT, he phoned his boss and was told he'd need to put up a whole new line. he went away to get a harness and ladder etc, came back and climbed the pole and got the line up and put it to my house. he then took the whole thing down again... came in to inform me that the line didnt meet regulations as it was not high enough, and he couldnt use the other pole as it was too close to electrical wires. he was gutted to have lost a whole day but informed me it is the law that bt have to provide me with a phone line and that if they dont do anything within 3 days i should complain. i was disappointed as i'd taken the day off work for this, being self employed this cost me a lot of money.
next day i was back to work as normal, a new bt engineer phoned saying he was at my house. i said i'd come back to meet him but he told me not to bother, as he'd already inspected the area and decided the first engineer was wrong and he should have infact put the line up at the pole which was beside the electrical wires, so he told me he'd book a new appointment and bt would phone me to let me know.
i waited a week with no phone call or email so i phoned BT myself on Saturday 16th November. i got a lovely lady on the phone who actually seemed horrified at what had happened, she couldnt be more helpful and managed to get me a cancellation appointment the following thursday, 21st november, from the BT engineers and assured me the order would be completed this time. great, but annoying as again i had to be in the house which meant a 2nd day off work costing me a lot more money again.
21st november - yesterday - bang on 9am a knock at the door, great. new BT engineer is there, an older unfit looking gentleman wrapped up in hats and scarfs and huge jackets. straight away he came across to me that he couldnt be bothered with this, he was asking me what line i had, what the previous guy did, what the 2nd guy said needed doing, he didnt know himself. i explained to him and he went away back into his van. he sat there for 30-40 minutes, came back to the door to say he needed a cherrypicker to get him up the pole to connect the new phone line but as it was in another place it wouldnt be here till the afternoon. he then went on to ask me if i would be staying in all day as it would get done today, he said i needed to stay in the house all day 'you wont be going anywhere will you?' i was told to stay and wait for him over and over again. i said this was fine as i'd had to take another day off work, i couldnt afford a 3rd day so i wouldnt be going anywhere.
come 11.30am, he returned, he just said he wanted to update me on that he was heading into the village to fix a phone line then would return, again he asked for assurances i wouldnt leave the house etc and i said thats fine.
12:15pm - a man phoned from BT to rebook my engineer appointment, i kindly explained he was here at half 11 and was returning to complete the job later. the man on the phone said thats fine but please phone us back if he doesnt reappear. at this point i was very worried, phoned the missus for her opinion and we agreed i should phone back so i phoned back straight away. this time i got a nice scottish man on the phone and i explained everything, he went and checked things for me and said the system still said my order was in progress so if the engineer had told me he'd be coming back, he saw no reason why he wouldnt. i was happy with that and agreed.
3:30pm - still no sign so i phoned BT back to say i was worried he had left, it was a nice man on the phone again but talked in broken english and didnt understand me completely a lot of the time... (i have a scottish accent ) the whole call took about an hour but eventually it turned out the BT engineer had indeed just decided to go home, im presuming he decided it was too much work in the wind and rain, and to add insult to injury he'd even told BT my order was completed. i asked the man on the phone if i could talk to someone higher up as i wish to complain as i needed my order completed today, he point blank refused saying he would file the complaint on my behalf which i wasnt happy with but he wasnt having it any other way. he decided to rebook my appointment for the 6th of december despite this meaning i'd need to take a 3rd day off work costing me yet more money. he then had me wait on the phone whilst he typed out my complaint and gave me a complaint reference number, he didnt really check anything with me as to what i wanted in the complaint so i am a bit worried not everything is in there. i could add more on this, im not happy at having to wait for another 2 weeks aswell considering the last lady found me an appointment within just 4 days of me phoning, i believe i should have priority for an urgent appointment?
anyway, i am very annoyed by this whole thing. i have remained patient up until today and now i just dont know what to do, im not the type to complain but this is ridiculous, i can see the same thing happening with the next engineer. i do expect some form of compensation over this whole affair as it is not fair at all that i will now have to take 3 days off my self employed job which is very very costly for me and is money i can not get back. not to mention the loss in business from not having the internet as we take appointments and orders online, we have been unable to use this for 2 months now. the amount of money i have lost over all of this is unbelieveable. fair enough i did not mind at all having to wait for my first appointment, or for taking the first day off work for the work to be done. that was fair enough, i realise these guys are busy and that was the earliest appointment i could have so that was fine. but now that i have to take another 2 days off work is the problem, not to mention all this extra time with no internet.
please could one of you help me out here as i dont know what else to do. ideally im hoping someone could sort out an earlier appointment for me like the original woman on the phone did, getting me a cancellation, as i am in desperate need of it now as december is our busiest month. i also wish to file my own complaint about all of this if possible. thank you in advance for any help and i am sorry for the length of this post. cheers.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

You will not get any compensation from the failure to provide a residential line, apart from what BT say on this page.
Customer service guarantee
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.
If you are waiting for Openreach to deal, then that appointment is going to be the earliest available.
You could take a laptop into town, and use it on the available hotspots. It would also be worth considering adding broadband to the business line, to make things easier at the shop.
As this is only a customer to customer forum, all I can do is to ask a BT Moderator to see if they can help, but I doubt that they can influence Openreach, as Openreach deal with other service providers as well.
I have asked a moderator to provide assistance, they will post an invite on this thread.
They are the only BT employees on this forum, and are a UK based team of people, who take personal ownership of your problem.
Once you get a reply, if you click on their name, you will see a screen like this. Click on the link as shown below.
Please do not send them a personal message, as they may not be on duty for a long time, and your message will not be tracked properly.
For your own security, do not post any personal details, on this forum. That includes any tracking number you are give.
They will respond either by phone or e-mail within 5-6 working days.
Please use the tracked e-mail, to reply, not via the forum. Thanks
This is the form you should see when you click on the link. If you do not see this form, then you have selected the wrong link.
When you submit the form, you will receive an enquiry number, so please keep a note of it
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.

Using Broadband Talk as main phone line

Hi there, just looking for a bit of advice/guidance.
I've got a Home Hub 2.0 and the Hub Phone 2.1, so I'm pretty impressed with the set up, despite only using the phone on occasion.
All the phones in our house (about 5) are knackered and need replacing. I've been considering making a switch towards the BBT, by getting another 4 Hub Phone 2.1s (not paying BT prices mind...) and subscribing to the Anytime BBT calling plan. Currently we have the equivalent landline calling plan, so that could be cancelled.
My thinking is that the 5 phones could be distributed around the house in the same way that are current phones are, and then each room would have access to the BBT line primarily, and then the normal line by pressing 5.
Is there anything else I should consider before making this change? I am aware of the emergency calling provisions etc. Has anyone else set up their home like this? How is it going?!
Many thanks,
Tom

I have the original home hub, and have four hub phones dotted around the house.
Broadband talk does allow you to make a number of simultaneous calls using the same number, and also answer incoming calls on your normal phone line as well.
You can only make one outgoing call on your normal phone line, by dialling "5" from one of the phones.
As we make most of our calls in the evening or weekend, they are free, so we have no need for any extra calling plans.
Overall it works quite well. We do have a normal phone if there is a power cut, but we also have mobile phones anyway.
Remember also, you have a phone socket on the home hub which is connected to BBT.
I suspect that the new hub phones are probably better than the original ones, which can be a bit quiet.
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.

Re: phone line still crackling

well my phone line was so bad could hardly hear took the risk of reporting it luckily open reach say it was a fault and they repaired it - still uselless cant hear still and broadband is no good - end result cant take the risk of them charging me and after broadband and home phone for twenty years ive had to cancel the whole lot - tmobile dongle is what im going to use - better at staying connected which is what you need if you play poker.

xxbrightflowerxx wrote:
well my phone line was so bad could hardly hear took the risk of reporting it luckily open reach say it was a fault and they repaired it - still uselless cant hear still and broadband is no good - end result cant take the risk of them charging me and after broadband and home phone for twenty years ive had to cancel the whole lot - tmobile dongle is what im going to use - better at staying connected which is what you need if you play poker.
If its still noisy, then follow the instructions on this website http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9812/c/345,353
If the problem is outside of your property, report the fault again.
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.

Prism tv and phone lines

We recently had prism tv installed. I asked the tech if the phone lines would be ran through the prism as our phone lines went out three times during the install. He said no they ran separately. As it turns out, my suspicions were valid. My phone lines are echoing now and sometimes squeal. When the power goes out, so do our phone lines. Any way to disconnect the two? Or do we need to cancel prism tv.

Prism tv is Century Link, not Verzion Fios................

At a loss with phone line

Firstly I am stating for the record that I have a problem with my phone line. My broadband issues are just a by-product of the phone line fault.
This problem has been going on for several years, although, 2 months ago i made some progress.
The problem with my phone line occurs during extreme weather conditions, heavy rain or winds and as a result of it not being a permanent feature of my phone line. Over the past year, it has got a lot worse (broadband constantly dropping, struggling to be heard when on the phone), and after a lot of arguing with BT an engineer came out. Now bare in mind that the BT line tests came back as perfect and not a problem. engineer took one look at the cable coming in to the house and it crumbled in his hand. He also mentioned that he was picking something "odd" up on the line, but couldn't be sure what it was and seeing as the broadband connected that he would leave it.
Since the engineers visit, I have had an OK phone line, just a bit quiet, until 2 weeks ago. When we had all that rain. The crackles came back that evening, causing crackles and white noise down the phone line. It lasted an hour or so, but enough time to turn my 2Mbps bras profile into a 130k profile. 3 days later and we recover (even though some intermittent crackles persist). The very next day and we're downloading at 2.5Mbps, the phone rings and the crackles are back.
The next day I ring up and complain and receive the whole dialogue about changing me £120 if the engineer comes out and can't find a fault. Funnily enough, the crackles (being intermittent) are not crackling at the time the engineer turns up, however, he states "The is more noise on the line than there should be" and "I'm going to pass it over to the underground team and see if they can find where the fault is". At this point I am now feeling hopeful that finally the fault might be found....
Half an hour ago I have heard nothing, I decide to phone up and see if there is any news... No fault found and expect a bill for £120 is the response, from a very nice Indian lady who did seem to struggle with understanding me or at least hearing me. i protested and asked how could the engineer tell me one story and for me to then be told that a line test shows no fault and that I have to pay!
Where it currently stands, is that I have insisted that the problem still exists and I have been told it will be resolved between 24-48hours.
I will of course wait and see what BT come back with tomorrow, but I am at a loss of what more I can do. I work from home and having an equivalent to ISDN when I pay for broadband because the phone line keeps having a fit is getting a bit of a hassle. If the BRAS IP profile did not take 3days to recover after a bad storm, then I could cope, but I'm now been on a 130k connection for over a week now and am looking at having to pay 3120 just because I am trying to do something about it.
If I turned round to my customers and said I'd look at their issue, but if I couldn't see anything I'd be charging them £120, they'd move else where.
Any advice as to how I can take this forward?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

I thought I had better post an update and I am pleased to say that it seems it has a potentially positive outcome.
First of all the lady I spoke to on Friday got back to me yesterday to say that yet again OpenReach had investigated my issue "outside the property" and claimed to have "fixed the problem". While I am sceptical that they actually did anything (surely the broadband should have disconnected, if they fixed anything like replacing a cable, but as I am not a telcom's engineer I have not authority to make judgement), the lady implied that I had a case to dispute any charge if it ended up on my bill.
The second was a response from a forum moderator who says that after reading my posts, my email and my fault reports, they say that it sounds like this is being caused by "a high resistance fault on your line. These can be very had to get to the bottom of unless the engineer is testing the line when condition are bad" and while notes that the fault has been closed (conversation yesterday with lady from BT), they suspect that if the line does have this type of fault, then it is highly unlikely that the fault has actually been fixed and I should contact them back as soon as the noise starts up again. Oh, and they have requested no charges be applied for the visit on Thursday.
So, fingers crossed... It does seem to highlight quite a variance in the quality of customer service that you get from BT. Plus, no matter how frustrated you get, you should persevere, as there are some good people that seem willing to help and will be on your side.

Phone line cancelled

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