Topic: Line problems

[Marianne]

Hello everyone  :D

We have had terrible problems with our BT line.

We had no telephone on Thursday and Friday last week.  A BT man came to have a look on Saturday and after 2 hours of searching, reconnected the line. 

He left and we tried to connect to the internet, without success.  The message we always get is "There is no line" - BT say they cannot help but they are charging us £45 a month for Broadband and the rest of the package.

So this means I have now lost several days' reading these pages - I thought I would come and say "Hello" from my PC at work. 

Hope they can mend us soon !  We are awaiting some filter boxes and hope this will work !
 ;D :D :P

[dotCompost]

  We are awaiting some filter boxes and hope this will work !
 ;D :D :P

not if you ain't got no line m'dear. Insist they come and sort you out and not leave until the service you are paying £45 for is working. Then ask for a refund as compensation for not talking to us for four days..!! I mean it. I got twentyfive quid outta Blueyonder for lack of service.

[Marianne]

Hi Dotcompost,

My OH spoke to the 151 service for at least an hour  :( :P and told them there MUST be a line, otherwise how come he is speaking with them  :P

They initially said we should call a 09068 number, which we cannot do anyway as we have put a block on these numbers and a couple of them were quite useful but to no avail. 

The filters they are sending are replacement filters which, we/they hope will reinstate the system.  If it does not work, I will look into claiming some compensation for lack of service.

Thanks Dot ! :D

[Roy Bham UK]

::) But doesn't broadband run on a separate line ??? to enable you to use your landline uninterrupted? ???

I agree with Dot as we were compensated for no service, put it all in writing no evidence in phone calls. ;) :D

[undercarriage plan]

Glad you OK, Marianne! Wondered where you'd got too!! Really hope it all gets sorted out soon for you.  If it helps, I can threaten them with soggy lettuce...... ;D Lottie

[Marianne]

Hi Roy - I understand that using broadband means you can use the internet AND use the telephone at the same time.  The filters, well .... filter whatever.  OH has been on the phone to them the best part of 3 hours, onto the 151 number as the 09068 numbers would have cost us 50p a minute !!  Will have to look into how to claim some compensation from them.  Hopefully this works but will keep you posted !  :D

LOL Lottie !! ;D ;D  I have missed reading all the messages and keeping in contact with A4A.  I will definitely threaten them with something and soggy lettuces sound quite the part to me !  ;D ;)  Hopefully things will get sorted out soon.
Take care all !  ;) :D

[Marianne]

We have breaking news !

BT have established that we have a .... line fault, or a fault on the line.  It has taken them 6 days to determine what we have known all along ...  ::) ???

Anyway they promised to call this morning and OH is still waiting at home.  I wonder what day they meant they would be calling ..  ??? :P  I hope they hurry up because we are paying £49 for the privilege and since we cannot access the internet, I want some money back !!  News to follow ... :-\ :(

[rosebud]

Hi Marriane,  we had a lot of trouble with BT and we eventually changed to somebody else,  first let them if you can sort it out, then seek compensation i did and got it, then when you have it change to somebody else they are a BL**dy nightmare.   good luck  hope to see you back soon, you will soon catch up on the pages spend a lazy evening haveing a browse and a chuckle.  Rosebud. ;D

[Marianne]

Hiya Rosebud,

We were faced with a nightmare yesterday.  We went out for a drink and guess what .... the BT engineer called to our house, without informing us beforehand.  He left us a little card with job number to say "My name is something blog ... and I called but you were not there!"     We did not know he was calling at the house .. :P :-[ ::)

When we called BT and explained the problem - we were left high and dry and they said it would take 8 days to sort out.  We both got very irrate and called to see if NTL could help, but they do not deliver in this area.  So it seems we are stuck with BT.  Although we have no service.  We are paying £49 a month for this Broad band thingy and have never had a problem but it seems they are catching up with us ... ??? :o >:(  It seems we are living on a different planet ...... Major Tom, are you there !!??  ??? :'( :'( :'(

[RobinOfTheHood]

BT were doing some work in our area in June, not on our line I hasten to add, but as part of this they messed up our phone line. I get adsl through Tiscali, so I called them to get it sorted, as broadband is supplied by BT Wholesale (which is a different division to the voice providing division) and they will not talk to the end user except via the provider (Tiscali in my case).

Anyway, they took me through all the reinstallation of the modem, checking filters etc even though we knew the fault lay with BT, and eventually they decided 'that there is an adsl fault on the line' and promised me that it would be fixed shortly.

A week later, and ......nothing. No contact from Tiscali or BT, and no adsl.
I called them again, and was told that the adsl fault had been cancelled because BT were still doing work on the voice line. Would have been nice to have been told.

When BT eventually cleared the voice fault (which they had caused), I called Tiscali again, and they resubmitted the fault to BT. This was by now the end of July. BT reported the fault cleared a couple of days later. Of course, it did not work. Called Tiscali again. They resubmitted the fault again. This went on until last Tuesday, when, lo and behold, I managed to connect. I am now claiming a refund from Tiscali, who will probably claim it back from BT.

I work in 3rd line IT support, and deal with BT when any of our lines develop a fault or we need new lines. They are, in my opinion, the worst company to deal with in the country, they have so many divisions and none of them know what any of the others are doing. And they have a monopoly (more or less) on the telephone lines.

At least you are dealing with BT direct (I presume you are on BT broadband) and do not have to speak to them through a call centre based in India, as i do  >:(.

There. Rant over.

[Marianne]

Hiya Robin, 

Yes we have a contract with BT Broadband. 
And yes again, we are being put through to India.   

Yesterday OH spoke with 3 contacts, none of which knew where Ware is and asked if it was in England .... :-\ :'( :P 

They got so frustrated not finding us, they cut OH off .. three times.  I am at a loss to know what to do as they have the monopoly of the situation, i.e. only they can supply the service in this area. 

Some person somewhere told us someone would be calling us again today, but so far nothing .... 

My next step is to cancel BT altogether and use our mobile.... It may even be cheaper than BT.  Unfortunately I will not be able to read A4A. 
From a very irrate and disillusioned Marianne.

 :'( :'( :'( ???

[dotCompost]

...dunno if it will help, but have a look through this site - you might get some tips on dealing with BT.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/ukbb

[tim]

Not quite the same thing but - we have been unable to access the net for 24 hrs - you noticed?? - got onto a chap in Bangalore this am who asked if we had a wireless router - disconnect - restart - reconnect  - PRESTO!!

[Marianne]

 :'( :'( :-[

Thanks for your comments all...

Was on the telephone for hours last night.  When I eventually got through to someone, I was told I was ringing the wrong number (this number was given to us by the engineer who called at the house whilst we were out) so the guy put me onto a new queue - the same ring tone in my ears for so long drove me crackers ........ and I am afraid I had to hang up or take a Valium which I do not have.

Got on the phone again at 6am today and got through straight away, only to be told by someone "in the know" that BT had recently dug the street up to upgrade their systems.  In the process, they inadvertently "cut off" several customers .. :P :(

The same guy promised to send out an engineer next week as they do not work at week ends ! Wooppeyyy!  Watch this space.   :-\
Think I am going slightly potty with all this  :P :P

the guy also said that if I had an alternative (NTL??) I would be better off with them.  Now remember this guy works for BT !!

[undercarriage plan]

Aww Marianne, you poor thing.  Have something much better than soggy lettuce now....... smelly bunny carcase..... you only have to ask!  ;D Lottie

[Marianne]

 ;D

Today the engineer came, as promised.  My faith in BT has improved.  The guy said that the "other" BT engineer had created a "loop", whatever that is, something which prevented us from going on line.

Anyway this new guy has freed us from the dreaded loop and it seems we can now surf once again.  And boy, am I glad to be able to read A4A again !   ;D ;D 8) 8) ;)

[dotCompost]

Welcome back Marianne - it's good to have you with us again  :D

[Marianne]

Awww Dot thank you very much for your kind message !   ;D ;D ;D