Phone line fault

[alexd]

Meanwhile, at the uk.telecom Job Justification Hearings, Graham J chose the tried and tested strategy of:

Of course there is - BT Retail :-)

[George Weston]

Me too :-(

George

[George Weston]

I've had some success, via Plusnet but only after going through their tortuous fault-reporting system. In the end, I got a re-routed lead-in from the pole outside my house, which sorted things out properly. It took weeks of piling on the pressure, though. Persistence is the only way...

George

[Steve Firth]

My working life is heavily dependent upon BT. They are so bloody useless and grasping that the organisation has become known as "Openretch". It's a standing joke that if it's possible to misinterpret BT's own documentation and to end up charging the client several times over, BT management will bend over backwards to do just that.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Andrews+Arnold are very good. They have automated testing systems in place which test and automatically reopen BT faults which are closed but unfixed (as they often are). You can follow it all on your line's log. They also have a staff member who appears to be dedicated to handling BT faults.

They have a deal whereby you can migrate a troublesome ADSL line to them, and if they can't get it fixed, you don't have to pay them.

[Andy Wade]

IME remote testing from the exchange can't see o/c faults that are close to the subscriber's end. Request a visit. You don't have to pay if the problem is on their side of the NTP - which, from the tests you haven't done, would appear to be the case.

Sounds like a dodgy joint or connection that's going o/c or high-impedance until 'wetted' by line current when the phone is off-hook.

[Dave Baker]

Thank you for all the replies which are too numerous to mention individually. It has explained to me why the problem disappears as soon as I initiate a phone call and why BT's Mumbai Muppets can't therefore find it as a fault with their normal tests.

I've sort of developed an interim coping strategy which is to make a call when the intergoogles drop out which reinitialises the line and makes the connection good again. Obviously longer term it needs fixing properly.

[tony sayer]

In article , Dave Baker scribeth thus

Try a post over in uk.telecom I swear that some faults get fixed in there when there're posted there;)..

[DrTeeth]

They have to be for the prices they charge...I'm also taking into account the low allowances which make their prices even more expensive.

[Bob Eager]

Low *daytime* allowances.

[Dave Liquorice]

You get what you pay for.

Pay peanuts and get script reading monkeys in the call center who haven't a clue about faults and no real interest in getting them fixed.

Pay a decent amount and get real people who understand how things work, how they break and how to fix or get them fixed.

Only worth worrying about if most of your useage is download Mon-Fri

09-18. Outside of those hours you'd have to go some to use a single unit (50GB on 20CN)

[DrTeeth]

I already get the above from ADSL24...brilliant service.

I am UNLIMITED in my current off-peak hours - 20:00 hrs - 08:00 hrs, and all weekend.

[tony sayer]

In article , DrTeeth scribeth thus

Yes another good one Entanet are raved about by an IT mate of mine..

[Mark]

Name one "communications" company that isn't a nightmare to deal with.

[Mark]

The best technique is to be persistent. If there's no fault in your wiring/equipment (which is not difficult to check) they should not charge you.

[Gaius]

If you're an individual trader, too bad. If you take your custom elsewhere, nobody in BT Retail will give a stuff. Losses of individuals are insignificant. If you're a major corporate, though, BT Retail will pull out the stops. They will assign you a named account manager who you can shout at. It's his job to keep you happy - and he'll get faults fixed FAST.

It's all about your level of clout as a customer. It's quite cynical. And quite deliberate.