Russell griffiths Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 Morning does anybody know a number to contact bt connections dept on, we are trying to get a line connected and have had the job cancelled 3 times. Every time I ring up I have to go through all the different departments to get to talk to someone, so far I have been on hold for over 5hours with 3 different phone calls. Getting pissed off does not even come close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick1c Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 You could try the bt forum, I got contacted by someone who moved things along when I posted there. IIRC you also get given an individual contact (& their email/phone no.) so get some consistency. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonshine Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 i am going to go through this process soon, and any tips would be amazing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted March 9, 2021 Author Share Posted March 9, 2021 2 hours ago, Moonshine said: i am going to go through this process soon, and any tips would be amazing. Take some tablets to keep calm. They are the worst organisation I have dealt with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 It helps to understand what goes on behind the scenes (obviously simplified). You request a new line from BT and enter into a contract with them. They contract OpenReach for a new connection - by design you, the consumer, cannot engage with OR directly - only BT and other telco providers. BT does provisioning on their side and awaits OR. OR schedule their works. OR complete their works (assuming this lines up with the BT provisioning bit) Your BT contract is live and you get billed. Looks like you're stuck at step 4. I would just call BT sales to cancel the contract - do not get passed off to any other department. Then go back to step 1, maybe with another provider like PlusNet (who are a BT sub brand but semi autonomous) and see if that is more successful. --- Our tale is thus - we did not want a drop wire from pole so ducted on our side and then requested a new line from BT. OR arrived to survey and we explained what we wanted - they produced a quote which was double what we could get it done for privately and agreed that if suitable cable were laid to the foot of their pole, they'd happily use that. We cancelled BT order, got the duct laid to pole with suitable cable purchased and pulled through and then re-ordered the line (OR advised waiting 30 days for quote to disappear from the system). OR turned up and happily used our cable to make the pole connection and then installed master socket on other side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 Open reach dropped off 150 meters of cable and trunking along with a cable inspection chamber. There was even a coil of rope to pull the cable through, all for free. We dug the trenching and laid the cable. I'm about to book a provider to come out and connect to the pole and I don't think it will be BT. All providers should have an allowance for new connections so that should also cost nothing or close to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 3 hours ago, Ralph said: Open reach dropped off 150 meters of cable and trunking along with a cable inspection chamber. There was even a coil of rope to pull the cable through, all for free. We dug the trenching and laid the cable. I'm about to book a provider to come out and connect to the pole and I don't think it will be BT. All providers should have an allowance for new connections so that should also cost nothing or close to it. Openreach will always do the connection, the service provider just makes the request on their system. Looks like you have a decent local OR crew - they do tend to be pretty useful but the back-office system is impenetrable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 4 hours ago, Bitpipe said: Our tale is thus - we did not want a drop wire from pole so ducted on our side and then requested a new line from BT. OR arrived to survey and we explained what we wanted - they produced a quote which was double what we could get it done for privately and agreed that if suitable cable were laid to the foot of their pole, they'd happily use that. We cancelled BT order, got the duct laid to pole with suitable cable purchased and pulled through and then re-ordered the line (OR advised waiting 30 days for quote to disappear from the system). OR turned up and happily used our cable to make the pole connection and then installed master socket on other side. We also ran the wire to the bottom of the pole and left a coil long enough to reach the top. Openreach via BT were happy to connect it but only actually did so after some weeks of not turning up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted March 9, 2021 Author Share Posted March 9, 2021 On the phone again 40 mins this time. Im hoping it’s going through, fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 1 hour ago, Temp said: We also ran the wire to the bottom of the pole and left a coil long enough to reach the top. Openreach via BT were happy to connect it but only actually did so after some weeks of not turning up. Only thing that annoyed me was the cable emerged just shy of the shoe at the bottom but rather than feed it round and up the steel conduit, affording some protection, it was tacked to the back of the pole so much easier to interfere with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyline Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Openreach and their monopoly stink. I bought farmland 14 years ago. Openreach dug holes in it without my consent to access a fault on a line to neighbour. I didn't even know it was there and not responsible for the fault. No wayleave, easement or private consent exists. I objected to the trespass and said they were not to go there again without contacting me first. Openreach ignored me and did it again, eventually causing an accident with a temporary cable. Other things distracted me until October 2020, when I applied for a connection there myself, through SSE. Openreach didn't get on with it, and I started chasing SSE without result. In December I snagged a local engineer who ran in a temporary surface cable (unlawfully) across neighbouring land, but it's very vulnerable and will get ripped out if spotted. After that, nothing. In an attempt to get Openreach to make the short, simple, lawful connection available to them, I contacted their wayleaves department and warned them they risked removal of the lines to other customers if they didn't connect me properly. They sent me a wayleave document and an offer of payment, but that makes me liable for damage to the service (as has already happened) and may happen again because it's too shallow for cultivation and is not ducted. They also won't recognise that their trespass was reported to them in 2008 and only want to pay from now onwards! Seeking corroboration of the date from a neighbour affected, I asked if she remembered the previous fault - and was immediately attacked! She accused me of damaging her line and preventing its repair, despite there being a wayleave. All wrong. This is what Openreach probably told her because they failed to fix it for 3 weeks in 2008. Yeah, blame me, of course, and blacken my name for 14 years, why not? Now I am a target for abuse. Next she called the Police and accused me of trying to run her over (disproved by my dashcam), and then sparked a vendetta against me involving another neighbouring landowner who also called the police (same day, historic complaint, Police spotted that immediately and warned him off). Four and a half months in, my patience has expired with Openreach and the neighbour. I am issuing a Notice to Quit for their services and an application to the Ombudsman about their failure to connect my service properly. Don't underestimate the casual malice of Openreach when their own inadequacies are exposed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 2 minutes ago, skyline said: Openreach and their monopoly stink. ... Openreach isn't BT. (The OP is about reaching BT) All large organisations mess their customers about : I do not seek to defend them - maybe the Notice To Quit and complaint to the Ombudsman might sort things out. I hope so. Malice is a strong word when applied to people (the organisation cannot be malicious, but their staff can) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Pissup in a Brewery springs to mind ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 If you are doing a multi unit scheme (2 or more), Openreach have a developer portal. I took me 3 months to register online because their system was so crappy, but this was the only way I could get job looked at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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