Openreach taking the proverbial for tree lopping

[BotusBuild]

Not sure this is the right forum for Internet connection topics. 

 

Applied, via Plusnet, for a FTTP connection to the new build. Openreach came out to survey. We had a lot of discussion around possible routes in and agreed they would fit a new pole, which would require some tree lopping. Got a call yesterday saying OR would cover £1000 of the work required, we needed to pay the extra £1300+VAT.

The breakdown includes £1100 ex VAT for the tree lopping.

Three f÷_×ing branches! £1100! WTAF?

I'm breaking out the long ladder and lopping saw.

[jack]

Crikey, even for rip-off Britain that's taking the piss!

 

We had an entire large scots pine taken down for much less than that a few years ago. 

[SteamyTea]

 

 

[Thorfun]

@BotusBuildi've been a long journey to get internet to our new build. long story short, i advise going to BT or EE as they will pay more towards the excess charges from Openreach.

 

our excess charges were £1300 for a new pole and cable, Vodafone said they wouldn't cover the charges and didn't want to pass them to me (not that i would've paid them) and told me to look elsewhere. Plusnet (despite being part of BT) said they wouldn't cover the charges and i had to pay all of them....including VAT. so i told them where to go. then i tried EE (as BT has already ****** up at the start of our journey and i had a beef with them) who said they'd cover the excess charges up to £6k.

 

so, ditch Plusnet and go for EE even if it's a little more expensive as they might cover all of your excess charges.

 

good luck! we're on our 4th service provider and have been without a line since BT screwed up at the end of Nov 2024. our 4G service is just about good enough for TV but not if the kids are also streaming at the same.

[SteamyTea]

Wildanet are a local company with a good reputation.

 

https://wildanet.com/about-wildanet

 

Not sure how much they are involved in new connections.

[BotusBuild]

Will give them a call

[BotusBuild]

On 05/06/2025 at 15:59, Thorfun said:

i advise going to BT or EE

Following the EE route, and so far so good, although they still want to lop more stuff off tree than I have already done. But, the key thing, they are not going to charge me for this, so I will let them get on with it.

On 05/06/2025 at 16:58, SteamyTea said:

Wildanet are a local company with a good reputation.

Spoke to these guys. Very helpful, but as there is already fiber in the lane, they said it would be better to just go with a "normal broadband provider" (their actual words 🙂 )

[BotusBuild]

So, EE are working on this. Well they have "contracted" Openreach to install FTTP, but they have already sent the router.

So far, OR have installed a telegraph pole and sent someone from Kelly Group to install the boxes outside and inside the house with a piece of optical fibre between them via conduit I had installed during the build for this purpose.

We have dug the trench from the base of the new pole to the house, and are now waiting for OR to realise they have not connected from the pole where the fibre already is to the new pole and then to the house via our trench and into the external box.

 

Watching the new pole start to rot and get vandalised by woodpeckers in the meantime.

[Thorfun]

@BotusBuild our copper broadband is finally installed and running. In the end I raised a complaint with EE and our order was escalated on openreach and, despite this we got loads of “update by next week” type messages until the message was “Openreach need to cancel your order and then you’ll need to raise a new order which will be escalated and expedited“!

 

once that was done we got an appointment for OR to attend a couple of days later to connect the cable and got it working. 
 

it’s taken about 8 months, although only about 5 months of that was with EE who have been very communicative throughout and it was obvious all the delays were on the OR side. I’m looking forward to seeing what the compensation I’m due will be. 
 

so if it drags on some more ask EE if you can lodge a formal complaint as to how long it’s taken and ask to have your order escalated. 

[BotusBuild]

Update: OR visited us on Monday and connected the cable from the pole next door to our new pole and down into the trench. The cable went into an OR supplied duct in the trench, and the end got left by the external box that Kelly Group had already installed (see above).

Then, they found out that the cable at the top of pole next door was not connected to anything - you couldn't make this up. The guy went to the junction box (about 1/2 mile away) and sure enough there's a bundle of cables in there not spliced in.

So, we are now waiting for the splicing team. FFS.

Edited August 7 by BotusBuild

[Roger440]

And this is why i simply put up a 4G ariel.

 

I have no phone or internet connection via cable. Much less grief. Anything involving openreach can never end well.

[BotusBuild]

Which is fine if you have a decent 4G signal

[Roger440]

6 minutes ago, BotusBuild said:

Which is fine if you have a decent 4G signal

 

I dont on my phone. But man came with a thing and found one. Ariel strapped to barn roof, so ariel is at about 6 meters of the ground. Plenty of signal up there. Might be worth a try?

[SteamyTea]

59 minutes ago, BotusBuild said:

Which is fine if you have a decent 4G signal

Have you checked recently, them 3 have put a new 5G base station 200m from me. I have a month contract with Smarty (repackaged 3) that automatically got upgraded to 5G, only £16/month.

Shame I am too tight to buy a 5G router, though a new phone would be cheaper and do me just as well.

[BotusBuild]

RESOLUTION TIME:

On Saturday lunchtime I got a call. Two engineers from OR have turned up to splice the fibre. Turns out we are 1200m from the "cabinet", which isn't actually a cabinet, its one of those multi-manhole-cover pits in the road. They also had to splice in the "cabinet" as well.

2 hours later EE hub plugged in and we have interweb access JIT for the move in.

 

Happy days

[Alan Ambrose]

If you don't mind - what was the elapsed time from payment to install? I'm still waiting for mine...

[BotusBuild]

Alan,

I have not paid anything to have this work done. I applied to EE for broadband, their 74 Mbps service, on Jun 6th. The router was sent very quickly, and sat around waiting for the OR work to be carried out.

Can't recall when the OR survey was carried out, but it seemed to take a long time  before first OR activity on July 15th (telegraph pole). July 22nd was the box on the outside wall to the box inside and associated piece of fibre. Then another 2 weeks until the external fibre was laid from a neighbouring pole to the new pole and to the location of the external box. Finally a week after that (yesterday Aug 9th) that external fibre was connected at both ends.

 

EE were then immediately on it. As soon as I connected the router to the internal box, we had interweb connection and Wifi inside the house is acceptable for now. They have also very quickly issued the first monthly bill. (£26.99 pcm)

 

So from order to completion, about 2 months, so not bad, all things considered.