BT - line installation / activation

[bobzac]

I moved into my new flat yesterday, plugged in the phone and nothing - well no surprise there I thought to myself.

Well I phoned the useless people at BT to ask them to turn it on. Their reply was "well we have never supplied a service to this property" in reply I questioned why there was a BT main socket attatched to my wall then, they said that is was already there as standard.

They then said that they wanted £62.50 for the pleasure of sending one of their 'technicians' to install one.

I asked how they planned to do this as there were no phone pilons anywhere to be seen - which suggests to me that there is an internal box or something, like the tv, that just needs to be plugged in.
They said that they didn't know and I told them that I wasn't giving them anything until they could tell me how they intended to rectify the problem.

So..... Has anyone else had this problem, within a block of flats, and how did BT resolve it ?

Thanks

[louis wu]

In some purpose built flats, there are connections installed for phone lines/cable etc. I suppose it's possible that the previous occupant (s) never had a BT service, is there any way you can contact them to find out what provider hey used.

[bobzac]

I will give it a go, however not too sure if the estate agents will be able to track them - I had some queries about other utilities that they couldn't answer of gave incorrect information on.

[louis wu]

whether this is a rental property, or a sale, there should be records as to the previous utility providers

[barracad]

Not sure why they are quoting £62.50, the charge is usually around £125 I think.

What happens is that when new properties are built, the developer will put a socket in the property, and BT will lay the cables underground at their cost. This cost is then passed on to the first person to take up the service at that address. Just because the engineer isn't going to be doing the work now doesn't mean that it hasn't already been done. It just makes sense for BT to do it that way rather than come along and dig up the road or install telegraph poles at a later date.

[bobzac]

They are doing this "special offer" of half price installation at the moment - well they did a search and claim that there was no service to the property, so it looks like I am stuck with paying the amount. This really buggers up my sky installation next week !

[robin9342]

You are lucky. When I moved in to my flat, I had to pay the full £125 even though a line was already connected! (No dialing tone, just side tone)

[louis wu]

I saw this today, posted by goodwill. I don't know if it's any actual use to you, but have a read anyway

BT reconnection fee. Beware!

louis

[robin9342]

Originally Posted by barracad

What happens is that when new properties are built, the developer will put a socket in the property, and BT will lay the cables underground at their cost. This cost is then passed on to the first person to take up the service at that address. Just because the engineer isn't going to be doing the work now doesn't mean that it hasn't already been done. It just makes sense for BT to do it that way rather than come along and dig up the road or install telegraph poles at a later date.

Its not just the first person who gets charged now, its nearly everybody. Imagine if you had to pay a reconnection charge for your gas, electric and water whenever you move. BT should not be allowed to make this charge. Grrr

[bobzac]

how does one check the status of the line before I moved in ? I don't know who was there before me, so there is no way I can check a phone book or anything - BT aren't going to back down with their charge and I really need the line working in order for my SKY to be installed fully !

[locutus]

Basically you are not gonna like what I post here.

When a phone line is not used for about 6 months it gets completely removed from the exchange. This time varies due to the demand on that exchange, so BT will have to send an engineer to sort it. The standard charge is £124.99, but if you push them they will offer you an 18 month term for half price connection. The person on the other end of the phone cannot see any previous accounts because that data is removed (I belive its part of the data protection act that old data gets removed, but I'm not 100% sure if that's the case) so all they see is a brand new provide at that address.

If you are struggling to pay it, you can also ask about "spread connection"

Hope that helps a little.

[doYdY]

i guess i have had a similar issue.

i moved into a new, shared house with some uni friends last year. BT wnated to charge me the £120 to reconnect the line, as the people before were using bulldog i believe (that took A LOT of investiaging, read: time on hold). i ordered for the line to be reinstalled at the exchange, but the day before i called up to cancel it. the cancellation went through, but the engineer had already carried out the work, so there was no charge

me 1 - BT 0

[locutus]

I don't know if doing that would work 100% of the time doYdY, but if someone is going to pay the fee they may aswell try cancelling it the day before and see if they get the line for free LOL

Well done, and I hope you spent the £120 wisely on text books and not down the boozer !

[Mr Pipps]

I called BT today to request a home move to a new property which had no previous service.

I was told that the half price offer is no longer available and that my only route forward is to pay the full price of £125. The telephone conversation proceeded into a neogtiation and then ended in an argument.

Can anyone else confirm whether they have been able to receive the half price promotion recently? I certainly received it when I previously moved house seven months ago.

[locutus]

did you call 0800 800 030 or the standard 150 from your landline? the 0800 800 030 is BT's customer options team (AKA retentions department). They have the best deals on offer.

if your new property is in a cabled area, I understand that virgin don't charge an instalation fee... may be worth checking it out... Click this link Simply Broadband - Broadband Size: M to see if you'll be able to get it (Only if you're interested in moving to virgin of course... can make a good arguing point when you're on the phone to BT aswell)

Hope that helps. Good luck

P.S. The people setting up new lines are on commision and they get more for not doing the half price installation.
P.P.S If cash is a bit tight, you can also ask for spread connection. (takes the connection fee out over a few months to not land you with a big bill)

Other money saving things are paying by DD. I don't know if anyone has managed to get the £1.50 monthly charge stopped yet, so if DD is viable for you there is a saving there! and paper free billing, saves 50p per month so line rental will be £10.50 instead of £11.75

[Mr Pipps]

Thanks for your advice.

Yes, I dialed the Home Movers number and spoke to Customer Options and then Retentions, and casually played the card that I was evaluating whether to stay with BT or move to cable. I pointed out that a cable installation fee is at most around £20. I stressed the point cooly, and went round and round in circles with several advisers, but there was no budging on their end. 'We are no longer able to offer that promotion', was the repeated response that i received.

The reality, of course, is that my new dwelling is not servced by cable. So it looks like they have me by the short and curlies for the £125...!

Unless of course, you might have any secret promotional passwords or other ideas by any chance?

[locutus]

Sent a Text to a customer options team member that I know. No reply yet. He's probably in work now, so I'll get back to you ASAP. (School run for me now LOL talk to ya soon)