BT asking the rediculous

[chionardo]

Hi, I just posted about something else but thought while I have the time, I'd ask about this:

 

We have a terribly crackling phone line, so I phoned up BT and asked if they could send out an engineer to have a look, I answered their questions and they did a test from there, the test was fine. The guy then asked me to check the hub in the wall (where you plug in the phone line), I said I didnt know what I was supposed to be looking at, he told me I had to unscrew the front and check some wires??? I told him I dont think I should have to do that, he said I did and that I should get a screwdriver, so I humoured him still and went to get one, couldnt find one so he told me to get a kitchen knife.......so I did, and it didnt fit the screw, by now I was a bit annoyed and said I shouldnt have to do this getting on my hands and knees taking things apart and we wanted an engineer to come out. He then told me no, go get a knife or screwdriver from a neighbour, well we have no one to the right and a guy with MS on the left, so I said why should my dissabled neighbour have to get a knife for me? He just said DO IT, I told him he was being rude and to just send an engineer out, then he told me it would cost me £160 for the callout plus parts if anything is wrong..this was not on a weekend or bank holiday btw so why £160 callout?

 

Does anyone know what the heck was going on, it seemed a bit mad to me

 

Thanks

[robin9342]

Absolutely apalling behaviour by BT. All you need to do is test the line at the first BT socket, having disconnected any other phones or non-BT extension wiring. If its still noisy there, then its BTs problem and they have to fix the fault free of charge.

 

If you have non-BT extensions (or BT extensions over 1 year old), they may charge you if the noise is proved to be from the extension wiring, so make sure you disconnect any such extensions before testing.

 

The vast majority of noise faults like you have described are either in the overhead wiring from the telephone pole, or BTs underground cables.

[SeanT]

The point of demarcation is where the external wiring that forms part of the national network ends, and your internal wiring begins, or as soon as accessible afterwards. If you have a socket that looks like it's split into two parts, and has a removable lower half to which your extension wiring is connected, and a larger part that the BT network wiring is attached to, the "test socket" that joins these two plates is this point - so you do need to take the lower half of this socket off, and then try your phone in the concealed socket behind - after this point it is BT's problem and they have to fix your line.

If you don't have one of these split sockets (called an NTE5, google it), then BT Openreach (the network part of BT) have to come out and fit one, for free, in place of your first socket.

Some noise faults, like you describe, can be caused by the phone wiring inside your premises, that you are responsible for.

I suggest you remove the lower half of the socket like they suggest, and make a record of doing so too, then they really can't charge you.

[Syd83]

Crackles on the line are more often than not due to corrosion on terminals, or damage in the wire called a HR DIS (Hi-Resistance Disconnection) a line test will not pick this up

 

Is your line fed from a pole?

 

The call out charge isnt stupid, think about it, an Openreach engineer comes out to find that your phones not plugged in (and yes that happens). Remember his wages, plus costs of fuel, van, road tax etc.

[SeanT]

Crackles on the line are more often than not due to corrosion on terminals, or damage in the wire called a HR DIS (Hi-Resistance Disconnection)

 

Or joint boxes full of water

 

It's a shame that none of BT's infamous Indians seem to have been on the excellent (though old) CBT course on line testing - it was written for call centre ops, and goes through all the results on CSS and how to interpret them, and for what conditions to raise a line fault anyway when the RATS test comes back OK. Then again, they know jack about broadband too, and just read from a script - if you give them all the right answers, and are patient, you can usually get them to raise a line fault.

[robin9342]

Or joint boxes full of water

Or 50 year old dropwires in the wind

 

if you give them all the right answers, and are patient, you can usually get them to raise a line fault.

I don't have the patience. Get a fault raised online (even if that means going to the library if your BB is down)