BT Broadband HELP!!!

[Ave_it]

I'll try to keep it brief.....

 

About 4 months ago I moved to a new barn conversion in quite a rural location. The property needed a new phone line connecting to the property and I tranfered my talk talk account (telephone calls) and moved my free broadband account (provided by Orange as part of my mobile package) over to the new property.

 

I waited a few weeks and still I had no broadband. After many telephone calls to chase it up I was told that there was a DACS issue (basically I was sharing my line with someone else) and that cabling work would have to be carried out to upgrade the line. Orange said that they had contacted BT wholesale and the total bill would be £13,500.00 for the work. After a few more calls Orange very kindly offered to pay £10,000 towards it if either I, or BT paid the other £3,500.00! Obviously I didn't want to pay all this money so I contacted BT.

 

BT said that they wouldn't pay the money as it wasn't in there interest to do so as I was getting my phone and broadband from other providers. Fair enough I thought. At this point I asked that if I was to go back to BT for my phone and broadband would they do the work for free. I was told 'yes, we will upgrade the line as necessary to ensure that you get it. Incidentally, other people in my area already have a broadband connection, although it is only half a meg.

 

I also mentioned that I knew that there were no more phone lines available in our area and that there were other renovated properties which would soon be needing phone lines anyway, so it was inevitable that the work would have to be carried out at some point anyway. They said they understood that, but once again if you come back to us, all the work would be carried out.

 

I contacted Orange to reluctantly give up my free broadband. I then contacted Talk Talk and got charged £70.00 for ending my contract with them early. I then contacted BT to transfer back to them and took out a land line phone package, broadband and even the BT Vision service. The woman on the end of the phone didn't want to hear about my previous problems but guaranteed that I could get up to 6.5meg broadband at the present time!!!! Oh dear, I'm starting to come to the end of my tether!

I told her that there would have to be cabling work done before I could get it, but she insisted to promise me that I would be up and running on the 22nd of May, a week later......We'll see!

 

Well, the road hasn't been dug up and I haven't seen any BT vans in the street and guess what???! The broadband didn't work on the 22nd May! I contacted BT again and was told that I hadn't set it up properly. Argggggh, the frustration! After further telephone calls and more review dates I was a further 2 weeks down the line and still no broadband. They've just told me that there needs to be cabling work and that I need to wait another 10 days to see if someone contacts me.

 

That's enough I thought, I contacted Ofcom and got a reference and phone number for the BT Chairmans Office. After speaking with a lady and waiting a few more days. I have now been told that Orange were right all the way along, I would have to pay the extra money for the cabling works! Back to square one! They lied to me to get the business!

 

This can't be right??! After all these promises, can they really do this?

 

Does the 18 month contract that they signed me up to not count for anything?? BT were keen to tell me that I couldn't back out of it without a penalty.

 

Can anyone help??? Please........

[locutus]

Well, when I worked for BT in the telesales department, in the training they basicly said that you never offer a price on phisical line work as you cannot guarentee how much it'll cost, you put the order onto the system for the engineers to give a quote. I was advised "If you agree to do it for free, this is a binding contract both ways and the customer can hold us to installing the line for free."

 

Some high level contacts on this page, other people here on CAG have had their problems sorted out fast! Hope you get the same level of service.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/telecoms-mobile-fixed/199136-bt-exec-management-contact.html

 

P.S. Keep us informed!

[touche36]

I would take a close look at the broadband contract you have signed with BT. If it states that they will provide broadband and they don't, then they are in breach of contract and you can sue. Bear in mind that the broadband they supply could be a very low speed due to your location. I suspect there will be a getout clause hidden in there somewhere. Also, have you considered mobile broadband (IE using a USB stick) form 3G / Vodaphone / O2 etc ? You will need to check what speeds you are likely to get in your area. You can also get satellite broadband, but this is more expensive.

[Ave_it]

Thank you both, Locutus and Touche36 for your help.

 

I will try those contact details and let you know what happens.

 

The problem is I never actually signed anything, it was all dealt with over the telephone. I should really have recorded all of the conversations. I know they record them, but I'm sure these could be conveniently lost. I would be interested to know if a legally binding contract starts when they send the equipment out and they give you a going live date?

 

I know that other neighbours are getting between .5 to 1 meg, this would be a lot better than the dial up.

 

I have tried the mobile broadband but the connection speed was still quite slow, I even tried an external aerial for the dongle but even still it wasn't much faster than the dial up. Just too many hills in the way I guess!

 

Thanks again for your help.

[locutus]

Renovated barnes have very thick walls so getting a mobile signal in them is rare. If you want/need to try mobile broadband with the diferent networks, to see if one can provide decent enough service, Purchase over the phone or internet. That way you can return them due to Distance selling regs.

 

Whilst on the subject of distance selling regs, I'll be honest I'm not 100% sure how they apply in this instance, if you are within the 1st 7 days you should contact BT stating you want to cancel due to Distance selling regs and see if that works? If you can record the call, you should do so.

 

DACS is a very old system that splits 1 phone line into 2 homes, so I take it you and 1 of your neighbours both have a DACS line then? Do they not have / need broadband?

[Ave_it]

Hi Locutus,

Thanks, I'll try a few different networks to see if I can improve the signal. You're right, the walls are quite thick - 3 ft in places, it's a nightmare for mobile reception.

 

With regards to the DACS, we do have other neighbours that want it but whenever I mention that to BT, they just say that each case is dealt with on an individual basis. This seems crazy to me as you would think it would be worth their while doing the work if there's a few of us that want it.

 

Thanks for your help, I'll keep battling on and let you know what happens.