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BT noisy line fault resulting in slow broadband

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Hi, from the depths of Warwickshire where BT fears to tread!

Having re-joined BT this spring, after Tiscali's Broadband service was received in better quality on Mars than at our house, I was hardly encouraged with their services or attitude when I discovered my order was cancelled twice before we ever actually received anything.  Yes, this should have sent warning bells off somewhere in the cotton wool area that is fast becoming the cosy bit to where my mind retreats when I know I have to summon up the energy to call BT Customer Services and ask to speak to anyone who actually knows anything helpful, or who can actually write a record of my calls and take any action.

Cancelled contracts, mis-sold Broadband contracts, overcharged calls, noisy lines, slow to reverse broadband speed, faulty BT equipment, insensitive BT employees who continually put you through to the wrong department (ability to connect customers to incorrect departments till they get exhausted and give up- must be a requirement on their CV'S) and jovial engineers who turn up on Tuesday... but not necessarily the Tuesday 'time' that was booked.

The engineer, when he did eventually turn up, informed me after nearly 2 hours of going through every conceivable connection in the house twice, that the fault lay with the new BT Wireless Router, which was only 2 months old and under warranty.  Didn't I know this?  Well he had equipment and I didn't so I just shrugged my shoulders and looked hopeful.  He advised me I shouldn't be charged as it was BT equipment.  A new router was supplied the following week and I thought at last I can use my phone to make a call, ...oh but no, the line was no better and I was charged for the pleasure of the call out.  I wasn't sure how even BT could work out that their router they had supplied could be classed as 'my equipment', or how I was supposed to test it with no equipment.  I then made another call to get my money back, which is exceedingly difficult when you can't actually hear what anyone is saying.  This went on for half an hour of argument until finally I got the nice lady, who was desperately trying to represent a good front for BT, to agree with me and a reimbursement was made, ...which is when I noticed I wasn't getting my free evening and weekend calls.  So... that was another call that I couldn't hear!  I really don't have time for a life.

A BT phone line BT - telling me there isn't a fault and the line is clear

Well as it wasn't the router at all, it was the third or fourth engineer (I lost track I made so much tea) who eventually (this is while BT are still telling me there isn't a fault and the line is clear) discovered that the BT main junction box coming into the house was faulty.  You might have thought that would be the first thing that was tested wouldn't you?  Well it was this fault that was making the line noisy to the point that I could have heard more under a Jumbo Jet and it was also the cause of the reduced broadband download speed that made the connection time out regularly.  The kind man put a new box on and there was music to my ears - silence on the line.

Oh happy days... I now can hear conversations clearly for the first time in months, the broadband speed which I was promised would increase is still slower than the snails that race across my patio, but hey ho, last Saturday was the last time I have to spend three and a half hours of my life talking to BT!  I finally got connected to the correct department, well yes I had been cut off twice by then but the wait was worth it, and was advised that they had been at fault, I was mis-sold my contract, they shouldn't have charged me for the call out or the 'free calls' and I would not be charged a cancellation fee and I could have my MAC number.  I was only asking for what was due to me.  Why do they make it sound like some sort of concession on their part?

I am taking my cotton wool addled mind over to Sky in the hope that I fair better with them.  Who knows I might now have time for a life again!  On the up side, I am now expert in tying two straws together from the gin bottle and the tonic bottle without losing a drop.  So thank you BT, I would never have discovered I had this talent.

By: Gay


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Fluffy Bottom

Fluffy Bottom

I want to know more about the gin/tonic straw technique please.I will calling BT soon with the same problem!
02/11/10 Fluffy Bottom
-16
Fedup Withbt

Fedup Withbt

Noisy line, no broadband for 3 weeks so far, 2 engineers both not qualified in broadband despite our asking foreign sounding ladies and gentlemen many times to organise things correctly. BT says ISP ISP says BT line we are in teh middle, 3 hours clocked on phone calls so far and still noisy line and no broadband. Other folks in village no problems GRRRRR

This happens once every 2 years on average, apparently we are along way from the exchange and connected to it with ali cable so stand no chance. Satellite BB with Skype is looking awfully attractive at the moment.
09/07/10 Fedup Withbt
-11
J.

J.

Well - that clears everything up now doesn't it! Clear as mud to most people I imagine. Why don't you give the three companies completely different names and then maybe people might not get so confused; after all, you can hardly blame people for thinking that a company with BT (British Telecom) as the first part if its name was all part of the same structure. How about calling BT Retail "India Broadband" - BT Openreach "UK Telephone Lines" - and I'm not sure I understand the distinction between BT Wholesale engineers and BT Openreach engineers (no - don't tell me - I really don't want to know).
How anyone can think that a 3-company service provision makes for a good service is beyond me. The customer simply gets lost in the cracks.
How about some fairness for the Customers.
22/11/09 J.
-22
BT Retail Business Broadband T

BT Retail Business Broadband T

BT is three completely seperate companies as ordered by law for fairness to all Telephony and broadband providers.
I work for BT Retail who is a telephony and broadband Service Provider. When a problem with telephony is reported, we ask the engineers from BT Openreach to investigate. When a problem with broadband is reported, we ask the engineers from BT Wholesale to investigate.
We have no control over the checks they do and the only contact these two parts of BT have with the customers is when the engineer is physically on the premesis. It is these two parts that place charges for visits not BT Retail.

Any problems with speeds may result in the PC or equiptment not operating properly, and it can take up to 10 days after the service is first provided to stabalise. If it is a problem with the line, this is the line provided by BT Wholesale, not BT Retail, and BT Wholesale provide internet services (including the speed) to ALL service providers including Virgin, Sky, Tiscali etc. Therefore mover service provider will not improve this.
27/10/09 BT Retail Business Broadband T
-6
sick as a parrot

sick as a parrot

Does any one know how to SPEAK to a PERSON at BT. I tried to report a fault, but could not get a human on the line. I'm really fed up as I have now used all my mobile credit.

IF ANY ONE KNOWS A DIRECT LINE TO BR ENGINEERS I WOULD BE GRATEFUL
12/10/09 sick as a parrot
-12
ukphiluk

ukphiluk

I have had a broadband account originally with BT Internet then upgraded to the best possible package on BT Total Broadband and BT Yahoo Total Broadband. for over 2 years I have been complaining about the speed of my Broadband Service without success or any improvement. When I originally opend this account I was averaging a download speed of 3 to 3.5 Mb/sec since upgrading to Total I now have average speeds of less than 0.5 Mb/sec and upload speeds of less than 1Mb/sec.

After trying everything and giving BT every chance possible to put things right I have decided to move to Fibre Optic with Virgin. Nothing can be worse than my experiance with BT. (or can it?).
02/06/09 ukphiluk
-14
a

a

the problem is that a majority of the workforce are lazy and only out for money which leaves the ones that do the job right in the crap as they have to sort the mess others have made.
18/04/09 a
-5
Paul Engineer

Paul Engineer

In reply to Buckinghamshire and Unhappy: BT do not have broadband engineers. Openreach have broadband engineers.
If the line was mis-routed in the exchange, that was down to BT providing us engineers with the wrong exchange routing for it. Not us wiring it up wrong.
19/03/09 Paul Engineer
5
Disillusioned in the Midlands

Disillusioned in the Midlands

I've also had problems with BT Broadband and it's so difficult to get an answer because the people who answer at customer service have really strong foreign accents so I just can't understand them. Also, I 've had to call on my mobile so I can do things on the computer at the same time. You then have to pay for the call and it gets very exasperating, to say the least.

Having said that, at least the foreign customer service people are polite. So many times when I've called customer service at firms like Curry's and Virgin, they've been downright rude and patronising. And put the phone down...and I'm a really polite person. What's happened to the UK?
22/01/09 Disillusioned in the Midlands
-6
Si

Si

Don't go to Sky they are really realy even worse than BT trust me I know. I foolishly moved from Virgin (ex ntl) where I had an actual download speed of 14Mbps but paid a lot for it. My wife was convinced by a Sky con woman in Cambridge and yes we were promised 16 Mbps from our local exchange and a TV package and phone calls for less than we were paying Virgin. Guess what, rouer didn't work and lots of expensive calls and tests later Sky agreed and sent a new one. Finally got that to work but best download speed achieved on 16Mb Sky max package is 140Kbps yes 100th of what I had. With a package you will find you have 4 contracts to try to get out of as each is individually set up. I have no more time and have given up with Sky and will condem the company at every opportunity. If my wife can get us out of the contract and we can go back to Virgin as a new subscriber (get a better £ deal that way) I will forgive her but until then I never want to hear about Sky and their lies. If you see a Sky stall in Cambridge the woman there is a con merchant and lied through her teeth - she should be put down the misery she caused us over Christmas and the new year. Don't do it...just don't
15/01/09 Si
-3
anne

anne

I left them as I was being disconncted about 20 times a day and they wouldnt believe me. I had the same row with them when I was on wired router and nothig was done, then it happened on the wireless and they tried to blame me and their engineer didnt find it was my fault and it still wasnt sorted. I gave him and went to sky.
14/01/09 anne
-7
Maria

Maria

Why on earth can't BT get it right? I've just ranted on another thread but would like to add that I am experiencing most of the problems with BT's customer services outlined by others below. It seems that they need to start believing their customers and sort things out ASAP. It is ridiculous that complaints take months to sort out. I, like the person who dropped from 5 mB, have suffered a decrease in speed and BT are blaming everything except the exchange - the one thing that my private consultant has said is likely to be causing the problem.
31/12/08 Maria
-4
sammylou

sammylou

nooooo not to sky. we had it all line rental tv broadband. then they just cut me off, no warning. still take dd. internet and phone gone! spent £60 in 12 days trying to ring customer services from a mobile phone and get passed from pillar to post. no one has a clue. when it works its fine when it doesnt youll be desperate for bt!! and thats saying something
08/12/08 sammylou
-8
bored of private car drivers

bored of private car drivers

Note: I like Sky and many friends use them and are happy. Note that the infrastructure and service is a resold BT one. If there is a problem you'll see your BT friends again.. Mind you, I dream of being with BT again, I went with Orange and boy was that a mistake!
04/12/08 bored of private car drivers
-13
Buckinghamshire and unhappy

Buckinghamshire and unhappy

BT line & broadband disaster! Moving home, 50 yards away I asked BT 's specialist depatment to organise turning off one BT line and BT broadband and turning on a new service at my new premises, got the reference numbers, the new obligatory 12 month contract on the 15th of october 2008. I have not had broadband. tThe telephone line having been connected on the 22nd was mistakenly misrouted at the exchange by the BT broadband engineers on the 23rd, and I was wtithout a phone till the monday 27th october. All this time I spend my money on my mobile talking to foreigners' whose accent makes them imcomprehensible and who insist that all is well. I am still without broadband on the 31st of october and no doubt BT is collecting the money for the service from my direct debit. Is there no way one could do a class action suit so these big guys actually serve the paying consummer. Any ideas on how to proceed.
31/10/08 Buckinghamshire and unhappy
-8

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