topic Re: Getting beyond a joke in My Order

Getting beyond a joke

jonmcghee — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 22:07:48 GMT

What a joke so far with this lot over 2 months now for a line to be sorted out for the house its not as if there is not a phone line in the house. keeps coming back with ow it's not our falt its open reach.

As i understand it BT has taken over plusnet now you would not think it would be a problem.

Perhaps going with BT direct would be a better option,

Re: Getting beyond a joke

Gel — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 09:53:45 GMT

PN like other ADSL providers are dependent on OPENREACH infrastructure /Engineers.

Re: Getting beyond a joke

Longliner — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 11:28:23 GMT

@jonmcghee Sorry Jon, as @Gel says BT took over Plusnet long ago but also had to give up its network arm, Openreach. No matter who supplies your internet, BT or anyone else, they can only supply your service over the Openreach network. And Openreach are a law onto themselves, owning everything from your master socket.

Openreach engineers are on a series of strikes for more money so there is already an installation/repair backlog. They were striking yesterday and their union says they will be out on Monday as well. I'm sure people trying to work from home but unable because of installation or repair delays will wish them well ...

Re: Getting beyond a joke

SammyM — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 08:42:37 GMT

Hiya @jonmcghee,

I'm really sorry for the delays you are experiencing with your house move and for the frustrations this is causing you.

We rely on internet for everything these days so I know what a hassle it can be. Openreach are currently on strike today, but I do want to assure you that our provisioning team are monitoring the issue and will update you here as soon as we have one.

Re: Getting beyond a joke

jonmcghee — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 13:51:50 GMT

Lol must have been too wet and windy today for them to do any work been delayed again till 01/11/22......

Can someone tell me if the 14-day cooling off period starts from the line being active or from the start of the new contract?

Re: Getting beyond a joke

RealAleMadrid — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 16:44:29 GMT

@jonmcghee The 14 day period starts the day after you place the order, in line with distance selling regulations. It is not a way of getting out of the contract because the order is delayed.

Re: Getting beyond a joke

Gandalf — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 20:34:52 GMT

Hi @jonmcghee,

I'm really sorry for the tremendously long wait you've endured. I've raised an escalation with Openreach to try to gain some traction. I can't guarantee this will speed things up, but we're doing all we can to get you online.

As soon as I know more within the next 24 hours, I'll let you know.

Re: Getting beyond a joke

Gandalf — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 10:38:49 GMT

Hi @jonmcghee,

The good news is that Openreach's escalation team have got back to me advising they've accepted the case.

The escalation agent has explained to me that complex planning was needed where what's known as an A55 had to be submitted for Excavation Drawing Information, which was required by contractors before they could begin work, due to problems with accessing the local infrastructure.

As it's taking far too long, the agent's spoken with their engineering allocation team, who have increased the priority on the Pair Divert task, so the next available engineer will be going out.

We've been given a review date of the 1st November by 6pm, and I've spoken with a colleague from our own escalation team, who will be case managing this for you moving forward.

I've placed the support ticket Here on hold until the 2nd November so we can allow for an update to come through and we'll let you know as soon as we know more.

Re: Getting beyond a joke

RealAleMadrid — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 11:28:25 GMT

@Gandalf What is rather puzzling is that @jonmcghee says there is already a phone line at the property, so why is a pair divert and external excavation work required? Or is it not a working BT line?

Re: Getting beyond a joke

Gandalf — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 16:27:43 GMT

@jonmcghee, does the phone line actually work? Can you make and receive calls?

Re: Getting beyond a joke

jonmcghee — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 17:17:21 GMT

no line is dead no dial tone.

Re: Getting beyond a joke

Gandalf — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 17:43:42 GMT

Thanks for checking!

Let's see what the engineer says when they go out within the next few days.

Re: Getting beyond a joke

jonmcghee — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 11:51:03 GMT

Well, the fun continues.... 4 months into the contract and thought we had it cracked open reach tec shows up at the house to check the line and replace the main incoming socket (first time this has happened) and then goes off to check if we have a line coming to the exchange. drops back a bit later to say we do but for some resin it does not route through the green box (i am no phone engineer but it has something to do with the broad band??) Having to wait on manager returning his phone call as he not qualified to touch it as it is a pressured line? but will phone later to update me. You guessed it no phone call (this was Tuesday by the way)

Wednesday morning Phone call from PlusNet to tell me exactly what the tec had told me but would phone the next day to update me and yes you guessed it still witing for the update phone call.

So new week next week we will see if anything happens then. just as well they did not take the DD out of the account I would not be impressed.

Re: Getting beyond a joke

Townman — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 17:13:02 GMT

This sounds like a major BT Openreach infrastructure issue. The pressurised trunk will the exchange to local cabinet circuit bundle (called the e-side circuit). You may well have a line to the hose which goes to the cabinet (called the d-side circuit) but that is no assurance that it goes beyond the cabinet.

It is quite feasible that there are no spare working e-side circuits to get the connection through to the exchange. That would require either a major repair / additional capacity to the exchange or the re-routing of your d-side circuit to a cabinet which does have spare e-side circuits.

Either of those could involve ground works need road closures / restrictions requiring approval from the local council / highways ... that needs the A55 process.

You'd be facing the same issue no matter which retail ISP you select ... unless you have the option of choosing one who does not use the BT Openreach infrastructure.

Re: Getting beyond a joke

MatthewWheeler — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 19:03:37 GMT

Hi @jonmcghee.

I'm sorry for how long it's taken to get back to you and for how long this has been ongoing.

We've escalated the matter with Openreach and our Customer Assist Team (CAT for short) have ownership of this for you.

From looking at the notes the pair divert work is still outstanding and there have been delays due to the recent industrial action.

The next update is due on the 9th so we'll be in touch around that time

Re: Getting beyond a joke

jonmcghee — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 09:50:17 GMT

Update, Visit from open reach yesterday (Tuesday) to check the line and put in new master socket......... mmmm that was done last week,

After this discussion with engineer he mentioned that because our line does not go through this green box but does go to exchange that a possible solution to start sorting it out would be to have us on standard broad band not super-fast he would have a look and get back to us.

Re: Getting beyond a joke

Townman — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 10:45:54 GMT

Oh!! That hints at a different can of worms! "but does go to exchange" suggests that the property is served by an Exchange Only line, which means there is no green cabinet and that there is no possibility of supplying FTTC. In some places BTOR have built green cabinets outside of the exchange and re-routed EO lines. See Exchange Only line - getting an upgrade - BT Community

Such a scenario would tie in well with the pair-reroute discussions and the A55 excavation notice.

ADSL2+ is likely to be fairly fast on an EO line.

Re: Getting beyond a joke

RealAleMadrid — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 11:39:18 GMT

@Townman That's a rather odd statement to make ...."ADSL2+ is likely to be fairly fast on an EO line."

As you know It all depends on how long the line is, I got 8Mbps on a 2.5 Km line on ASDL Max, might have got a bit more on ADSL2+ but it wasn't available at the exchange. There are EO lines much longer so they will get very poor speeds.

As for the OP's situation it appears Openreach don't seem to know what they are doing, so nothing new there.🙄

Re: Getting beyond a joke

Townman — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 11:43:08 GMT

Fair observation @RealAleMadrid. Maybe it was a little presumptuous to anticipate that an EO line might typically be sub 1km and that near on 20mbps might therefore be a reasonable expectation. 🤔

Re: Getting beyond a joke

jonmcghee — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 11:54:46 GMT

So here we are again, Monday of a new week no contact from PlusNet, no more contact from open reach, I wonder if we will get a visit tomorrow from an engineer to check the line and fit a new master socket again.

Lol got a ping from the bank to ask if DD for PlusNet was still valid as it has been 3 months since they last clamed it ...

Wonder what this week will bring.........