What magic words will get BT to change my dropwire for free?

[#1]

OK, here's the scenario.
Mostly my phone and broadband work OK, though my broadband stats suggest I'm getting more noise than "normal" and my neighbours are certainly better in comparison.
But when it's wet or windy things get worse, slower sync speeds, more errors, some background noise on phone calls.
My drop wire is overhead, about 30 metres long, from a pole the other side of the road. It's old and grey.
As luck would have it, yesterday I was helping an elderly (over 80) neighbour whose phone had stopped working (though her broadband was still OK). Anyway, Openreach excelled themselves and were there less than 15 minutes after finally getting a fault logged properly. Taking up some slack and reterminating her drop cable at both ends sorted it out.
She plied the engineer with tea and biscuits and persuaded him to take a "quick look" at my wire. He immediately said "If I was called here on any sort of problem I would be obliged to replace your drop wire first as it's a very old type that doesn't conform to current standards". Apparently the mounting brackets and cabling to the master socket (and maybe the socket itself) would probably be changed at the same time.
The Openreach guy said that the cable I had was just plain 2-core with no strain relief and insulation that was probably degraded so should be changed. He said that I needed to be careful about reporting a fault in order to avoid being billed.
So, any thoughts from "those in the know" on how to get this sorted out without getting a bill. My phone contract is with BT (BT Retail?) .
I think I know to only report a voice fault and not mention broadband, but the BT automated tester says it's OK.
Thanks in anticipation.

[#2]

Wait for one of those "wet and windy" occassions where your voice line is demonstrating a level of noise and then phone in and report the noise on the line. The operator will hear it and that's your foot in the door. As soon as they have admitted to hearing the noise on the line then you have your magic words - "recognised fault".

[#3]

Thats exactly what I did HPSauce, although I do not have a drop line, BT heard the faint crackles, an engineer came out, replaced the master socket, cable from the socket to the entry point in the house. Sorted the cable from the entry point up to the pole, and then changed all the pairs from the pole to the green box and then to the exchange!!!!!!  Result!!!!!  All it cost me was a couple of cups of tea, and choccie biscuits.

[#4]

If the dropwire comes under any kind of stress it's liable to fail completely 
Could you manage for a day or two without phone & broadband?

[#5]

Quote from: 4Candles

If the dropwire comes under any kind of stress it's liable to fail completely

The engineer suggested I might need to go up the ladder and "check" it 

[#6]

Wouldn't it be unfortunate if some "strong winds" were to cause the cable to sever completely?
On a completely unrelated note, I hear that a long-handled broom was causing severe winds the other day.
B.

[#7]

Hi
Just phone BT, tell them you have tested at the test socket and there is noise during phone calls. I did the same with Plusnet (my phone supplier). The openreach guy came out, and swapped pairs on a length of cable that was not 

Quote

up to standards

and hey presto stable BB and Phone.
Ian

[#8]

Quote from: ian007jen

Just phone BT, tell them you have tested at the test socket and there is noise during phone calls.

I did exactly that in the end - engineer is due tomorrow morning.
I listened carefully during the quiet line test and could heard random faint clicks, rather like someone tapping their nails on a hard surface, so I told them that.
They did go through a seriously long threatening spiel on potential charges though as their systems showed no fault.
However, if I'm lucky it will be the same guy who looked at it last week. 

[#9]

Kettle and biccies ready; and just point out old looking length of cable.
Post how you got on after the visit.
Ian

[#10]

Hobnobs, Shortbread and Maryland Cookies are in stock - they always go down well. 

[#11]

Remember to point out that you have had a remarkable spell of dry weather and that the noise is much less than it usually is. Wet junction boxes and damp tracking on cables sound like a bowl of rice crispies when you pour milk on it ... with a bit of hiss added. Also, tell him that it has been getting steadily worse over the past six months.
Remember to have a single WIRED handset plugged into the Master socket and all of your extension wiring disconnected. That way, even if he can't find a fault using his test equipment, BT will have to attribute it to an intermittent fault which didn't occurr during the visit.

[#12]

I've got a BT/Clarity filtered faceplate with NO rear connections - just stuff plugged in, so it's easy to take off. Handset at the ready!

[#13]

Ah well, the BT guy is here. No obvious problem at present but it's not windy and it's only "damp" not raining as such.
Anyway, he's off up the pole to look at what he described as an "ancient" junction box.

[#14]

Good luck

[#15]

Out of interest, which biscuits did he choose?
B.