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phone not working since 3rd October

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assynt
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Registered: ‎12-12-2017

phone not working since 3rd October

I originally reported a problem on the 3rd  (question#194737129). It was 'fixed' at the exchange twice but the fault has evolved. We went from regular ghost calls all night with an extremely distorted line, which was fixed, to dial tone but 'the number you have dialled is not recognised' no matter what we ring. We also can't get incoming calls but the caller hears it ringing.

 

We have vdsl, which continues to work. We are waiting again for BT OR to investigate. Apparently they may call to check our line but all is well here. We have done the usual checks and, in any case, how could we hear 'the number you have dialled' if the fault was at our end.

 

Uncharacteristically, I lost my rag with the innocent Plusnet help-desker yesterday, mainly because we have parents in their late 80s at various stages of knocking on death's door, who can't get their heads round phoning mobiles. If it wasn't for that, i can live with vdsl working, phone not working and all the compensation they are willing to offer.

 

We are at the end of a lane with relatively new overhead cables and poles (barely 5 years) new green boxes 500m away and 40mbs. Is there anybody here who might understand what BT OR or Plusnet might have done wrong?

16 REPLIES 16
Townman
Superuser
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Re: phone not working since 3rd October

Hi,

Welcome to the forums.

This sounds odd ... FTTC is working which implies the D-side (house to cabinet) is fine, there after the Internet is fibre.

POTS continues in the E-side (cabinet to exchange) where the dial tone is generated and dial tones are recognised (or not). I guess it is possible that there is an E-side fault?

Given the circumstances you described have you asked if you can be given free diversion to a mobile number until BTOR get their infrastructure fixed?

@Gandalf ... are you able to spread a little magic here please?

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

assynt
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Registered: ‎12-12-2017

Re: phone not working since 3rd October

Hi Townman,

thanks for your reply and your analysis. I have not asked but I like your suggestion. I will give it a go if no joy when I get home later.

The bit that amused me most in this saga was a message from the elevated heights of customer services, after my rant, telling me they had tried to phone me to talk about it. They hadn't tried my mobile so I guess they tried the faulty line!

Gandalf
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Re: phone not working since 3rd October

Hi @assynt thanks for your post.

I'm sorry to see you've not had a fully working phone service for so long and to see the impact it's having on your elderly parents. I've been looking into the history of the fault and contacted Openreach for an update on the current status.

I can see initially the fault was linked to a common fault in the area and an engineer believed to have fixed the fault by changing the pair at the E-Side on the 4th. We then raised the fault again with our suppliers on the 7th.

On the 8th October an engineer changed what's called the LIC which is particular equipment at the exchange but as the fault remained, they've tried to contact you on the day but it looks like you weren't able so the engineer passed the job to a what's known as a field engineer with notes to advise that an appointment to your property would be required.

Not long after this we received an update from our suppliers to advise that the job had been linked to a common fault in your area and we received another update on the 9th to advise they believe the fault was fixed.

We then reported this back through to our suppliers on the 14th and we were advised the job was again associated with a common fault in your area at the E-Side (Between the cabinet and the exchange).

I've spoken with Openreach and I've been advised that this has since been resolved however another engineer is scheduled to go out tomorrow morning to investigate further.

In the meantime, if you'd want us to add a call divert to your line to divert all calls made to your landline phone number to a mobile phone, could you let me know which number you'd want us to use by replying to this ticket?

It's worth noting that this will mean that your landline phone will 'ring' your mobile diverting the call to it, so it'll be seen as a mobile call and call charges would unfortunately likely apply at 22p per call and then 15p per minute.

I'm taking this on personally though moving forward and I'll make sure to update you on the progress as soon as I'm in the office at 1:30PM although I'm usually in a little earlier. Apologies for the inconvenience this causes.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Townman
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Re: phone not working since 3rd October

@Gandalf 

Given that BT Openreach have failed to restore this service within the target SLA, if the user has to opt for a chargeable call divert, can they get compensation from BTOR for their failure to repair the service in a timely fashion?  This potentially has substantial costs for the user all consequential to BTOR's failure to get a proper fix the first time.

 

@assynt  - a suggestion - if you do set up call divert, consider not answering the calls on you mobile phone and then call back the calling party yourself.  Such calls might well be covered by your mobile phone plan and you'll avoid the cost of call diversion on your landline.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

Gandalf
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Re: phone not working since 3rd October

@Townman We can offer a free of charge call divert (excluding any call charges) for as long as a fault remains open.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Townman
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Re: phone not working since 3rd October

To be clear here the bit which would be provided for free is the Call divert facility, which is normally charged at £2,50 pcm? The expensive bit, the cost of calls rerouted to the mobile would be chargeable ... unless they were within a call plan?

Given that this is a chronic protracted situation is there anyway a user could get an anytime call plan out in place immediately (if they do not already gave in) for the £8 per month charge? If not the user appears to be hostage to BT’s protracted failure and find the experience very expensive due to the out of plan call charges.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

Gandalf
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Re: phone not working since 3rd October

@Townman That’s correct, the call divert feature itself isn’t chargeable if added on the back of a fault report directly in the supplier system.

Unfortunately call plans can only be added or removed on the next bill date, that’s a limitation of our own system I’m afraid. 

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
assynt
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Re: phone not working since 3rd October

Thank you, Townman and Gandalf. I have asked for the diversion to be put in place. Now we wait for BT OR's next move.

Gandalf
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Re: phone not working since 3rd October

Thanks for getting back to us @assynt

I've just got in the office and added a reply to your ticket 194737129

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
assynt
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Re: phone not working since 3rd October

Thank you Gandalf. I have replied.

Gandalf
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Re: phone not working since 3rd October

Fix

Thanks, I've responded and will reply again once I've got more information from Openreach

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Townman
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Re: phone not working since 3rd October

@assynt

For total clarity, unless you have a call plan which includes mobile numbers, if you answer a diverted calls, each will attract connection and time based charges.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

assynt
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Registered: ‎12-12-2017

Re: phone not working since 3rd October

thank you Townman. All fixed by 11.30 on Saturday. Gandalf worked Openreach magic, engineer just called from green box with full explanation of cause etc. Just another of the curses associated with having the local fields filled up with 1000s of houses. We cannot have been the only line affected.

Gandalf
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Re: phone not working since 3rd October

@assynt Excellent, I’m happy to see that your line is finally fixed now. 👍 I’ll wrap things up with you on the ticket when I’m in the office next week. 🙂

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet