This topic

Line takeover

oliverps1 — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 22:09:19 GMT

BT Openreach gave my broadband line to someone else with any notification. I requested to have it back, but, despite not asking me whether I was happy to have the line taken over, they have asked the new line holders who have told them to do one.

So I have had to sign up for a new contract and I'm without the broadband I'm paying for for a month.

Openreach are completely unaccountable of course, so who at BT do I complain to?

Re: Line takeover

imjolly — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 22:19:35 GMT

It is openreach not BT OPENREACH

are you a BT RETAIL customer?

Re: Line takeover

oliverps1 — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 03:02:54 GMT

Openreach is part of BT Group

I have (or had) a line installed and maintained by Openreach. So yes I am a customer of BT

Re: Line takeover

Keith_Beddoe — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 06:53:38 GMT

@oliverps1 wrote:

Openreach is part of BT Group

I have (or had) a line installed and maintained by Openreach. So yes I am a customer of BT

@oliverps1 Who do you pay for your line rental and broadband?

Re: Line takeover

iniltous — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 08:48:59 GMT

Given your quite evasive answer to question, are you a BT customer , presumably you are not, so posting on here on a BT Consumer forum is of no use to you.....even if ( in your opinion ) the issue is with Openreach, BT isn’t a proxy for them, and it’s your own provider that needs to correct whatever error has occurred, and if that requires them to interact with OR , the speed and success of that interaction ought to inform you of how good or bad your provider is ( not how good or bad Openreach are ) , if of course you are ‘happy’ for your provider to apportion blame away for themselves, and simply state that’s the way it is , and nothing more they can do, that’s up to you....

Re: Line takeover

oliverps1 — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 09:55:05 GMT

Openreach is part of BT and this is BT's forum. As far as I am concerned all issues relating to BT are able to be discussed on here.

As you rightly say, a network provider will have its own version of events, but in order not to take "their" word for it one needs the other side of the story, in this case from Openreach.

If you had engaged your brain you might have realised the nonsense you just typed.

So the question still stands.

Re: Line takeover

imjolly — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 10:01:49 GMT

as this forum is for customers of BT Retail and has no connection to openreach you will NOT get any answers about your line here. you need to complain to your own ISP who use openreach and are the openreach customer

Re: Line takeover

Keith_Beddoe — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 10:48:21 GMT

@oliverps1

This is Openreach https://www.openreach.com/about-us

They provide and maintain the network for most providers, apart from Virgin Media.

A line takeover can only take place if another customer places an order for a line at your property. This can be by mistake, if they quoted the wrong address.

If there is an existing active connection, then the current account holder is contacted to inform them that someone wants to take over their line.

If no reply is received after 10 days, then the line will be taken over.

Its the responsibility of the current provider, to inform their customer of the intended takeover. Its then the responsibility of the customer to contact their provider, and to refuse the line takeover.

Re: Line takeover

DanielS — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 10:48:58 GMT

Hi @oliverps1,

I am sorry to hear about your experience.

Do you have your services with us or are you paying someone else for your service?

If you are paying us, then we may be able to look into it for you. However, if you pay someone else, there is nothing that we can do to help you. We aren't allowed any interaction with Openreach for people who aren't our Customers. It simply wouldn't be compliant.

Openreach explain it more on their website:

How is Openreach related to BT?

We’re a wholly owned subsidiary of BT Group and a legally separate business. This came about as part of an agreement with Ofcom after its Digital Communications Review in 2017. Although we trade on behalf of BT plc, we have our own distinct brand and we’re independently governed.

Thanks

DanielS

Re: Line takeover

iniltous — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 12:44:04 GMT

Openreach customers are CP’s, ( communications providers ) of which BT is one , as is whatever company you are a customer of, Ofcom the regulator , and CP’s don’t want OR communicating directly with CP’s customers , they want any and all communication to be from them, so Openreach are effectively not allowed to communicate with you directly, basically your CP doesn’t want you to contact OR with any problems.

If your line was taken over in error, then that error is either with the customer who asked to takeover your line by using your address, ( perhaps it was malicious rather than a mistake ) or the company of that person who mistakenly used your address rather than the applicants correct address , either way your provider should have advised you of this proposed takeover , so if you didn’t get that ‘message’ that’s either their error or your error for not acting upon that message .

Once mistake is realised it’s upto your provider to sort out.....care to point out exactly where you think BT fit in and can assist you ?

You accuse me of not engaging my brain, but my response to you is both polite ( your response to me fails in that regard ) and accurate....you are not a BT Consumer customer , you can twist and state that BT and OR are part of the same group of company’s , but so what ?, that doesn’t make BT your provider, you made a choice to use whoever you do use, and that’s where any problems or questions you have should be raised, you seem angry to have this pointed out, but posting on this forum is pointless, you need to contact your own CP.
If you want to engage with Openreach directly , good look with that, it cannot be done from here, and if you do get a reply, they will simply tell you to contact your provider.

Re: Line takeover

oliverps1 — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 15:57:15 GMT

So if this is not the Forum for BT Group issues, where are the contact details for BT Group? Or where is the Forum for BT Group issues?

Re: Line takeover

-Richie- — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 16:13:59 GMT

@oliverps1wrote:
So if this is not the Forum for BT Group issues, where are the contact details for BT Group? Or where is the Forum for BT Group issues?

The people you need to speak with are the people you pay for your line rental and broadband services, only they can restore your service, it also doesn't have to take 2 weeks, BT have a priority back in service scheme for restoring slammed lines, ask if your provider have a similar process.

If someone has taken over your line, your provider should of notified you in advance, this gives you time to contact your provider and stop the takeover if it's an error, nobody at BT can help as the switching process has rules to follow that the regulator mandate, you can read about that on Ofcoms website Phone or broadband switching without consent further down look at 'What to do if you've been slammed' which currently states the following :

The switching process for telephone and broadband services includes measures to protect you from being slammed.

You will receive letters from your old phone company and new company to let you know you are moving provider. It will include the date that the transfer will take place.

If you don’t want to move to a new phone company, you should tell the provider who has taken over your service that you did not agree to the transfer. If you do this within 10 days, they will be able to put a stop to the transfer and you can carry on as before.

If the provider refuses to cancel the transfer, ask your current provider to cancel the transfer. This should be possible up until 24 hours before the transfer is due to complete, but it is best to do this at least 48 hours beforehand.

If the service has already transferred, ask your original provider to transfer you back to them.

Re: Line takeover

oliverps1 — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 16:42:38 GMT

This bit

"You will receive letters from your old phone company and new company to let you know you are moving provider."

wasn't done.

It appears there was no takeover request attached to my address, and so there was no notification. And that is because Openreach have attached a line with one address to an account for a different address.

So every time an engineer turns up to install a "new line" they're going to find it isn't necessary because there is a perfectly good line. But this "resolution" will not stop it happening again because the address on Openreach's records is wrong. That is unless I can contact them, which is what I'm here for - contact details.

Perhaps someone could explain to me how Openreach could be simultaneously be in dispute with the service provider over what the correct address is (which is what the situation is) and taking the word of the service provider over what the address is, which is what this Forum appears to be telling me should be the case.

Re: Line takeover

-Richie- — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 16:49:22 GMT

@oliverps1wrote:
It appears there was no takeover request attached to my address, and so there was no notification. And that is because Openreach have attached a line with one address to an account for a different address.

If your account wasn't taken over, then your account with your current ISP will still be live, so I can't see how they want to you renew a contract and in which case your ISP should be contacting Openreach and raise it as a fault, if there's issues with the address database, your provider will need to possibly raise an ORDI (Openreach Data Integrity) to have it corrected.

There's nothing nobody here can do to help, only your ISP can chase this for you, you are their customer and it's for them to get this resolved.

Re: Line takeover

oliverps1 — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 16:57:24 GMT

I am not expecting anyone here to help beyond offering some line of contact to someone who can.

My account is still live as far as anyone is concerned. It's the line that isn't live.

Re: Line takeover

-Richie- — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 17:02:07 GMT

@oliverps1wrote:
I am not expecting anyone here to help beyond offering some line of contact to someone who can.

Your current provider are the only ones who can help you, whoever you pay for the line/broadband are who you need to contact, they will then contact Openreach who will raise a job to go out and resolve the issue.
Openreach only deal with their customers, your ISP are the Openreach customer, then you are the customer of your ISP.

Re: Line takeover

oliverps1 — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 17:09:51 GMT

And when Openreach tell the provider there is nothing to resolve?

Re: Line takeover

-Richie- — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 17:24:07 GMT

@oliverps1wrote:
And when Openreach tell the provider there is nothing to resolve?

Why would they do that ? if they do then your ISP can follow escalation path within Openreach, your ISP will do all the running around, there isn't anything you can do, have faith in your ISP or find another.

Re: Line takeover

oliverps1 — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 17:33:31 GMT

It is not enough to have faith in my service provider. If Openreach don't want to do anything they don't do anything. I end up with no broadband and the people who make the decisions can't be held to account.

Re: Line takeover

iniltous — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 17:45:34 GMT

As already pointed out, if your line wasn’t taken over in error , that explains the lack of notification, but your original line would still be recorded with your provider as a valid line, it just wouldn’t be ‘working’ , the appropriate response would be for them to raise a fault ticket with OR ( in other words, you notice your line not working , you contact your provider , they raise a fault with OR, and OR fix the issue ) so how come you know your issue isn’t just a regular fault, and how come your provider requires you to get a new line, contract or whatever, how do you or your provider know anything at all about other people’s orders , if there isn’t some sort of order trail to your line/address ?

If your address is incorrectly entered on OR’s database, how did you ever get service with your current provider , and correcting OR records is easily done anyway, it just needs your provider to request OR to perform a data check against the PostOffice/Royal Mail database and amend any discrepancy.

You chose your provider , they have exactly the same operational relationship with Openreach as BT , if there are processes that your provider is reluctant to follow, or unaware of, that is an indictment of them.