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No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

Robbie1964 — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 16:19:07 GMT

I'm trying to find a way to speak to a human being at BT to ask what may be a simple question but I can't find away. Every option when I phone takes me to either press this or press that or the line goes dead

I've come home to find my internet isn't working, and by extension. my digital voice phone. The Home Hub is flashing yellow / amber. It was working this morning. I had to connect my computer to my mobile phone but i can't do this for long or I'll have no allowance left.

I had to google to report how to check my broadband. Nothing obvious on the BY home page. I checked and it said the porblem is outside my home and a fault has been raised. It can't be looked at until 30 November. That's not good enough.

I want to phone BT to ask a simple question: is my account still active, is there a problem on my account but it's impossible to be able to speak to someone. I simply can't find a way to get out of the maze of the automated system. A simple question but impossible to ask it.

The reason why I want to check that all is well with my account is that two years ago OpenReach made a massive error when trying to connect my next door neighbour to TalkTalk - they disconnected my BT service at the green cabinet and linked me up to TalkTalk, i.e. next door's account. It happened right after Christmas and took until after the New Year to sort out. Had I not noticed something was odd I would have been using my phone (the old fashioned line at the time) while next door paid the bill.

Given what has happened in the past I want to make sure something odd hasn't happened again. But iIcan't find anyone to speak to. It's simply not good enough. My allowance for my mobile will run out soon and I won't be able to use the internet. I can't use my home phone line at the moment to make any calls.

Can anyone suggest what I can do next?

Re: No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

jac_95 — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 16:20:02 GMT

Hi Robbie1964,

Thanks for the post and welcome to the Community.

This is an automated response as I can see you have a question about BT’s Digital Voice service. Rather than waiting for a response from the Community, you may find an answer to your question by using the search bar on the Community homepage. We also have a thread that contains a wealth of info related to BT’s Digital Voice, click this link to take a look, Digital Voice FAQs.

To learn more about the nationwide change to this Internet based voice service visit landlinesgo.digital

If you have already looked for the answer to your question and have not found anything that can help, then please ignore this message. One of our Community members will be along shortly to help you further.

Re: No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

imjolly — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 16:26:36 GMT

Have you checked the MYBT app on your mobile to check your account

If you have reported the fault 30th is only Thursday. Do you know if is just your connection or has it affected your neighbours

Re: No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

licquorice — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 16:27:08 GMT

Sorry, but I think you have unrealistic expectations for a residential service if you think the 30th is unacceptable.

If you don't press any options when you call customer services somebody will eventually answer.

Re: No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

Robbie1964 — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 16:54:57 GMT

I tried not pressing any options but the automated services just repeats the options a few times then tells me to call back and choose an option.

Not so much an unrealistic expectation but being unable to speak to someone leaves me worried that something has happened. Last time (when there was a mistake by OpenReach) I was able to work out what had happened by phoning customer services - and found myself connecting to TalkTalk customer services. I was then able to ring BT customer services and speak to someone to clarify what had happened which gave me some peace of mind. This time, because I have been moved over to Digital Voice, I can't phone customer services (or anywhere else) using my phone.

3 days being left without a working home phone is unreasonable in my opinion.

Re: No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

Keith_Beddoe — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 16:58:37 GMT

Three working days is the SLA for a residential connection.

Its only BT Business customers that are offered shorter repair times.

Re: No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

imjolly — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 17:02:45 GMT

@Robbie1964

You can use your mobile to phone as 03301234150 should be free

Re: No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

Robbie1964 — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 17:03:32 GMT

I did try MyBT and it's still showing an active service. It also did last time, when OpenReach erroneously disconnected my service and connected me (instead of the next door neighbour) to TalkTalk. It's one way I was able to work out something had happened at the green box, once I was able to phone customer services and hear "Welcome To TalkTalk". I was able to guess that someone had connected me to TalkTalk.

None of my neighbours are with BT so I can't check if any of them have a problem with BT.

Re: No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

Robbie1964 — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 17:04:59 GMT

Hi. That's the number I dialled. Other than choosing the retentions option (which I don't want to do but I presume someone will answer straighht away) everything else just takes me in circles.

Re: No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

Keith_Beddoe — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 17:13:55 GMT

Not sure what you expect them to say, even if you do get through. The fault has already been logged, and you have been given an estimated repair date. Unless you are registered as a vulnerable customer under the Priority Repair Scheme, then that date will not change.

If you think you may be connected to TalkTalk again, try plugging your phone into the normal wall socket and see if you get the same symptoms, as its quite possible that your neighbour is still on an analogue connection.

Re: No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

iniltous — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 17:17:32 GMT

If a fault has been detected and Openreach have been tasked to investigate, then actually speaking to BT doesn’t achieve anything , unless you suspect your account has been ceased , if you suspect an error by Openreach has disconnected your line , the fault report already raised is necessary to sort it out , there is no insight BT could offer and no way to expedite the repair because of it .
Faults happen , Openreach get something like 30p a day ‘rental’ , so fixing within 2-3 working days ( the day of the report doesn’t count ) is by any measure a pretty good deal , it could get fixed quicker , the 30th will be when compensation starts .

Re: No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

Robbie1964 — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 17:31:41 GMT

I would have just asked them to check everything about my account is fine (other than having no service).
I tried the wall socket, there's no line.

Re: No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

Robbie1964 — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 17:37:07 GMT

It's the "account has been ceased" bit I was worried about. Plus a genuine question about how to speak to someone. In this case it would have put my mind at rest that it is a fault with the service and not that my service had been disconnected for an unknown reason.

Re: No service at present - can't find a way to speak to a human at BT

Keith_Beddoe — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 17:38:06 GMT

More likely just a break in the network, it its overhead, then that is more likely. If not, a break in the cabinet perhaps?