This topic

Vulnerable person - fault on landline and lifeline

suehamer1 — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 14:37:22 GMT

I have a 99 year old friend who had been having problems with her landline since the spring. The problem is that calls cut out or she sounds garbled to the person on the other end or they can’t hear her, the fault is intermittent. She has had 5-6 visits from engineers who all say nothing is wrong, although the most recent visit the engineer went outside and said there might have been “something” but now it’s fixed but the problem is now worse than it was before he ‘fixed’ it.

This is a real danger to her as she lives on her own and so relies on the telephone and lifeline. Urgent help needed.

Re: Vulnerable person - fault on landline and lifeline

imjolly — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 14:59:05 GMT

is your friend registered here https://www.bt.com/content/dam/bt/help/including-you/BT_Free_Priority_Fault_Repair_Scheme.pdf

what about here https://www.bt.com/help/here-for-you

have you checked it is not a phone problem by trying different phone

Re: Vulnerable person - fault on landline and lifeline

suehamer1 — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 19:24:58 GMT

She’s already registered and has brought a new BT phone. We’re wondering if it could be radio frequency waves disrupting the signal. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Re: Vulnerable person - fault on landline and lifeline

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 08:19:35 GMT

@suehamer1

"We’re wondering if it could be radio frequency waves disrupting the signal."

Why do you ask this, does your friend close to any high power radio transmitters? (Where in the country are they?).

It is certainly possible, (I have had personal experience of it), for high power radio transmissions to break in to telephone lines in some circumstances.

I'm guessing not a broadcast transmitter as the problem would be there all the time?

Re: Vulnerable person - fault on landline and lifeline

Peter_W — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 09:25:51 GMT

Good morning @suehamer1, welcome to the BT Community Forums.

Thanks for taking the time to bring this to our attention too.

How long has your friend been experiencing these issues for, and have they had any further contact with our technical helpdesk since the most recent engineer appointment?

Peter

Re: Vulnerable person - fault on landline and lifeline

suehamer1 — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 11:52:14 GMT

She’s been experiencing it since the spring. Yes someone contacted her yesterday because she’s gone to her MP and they’ve been in touch with BT. There’s now another engineer coming out on Thursday . I’ve given her the question to ask about the radio waves. Do you think that could be the problem?

Re: Vulnerable person - fault on landline and lifeline

suehamer1 — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 11:54:19 GMT

I’m wondering because my mother had a similar problem and it affected the tele too, she didn’t live near any masts but we wondered if someone nearby was using something that was interfering.

Re: Vulnerable person - fault on landline and lifeline

Peter_W — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 12:17:18 GMT

Thanks @suehamer1, I'm glad to hear that someone is on the case to take another look into this.

Keep us posted on how they get on too.

When it comes to the inference, like @Anonymous mentioned it's not something that can be ruled out, but it seems odd that this would suddenly start after years of no issues.

If this was the case, we would expect other people in the immediate area to be affected as well.

Peter

Re: Vulnerable person - fault on landline and lifeline

suehamer1 — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 12:25:55 GMT

She may be one of the only people in her road to be completely analogue.

Re: Vulnerable person - fault on landline and lifeline

Peter_W — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 13:14:57 GMT

Thanks @suehamer1.

Please let us know how things go once the next engineer visit has been completed, and we can go from there.

If you notice things get worse between now and then please let us know too.

Peter