This topic

Failure of service after change-over from copper

Gaelred — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 14:32:57 GMT

I told BT I did not want the digital line as I live in an aread with poor signals.

They told me I had to have them. I had an argument with the fitter who told me all telephone lines have always gone off during power cuts. Obviously ignorant of the situation.

Not only does it go off in high winds and rain it is impossible to use when electricity fail.

My telephones cut out after 10 minutes and I have to keep calling back my bill therefore has increased to £50 a month and I have to rely on mobile more which does not operate when mist overs the tower.

If anyone has the same problem please contact Ofcom and explain. I have contacted the Ombudsman and BT have simply said I can change. You cannot change to a service that works because they use BT and Openreach devices.

I have had 3 hubs, two sets of phones and have had to buy Panasonic phones to no avail. If you or anyone is in this position please get onto Ofcom. They will tell you they can't deal with individual complaints, but these are not individual complaints. When I asked BT about a feasibility study they confessed they got only a 60% suitability rating. This is unacceptable. I am 81 this month, my friends ring but can't hear. I ring them and get 'out of range'. I get no Wifi and intermittent Broadband. Please contact your MP, Ofcom and Ombudsman. BT are no longer British and they now have a monopoly in rural areas which means to can't change to anyone else.

Re: Failure of service after change-over from copper

licquorice — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 15:04:52 GMT

BT do not have a monopoly anywhere. Changing provider will make no difference in any case as all providers will be moving to a VoIP based telephony service by 2025.

Re: Failure of service after change-over from copper

garybs29 — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 15:12:56 GMT

@Gaelredwrote:
Please contact your MP, Ofcom and Ombudsman. BT are no longer British and they now have a monopoly in rural areas which means to can't change to anyone else.

Are you also contacting your electric company who are responsible for the power as it's them causing the most issues?

Re: Failure of service after change-over from copper

iniltous — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 15:35:06 GMT

I told BT I did not want the digital line as I live in an aread with poor signals.

Poor signals ? What does this mean , mobile phone signal , unless this is a BT mobile phone , then it’s nothing to do with BT

They told me I had to have them. I had an argument with the fitter who told me all telephone lines have always gone off during power cuts. Obviously ignorant of the situation.

Why was a fitter visiting ? , converting to Digital Voice doesn’t need a visit .

Not only does it go off in high winds and rain it is impossible to use when electricity fail.

DV doesn’t go off more often than the old system in high winds and rain ,

Doesn’t this contradict your first point about poor signals

OFCOM sanctioned the changeover to DV

BT Group is a listed company with a wide range of shareholders , BT don’t have a monopoly in any part of the country , there will be many other providers , some will expect you to use their own telephony service , which may be similar to Digital Voice some will still use older technologies.

Re: BT forcing people from copper broadband onto fiber?

Gaelred — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 15:35:55 GMT

Resist their bullying. I was forced to do this 15 months ago, even though I explained that I needed a landline that operated durijg power cuts. I was told by their dopey engineer that Landlines never worked when the power was off.

I lived in an area where signals are intermittent. I don't even get reliable mobile coverage. For the last 15 months I have had no WiFi, slow Broadband and practically not telephone connection. After 10 minutes the phones cut out so I am having to phone 3 or 4 times to get through a conversation with the result t hat I am now being charged £53 a month instead of the 28 I previously paid.

Once it is done, if it does not work you will be able to go nowhere else if you have these problems because you will take your connection problem with you. All BT does to customer is say "they will let us move without penalty" Good of them because the other suppliers ask you if you need a landline, if you can get by with a mobile and if you need fast Broadband. Something BT should have listened to in my case but did not.

There has been a group of people complaining about this in Scotland and I believe BT now say that they got it wrong and it should not have been done. When I asked had they done a feasibility survey they said it worked for 60% of people. Not good enough in this day and age. They need to be closed down as they have a monopoly with Openreach on lines and services.

Re: BT forcing people from copper broadband onto fiber?

Gaelred — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 15:38:39 GMT

I have had 3 hubs, 3 boosters and have spent 21 months trying to get through to them that this was not a suitably place for the change from Copper.

They are quite cynical and my enormous telephone bill is because I have to phone people 3 times because I get cut off after 10 minutes. The Government should look into the fact that BT are no longer British and have a monopoly of lines and line engineers.

Re: BT forcing people from copper broadband onto fiber?

iniltous — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 15:38:58 GMT

You are replying to post that’s over 2 years old

Re: BT forcing people from copper broadband onto fiber?

Gaelred — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 15:40:38 GMT

You will find as BT told me "you will take the problem with you". Quite true I have tried different providers and they ask you questions about connections etc. I have just been turned down by Shell and Virgin Media. The truth is once BT have stuffed up your connection there is nowhere to go.

Re: BT forcing people from copper broadband onto fiber?

licquorice — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 15:47:28 GMT

Please stop peddling your nonsense. If other providers decline to offer you service, that has nothing to do with BT.

Re: BT forcing people from copper broadband onto fiber?

garybs29 — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 15:54:22 GMT

I think @Gaelred is ranting about a different situation. This thread was about going from copper to FTTC but from what I can gather from their rants they must be in a FTTP area as that would be the only reason for being forced to take digital voice & Shell turning them down as FTTP is prioritised if available

Re: BT forcing people from copper broadband onto fiber?

licquorice — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 16:02:35 GMT

Hence my comment.

Re: BT forcing people from copper broadband onto fiber?

Gaelred — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 06:32:28 GMT

It has everything to do with it. BT changed the line without checking whether their alternative would work when I told them it didn't. They changed the line from copper and own it and they own Openreach whose installers seem to know nothing about it. They now admit that they should have tested the area before installing. I presume you live in a city or you would not be showing off your so-called expertise. The fact is the alternatives of Vodafone, Talk-Talk and Shell have all declined based on the available speeds of Broadband. I can't even get a Firestick and my TV does not work since it went digital. The phone goes off when there is a power outages and lot of us are cut off from family and friends during this very stormy Spring and early Summer. At 81 I am very fit, grow my own food and provide myself with alternatives for heating and cooking at these time and do not drive. I and my scattered neighbours are the nearest to carbon neutral you can get. We are being controlled by 'big business'. Personally I have no vested interest in making the French Israeli and his German partners bigger billionaires than they already are. British Telecom is nothing to do with Britain and nothing to do with anything other than providing most "cost effective methods" for the own benefit.

Re: Failure of service after change-over from copper

Gaelred — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 06:39:50 GMT

Well perhaps you could give me a clue as to who will do this. As usual you are out of your depth. Other suppliers give you a form to fill in about your connection difficulties. Although I already have TV with Sky they cannot supply me with a service because of the problems I have with the digital line. In all other cases I would not only switch if I could I would be saving money on the £50 plus per month I pay BT for no WiFi, slow Broadband and only an intermittent telephone connection.Unlike BT they guarantee their service and check up beforehand if it will be possible. One question they ask is "do you have an alternative good mobile phone connection". Once of the reasons I told BT I did not want this service because I don't.

Re: Failure of service after change-over from copper

Gaelred — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 06:42:31 GMT

Well that is not the case. They all say and so do BT that the problem will go with me because there is no alternative. Don't you think I would have done it by now if that were the case.

Re: Failure of service after change-over from copper

Gaelred — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 06:51:21 GMT

Because they had to put in an Openreach box which when they asked me to check connections etc i could not open.

Reason the incompetant who installed it had jammed it between the wall and the old soapbox so I couldn't be opened.

I was not aware that the soapbox was no longer needed but BT would not accept that I couldn't open it to check the signals inside. Stupid isn't it? He thinks telephones always went off when power failed, not true the supply was backed up in the exchange by massive batteries. I have lived here for 22 years, worked in many countries including Uganda in the 60's where we had constant electrical storms. The telephones only went off on one occasion when the Prime Ministers switchboard was struck by lightening. All services in the country provided by properly trained people.

Re: BT forcing people from copper broadband onto fiber?

Gaelred — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 07:15:54 GMT

This was not a rant it was in response to someone living in a similar area not to accept a copper line installation because it will probably not work. If it doesn't there will be no alternative. They seem to have switched the most vulnerable and as I have said knew in advance that it probably would not work because they admit the Feasibility Survey showed only 60-64% effectiveness. No properly trained or licenced outfit would accept that low coverage.

In rural areas we are used to problems with weather but in 22 years my telephone has never gone off for the reasons explained, BT who was a British Company had a Fail-safe system which operated even during the war and wartime raids. I know modern people have different priorities such as gossiping with people online they don't actually know. As I have said I have contacts all over the world I used to pick up the phone, dial and start the conversation. No more. I can't even phone 27 miles away without getting "out of range" messages. I actually think none of the so-called experts on this channel have any idea of what it should be like to pay for a system and get it to work. Most of the stress reported today as you will see online is due to failed services and behaviour by employers whose only interest is to maximise profits.

Re: Failure of service after change-over from copper

Gaelred — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 08:06:57 GMT

I didn't say DV goes off in high winds. BT claim that is one of the reasons along with having thick stone walls. When I had Copper lines the phone never went off. Other devices did suffer. The fact is BT made no attempts in rural areas of Scotland to find out how we would be affected. If it works why don't the phones work for longer than 10 minutes? Why does a signal come up when I answer the phone saying "out of range". I phone the bank (in the village) and wait the usual "taking longer than usual". but when I recently moved up from 12th in line to 1st the phone cut out. This is my daily experience. Perhaps if you are so knowledgeable you could explain that?

My gallery is in London out of reach to me. When I had to write and ask them why I had no invitation to the exhibition they said they thought I had taken ill and was in hospital because when they rang over several days there was no connection. I would love if it one of you geniouses would explain this please without acronyms and jargonl

Re: Failure of service after change-over from copper

Gaelred — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 08:16:17 GMT

I didn't say that I said in high winds and rain if the electricity went off we still have a telephone connection.

Failure of mobile systems is because I live in a hilly region, Scotch mist between our homes and the signal tower.

I am well aware that OFCOM sanctioned it. I have been in touch as have thousdands of other households. What use are they? They "monitor the situation" and watch it fail. Its like the chief of the fire crew "watching the fire" till the house has burnt down. Another toothless organisation to disguise the paucity of responsible customer centred suppliers.

I was just putting out a warning to the elderly couple who asked. I told them object to it unless you get a guarantee of a system fit for purpose - which it isn't in rural areas.

I appreciate you are all quite capable of coming up with objections to my experiences. However, you are just exercising your jaws because you don't know the problem. Your answers are just standard excuses put forward by BT.

Digital lines do not provide the service they claim in rural areas like mine. If it was all so easy to resolve why are BT now saying they got it wrong and should not have gone ahead. If it is a matter of just 'switching' why won't they switch back to a system that DID work?

Re: Failure of service after change-over from copper

Gaelred — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 08:34:19 GMT

Ah self appointed sage. I wonder where you live. Usual nonesense from a person who has no experienced. BT do have a monopoly over lines and their incompetent engineers in Openreach. Why in 2020s are they incapable of installing systems which work everywhere? Because you are stuck with them and they can charge you enormous sums of money for the service. When I get cut off after a few minutes, I ring 1471 to get the number of the caller, I get charged. Most of what I pay is for 1471 calls.

It has occurred to me that all on this platform are just people with nothing better to do that spend their time trying to demonstrate their superior knowledge. Believe me, I do not how this is supposed to work. Unfortunately it doesn't.All I wanted to do was to warn another peson in a rural community. You and your colleagues obviously have no experience of this (including BT) so you should not mislead. If you do understand the problem please answer.

How do i get my working telephone line back?

How do I get my (admittedly not perfect WiFi back?)

How do I get a broadband speed which will support my TV?

All these organisations Ofcom, Ombudsman are just here to hold off the onsloughts of complaints from customers because there are no longer any regulations governing customers' rights to a service they are paying for.

You are probably too young to know that the Fair Trading Office in every local community was cancelled.

That the Monopolies and Mergers organisation was disbanded.

So now, no matter what the guarantees are announced by BT, they cannot or do not fulfill them and people in areas like mine are left high and dry.

Re: Failure of service after change-over from copper

licquorice — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 09:03:05 GMT

I really can't be bothered to read your rantings and ravings but I will tell you that I am in my seventies and live out in sticks despite what you may think.