Phone noise and intermittant non dial tone worried about engineers visit and cost

[bargetons]

Hi I am a bit worried, having now agreed for an engineer to visit and discovering the charge if they find the fault is with my equipement or wiring.

Anyhow...25th line really noisy cannot hear all my christmas phone calls...26th test the line online..no fault..ring bt they test the line... no fault..I can hardly hear them...so much crackle...then I ring back an hour later and line settled down...27th...crackle again..still cannot ring anyone cos its so noisy..I've changed the phone to a cabled one same problem..I've taken the front off of the box thing and plugged into the test socket...same problem.....I have no extensions just an openreach box..? infinity..Broadband working fine. Everything is with bt.....so how can the line be OK....if two phones have the same problem..yet broadband is working fine.....I just cannot afford for an engineer to say its my equipment....and who owns the openreach thing screwed onto my wall...me or bt...and the box where it all plugs in.....surely if the wiring is the same, the in box is the same and the open reach ugly mother box is all the same....if anything is broken inside...lets face it electrical things do break down....am I really responsible for the cost of a repair if its inside my home????...NOTHING has been broken by me....YET why am I in fear that I will end up footing the bill for faulty BT equipment if that is the problem...

Sorry for the technical jargon ...NOT...oh and the engineers visit is due on 4th January the earliest appointment...this morning I had no dial tone....so its getting worse....yet this evening....I've managed to hear someone on the phone....

[bargetons]

OMG now the engineer is apparently going to visit my previous address of over three years ago....as per their kind email to remind me of thieir intended visit on the 4th of January.....will have to try and ring them tomorrow...oh and by the way I've checked my online bills and they do pertain to my correct address.....soooo fed up.

[pottyperson]

Openreach are responsible for everything up to and including your master socket. As your problem is evident from the test socket it's virtually certain to be on their side, so you're worrying unnecessarily.

As well as telling BT about the address mix-up, it might be worth alerting the occupier at your old address so they can redirect the engineer if they still turn up there.

[bargetons]

But....the small print says I am responsible for faults within my home and the boundaries of my home...tree damage, damp, animal damage....blah de blah...I only have bt infinity and a main telephone line..no extensions..so the problem must be outside....funny thing is I have bt infinity..but that just connects into the old telephone socket...from the old cable that comes in from outside....fibre optics my foot...lawd knows where this runs to....we are electric cable and telegraph post alley here.

[john46]

Infinity is a fibre to cabinet product the last distance from the cabinet is carried over the existing copper network unless you live in one of a few areas were fibre to home is being installed
you are normally responsible for all wiring after the master socket however if damage to the network is found to have been caused by the items you posted then you may be charged

[bargetons]

I won't say thankyou yet for re-iterating my concerns.

Interestingly if you look at the talk talk telephone problem section they quite clearly state you may be charged £50 for a BT engineer visit if the problem has been caused for the same reasons as stated by BT...even if no fault is found.....

http://help.talktalk.co.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/1683/related/1

So I, as a complete package BT customer get almost a 100% markup on these charges....THIS IS NOT RIGHT BT.....we BT customers should be getting a full care package.

[john46]

You are getting a full care package Openreach (NOT A BT Engineer) operate as as a totally separate company under rules laid down by OFCOM BT retail your provider gets no preferential treatment

[bargetons]

So why a price difference for a service engineer between providers.

and why does Openreach have the BT Logo.

[imjolly]

Openreach charge the ISP for the callout and it is up to the ISP how much of the charge they pass on to the customer as is the criteria when the charge to the customer will be made.

Openreach on relatively recently change from BT Openreach but Openreach are still part of the BT GROUP just treated as a separate entity as per OFCOM regulations

[plainview]

As Imjolly says Openreach, not BT Openreach charge their customers, i.e. TALK TALK, BT Retail, Sky, etc a set amount for an Openreach Engineer visit if the fault is with your equipment, you have caused damage to the Openreach Equipment/line plant within the boundary of your premises or if no fault is found.

The telephone companies who you are a customer off will either then pass none of the charge onto you, the same amount and sometimes even more.

I know the Post Offfice charge £150 where as Sky charges a call out plus an hourly fee.

Also the reason the BT Group plc puts their Corporate Logo on Openreach vans is for advertising purposes. You see they have to pay millions of pounds each year to TV, newspapers, etc for them to advertise it whereas they can do it for free on their 26,000+ fleet vehicles, which your almost guaranteed to see out and about on an almost daily basis. Its the same as Hovis, Coco Cola, etc putting their corporate logo's on their fleet of vehicles, its all free advertising.