BT Cancelled Orders Twice, Unable to Get Service

[orhun_k]

Hello;

-I had a BT Fibre 1 broadband connection at my current flat for over a year. However, due to travel plans and the end of my contract, I decided to cancel the service.

-Upon my return to the UK, I attempted to place an order for Fibre 2. Surprisingly, this order was cancelled. During a call with customer service, I was informed that there appeared to be an existing connection at my flat, leading to the cancellation. I assured them this was impossible, as I live alone and had no active internet service. Furthermore, they noted a potential issue with my address being duplicated in their system, though I've verified through the Royal Mail database that my address is listed only once.

-Because of this problem, the representative offered me a Full Fibre package at the same rate, which I accepted. This required an Openreach engineer visit for installation. However, no engineers arrived within the scheduled timeframe, nor was there any cancellation notification, either by text or email.

- When I reached out to BT for an explanation, I was advised to contact Openreach directly. I found this confusing, as I didn't understand why that wasn’t BT's responsibility. Regardless, I contacted Openreach, only to learn that they don’t liaise with individual customers.

-I contacted BT again and been told  to place yet another new order tomorrow, but I fail to see how this will change anything. It feels like I'm being given the runaround instead of a solution. It's been more than a month since I first placed an order. I simply want an internet connection.


Any advice  would be greatly appreciated.

[imjolly]

Can you enter your address and post results including notes

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

[orhun_k]

Hello, here is the result.

[orhun_k]

Hello,

Any advice?

[iniltous]

You state you are in a flat , but post the checker return using a UPRN , which AFAIK is not going to be specific enough for a unit within a MDU ( multiple dwelling unit ) 

Post the return for your postal address 

[orhun_k]

Hello is this useful?

[iniltous]

FTTP is apparently available from a telegraph pole ( in a flat that’s quite unusual ) , if you had service previously it presumably was on a copper pair FTTC ( fibre to the cabinet ) .

If you have ordered , you would need an appointment for the FTTP installation, were you given a date ? , if the order was cancelled , how did you get to know about it being cancelled, was it cancelled before the appointment date arrived, did an installer ever visit ? ) 

When you had FTTC , do you know if that was also from the telegraph pole , basically is there an existing copper drop-wire  from the exterior of your flat to the pole ?, if there is , is it ‘direct’ , as the survey note for your address state’s potential line of sight , which suggests no direct route from the pole to your flat , if there is no existing drop wire it’s possible that your copper service wasn’t from the pole 

In that area there are visible CBT’s on building walls , so some addresses would be ‘cable in wall’ from the CBT to the individual flat , if that cable run went across someone else’s property then permission would be needed , but the survey doesn’t suggest your flat is served from a wall mounted CBT 

[orhun_k]

Hello thanks for the reply. @iniltous I am copying the below part from my first post.

-Because of this problem, the representative offered me a Full Fibre package at the same rate, which I accepted. This required an Openreach engineer visit for installation. However, no engineers arrived within the scheduled timeframe, nor was there any cancellation notification, either by text or email.

- When I reached out to BT for an explanation, I was advised to contact Openreach directly. I found this confusing, as I didn't understand why that wasn’t BT's responsibility. Regardless, I contacted Openreach, only to learn that they don’t liaise with individual customers.

-I contacted BT again and been told  to place yet another new order tomorrow, but I fail to see how this will change anything.

BT didn’t give me any reasons for the cancellation of engineer visit. Rep was surprised too and only told me to place a new order. That’s why i am looking for help here.

Regarding your other questions about infrastructure; i indeed have no idea. 

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[orhun_k]

I've found at least 10 threads in this forum from just this year, all about the same issue I'm facing: orders being cancelled without a reason. the inefficiency is astounding.

My experience has been quite disappointing so far. It's been over a month since my initial order.

I havent given up on broadband just yet but started to consider getting a 5G router with a data only SIM.

I'll continue to share updates here for others who will face similar problems.

[iniltous]

It may seem astounding that orders are frequently cancelled , but it’s a complex system , to a large extent due to the way the regulator insists, CP’s like BT , and Openreach have to interact, however even if the reason for an order being cancelled is in error  , ( no order is arbitrarily cancelled for no reason ), you the consumer should be advised of the cancellation reason .

If you are on your third attempt, and the reason for previous two cancellations still unknown, that is unsatisfactory , but  if  (for example ) permission from the owner of a neighbouring flat were required ( because the dropwire to your flat has to first attach to a part of the building you don’t  ‘own’ ) or if the building ‘owner’  needs to grant permission for any new attachments ( a dropwire is an attachment ) ,  that could stop an  installation, but you need to know if this is the case  , as you may need to obtain any permissions required, flats/apartments are more complex from a permissions point of view , especially so if the flat is rented , but even owner/ occupiers may need permits etc.

FWIW , once FTTP is available any new work ( which your provide is ) should automatically use the FTTP network, so your first order is odd in that FTTP should have been the only method of delivery offered and there is no price difference anyway , 40,55,80Mb is the same price on FTTC or FTTP ,  higher speeds not available on FTTC , so it’s no ‘offer’ to provide FTTP instead of FTTC , it’s compulsory.

If you provided a contact number ( probably a mobile ) and the installation failed on the day , you would expect the OR installer ( or contractor ) initially to call before travelling to site ( in part to confirm you are home ) , hopefully you did provide a contact number and don’t vet numbers you don’t recognise, presumably you never received a call , suggesting cancellation before a visit , so given that your address is showing FTTP availability ( overhead potential line of sight ) and indicates service to be from a telegraph pole , ( I suspect the ‘line of sight’ is simply to enter some caution , as looking at a building containing many flats ) , how can the surveyor know the internal arrangement ( where each flat is within the building in relation to the road/pole ) 

If your third order is raised , and ultimately cancelled, BT should be enquiring why and informing you  of the reason , not asking you to enquire with Openreach .

You obviously are at liberty to order FTTP with a different ISP that also use OR a FTTP network , if you feel the error is with BT’s communication with you and with BT’s communication with Openreach