Coming on 6 months for FTTP install, still no updates from BT or Openreach

[heavywater]

Hi all!

I placed an order for FTTP back in September of last year - estimated install date at the time was early October. I had a couple of Openreach visits in late Sep/early Oct and another one a little later (I've lost track of when, early Nov I think). Those resulted in no work being done and beyond that I've heard absolutely nothing whatsoever in the last 4 months apart from 'We're really sorry but we need to rearrange your broadband engineer appointment'.

I've had lots of confirmations of engineer visits, including one of 20th December (right at the start of a week of Christmas leave when the last thing I wanted was to be stuck in my home twiddling my thumbs) that I had to confirm (twice) that the date was suitable for me. Openreach never showed, or called, or cancelled.

The 'Confirmed' visit date on my account has moved around 10 times and shifts whenever it gets close - on 22/01 it moved to 08/02, on 04/02 it moved to 28/02, on 23/02 it moved to 21/03 (which will be over 6 months after I placed the order) and so on.

I have tried getting some information out of BT on the phone, I spoke to a very friendly and sympathetic chap (who somewhat amusingly shared his own pains of getting FTTP connected) who was able to offer some very limited information and suggested that Openreach are likely waiting for the dig team... but the dig team has not materialised.

I'm switching to BT because I've been moved to work from home permanently in a role that requires a decent connection and I've been having a lot of connection issues that my current ISP (Vodafone) don't seem to be able to resolve. I was hoping that FTTP would be the answer, but I'm really struggling with this. 

Is there anything at all I can do to get this unstuck? 

Thanks for any advice! 

[saabina]

Hi 

I hope you’ve sorted this but if you haven’t 

Ring and speak to the FTTP connections team.  They need to contact openreach and find out what the delay is.  Make sure they give you full answers as to what’s going on from openreach.   Ask to raise a complaint and make sure someone takes ownership of this until the installation is complete.  Also make sure you get compensation for each of the missed appointments and for the delays in upgrading service before they close the complaint.  You can also ask for a manager if your still getting nowhere.  I hope this helps.

Jane 

[heavywater]

Thanks saabina.

I've just spoken again to CS, the lady again was very friendly and helpful (points for that!). She did mention that she would raise a complaint for the delay but I forgot to ask at the end of the call if she was still going to do that, so who knows...

Apparently what I was told a month ago about them waiting for the dig team and that an escalation had been raised against the work was not correct - Openreach have now said they have been waiting for a permission form to be signed by the landowner since last year and this is the reason that the work has not been carried out (I'm not sure where the previous story of the delay came from!). This was ostensibly sent to me at some point in the past but I haven't received anything at all since placing the order, either by post or email. Openreach have also said that apparently they have tried contacting me a number of times on my mobile number - I've had no missed calls or voicemails left. I did ask CS to check what mobile number and email address they were 'contacting' me on, and she confirmed they were both the ones linked to my account (which are correct and current). Quite frustrating...

Openreach have apparently resent the permissions form by email about half an hour ago. Still no sign of anything yet (checked spam folder to no avail), I'll give it a day or so to materialise then back on the phone.

Why nobody could let me know that this is what they were waiting on so I could point out I have had no form and no contact at all is a mystery and a waste of five months of grief, but there we go. Hopefully I'll actually receive something to sign at some point...

[heavywater]

4 weeks later...

Spoke to CS again a while back, they confirmed that Openreach actually don't need me to sign a permission to dig form as the landowner they're looking for is that of the footpath outside, not for the property. Apart from that, nothing has happened at all, just been told that all I can do is wait for Openreach to do their work...

On the plus side, the complaints team have confirmed that the committed service start date was December 20th (the date of the Openreach appointment that was missed), and that I'll receive £5.04 compensation for each day since that up to the point the service finally goes live.

They have also said that the appointment to provide my service will take place on 13/04. I'm a little sceptical after everything, but we'll see.

[heavywater]

They have also said that the appointment to provide my service will take place on 13/04. I'm a little sceptical after everything, but we'll see.

Appointment moved to 05/05, no other communication so far.

[Graham18]

This sounds very like what happened with my FTTP connection.  Openreach said my neighbour hadn't replied to them about the wayleave request, while my neighbour said she had.  In the end, it was only when my neighbour gave me the file reference, name and phone number of the Openreach person who had contacted her, and I rang him up and chased him that anything happened.  

So if you know the landowner concerned it might be worth asking them for the Openreach contact so you can chase them yourself.

[stereohaven]

---

@heavywaterwrote:

On the plus side, the complaints team have confirmed that the committed service start date was December 20th (the date of the Openreach appointment that was missed), and that I'll receive £5.04 compensation for each day since that up to the point the service finally goes live.

---

Best part of £700 compensation due based on your latest date, which is nice, but I bet most of us would swap it for less hassle and a fully working service going live when it should of. 

Good luck! 

[heavywater]

Sorry both, I didn't get any notification that there had been a response on this thread! There's been an absolute whirlwind of no updates.

I've tried to locate the landowner, but I've come up blank - the 'land' is the footpath that joins onto the outside wall of the flat, the duct is around 2 feet from the wall the cable will be going through. The landowner is presumably the  property developer, but I haven't had a useful response when contacting them. That said, the development has 250+ homes on it, and I've seen Openreach doing work (including dig work) on the development many, many times, so the landowner is obviously not a mystery to them. It just seems to be in this case.

I had a call from Openreach about two weeks ago with a young chap asking if I'd had ownership of the land signed over to me (!?). I explained to him that the land in question is the pavement and 1) that was pretty unlikely to happen and 2) I had heard nothing from anyone since last year so I had no idea where that idea had come from. He then said he felt they were very close to locating the landowner (uhh, so why was I asked if I had the land ownsership signed over?) and that was about it.

Apart from that? Nothing apart from a couple of emails delaying appointments.

Current Openreach appointment date is 25/05; since placing the order last year my life has become an order of magnitude busier and I've long since lost the will to spend hours each month chasing things up so it's just a case of waiting for someone somewhere to do whatever they're supposed to be doing. On the plus side, my current ISP has sorted out whatever issues were afflicting my current connection, so it's slow but stable.

[heavywater]

Had a text yesterday from BT saying that I needed to phone so they can book an engineer appointment to get me connected. Phoned up and appointment arranged for June 8th. Good news?

Had a text this morning from BT saying that I needed to phone to confirm some information before they can progress the order. Phoned up and was told Openreach have moved it out to July 11th. CS rep phoned Openreach for clarification, now told that they know who the landowner is and have known for ages, but haven't had a response regarding the dig work. Apparently it's their policy to only chase for a period of 15 days (?). The rep suggested just cancelling the order. I suggested that Openreach let me know who the landowner is and I can chase them up. Apparently I'm not allowed to know that.

So in the last 4 weeks I've been been told:

• Openreach don't know the landowner is (despite working on the development regularly)
• Openreach think the land ownership is being transferred to me (uh, no)
• Openreach are very close to working out who the landowner is (uh, good)
• Openreach have known who the landowner is since September and have been chasing them since then (uh, what?)

Is there anybody that can provide some clarity on what is actually going on? I have literally never had the same story twice in every time I've had contact with BT or Openreach and it's exhausting.

[heavywater]

Should add, the July 11th date will mean a 10 month wait for this order.