Finger pointing and terrible customer service at its finest...

[kieron25]

Finger pointing and terrible customer service at its finest, Ordered BT on the 8th of June for a new build apartment which had been scheduled for "Activation" on the 1st July. I checked on the first and it hadn't been as the ONT still had flashing lights and the router light was orange, i called up and explained the issue and was told to "Wait up until midnight for it to connect" which is a complete fob off as i work in the IT sector and have a fair understanding of how these things work. So i waited anyway and the next day called again only to be told it was now going to be the 8th of July because "openreach hadn't completed the activation"... so i waited and again nothing. I called up once more to get the same answer as before "Wait until midnight" which i then called them out on and asked them to check had it been activated to be told "They couldn't get in contact with openreach as they were shut" and was told it was now going to be the 20th of July for an "Activation". I waited another week and called the FTTP team directly and was told they couldnt check that the serial number on my ONT matched the one openreach have on their system as i had concluded that the serial numbers must be wrong on their system if this so called "Activation" just was not being done. The guy i spoke to told me he would call me the day after the "Activation" which would be the 21st of July which didn't happen as he fobbed me off too clearly. So i waited until the "Activation" was supposed to happen and as you can guess... nothing. I called the FTTP team up again and asked for an update to be told it was still scheduled in for the 21st but this woman who i got through too was actually helpful and confirmed that openreach didn't even have a record of my serial number and that she could submit a form to openreach to get this updated in advance of my 28th July "Activation"... I was hopeful but have called today and they still cannot see the serial number on the system for my address. BT continually point the finger at openreach which is a complete get-out clause for their customer support on the phone, there does seem to be a massive disconnect between BT and openreach to get things over the line or lack of training for their support team. There is a complete lack of technical capability on the BT support desk and clearly unless you get through to the right person you are going to continuously have your "Activation" date pushed back a week or be fobbed off. It seems from research and experience that they prioritise business customers and don't really care for the individual home owner. I am stuck between a rock and hard place as i can only get BT via openreach for the first year of living in the apartment. I will definitely be asking for the contract to be reduced from 24 months to 12 and a massive discount as this is incredibly terrible customer service and i will be wanting to change provider as soon as i can (i used virgin before which were fantastic and managed to actually stick to their dates for installation which is incredible considering they have to dig up the ground to install your line) but thought i would change to BT. If you are a new home owner take the advice and do not by any means get BT unless you want to be using a terrible 1mb connection wireless dongle for months. I am never the person to complain or write a terrible review but this is a complete joke and its even pushed me as far as reporting them to to communications ombudsman. Take a note of this BT and fix your appalling service

[Keith_Beddoe]

@kieron25 

This is just a customer to customer help forum, so your posting here does not go to BT Retail.

You can claim compensation for late activation.

https://www.bt.com/help/account-and-billing/automatic-compensation

[iniltous]

Its also nonsense that you have to use BT if the property has Openreach FTTP, any ISP that consumes OR FTTP can offer service over OR FTTP, the same as BT ( there is no exclusivity, and no need to take BT before switching to someone else ), however , it seems likely that whatever issues you are having with BT getting the OR ONT authenticated, you would also be having with other ISPs

[garybs29]

If you're wanting to mention finger pointing maybe it should be to your builder/developer as well who are responsisble for the installation with openreach. Yes it's not great but the buck doesn't soley stop with BT

[kieron25]

Well it does, they are providing a service and promising a customer an expected installation without actually having anyone come out to the premises and then putting their finger in the air hoping a magical installation will occur because so far there has been absolutely nothing done on any of the dates I've been provided. If they had any sense they would send openreach or whomever to the premises to "Install" or "Activate" the connection rather than just giving out random dates and hoping something will happen. Fair enough the developers deal with openreach to get the install done, but how hard is it to activate a line? If the serial number matches their records it should be all good surely...

[SixtiesFan]

My changeover from Plusnet last Autumn was a total mess as well. I was assured that as they had to postpone my changeover by several weeks that my service with Plusnet would not terminate on the original (earlier) changeover date. Guess what I found when I picked up the phone  on that date? Yes, that's right, no dial tone, no internet, nothing.

The nails in the coffin for me have been the big annual price increases (even worse to come now that inflation is so high) and being unable to contact customer services in a reasonable time (today took 40 minutes to get through), so when my contract ends in December 2023, I shall be jumping ship and moving to Zen, who have excellent reviews  on Trustpilot. I'd change earlier if the early termination penalties weren't so high.

[imjolly]

Maybe because BT and Openreach staff were on strike today had something to do with the delay

[SixtiesFan]

There was nothing in the recorded message to indicate that a strike was taking place.

[Starwire]

In order for a CP to provide Services via FTTP they must pay Openreach to connect it to their CP Equipment via a Hydra Link, which costs around £2000.

When a Head End is built not all CP’s will necessarily pay for that Link Immediately, BT Wholesale will always tend to though, why wouldn’t they.

The likes of LLU Network Providers may sometimes wait to until they can see the uptake on that particular Head End to see if it’s worth the investment.

I’ve seen cases of where one street is fed by two different PON’s working on different Head Ends and a certain LLU Provider had only paid for the Link to one of them so it was literally a case the guy at number 19 could get Sky but his mate across the road at 22 couldn’t and could only get service from an ISP who rented it via BT Wholesale.

[imjolly]

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@SixtiesFan wrote:

There was nothing in the recorded message to indicate that a strike was taking place.

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it was all over the morning papers for the last few days that BT and openreach were going on strike - it was no secret