'individual properties so remote from the public road on extensive driveways are not likely to be welfare cases , they are most likely to be very expensive properties owned by wealthy people' and 'why won’t they put the cable in the same duct as our electric gates at the end of our 90m driveway hardly creates an image of a poor household' What has this got to do with anything? Everyone should be treated the same and expected to pay the same with set prices for works. Open reach are so incompetent they came up with various requirements of what needed to be done, each surveyor in disbelief about what the previous one had said needed to be done. I believe the costs they expect me to pay are not accurate or justified so regardless of financial status, why would anyone pay it? When I tried to explain that it wasn't correct as that amount of hard dig wasn't required and they had already told me a soft dig is a much cheaper rate of £34 something a metre, BT wasn't interested and essentially told me open reach will not look further into it. Had they offered to provide the ducting I would've looked further into having the dig done myself as there is no way it costs the amount they are trying to charge. As it is this was not offered to me and I did not suggest it as I believed we would be left with an open trench on the driveway for weeks while waiting for open reach to put the ducting in. It wasn't due to safety reasons, according to the surveyor that attended site, it was due to liability that they didn't want to use the existing ducting. Cuckoo are an internet provider who obtained their costing from - OPEN REACH! Which is why the first order was cancelled as they were unable to determine which order I was going ahead with - cuckoo or BT. I couldn't have made it any clearer. 'why would you think 70,80, 90m of underground ducting would be provided for the same price' because every person from the BT guide I placed the first order with, and several subsequent BT guides thereafter, to every surveyor that attended the house told me this would be the case! Even telling me several stories including one where a farmer required 5 poles to be installed at £1500 per pole with no cost to the farmer. BT and open reach need to be transparent and ensure every potential customer knows there is a possibility of there being extra costs should more work be required. With every person you deal with telling you this, to then get an email informing you they expect £16k to have it installed is ridiculous. Especially when they won't even consider your objections to these costs or make any alternative suggestions.
chrisjp - Thank you for your response which was actually useful, helpful and reassuring to know. Also confirms BT guides, much like open reach are incompetent and provide false information.
