Dead landline - 7 days to wait for an engineer visit?

[gary_d]

Hi, does anyone have any ideas how I can get BT to respond within their own projected timelines, or escalate an issue that is causing us some difficulty?

We returned from holiday at the weekend to find our landline was dead. Nothing at all. Tried the test socket behind the 5c master socket and it's also dead, so the problem is most likely external. FTTP line is working fine, fortunately, so we have broadband but no phone line. 

Reported it to BT on Monday and was given a fix date by Friday this week. They texted to say that the problem is external to the house in their view (we thought that), and again this morning to say that they had now fixed the problem. But it was still dead. 

I called up to complain and was told that the first slot for an engineer to visit us is next week, over a week after we reported the issue.  I complained that we'd reported it three days ago, and mentioned the external prognosis, but no joy - they still want to visit, and we have to wait 4 more days for that now. And no joy in trying to escalate it even though they will miss their fix date... I asked but was given a flat refusal. The best I managed was a promise to call me back next Wednesday to see if it's been fixed yet!  

The problem for us is that without a landline we have a lot of issues - we have gates at the end of the drive which can't now call the house, so no deliveries or visitors, post or refuse collections!  And we're missing calls from friends and family who don't want to call mobiles as they are on call plans. They think we're out or ignoring their calls as it just rings and rings...

There now seems to be no way to complain, escalate the issue or even get them to fix it in a reasonable timeframe... and the complaint options on the website are phone (we tried that) or post!  Is this really the best they can do in 2024? 

Any suggestions anyone?

[Keith_Beddoe]

@gary_d 

Welcome to this user forum for BT Retail phone and broadband customers.

If you are on FTTP, then your phone service would normally be delivered over BT Digital Voice.

You would have been informed of the changeover in advance.

[rbz5416]

I'm confused, so have you got both an FTTP connection AND an  analogue phone line? I would have expected you to have been migrated to Digital Voice when the FTTP was installed.

[gary_d]

Hello,

Whilst we're on fibre, and have been since we moved in three years ago, we also have a copper landline and up until a few weeks ago this was working perfectly. 

Nobody has told us that this is being discontinued, and when I called to complain about the dead line this was not mentioned - I thought it would have been?

Is there any way to check if they have discontinued the analogue service without teslling us?

Thanks

Gary

[rbz5416]

If you have a Smart Hub 2, try plugging a phone into the back of that. You could also look at the phone section of the web interface to see if your number is now there.

[gary_d]

Thanks, we don't have a smart hub as we're not using BT as an ISP,  just a phone line provider.  We have a cisco router in place for broadband. 

[gary_d]

rbz5416 - Well, that's what was here when we moved in. A copper line to a Master Socket 5c and a fiber line to an openreach NTE box, then onto a router. The cable is actually a shotgun cable, with both copper and fibre running side by side.

[Keith_Beddoe]

If you are on a long copper route, it may be difficult for Openreach to repair, which is why its probably taking a long time.

With the analogue PSTN network closing at the end of next year, Digital Voice is going to be the only option if you want a phone service.

[gary_d]

I heard that the Digital Voice rollout had stalled? But as before, nobody has mentioned it to us here.

A few years ago an Openreach engineer would have been out in 1-2 days, and with the appropriate tools would have detected any breaks in the line and fixed it. Or traced it back to the cabinet and exchange, and fixed any mis-patching.

However I suspect this is not an old fashioned line break, there's no overhead lines, they are all underground and the local cabinet then runs back to the exchange underground too.

I just don't get why it's taking so long, or why the customer service has become so poor.

[licquorice]

Ask BT to divert your calls to your mobile until the fault is fixed.