FTTC ORDER COMMITTED LIVE DATE, WHAT A JOKE

bridgej · Apr 19, 2011, 19:15:41

Having received an email 2 weeks ago confirming an AM appointment with an engineer for Tuesday 19th April and receiving the cable router last week, I thought, very organised.

Further to 3 phone calls to IDNet today once the appointed time had been missed, each time I was assured that the BT Engineer was delayed on a previous job and was still going to come (even with my last call to IDNet at 5.30pm I was still told he was on his way), it is now 7pm and still no engineer has visited.

What is the point of giving a committed date if BT don't stick to them?

I'm self employed and as I was told the engineer was just running late and would still come, had to cancel work this afternoon as I had to stay here and wait for nothing, so you can see I'm rather annoyed to say the least and to keep this posting polite. I'm sure you can imagine the words I want to type!

I realise this is not completely IDNets fault but how do I go about getting compensation for loss of earnings this afternoon due to the non-show of the engineer even though I was assured he was still going to come 3 times?

All I can suggest is that if you receive a committed date for installation, don't think that it is 100% guaranteed that the engineer will turn up.

Simon · Apr 19, 2011, 19:29:09

I can understand your frustration. I've no doubt BT have some small print exempting them from any liability should they not turn up for a job.

Steve · Apr 19, 2011, 19:32:16

Sadly with BT FTTC installs this seems fairly normal behaviour,it stinks.

bridgej · Apr 19, 2011, 19:35:28

BT, the DONT-CARE IN THE COMMUNITY company, suppose I can't put SEE YOU NEXT (the day exactly a week today) 's, which is probably the earliest they'll turn up

Glenn · Apr 19, 2011, 19:39:01

As for compensation, I believe that BT only offer around £10, but I have no idea as to how you can claim it.

bridgej · Apr 19, 2011, 19:45:49

Quote from: Glenn on Apr 19, 2011, 19:39:01
As for compensation, I believe that BT only offer around £10, but I have no idea as to how you can claim it.

that wouldn't cover even half an hours work!

zappaDPJ · Apr 20, 2011, 09:13:11

It's par for the course I'm afraid and very common. My experience is BT miss far more appointments than they keep, I had four or five consecutive appointments missed a couple of years ago. As far as compensation goes, they don't give it or make it impossible to get by hiding behind a firewall (the company that arranged the visit). There is no point of content when things go wrong other than going through your ISP and as far as I know even they have no direct content with Openreach engineers, it's done via a BT booking system. It is indeed very infuriating.

bridgej · Apr 20, 2011, 10:08:02

Well since last night, an engineer phoned me at 8.20 this morning and said he would be with me by 9am, he told me had hadn't even been told that I was meant to have FTTC installed yesterday.

Anyhow, it's now 10am, he's gone, I have FTTC up and running, and my speeds are 10x what they were with ADSL, and now downloading at around 30MB and uploading around the 9MB mark.

I'm happy again now

Simon · Apr 20, 2011, 10:15:20

zappaDPJ · Apr 20, 2011, 10:16:03

Good to hear

Ray · Apr 20, 2011, 10:19:06

jm_paulin · Apr 20, 2011, 12:09:40

Well, just had mine installed this morning, as planned.... BT turned up at 10h45. they left 5 minutes ago...

All went smoothly. I know that is not always the case, but it is not always bad...

- JM

jm_paulin · Apr 20, 2011, 12:11:21

Time to get some well deserved lunch....

Steve · Apr 20, 2011, 14:19:54

Quote from: jm_paulin on Apr 20, 2011, 12:11:21
Time to get some well deserved lunch....

With added fibre

zappaDPJ · Apr 20, 2011, 15:26:22

Steve · Apr 20, 2011, 15:39:39

Sorry.

Polchraine · Apr 20, 2011, 18:07:17

How long was he delayed for? That may have taken him past his normal finishing time or time allowed to complete a job. I had a BT Technician booked for an an AM appointment earlier this week and the job should have taken 30 minutes - maybe an hour maximum.

He arrived at 08:05 and then had to call for on-site assistance, so another Tech was sent - after he had finished an allocated job but before going to the next one. The assisting Tech was on-site for 2 hours and they needed further assistance from a third Tech at the exchange.

The Tech that had been allocated the job finally departed at just after 15:30 - so the 5 or 6 other jobs that would have been lined up for him that afternoon were at risk and maybe just one or two were completed leaving 4 customers without a scheduled visit unless someone had been able to cover those.

I too am "self-employed" and could do very little work during that day with no phones and limited connectivity but it is a problem we have to accept. What is te alternative? Increased charges to ensure that Techs have plenty of spare time during the day? Or more Techs - again at an extra cost?

bridgej · Apr 21, 2011, 09:05:06

Quote from: Polchraine on Apr 20, 2011, 18:07:17

How long was he delayed for? That may have taken him past his normal finishing time or time allowed to complete a job.....

I too am "self-employed" and could do very little work during that day with no phones and limited connectivity but it is a problem we have to accept. What is te alternative? Increased charges to ensure that Techs have plenty of spare time during the day? Or more Techs - again at an extra cost?

One thing I totally accept is BT is a completely useless company when it comes to communications with it's own employees.

When the engineer finally turned up 24 hours late, I asked him what happened to the appointment on Tuesday morning. He told me it was meant to be him but the reason he didn't turn up, wasn't because he was delayed on a previous job, it was because no one at his depot at BT had told him that I had an appointment, he was only told about my appointment on Tuesday afternoon on his way home, and told me that he only had a couple of jobs on Tuesday. Rather poor communications for a communications company.

I certainly would be happy paying a bit more for a better service, hence the reason I'm paying extra for fibre over standard ADSL. Waitrose or Lidl, M&S or Aldi, you get what you pay for.

turnpike · May 03, 2011, 11:33:48

Not surprised by this at all sadly.

My install date was about 3 weeks ago and I had to chase things up to find out that the order had been lost by BT. On the expected install date nothing happened and no one told me why.

Since then I've been told there's a delay due to issues at the York exchange. I wonder if the router I've been sent will be out of date by the time I get an installation.