BT Engineers policy - Mad!

[Darren]

After recent problems with my broadband, i have discovered that there is very likely a problem with the socket in my bedroom. BT have told me that because it isnt the master socket, they won't do anything. The engineer would come out and charge £127 for call out but probably wouldn't repair it. I was expecting to have to pay, but not to be told to effectively bugger off. They told me to call an electrician. Is this nonsense?

[Rob McCow]

The engineer would come out and charge £127 for call out but probably wouldn't repair it.

So what would they actually do for £127?! Look at your socket and pull a funny face?

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I think if it's anything like NTL, they are responsible for the wiring into your house and the main access point, but anything which branches off that is your responsibility.

Sounds like maybe a set of cordless phones would be a better option and give up on the plug?

[SiHart]

Sounds like maybe a set of cordless phones would be a better option and give up on the plug?

You still have to plug the phones in somewhere, even with cordless ones. It's only the handset that is cordless!

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

Why is there a call out charge?? If there's a problem with any of my Virgin Media equipment that they can't resolve over the 'phone, they come out and fix it for free. I would move to Virgin if I were you!

I'm sure if you tell BT you are leaving them, they'd probably refund your call-out charge too.

Si.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

You still have to plug the phones in somewhere, even with cordless ones. It's only the handset that is cordless!

Si xx

But the main parent cordless handset plugs into the master socket which by all accounts is working. The child handsets should then work fine as they don't need a dedicated socket.

[SiHart]

Oh yes. I hadn't thought of that...

Si xx

[Lissa]

Could you not plug the modem into your main phone socket and use a wireless router to connect your bedroom PC? I can sort of see BT's point - unless they themselves just installed this extra socket, it probably isn't their responsibility. If you want it fixing you'd be better off finding a local electrician who'd do it for a lot less than £127.

[Andrew Curnow]

BT's call out thing drives me mad - early last year we went back to BT, having had a BT number previously. The box, the wiring, everything was obviously already in place, all that needed doing was somebody to 'activate' it at the local exchange in town. Nevertheless we were told we'd need to book an engineer, which would cost £127. So I asked why that was, since nobody would actually need to come here and do anything... and the answer I got was that some customers used to get confused as to whether they would be eligible to pay a call out fee or not, so to avoid confusion they now charge everyone, whether there's a need to actually come out or not!!! Personally I'd rather risk confusion than pay £127 for clarity!!

I ought to add that it's all a bit of a scam anyway, because in the next breath they offered us 50% off the £127 if we signed with them for 12 months. Although £63 is bad enough!

Going back to Darren's extension, I seem to recall that once upon a time BT were very adamant that nobody except BT staff should 'interfere' with phone sockets - I remember my Dad moving our one himself, but being very hush hush about it!!

[Si Hunt]

I think that's disgraceful.

At one time everyone with a telephone was with BT (or British Telecom as it was). It was a monopoly. And you know what? I think that we still have the feeling that BT are the only "proper" phone company. Anyone else is somehow a cowboy. And they take advantage of that. How BT have the NERVE to charge £130 for a call out is beyond me! They surely wouldn't do this if people didn't think they somehow "needed" to be with BT rather than another provider.

Well, there *IS* choice, and the other companies are no worse or proper than BT - in fact, they're likely to give you considerably better service and value because they're fighting for their market positions in the BT monopoly. So move! Vote against the £127 call out charge with your wallets and toddle off to O2 or Virgin or PlusNet or whoever else.

S.

[Darren]

I absolutely agree si. I'm not happy with them. Going back to what someone else said, i can plug my modem router into the other socket and get a usb adapter for the pc.

[Si Hunt]

Not TalkTalk though. They're crap.

Si. :mobile

[Perry Vale]

Have to agree how disgraceful this is, I too had this problem with them last year when I moved in to a new home. I had discovered that the phone line to my flat had been literally cut off (ie. the wire on the outside of the building cut). I assume this was done by Virgin Media, as there was a Virgin 'signal box' within the flat, in the aim that whoever moves in after will end up going with Virgin for their phone to avoid the hassles of BT, getting a line connected, and a £127 call out charge.

I tried the strong arm tactics, complaining that I was a long time customer who had been spending over £400 a year with them (for broadband etc.). But of course it's a 'catch 22' situation, I had already had to sign up for a 12 month contract before I moved (so that I'd have a phone asap in my new flat), so I wasn't in a postion to cancel and go with anyone else. Luckily a friend of mine is in communications, and sorted the whole thing out for me for free. As it is, I don't think I would have incurred the charge in this situation, but I couldn't take that chance being unemployed and low on funds.

On the same subject, another friend of mine had this same problem too a while ago. The BT engineer came out to his home, and surmised that the problem was my friend's, as the main signal box was showing signs of rust. My friend being a sharp character, argued that the rust had happened because rain water had run down the phone line to the box on the outside of the house, and in the end BT were forced to drop the charge!

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I can kind of see BT's point ... well up to a point.

With your electricity and water, the utility companies jurisdiction of responsibility where their service enters your house. So if you have a problem with your internal wiring, it's not Southern Electrics responsibility.

That said I do think the prices BT charge are beyond belief at times. I was sick of it in the 90s, so we switched to NTL who were okay as long as nothing went wrong, and were in a league of useless of their own.