possible HR Joint or Wet Joint on GEA Service

[#1]

Hi,

So I've just got off the phone to the helpline and i've been informed that I have a possible HR Joint or Wet Joint  on GEA Service. 24 hours after the router was installed I still have no internet connection.

Okay so far...... However, 

Please note that if an engineer visits your premises and the fault is found to be caused by your internal wiring, your equipment the condition of Openreach equipment within your property and its boundary, or if no fault is found, you will be charged £65 to cover the cost of the engineer. This charge will also apply if you miss the appointment or cancel without giving us 2 working days� notice. 

I can't, at this stage, agree to these conditions as i'm in a rented property. So before I agree can I just confirm that if the fault is found to be within the property boundary will the £65 fee cover the costs of repairing the connection to the flat or will I be liable?

Has anyone had any experience of this?

From my point of view the engineers who installed the router tested the line and informed me the connection would be live by yesterday evening?

Thanks for any help at this stage.

Best,

Andy

[#2]

Hi Andy,

This wording is designed to cover situations where

a) the fault is caused by your equipment or extension wiring - you can eliminate this risk by testing the line with a known good phone and router at the master test socket.  If you can reproduce the fault with good equipment, with all internal wiring disconnected then you will be ok.

b) the fault is caused by damp in your property which has corroded the master socket

If either of these situations are true then you may be liable for the £65 charge, in all other situations the fix should be free as it's not your fault.  The £65 is the maximum you will be charged, and which is actually only a contribution to what Openreach will charge PlusNet (as the actual amount could be higher).

Unfortunatly you have no choice but to agree to these terms if you want it looked into.  It sounds like you have a fault, which doesn't automatically flag as a definite fault, which is why you are being warned about the charges.  If it is a HR fault, then this is normal - they often don't show on line tests.

If your router isn't syncing I would definately check it at the master socket test point, and change filters etc as anything like that could cause an issue.

[#3]

As flanzm writes, you have to agree to this.

However, before I left Plusnet, I did have a fault which 3 OR "engineers" couldn't find. First visit he blamed my PN Hub One (to their credit I was sent a new Hub One, without question). I asked him whether because of that there will be a charge. No, I will write my report in such a way there will be no charge. Same with the other visits, three new master sockets and a line reset each time. Nothing wrong with the original master socket. They made sure there was no cost to me. I think most of them should be quite reasonable and try to avoid incurring any bill for the customer.

The fourth time, after leaving Plusnet, someone who took more interest visited, was very thorough, and found a fault in the line beween pole and master socket.

In short, if it is your internal wiring etc., it depends on the person who visits and whether they are having a good day!

[#4]

Reading the original post, this is new user and the initial instal to a pre-existing line fails to work correctly?  There should be some leeway for BT to prove that the circuit is OK up yo the demarcation point - The master socket.

Having said that, the most likely location of a problem is in the external wiring prior to the master socket.

[#5]

Agreed - I did wonder if the 'HR Joint fault' would turn out to be a tie-pair issue in the cabinet, although you would have thought that the engineer would have checked for good sync on the D side before closing the job.

Shows the problems with 'Wires only' installs.  When I got FTTC it was an engineer install, and the guy didn't leave without it working.

[#6]

Just an update to this post.

Open reach engineer came out this afternoon. Double checked the line. All good as far as he could see. The Openreach engineer called Plusnet (Got through in less than 30 seconds 😂) informed them it was probably a "build issue", he was thanked and told it was now a customer issue and that they would be in touch. He waited around for me to call Plusnet and help them solve the build issue there and then (top guy!), after 30 minutes and a cup of coffee later on hold he went home. 10 minutes later I got through. Was told that a build error could mean anything. Few hours later I got an automated text message telling me that a new router is on its way. So fingers crossed!

Moral of the story. Not all joints are wet 😆

[#7]

Thank you very much for your advice.

I know I had no choice to agree to the £65 charge, I was just very frustrated that any potential line fault wasn't flagged during the install 24 hours previous. But I understand anything can change in a day.

I've update the post with the current events and hopefully the new router will solve the connection issue.

Cheers!

A

[#8]

Line seems to be working fine. Seems like it was the router all along. So fingers crossed it doesn't turn into a saga