Getting beyond a joke

[#1]

What a joke so far with this lot over 2 months now for a line to be sorted out for the house its not as if there is not a phone line in the house. keeps coming back with ow it's not our falt its open reach. 

As i understand it BT has taken over plusnet now you would not think it would be a problem.

Perhaps going with BT direct would be a better option,

[#2]

PN like other ADSL providers are dependent on OPENREACH infrastructure /Engineers.

[#3]

@jonmcghee Sorry Jon, as @Gel  says BT took over Plusnet long ago but also had to give up its network arm, Openreach. No matter who supplies your internet, BT or anyone else, they can only supply your service over the Openreach network. And Openreach are a law onto themselves, owning everything from your master socket.

Openreach engineers are on a series of strikes for more money so there is already an installation/repair backlog. They were striking yesterday and their union says they will be out on Monday as well. I'm sure people trying to work from home but unable because of installation or repair delays will wish them well ...

[#4]

Hiya @jonmcghee, 

I'm really sorry for the delays you are experiencing with your house move and for the frustrations this is causing you. 

We rely on internet for everything these days so I know what a hassle it can be. Openreach are currently on strike today, but I do want to assure you that our provisioning team are monitoring the issue and will update you here as soon as we have one. 

[#5]

Lol must have been too wet and windy today for them to do any work been delayed again till 01/11/22......

Can someone tell me if the 14-day cooling off period starts from the line being active or from the start of the new contract?

[#6]

@jonmcghee  The 14 day period starts the day after you place the order, in line with distance selling regulations. It is not a way of getting out of the contract because the order is delayed.

[#7]

Hi @jonmcghee,

I'm really sorry for the tremendously long wait you've endured. I've raised an escalation with Openreach to try to gain some traction. I can't guarantee this will speed things up, but we're doing all we can to get you online.

As soon as I know more within the next 24 hours, I'll let you know. 

[#8]

Hi @jonmcghee,

The good news is that Openreach's escalation team have got back to me advising they've accepted the case.

The escalation agent has explained to me that complex planning was needed where what's known as an A55 had to be submitted for Excavation Drawing Information, which was required by contractors before they could begin work, due to problems with accessing the local infrastructure. 

As it's taking far too long, the agent's spoken with their engineering allocation team, who have increased the priority on the Pair Divert task, so the next available engineer will be going out. 

We've been given a review date of the 1st November by 6pm, and I've spoken with a colleague from our own escalation team, who will be case managing this for you moving forward. 

I've placed the support ticket Here on hold until the 2nd November so we can allow for an update to come through and we'll let you know as soon as we know more.

[#9]

@Gandalf  What is rather puzzling is that @jonmcghee says there is already a phone line at the property, so why is a pair divert and external excavation work required? Or is it not a working BT line?

[#10]

@jonmcghee, does the phone line actually work? Can you make and receive calls? 

[#11]

no line is dead no dial tone.

[#12]

Thanks for checking! 

Let's see what the engineer says when they go out within the next few days.

[#13]

Well, the fun continues.... 4 months into the contract and thought we had it cracked open reach tec shows up at the house to check the line and replace the main incoming socket (first time this has happened) and then goes off to check if we have a line coming to the exchange. drops back a bit later to say we do but for some resin it does not route through the green box (i am no phone engineer but it has something to do with the broad band??) Having to wait on manager returning his phone call as he not qualified to touch it as it is a pressured line? but will phone later to update me. You guessed it no phone call (this was Tuesday by the way)

Wednesday morning Phone call from PlusNet to tell me exactly what the tec had told me but would phone the next day to update me and yes you guessed it still witing for the update phone call.

So new week next week we will see if anything happens then. just as well they did not take the DD out of the account I would not be impressed.

[#14]

This sounds like a major BT Openreach infrastructure issue.  The pressurised trunk will the exchange to local cabinet circuit bundle (called the e-side circuit).  You may well have a line to the hose which goes to the cabinet (called the d-side circuit) but that is no assurance that it goes beyond the cabinet.

It is quite feasible that there are no spare working e-side circuits to get the connection through to the exchange.  That would require either a major repair / additional capacity to the exchange or the re-routing of your d-side circuit to a cabinet which does have spare e-side circuits.

Either of those could involve ground works need road closures / restrictions requiring approval from the local council / highways ... that needs the A55 process.

You'd be facing the same issue no matter which retail ISP you select ... unless you have the option of choosing one who does not use the BT Openreach infrastructure.

[#15]

Hi @jonmcghee. 

I'm sorry for how long it's taken to get back to you and for how long this has been ongoing.

We've escalated the matter with Openreach and our Customer Assist Team (CAT for short) have ownership of this for you.

From looking at the notes the pair divert work is still outstanding and there have been delays due to the recent industrial action.

The next update is due on the 9th so we'll be in touch around that time