Oh God help me. No end in sight for my order. Any Ideas?

[#1]

I moved property on December 1st, and needed a new ISP as Virgin didn't provide here. I'm in a new build of 4 flats in London, so signed up with Plusnet to get full fibre as I do streaming and broadcasting in my home and need something solid.

First engineer says that we need a fibre connection to our building as there's only copper connection at the moment. I don't believe he flagged this to his team as they sent out another engineer 2 weeks later who came and did the exact same thing, which was obviously a bit frustrating.

Finally this gets flagged and they say there's some external work to be done to get me connected. They say that they'll need some permission to work forms to be signed by my landlord to allow the works to continue. They say they've sent the forms, but landlord confirms he's not received them. I then give them another email address to send the forms which I directly contact my landlord on and he's still not received them. I'm in .a loop of them saying they've sent the forms and my landlord not receiving them.

I finally managed to convince PN to put my email on the forms as well to see if I will receive it and so I can directly forward it on to the landlord. It's now been two months of me calling every 2 days and still nothing. PN say they're just a middle man and can't do anything, whilst in the meantime they're waiting for forms that I've not received. 

Furthermore, every time I call them it's something different. They say one week it's about the forms to begin the work on our property, but then the next week they says there's external work outside the property which they don't need the forms to begin. I'm talking to different people giving me different answers every 3 days and I feel like I'm going crazy. 

It's been over 2 months now since my order was first placed. Has anyone has issues receiving forms? Is there anything else I can do to help this along?

[#2]

All of this is in the (dead) hands of BT Openreach.

If you look here - https://www.openreach.com/forms/fibre-broadband-availability---customer-form - what services does it report as being available to your property?

FTTC is fibre to the local cabinet (copper into the premises) which for many will remain the standard offering - that will be offered as SOGEA (no phone service).

FTTP is full fibre to the home, which might be the preferred offering, but still requires the final leg build out - HMOs are not straight forward builds.

FTTP On demand is something entirely different.

Next time you contact Plusnet ask for the matter to be escalated to DSO ... and if that does not happen, you'll raise an issue with the CEO of BT Openreach.  Such can oil stuck cogs.

Note that Plusnet offer only residential services which are not intended for WFH use.

[#3]

@Twizzxii 

What does the following say. Enter your post code only and select the address from the drop down list.

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL/AddressHome

You're looking for WBC FTTP in the left hand column and Available to the right.

If WBC FTTP is showm there will be a narrative about the install below the results window - what does this say?

Brian

[#4]

Thanks Brian - I posted the wrong link!!

[#5]

Hey @Townman 

So they said this has been escalated to the customer assist team as a level 2 priority. Is this separate to what you're referring to?

Could I ask what DSO is? Just so when I call I sound more competent haha. I also would love to know the process of escalation as well. I literally just ask to speak to the CEO? Sounds crazy but I'm here for it at this point.

Thanks in advance!

[#6]

Hey, @bmc I can't see my last message - not sure if it's vanished or what. Here's a screenshot.

Is this good or bad news?

Thanks,

[#7]

@Twizzxii That screenshot indicates that Full Fibre is available to you from OpenReach, so someone somewhere is either looking at wrong information, or possibly, bearing in mind that you are in an MDU, that information is incorrect, very possibly, as it is identified as an SDU.

Further investigation is required.

[#8]

Hi @jab1 

So the thing is, my property is relatively new (built in 2019) and I don't think full fibre was a focus when building it. I can literally see the Openreach box on the street from my window, so I know it's available. Maybe they think it's one house but it is in fact 4 flats (owned by a single individual). I believe copper connection runs out to the same box that the fibre would (but I'm not certain).

The property is removed a little from the road though, maybe like 20m inwards away from the road. They've mentioned a few times that 30m of new ducting would need to be put in place to get me access. I'm not sure whether that's 30m on the road/pavement or that also includes getting it to my actual flat.

I was told multiple times that a chief engineer would be coming out to survey the site to see how best to get me connected, but nothing's ever moved from there. I was even told the survey doesn't need permission forms to be carried out, and this could be done externally but no one's ever turned up (that I'm aware of) other than the initial engineers who tried the first 2 installations.

I've called PN every 2 days for 2 months but no one seems to be able to tell me what's going on. They just keep telling me they'll have an update in 2-3 days but they never do.

Thanks

[#9]

@Twizzxii Something doesn't make sense - you already have an underground feed for your current service, so, unless I am missing something blindingly obvious, I see no reason why the fibre connection cannot be provided over the same route?

As I said previously, that BTW data looks a tad wrong - you are in an MDU, not SDU, but I still see no reason why it is such a fiasco.

NOTE: I am still learning on this subject, and trying to look at things logically, so I may be missing something, but when OR foul up, they usually do so in a spectacular fashion.

[#10]

Hey @jab1 the second engineer that came tried to feed the fiber cable through the current ducting, but said it hit something along the way. I don't see how it was ever going to work the way he did it as he literally had the spool of cable and was just feeding it though the ducting almost by hand. I would've thought there'd be some guiding mechanism or something to get the cable to pull through over the 30 metres underground or whatever it is to the cable box.

He also came pretty unprepared as wasn't aware of the nature of the job.

Do you think I should get another engineer to try again? I'd prefer this as it'd avoid having to dig up the driveway as is currently planned.

My landlord said that something is usually used to guide the cables in this case. (He himself is an electrical engineer) and hoped that the ducting we had in place would suffice. But as I'm no expert on the subject I'm not sure myself. All I know if that the comms box in the flat is setup for copper, so I don't know what would need to change for the finer to work.

[#11]

If there is a blockage in the ducting (possible) then this need to be investigated/cleared. How far did the fibre go before it hit the blockage? If it is under the driveway, then excavation work will most likely be needed - but they only dig a very narrow trench.

The current ducting should be sufficient - there have been many, many cases of this.

I don't know the finer points of Full Fibre installation in MDU's, but if you have a comms box in a relatively new build, installing the fibre shouldn't be an issue.

[#12]

Hey again @jab1 ,

Eyeballing it, I'd say it went maybe 20 - 30% of the way before it hit a snag.

There was no suggestion to do anything about clearing it though. I appreciate the suggestions you're making, but I find it odd no one has suggested this from their side.

Maybe this survey that was meant to be carried out would've helped simplify this issue to something as simple as a blocked duct but I honestly don't have that knowledge. But I also think if it was that simple they surely wouldn't be suggesting 30m of extra ducting and that the two engineers that did come wouldn't have come to the same conclusion.

[#13]

@Twizzxii As I obviously haven't seen your location, I can only go on what you say, but from my understanding, if ducting already exists, then the preferred option is to use that rather than installing new - clearing is cheaper than replacing.

Although all the OR people (or subcontractors, on occasion) I have dealt with in the past have gone above and beyond if required, I have also read and heard of many who, shall we say, like the easy life.

Anyway, as I may be speaking out of turn, I'll leave you in the hands of @Townman - he has greater experience and a more tolerant attitude to OR. (Only joking, @Townman )😀

[#14]

DSO - BT Openreach Director of Services Office.

You don’t call the CEO you send an email of complaint to then.

[#15]

@Townman 

I see. Do you know how to get hold of the email of said executive? Sorry to ask so many questions!