BT Openreach Engineer Visits

[#1]

Quote from: grahamt

He duly arrived, but (like the first engineer) hadn't been told anything about the problem, and in the end (as far as I could tell) just did the same tests as the first one.

...or simply did not read the full job notes.  I've experienced this on numerous visits, PN have given me the full details of what they have asked BTOR to do, however on arrival the BTOR engineer has not idea why they are there.  Ask them if they've read the FULL job notes and the usual answer is no.
Note that some contractors have been reported to be arriving on jobs without a laptop to look up the job details on...

[#2]

It might be a slight digression, but today I noticed a courier trying to deliver to a house near me, getting no answer.
As he left he tapped some details into his handheld device then held it up and seemed to be taking a photo of the entrance. Probably logs the time and GPS coordinates too.
Seems like a good idea to do things like that in case of disputes as to whether and when they attended, though obviously doesn't prove (as is often disputed with BT engineers) whether an acceptable attempt was made to gain access.......
(they could still do a "drive-by"   )

[#3]

It's easy to do.  We've written the software for a delivery company which does exactly that.  The photos are watermarked with the time, date and coordinates.
I'm working at home today, as I've just had my upgrade to fibre this morning.  I'm sat looking out the front window with clear view of the front drive of my property and front door, so there is no chance of missing the engineer (or them being able to claim I had).  A very friendly guy from MJ Quinn arrived a while a go though and did the job (and seems to have done it very well), so there wasn't anything for me to worry about.
Having said that, I've had a number of Openreach engineers before to a number of different lines, and they've always been good.  I think it is largely a regional issue, and the North West (where I am) is pretty good.
Phil