Why did it take five days to find this fault !

[#1]

Let me just run through what happened
Monday 930am Broadband not working
Reported Fault
Waited Told the usual 48 to 72 hours blah blah
Told fault on line have to report to BT
BT said No fault on line go back to PN
PN said done another test still showing fault we cant do anything as its a line fault go back to BT
BT still say no copper line problem go back to PN
PN said sorry there is nothing we can do
I said so i am paying PN £20 a month to be told there is nothing that can be done ?
PN said hang on a minute no line fault now we can get enginerr to call ?
Engineer booked next day
Guess what No fault found by engineer but every time i asked him a question about the Broadband he said dunno mate i dont know anything about broadband
Seems like wrong engineer sent
Had broadband engineer today found hardware problem in exchange broadband back on 5pm Friday  5 working days later
My questions are why did this take so long to identify the problem why did the first engineer tell me PN had only received one copper line fault when PN told me they had tested the line twice
and surely there must be a better way than playing ping pong with the customer ?? Do you know how frustrating it is trying to report a fault to BT and PN for that matter couldnt get through on Monday yes i know Monday is the worst day to ring.
and i needed my internet desperately this week even bought a dongle that couldnt get any reception so useless ! to get my e-mails probably lost some work over it as i couldnt respond to clients
e mails till today Not happy with this and dont suppose anyone will give me any credit for a working week without internet.

[#2]

5 days?  You are lucky mate!   Just got my installation completed yesterday, 14th October after countless phonecalls help and support questions and texts since September 21st.  First Openreach check on the 21st September no problems with line and then the ping pong started.  Where is the best place to make an official complaint and claim compensation?  Will I get a full letter of apology and explanation?  I do hope that the speed increases from 9.6 seeing as how I am so close to the exchange.

[#3]

Hi
Installations can take a while but when you have a realtively good service for years and it goes down three times and then takes five days to find the problem.
My concern is if PN had not done a further test and found it ok i would have been in limbo land indefinately with no service and everyone saying thaey cant do anything about it
this cannot be a correct way of dealing with a customer what is really funny is that if i have a fault no one can act yet
when the line is clear an engineer can be called i think i see the logic there somewhere...................

[#4]

I believe what you may have omitted or do not understand is if a telephone fault (copper fault) is being actively investigated then a broadband fault can't be raised. As soon a PN saw no line fault then they could raise a broadband fault. 

[#5]

That may be the case and it was not ommited because no one had told me that i was told by PN that as it showed as a line fault nothing could be done by PN  it was only pn that ever came up with a copper line fault in the first place if they had not as it obvously wasnt this whole thing could have been dealt with a lot quicker. what i am saying is that no copper fault was being investigated as BT said there wasnt one it was left to me to contact bt and on the third ocassion pn said there was no copper fault but if they hadnt done that third test i probably still would not have broadband now what has delayed this process is for three days PN saying there was a copper line fault and BT saying there wasnt in fact the Broadband engineer also said there was no copper line fault it was a circuit board problem within the exchange.Now if that reads as a copper line failure i dont know i am not an engineer.

[#6]

deleted

[#7]

Hi there,
@Jock,
This sounds like a test error to me. When you raise a fault to us we run a suite of tests that our suppliers require us to complete before a fault can be raised to them. If those tests show the problem is likely to be a phone fault and we are not your phone provider all we can do is refer you to your phone provider (as we can't raise a phone fault if we don't supply it, and we can't raise a broadband fault if the test shows a phone issue).
If a subsequent test shows no issue we can raise a fault on the broadband side of things. I know that sounds illogical but if testing shows no fault then our suppliers will always send an engineer (as the only way to diagnose an issue that doesn't show in tests is to get an expert out there to have a look).
I'm sorry that this has been so inconvenient for you, and am sure we can sort out some credit for the period you were without service if you request this on the ticket. I'm not logged into the system at the moment or I'd sort it for you.
@pedro1874
You can find the complaints code here which tells you how to make a complaint if you wish to.
Was it a fibre install? What speed estimate did we give you when you signed up?

[#8]

@Jock,
5 days! you lucky man!
When the engineer comes to me on Monday it will be 13 days!  >:(Luckily I can access internet at work (not banking tho, probably overdrawn by now) if we are quiet, but I'm off til Thursday after tonight so fingers crossed for Monday.

[#9]

Yes i understand the logic of it but it still seems a strange way of carrying on especially as BT owns PN I am sure you wouldnt have one customer who would have a problem with you raising a problem with BT on their behalf but as i know how much red tape we get bogged down in this country i can fully understand it. What if the scenario was that PN continued to raise a phantom line fault and BT said no what would happen then would i just be left in limbo ? thats the area i find most disturbing.I think it was a fibre install i really dont know much about it all i can say is i havent had a problem with broadband for probably three years so i should count myself lucky obviously the good service in the past makes this seem worse as for speeds estimated i cant remeber but as i said i have been happy for three years and have had three faults in about six or seven weeks.
Hi tenno all i can say is make sure when he turns up he is a broadband engineer because the differece between an ordinary engineer and broadband engineer is like sending a car mechanic to do some brain surgery.

[#10]

did you say fibre as that require a different engineer

[#11]

Obviously if it would need a different engineer then it isnt fibre to be honest i havent a clue i am afraid i have absolutely no knowledge of broadband installations thats why copper line testing etc was going over my head. I know that may sound pretty naff to all you experts but its horses for courses and being self employed i dont have time to do a lot of things i would like to do and learning about broadband doesnt come very high on my list.

[#12]

well you would know if you have fibre as it is a lot faster and costs more.
with fibre, there is a glass fibre data transmission to a big local green cabinet.  From there to the house is generally copper cable.  Some parts of the country, Milton Keynes was one, had Aluminium cable as a cost consideration. that worked ok on phone, but is useless for broadband.  For hose areas they are lucky and have had FTTP (fibre to the premises) which does away with the copper or aluminium cable

[#13]

Sorry for the confusion Jock, my question about fibre was aimed at pedro.

[#14]

Sorry i think its me confusing the issue i should have seen the @pedro1874 before your message i dont even understand the forum so what chance have i got with broadband.... Thanks for all the input

[#15]

Quote from: Mand

@pedro1874 You can find the complaints code here which tells you how to make a complaint if you wish to. Was it a fibre install? What speed estimate did we give you when you signed up?

No not fibre.  17mbs from memory.  BT Openreach said 17 average too.
dick:green Quote fixed.