Worst than bad experience with BT/Openreach

[#1]

I have registered with Plusnet in order to get a new broadband in my flat. It has been advised that a new BT line needs to be installed in the flat to facilitate this.
Despite the fact that we have registered at the end of May, the first available appointment was on 18th of June. There was no appointment available on Saturday or late evening, so I had to take annual leave for that that day in order to make myself available and meet the engineer at the flat.
On the day the engineer arrived and after testing the existing line he informed me with certainty that the socket he needs the access to is located in the basement. I explained that I did not have access to this at the moment and so I was informed that the installation couldn’t be completed on that day. I had to obtain keys to the basement room from my Landlord which was a difficult task as my landlord lives outside London. You can therefore image the time and financial burden this left me with. .
I booked another appointment for 3rd July and took another annual leave day in order to be at home. This time a different engineer arrived and so I showed him to the basement room and gave him the access that the previous engineer told me he needed. This new engineer upon entering the basement room claimed that the socket is in our neighbours flat, and not in the basement room.
My neighbor, naturally as this visit was during normal working hours, wasn’t available for me to request access. The engineer told me there is nothing further that he could do right now and told me he had to go but to ring him when my  neighbor gets back, so he could come back to my flat and complete the installation. I called him sent him a text as soon as my neighbour came home, however the engineer didn’t bothered to pick up the phone or reply to my text. So sadly again the job has been left unfinished.
As you can imagine I am quite upset and feel let down after my experience with Plusnet and so I made a call to the office to raise an official complaint regarding the level of service I had received. Following this call, I received an email stating that I will need to book another appointment, but also there will be a re-booking fee for the appointment. I think this is a completely unreasonable request taking into account the poor experience that I have had.
I can’t even express how disappointed I am with the entire situation. I have been promised a service that I have already paid for but I haven’t received what was promised. On top of everything both engineers contradicted each other, if I had been given the correct advice in the first place then this situation could have been sorted on the second visit. I’ve taken two full days off work because a 2 hour slot for the appointment could not be given and I am still left without internet at home.

[#2]

Sadly, it's not BT's fault if your landlord splits up a multi-occupancy building in such a way that the phone wiring has important junctions/equipment in inaccessible places.
Engineers can only advise based on what they see, which evolved as each was given further access.
It's your landlord you should be moaning at.  

[#3]

Hi there,
I'm really sorry about how this has happened, I've put a reply on one of your tickets and passed it through to our provisioning team to get things sorted - hope that helps.

[#4]

It has nothing to do with landlord. As I mentioned before I was ensured by previous engineer that the main socket is in the basement. The other one says it’s not in the basement, it is in the flat below.
In summary, there is one existing line in the building with the main socket located in the basement. There are also individual extension sockets located in flats and in the fully accessible hallway area.

[#5]

Presumably the first engineer could see that the external wiring entered the basement and (incorrectly) assumed that's where the master was if not in your flat.
It is "normal" for master sockets to be in such common areas if not in individual flats.
Once access was provided to the basement it sounds like the (2nd) engineer looked and found it wasn't there either but was then able to trace the cables into the other flat, presuming the master is actually there.
That is rather irregular. And of course it may be that there is no master socket as such anywhere!
And yes, it is down to your landlord to be on top of such issues and have them rectified if appropriate. How were BT to know you had such an unusual setup until they had physical access?
Anyway with the relevant people from PN in the loop hopefully it will be sorted soon, but don't be surprised if BTOR try to bill "someone" for extra visits resulting from not providing access to the correct parts of the building on the first (and 2nd) visit.

[#6]

Hi Guys,
I just wanted to give you an update regarding my broadband installation. It hasn't been set up yet and it's 3rd continuous month without a connection in my flat. I was proactive (comparing to passive Plusnet approach) and made several attempts to resolve the current situation.
I've spoken to my neighbours from the shop within the same property and their broadband was installed from the distribution point located in the basement, and they're assured me they didn't have to access the neighbour's flat.
I've made the official complain to Plusnet and also called BT/Openreach customer services. Unfortunately both companies gave me misleading information and were unable to resolve the issue.
Plusnet claims that the only way of getting the line is through the distributions point in the neighbour's flat, however non of the engineers have had a chance to see my neighbours flat yet. So is it an assumption only?
We approached our neigbour to ask for access to his flat that would be inline with engineers visit, however my neighbour wasn’t available during proposed time slots and he is now leaving for holidays until September. He also explicitly stated that he is not willing to give us a key or access to his flat in his absence.
Could you tell me now what this situation means to me? Does it mean I can't get the internet in my flat?

[#7]

Quote

Could you tell me now what this situation means to me? Does it mean I can't get the internet in my flat?

I can tell how frustrating this must be for you and it is an unfortunate situation. I'll make sure that we're doing what we can to help you but I would ask you to bear in mind that we don't know explicitly where the master socket lies in customers properties, the engineers may have notes to guide them but even then further inspection often needs to be made by the engineers upon arrival.
I'm glad to see another appointment has been booked for you during a time that the engineer should be able to gain access to the right socket. I can certainly agree that the first engineer should have been able to better identify where they needed to access so I'll do my best to get that fed back.
I sincerely hope this is resolved on the due date and please keep us posted as to how things develop from your point of view.
Adam