Problems getting a phone/broadband installed

[totallytech]

Hey All,

Firstly, sorry if this is the wrong place to post this but I wasn't really sure where to ask for some advice.

Down to my actual issue.

01/12/15: I placed an order for phone and Fibre from Plusnet Business (As I'm already a customer for my house). The order did say some confusion with the actual address so they would get BT to confirm the install details and then let me know the install date.
07/12/15: I had an email saying the installation date was 16/12/15.
14/12/15: I had an email saying there was an issue with the address again and that Plusnet would be in touch to update me later.
15/12/15: I picked up the keys for my new offices and moved in, I called plusnet again and they said they were going to chase up the order.
18/12/15: I had an email saying BT were progressing the order and they would be in touch on 22/12/15.
21/12/15: I got an email to say there was a delay and they will be in touch once they have more details.
21/12/15: I spoke to BT who said they had an engineer coming out in the next 2 days but they were struggling to locate the business address (I gave him all the details and he used google street view and located - he said he would print it out and give it to the engineer.
24/12/15: I got an email saying there was an issue again and they would update me on 31/12/15.

06/01/16: I called to find out what was going on and had an email saying there was no FTTC ports in the cabinet and as such I would need to cancel my order completely and place a new order which would be done as fast as possible.
07/01/16: I spoke with plusnet about price matching a deal from talktalk, they said they would work out what they could do and they would give me a call.
08/01/16: They emailed me to confirm they will match the price.
08/01/16: I called up, placed the order, paid again for the installation and delivery etc, and they issued a refund for the installation and delivery costs of the Fibre.
11//01/16: I called up and they said the order routing was complete and they would expect an appointment to be booked within 48 hour.
12/01/16: Email said, no update, check 13/01/16.
13/01/16: Spoke to plusnet who said there were some system issues which should be completed in the next 24 hours.
14/01/16: No update, so plusnet raised a bridge case - wait until 15/01/16.
15/01/16: Still more work needed - update on 18/01/16.
18/01/16: No update, wait until 22/01/16.
23/01/16: I spoke to them to chase it and they say still more work needed, wait until 25/01/16.
25/01/16: No update so Plusnet raised a bridge case with BT again. allow 24 hours.
26/01/16: Finally ready, appointment confirmed for 29/01/16.
29/01/16: Engineer attends, but it is a phone line only install (PTSN) and I need to contact Plusnet to find out when the ADSL order will complete.
29/01/16: Called Plusnet who inform me that the order was for both and that the ADSL will be installed by a different engineer before midnight. I then noticed that the router had not arrived, so I called again and they had forgotten to order the router, that would be here by 01/02/16.
30/01/16: Email saying the router was dispatched allow 3-5 days.
01/02/16: Router arrived, plugged in, no dsl connection. Called plusnet, Told the phone order had not updated as complete, therefore the ADSL order is still pending. Raised a bridge case and allow 48 hours to complete. On hold until 02/02/16.
02/02/16: Still not updated. Allow 24 hours for update.
03/02/16: There is a problem. Phone order still not completed. Also the tie pairs in the exchange are old and need to be replaced before they can be installed. BT suggested to cancel the order, place a new order and then that would allow the phone to cancel, whilst sheduling an engineer to replace the tie pairs and install them for my BB. Plusnet refuse to cancel and escalate the issue. Allow 24 hours.
04/02/16: BT accept the order doesnt need to be cancelled and they raised a bridge case to get the tie pairs replaced and get the ADSL active. (Phone still shows as not complete although working and being used)
Assured this will be completed by 08/02/16.
05/02/16: I called and explained I was very unhappy (again) but do they promise 08/02/16? I was told that the bridge case will be completed by 06/02/16. and they will update later that day.
05/02/16: They called again to say there was another issue and BT hadn't completed the phone order bridge case. They also now say they absolutely have got to cancel the BB order and then place a new order once the phone completes.They re-raised a bridge case to get the Phone Line completed.
08/02/16: The order still has not completed, the BB hasnt been cancelled either.Once this happens they will replace the BB order.
09/02/16: No update yet, I called plusnet who say they will contact BT as there is nothing on the computers and then call me back.

So, 10 weeks or so from placing an order for phone and internet in business premises I'm sitting here with a phoneline but no internet (My business lines are all voip based too...) The sales staff cannot do anything, and I run a web design business so obviously its impacting on my business - we are going out to coffee shops etc for hot spots etc.

My business is my second start up web design company so funds are limited. What on earth can I do? I spoke to TalkTalk yesterday who said to get a new line installed and broadband connected will take them around 2 weeks. Do I cancel the whole lot from Plusnet and Go to talk talk praying that it is all ok, or do I sit it out with plusnet? I've told plusnet that the level of compensation I'm expecting is Free internet and line rental for the entire 12 month contract. They say wait until its conncected before discussing compensation.

Ugh.....

 

[Bill1954]

As a stopgap get a couple of 4g smartphones and set them up as mobile hotspots to keep the staff in the office

 

[totallytech]

As a stopgap get a couple of 4g smartphones and set them up as mobile hotspots to keep the staff in the office

Hi Bill,
I bought a 4G mobile wifi thingy from EE but the data usage was costing a fortune (Over £100 for january) and it seems like most phones have a tethering limit too (My contract only allows 5GB). Plus the switchboard etc is all ethernet rather than wifi but there are work-arounds.

 

[The Byre]

Ages ago, I discovered that our upload speed was suddenly 'pants' and a simple 1GB upload was impossible.

I called the help line and after God-knows how many minutes of waiting, an Indian gentleman in Calcutta came on the line and agreed, yes, my broadband was indeed very slow! He said he would do something about it. This happened twice without any noticeable improvement!

Each time I told them that other people in our area had complained and that there must be something wrong with the equipment at the exchange.

"No, no! I have tested it. It is all OK!" said somebody in Calcutta. Quite how he can test the workings of a modem on a shelf in a lonely hut in the next village, from his call centre in Calcutta, defeats me. I suspected that he was just using that silly call-back service that always tells you the line is OK. It would hardly surprise me if no other answer had ever been recorded and stored in that computer!

A month later, the broadband was still slow, especially the upload speeds, which had by that time slowed right down to 30kbs. Yes, that's right, thirty. Not 300, but 30. Sending a single gigabyte would take about eight weeks!

As that great philosopher and poet, Dizzy Rascal said 'Bonkers!'

As calling a help line, just to talk to some poor bloke in a Calcutta call centre, who is told to tell you that his name is Michael (yer, right!) is demonstratively useless, I tried to gain a silver lining out of the cloud that is BT's broadband service. Either this is a political issue and we can use this as a stick to show how the government's lackadaisical attitude to technical infrastructure is costing jobs (everything seems to be measured in jobs nowadays - have you noticed?!!) or it could be a newspaper article.

I may have given up the trade news game (I swore, just one more 'looks to the future' style article and I shall kill a PR person with my bare hands!) but, hey, I still know some people on 'The Street' so why not pitch a juicy 500 words in the business section of a daily, or a business piece with an IT rag?

As I prefer money to political advantage, I went for the article.

First things, first! Every journalist knows that Step One is to get some vapid and pointless statement from their press department. That shows that whoever you are writing about that has just screwed up, poisoned half of Scunthorpe, employed paedophiles, sold minced puppies in the fresh meat section, or in the case of BT, supplied an expensive and very sub-standard service, just does not care.

You get that statement at the top of the article, right after describing the terrible ordeal those minced puppies had endure in the mincing process, to show that you are dealing with yet another unfeeling, belligerent and uncaring corporation! First the terrified screams of the puppies, then the bland and uncaring statement. Anything after that will bring the reader steadily to boiling point!

So I telephoned BT's press department on Monday and explained that I had a commission to write an article about falling BT standards in rural areas and how that is effecting businesses. I added that many people suspected that many of the new fibre-to-the-curb boxes are just cosmetic. They are not working. I sited the ones at the end of our drive - they've been there for a year, without being connected!

I asked for a statement and they said that they would provide me with one! I was not expecting much.

That afternoon, I got a telephone call from BT's Executive Level Technical Complaints Department (no, I had never heard of them before either!) asking what the problem was. The gentleman at the other end suggested that they send an engineer out. I told him that we have had those before. They come, test the line, tell me that it has 50 volts and that our equipment must be faulty.

No, no! said the man from the Executive Level Technical Complaints Department, this would be a real engineer, an IT specialist with a pukka degree in engineering. He would come, install a new wi-fi hub free of charge and test the line. When would I like him to come. Any time he likes I told him. I'm in all day!

"How about first thing tomorrow morning?" suggested my new friend from the Executive Level Technical Complaints Department. "Eight o'clock suite you?"

A real engineer came, he fitted the hub, he even tidied up my chaotic wiring and put in a new wall socket and tested the line.

"That's funny!" he said. "I'm only getting 30kps upload. There must be something wrong! Perhaps there is some thing wrong with our equipment at the exchange."

I bit my tongue.

Off he popped and after a couple of hours, he called me from the exchange to tell me that a whole row of modems were defective and that he had replaced the lot.

Since than, I have been called four times by my new friend (who gave me his full name and how to contact him, if ever anything else goes wrong) at the Executive Level Technical Complaints Department. He has just called again, is it still working? Yes!

"Well, if you ever have any other problems, just call us here at the Executive Level Technical Complaints Department! Also, we have now given your area priority in connecting you to the 'Super-Fast' fibre-to-the-curb, so those boxes at the end of your drive should be connected very soon!"

So if you have a problem with BT, either call their press dept. and tell them that you are writing an article for Wired, or write a letter and send it registered mail to

Mr Gavin Patterson
British Telecom
81 Newgate Street,
London,
EC1A 7AJM

Don't forget to CC your local MP!!!

 

[PipeTen-Carl]

Find a neighbour who'll let you drop a access point on theirs until yours is sorted, for small fee or barter? Can't think of much else to get the bandwidth capabilities you need when funds limited.