In May I placed an order for a new connection with BT for a phone line to a new-build property and was told it would happen on 1 June.
I am a GP so took the day off work to be at home in order to allow the engineer access to the property. No one turned up and, after many calls to the company, I was eventually given a new date three weeks later. This was then shifted two weeks further on into July. At the end of that month I was told that “perhaps” my connection would take place in August.
Eventually an appointment was made for 11 August. I was told that an adult needed to be in from 8am-1pm, so I took the morning off and paid a locum to cover my surgery at a cost of £500. I waited in but no one came. An online chat revealed that in fact no one would be coming as work still needed to be done in the exchange. I am completely fed up. It is more than three months since I first contacted BT and it has been broken promise after promise. AC, nr Henley-on-Thames
Letters like this were ten a penny a year or two ago, but in fairness to Openreach we are now seeing far fewer, suggesting things have been improving. Openreach manages the phone line network on behalf of all the phone companies – BT included.
That said, your experience suggests it still has work to do, and new builds continue to be a problem. But there is simply no excuse for technicians not turning up.
After we intervened an engineer was despatched to fix the problem, although even he didn’t turn up as scheduled claiming he couldn’t find the house. Happily, he returned later that day and you now have a working line. BT has apologised and said it took longer than expected “because of the amount of engineering work involved”.
Regulator Ofcom has been consulting the industry on whether providers should have to compensate for slow repairs, missed deadlines and appointments. A decision is expected around the end of the year.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number
