Who is responsible?

As far as I know, BT are responsible for repairs to the telephone line from the master socket on wards to the exchange. And the in-house wiring is the home owner's responsibility.

Am I correct? Or has something changed?

My mothers internet connection has gone to pot.

Line stats when all was fine:

snr down 6
Attenuation down 12
Connection up/down 448/8128

Now:

snr down 6
Attenuation down 38
Connection up/down 220/3740

I connected her home hub directly to her master socket to bypass the internal extension and the stats where the same.

BT Told her on the phone that if there is a problem with the line between the pole and her house that she would have to pay a fee of something like £120.

I call BS.

I have a telephone number for High level Complaints and I'm tempted to ring them instead of the usual script monkeys.

Thoughts?

I certainly thought that BT (specifically BT Openreach) were responsible for everything up to the master socket, and were obliged to make appropriate repairs free (as rather as part of the telephone contract). The charge would only apply if they were called out and found the issue was with your internal wiring. However, if you still have broadband and the phone works correctly, they are not obliged to do work to bring the broadband quality up to where it may have been in the past.

I too would be interested to know if the rules have changed. It is very poor if they try to evade their responsibility by pretending not to be responsible when in fact they are.

Just talking to an online help at BT.com and was told this:

"I can see there is a fault on your line. There is no charge for us to fix this unless the engineer finds our network has been damaged within the boundary of your property by things like trees, building works, corrosion or damp. In these instances, a charge of £129.99 will be applied to your BT bill. Shall I go ahead and book an engineer?" "

Not sure how true that actually is.

In reply to a post by Seansmit17:

"I can see there is a fault on your line. There is no charge for us to fix this unless the engineer finds our network has been damaged within the boundary of your property by things like trees, building works, corrosion or damp. In these instances, a charge of £129.99 will be applied to your BT bill. Shall I go ahead and book an engineer?" "

Not sure how true that actually is.

Can't see how it would be fair for them to charge you for the effects of "corrosion or damp".

Thats what I thought.

If we had damaged it or a tree on our land had damaged the line then fair enough.. but general ware and tear.. nope

Damp/ corrosion would apply within the property up to the demarcation point, specifically the NTE and any block terminals within.
Damage to line plant within the property boundary is also chargeable.

So if the line was lets say, corroded somewhere from where the line enters the house but between the pole, BT are responsible for repairs?

Correction. Openreach are responsilbe for the repair.. No charge would be due as long as there is no damage within the property curtilage

Edited by Ribble (Sat 28-Dec-13 18:32:01)

In reply to a post by Seansmit17:

As far as I know, BT are responsible for repairs to the telephone line from the master socket on wards to the exchange. And the in-house wiring is the home owner's responsibility.

Am I correct? Or has something changed?

My mothers internet connection has gone to pot.

Line stats when all was fine:

snr down 6
Attenuation down 12
Connection up/down 448/8128

Now:

snr down 6
Attenuation down 38
Connection up/down 220/3740

I connected her home hub directly to her master socket to bypass the internal extension and the stats where the same.

BT Told her on the phone that if there is a problem with the line between the pole and her house that she would have to pay a fee of something like £120.

I call BS.

I have a telephone number for High level Complaints and I'm tempted to ring them instead of the usual script monkeys.

Thoughts?

Who is the provider of her internet service, as BT may be responsible for the Telephone line service , but NOT for her Broadband service, have you tried a Quiet line test by ringing 17070 BT Line test Facility option 2, the line should be silent, using a corded phone plugged into the master socket !!

In reply to a post by KelvinBridge:

In reply to a post by Seansmit17:

As far as I know, BT are responsible for repairs to the telephone line from the master socket on wards to the exchange. And the in-house wiring is the home owner's responsibility.

Am I correct? Or has something changed?

My mothers internet connection has gone to pot.

Line stats when all was fine:

snr down 6
Attenuation down 12
Connection up/down 448/8128

Now:

snr down 6
Attenuation down 38
Connection up/down 220/3740

I connected her home hub directly to her master socket to bypass the internal extension and the stats where the same.

BT Told her on the phone that if there is a problem with the line between the pole and her house that she would have to pay a fee of something like £120.

I call BS.

I have a telephone number for High level Complaints and I'm tempted to ring them instead of the usual script monkeys.

Thoughts?

Who is the provider of her internet service, as BT may be responsible for the Telephone line service , but NOT for her Broadband service, have you tried a Quiet line test by ringing 17070 BT Line test Facility option 2, the line should be silent, using a corded phone plugged into the master socket !!

Ps ..Might I suggest this excellent site for Help, as well as the tbb forums







http://www.robertos.me.uk/html/high_snrm-margin.html


http://www.thinkbroadband.com/