Engineer did not turn up

I was scheduled to transition from EE ADSL2+ to PlusNet Fibre Unlimited on 07-Oct

I placed the Order on 18-Sep and booked my engineer visit for 08:00 to 13:00 on the 7th-Oct.

By 12:45 I had not received any communication from the engineer, so I contacted support. Spoke to Gina who sad I needed to wait until after 13:00 before they would check on what was happening.

At 13:15 I got back in touch again and got told that "It would seem from the notes that the engineer could not attend". I tried to find out when this was logged and it would seem to have been just after I called (coincidence I think not!) at 12:50.

The OpenReach engineer was supposed to contacted me on my mobile to let me know when they started work and what time they were due to deliver the OR modem and fit the new ADSL face plate so would have had my number.

So why the heck did they not call me to apologize for not attending?

The support guy I spoke to said that under the circumstance he could change my setup to a self install on Friday 09-Oct and post out the OR modem to me so that it arrives by Friday.

At the moment I have everything crossed.

Update text of Support Ticket raised at 14:23 07-Oct

"As per our conversation, The appointment was missed due to a lack of engineer resource in the area. Due to the Openreach error we will have this fast tracked for you, Once we have any update from openreach we will let you know. This will now go ahead as a Self Install."

The above situation with lack of OR engineers MUST have been known in advance, hence I should have been notified!

Edited by deleted (Thu 08-Oct-15 12:02:58)

Other calls may have significantly overrun and therefore the expected engineer slot was swallowed up by other work. Always an issue when booking works that could last different amounts of time - you want to maximise the time the engineer is working but inevitably there are days where things go wrong and you just can't fit everything in.

In reply to a post by ian72:

Other calls may have significantly overrun and therefore the expected engineer slot was swallowed up by other work. Always an issue when booking works that could last different amounts of time - you want to maximise the time the engineer is working but inevitably there are days where things go wrong and you just can't fit everything in.

There is NO excuse for not letting me know.
Afterall BTOR are a communications provider !!!

In reply to a post by Mike_Williams:

This will now go ahead as a Self Install."

Well that sucks as now your not going to be guaranteed the speeds within range A (non impacted) on the wholesale checker...

Plusnet should be pushing Openreach to get this done in the next 24 hours... I hate that Plusnet are opting for to do this as a self install which is incorrect and not there normal practice for new Fibre customers...

I would tell them to get an engineer out within the next 48 hours to get you connected properly or tell them to cancel the order and seek another provider.

They should have let your ISP know and then your ISP should have informed you. The ISP is your supplier not BT. If you have an issue then you need to take it up with the ISP.

In reply to a post by mlmclaren:

In reply to a post by Mike_Williams:

This will now go ahead as a Self Install."

Well that sucks as now your not going to be guaranteed the speeds within range A (non impacted) on the wholesale checker...

Plusnet should be pushing Openreach to get this done in the next 24 hours... I hate that Plusnet are opting for to do this as a self install which is incorrect and not there normal practice for new Fibre customers...

I would tell them to get an engineer out within the next 48 hours to get you connected properly or tell them to cancel the order and seek another provider.

Here are the Actual Results from the BT ADSL Checker, so while not to bad it is still a drop.

In reply to a post by ian72:

They should have let your ISP know and then your ISP should have informed you. The ISP is your supplier not BT. If you have an issue then you need to take it up with the ISP.

I was informed by PlusNet that the OR engineer would be calling me before starting work and before coming to my house to fit the new face plate and install the OR modem.

If this is the case PlusNet should have been informing me, which they did not...

What detail is there on this guarantee that an engineer install guarantees range A speeds from FTTC?

It is more likely because they will resolve internal wiring and do some checks, but never seen it as a guarantee

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

What detail is there on this guarantee that an engineer install guarantees range A speeds from FTTC?

It is more likely because they will resolve internal wiring and do some checks, but never seen it as a guarantee

I agree 100% with you here, where is the proof?

In reply to a post by mlmclaren:

I would tell them to get an engineer out within the next 48 hours to get you connected properly or tell them to cancel the order and seek another provider.

This ^^

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

What detail is there on this guarantee that an engineer install guarantees range A speeds from FTTC?

It is more likely because they will resolve internal wiring and do some checks, but never seen it as a guarantee

You know exactly what I mean!

if the OP was to have self install over managed they would be restricted to complaining about speeds below those listed "impacted" though in this case that won't be a huge issue, but if it where like mine it would mean a considerable margin of speed lost before Openreach would even consider a visit to fix!

Yes I know what you were talking about, but the use of the word guarantee with its implications is invalid. If an engineer arrives and all the tests show the lower speeds are all that is possible e.g. estimate was just wrong before they is nothing you can do to force the better speeds. A guarantee implies there is.

That was''t my point to be honest, thought its a fair one..

My point was if (with this) syncing at 59000Kb/s was to reduce to 55000Kb/s, I could call my CP and request a check which will fail and an engineer to find out whats wrong and resolve,

However that would only be possible because my original install was managed and a self install would be considered impacted so I could then see my speeds drop to 45000Kb/s before any action where taken.

That would be a significant difference, specially for someone with lower 'clean' results.

lucky for me though that looks like an update recently on that checker as it used to be as low as 35Mb/s..

For the self install, do you have your own modem or are Plusnet sending you one?

In reply to a post by jelv:

For the self install, do you have your own modem or are Plusnet sending you one?

They are sending me an OR modem in the post, should arrive today.

I have a Netgear D6400 which should be able to be connected directly to the VDSL line.

I ordered the PN router and OR modem so that I have a backup method of connecting.

There is NO excuse for not letting me know.
Afterall BTOR are a communications provider !!!


Alas I can tell you're not used to dealing with OR, because not communicating is entirely normal for them. Missed appointments... regular problem, turning up and failing the job for all kinds of ridiculous reasons, absolutely normal.

And as already said, it is the ISP that should inform the customer not OR. OR are "merely" a sub contractor.

In reply to a post by ian72:

And as already said, it is the ISP that should inform the customer not OR. OR are "merely" a sub contractor.

My whole point NOBODY told me anything.

In an ideal world the ISP would tell the customer, however, until the job is closed off and the notes placed on the system (OR), the ISP wont know. In most cases the customer is aware before the ISP is and the delay in getting notes updated can be hours and in the case of contractors, sometimes never.

In all cases, by the time the ISP knows, the damage is done.

Proof that engineer should have called me

http://imgur.com/UPcXxS9

That is referring to the engineer confirming it while he is there, but he never arrived, so it's irrelevant.

Better not let Titus see that picture !

There was no engineer assigned to your install as none were available so there was no engineer to call. Once BT knew there would be no engineer it would be flagged to the ISP. Then the ISP needs to pick that up and action it.

As someone else said the customer will know the engineer hasn't turned up before the ISP will. The process is not great but the ISP is your provider and responsible for the communications.