Loss of service

After many years of problems with BT, I tried to migrate my BT broadband (but not phone) to another ISP yesterday. The BT broadband and BT phone went off at the same time. My new broadband provider says that as far as they are concerned, they have provided the broadband, and that if it doesn't work because there is a fault on the BT phone connection, then that is my problem and there is nothing they can do to help. They say that English law actually prevents them from getting in touch with BT. BT says, as so many times before, that there is nothing wrong at the exchange, or with the line, and that there must be something wrong with my equipment or set-up (one phone connected to the test socket, and nothing else connected). This was last inspected by a BT engineer four months ago, when it was fine. On all the occasions that the broadband and/or phone has gone wrong, there has never been anything wrong with my equipment or the line within the house. I accept that it is possible that by coincidence a fault occurred in the phone line precisely at the moment the BT broadband was cut off, but I think that is unlikely.

I once managed to get a BT fault put right promptly. I was looking out of the window when the computer and phone went off, and I saw the engineers who had disconnected it working at the nearby cabinet. I ran down the street and persuaded them to re-connect. On all the other occasions, however, it has been hell trying to get BT to put things right. I now have neither broadband nor phone. I've wasted a lot of time to-day telephoning expensively on a mobile. I would be very grateful if anyone on this forum could help in any way. Is there, for example, any way of by-passing the usual BT obstacle course? Life is short, and I have spent too much of mine trying to persuade BT to provide the services I have paid them for.

If your voice service is with BT - then it should not have gone if a SMPF migration (using MAC) took place.

Report voice fault to BT voice faults in first place.

Broadband provider (if just providing broadband) is correct, the voice fault should be reported via your voice provider.

Which broadband provider? I trust you did not do anything daft like tell BT you were cancelling their services? Since this may have been interpreted as 'please cease my broadband and phone services'

Thankyou Mr Saffron for your helpful post. I made it clear to BT that I wanted to change broadband provider and not the telephone, and they have acknowledged that by agreeing to investigate the telephone line if possible by next Thursday. I had thought and hoped that the process of moving the broadband to another provider might go through more easily if I left the phone with BT, but now I have neither phone nor broadband.