Will I get this fixed? I'm pessimistic

A long story!

I have had broadband from the earliest day's; free engineer install back in 2000, at least I think it was in 2000.

Before the install I paid £76 to have my master socket moved from my lounge to my upstairs study. An engineer came a took only 10 minutes to do the job, I never looked at what he did! When the engineer came to install my broadband faceplate he said that my master socket was in the wrong place. When I told I had paid £76 to have it moved he immediately said ok I'll fix it. Out came his ladder and after some time he said my master socket was now in my study; he said that there was no need to report this matter!!

Over time my line has become poorer. Crackling in damp weather; when only a corded phone connected to test socket. My previous ISP, Zen, told me that last winter I had 40 drop outs in one day. They did supply me with a chart of my final month with them showing up to 5 drop outs in one day; in late June I changed to BT Infinity.

BT's contractor, Quinn, changed the faceplate. He checked the broadband and incoming calls. It was not until much later that day that I tried to make an outgoing call to find that not working. Reported and two days later a BT engineer attended to correct. He opened the faceplate and said it was wired incorrectly. However he did look at the rest of my wiring and told me that the socket in my lounge was non-standard. I would not know; do not even look at at it as it is behind a curtain. I could, of course, not prove that the very first engineer changed the plate; although no else changed my wiring, as far as I know. Strange that my wiring all worked before Quinn made the error!!

However with no proof I had to bear the £99 charge; but at least all my wiring was now up to BT standard , with the same non-standard socket; they fixed it and I paid.

I regret that I did not report the initial "mistake" by the very first engineer back in 2000. May not have helped the current problem but may have saved me £99.

I have had at least 6 drop outs since June; winter will get a lot worse.

This Monday my line was crackling again in damp weather; badly this time so I reported a fault. With only my corded phone in the test sock there was noise on the line. Bt operative asked me remove the phone; she, by now, had my mobile number. Did some tests which showed that the fault was from the test socket to the cabinet; all BT gear I think?

An engineer is booked for tomorrow. This morning I have a text to my mobile saying:-

"...Our tests are showing an internal problem..."

I texted back:-

"No your tests show there is a problem from your test socket to your cabinet; confirmed on Monday's test by your operative"

I suspect I will have a major fight. I accept that there is a lot of wire and joints between my socket and the cabinet but that is BT's problem.

Bt engineer came and tested my line. He could find nothing wrong; but did confirm that my internal wiring is correct.

As the weather improved over the last two days the crackling ceased; was some at 17:00 yesterday but none at 22:00 or this morning.

Just had heavy rain, even thunder, so expect that in a day or two I will have more crackling with associated drop outs?

What I really need is to have a team on standby so that when the crackling starts they come immediately. I know unreasonable but how else I am to use my Infinity? Last winter we were without effective broadband for several days!

Most likely water ingress into a joint and just needs a team with the time to check each joint between you and the cab

Yes most likely.

A neighbour, who shares a telephone pole with me and works for Openreach, tells me that there more joints than usual on our underground cables on the way to the cabinet, some 1/2 mile away. So many joints on a busy road prone to flooding.

This Monday my line was crackling again in damp weather;

This is classic dodgy-joint-at-the-top-of-pole.

BT fight hard to avoid sending engineers 'cos it cost them money. Stand you ground and send him up!

In reply to a post by ian_c:

Stand you ground and send him up!

Sounds like a line from a Carry On film