BT are beyond a Joke

6 months ago my friend who lives in a semi remote part of Cornwall was contacted by BT to advise him his area was now covered by FTTC,they asked would he be interested,he said he would and signed up for the 40/10 package and then waited, he called them several weeks later to get some idea of progress only to be told he was to far away from the cabinet for FTTC, but the good news was he could get FTTP,so he decided he would have that instead and ordered the 80/20 package.
From that date week in and week out he was given dates for the fibre install and all of them were missed until end of December they got around to getting the fibre to his home,a date for the engineer was fixed for a week later, he did not show up,more dates were arranged and missed,the latest being tomorrow 22nd Jan, he had a call today saying the appointment they made for tomorrow has not been made,this was down to yet another system glitch and he would have to wait another week,when he suggested he has had enough of BT and all their failed promises and no longer wanted to proceed, the caller then said if he did that he would still be liable for costs for the remainder of the contract,BT really do take the biscuit

What exactly does https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.html say for the telephone number of the property?

If that says FTTP or FTTC is available, then I can try chasing some people if the person emails me [email protected]

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

What exactly does https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.html say for the telephone number of the property?

If that says FTTP or FTTC is available, then I can try chasing some people if the person emails me [email protected]

WBC FTTP Up to 330 Up to 30 -- Available

WBC ADSL 2+ Up to 8 -- 5.5 to 12.5 Available
WBC ADSL 2+ Annex M Up to 8 Up to 1 5.5 to 12.5 Available
ADSL Max Up to 7.5 -- 6.5 to 8 Available
WBC Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available
Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available
Other Offerings
Fibre Multicast -- -- -- Available

You can chase Andrew, he has spent hours and hours getting through to the Folk in Glasgow dealing with this,who keep giving him dates for the engineer to do the final bit,but they just don't show up

In reply to a post by boranatty:

when he suggested he has had enough of BT and all their failed promises and no longer wanted to proceed, the caller then said if he did that he would still be liable for costs for the remainder of the contract,BT really do take the biscuit

Not if they fail to provide a service he won't be.

A number of failed apts is probably enough, but he could always write and say that if the service is not provide by 'x' dated (reasonable time - say 3 weeks) then he considers BT in breach of contract and doesn't want to continue.

Turn it around and demand compensation for missed appointments.

Okay its proper FTTP then and that should need two visits

1. To put the fibre termination on the outside of the property
2. Another visit to install the fibre modem and a short piece of fibre into the home from the outside point

Has the first bit been done?

Given address if FTTP as the only faster than ADSL2+ option and lack of others selling FTTP to consumers then yes that would be my path too

I am wondering if the current delays and missed appointment are because of remedial work needed to sort out the storm damage. ... and domestic appointments are being cut or missed because of other priorities.

I am the person having the problems.
Original order was made on September 2nd 2013
Fibre finally blown Jan 3rd
Delays blamed originally on "pole work required" which meant a pole replacement that took place in November.
1st engineers booking on 9th October 2013 (or near) was "missed" for obvious reasons.
2nd engineers visit 9th January "missed" excuse I got was that there was an oversight, they (openreach) assumed fibre still hadn't been blown, even though it was they that had already blown it!
3rd engineers visit on 22nd January (tomorrow) was cancelled this afternoon. Openreach called me and said that the appointment could not be kept as they had no knowledge of it.... Hmmmm so how did they know to call me to cancel it?
I spoke with Glasgow team and they managed to secure another appointment for next wednesday 29th. If that fails they can definitely lose my custom.

That's pretty terrible by BT. You can sued BT for mess you around and waste your appointment time. Your 36 months contract for FTTP doesn't start until the FTTP is activated on the day of installation.

Edited by adslmax (Tue 21-Jan-14 21:57:16)

To allay any more worries for the OP, 36 months contract only applies to Fibre on Demand, not native FTTP which is what the OP us trying to get.

I for one can understand your frustration, As I have had ongoing issues with Virgin media`s 120Mbit connection not working as it should and I put up with it for 2 years as fiber was not in my area. All I could get was A 120Mbit line running at 20Mbit or ADSL running at 1Mbit. So I chose the Virgin line, It upset me to stay with them, But I did not cut off my nose off ,blah blah. LOL. Now 2 years on virgin are still rubbish and my area has FTTC with VDSL2. I have now dropped Virgin and enjoy BT`s 80/20 service at 76/19.
If they are going to fit FTTP,(I.e fiber into your home, Then, My advise to you would be put up and shut up.
This line will give you what ever speed you buy from your ISP (as long as the exchange is running ok). I,e 40/10, 80/20, 300/30 will all run at full rate.
For me to get FTTP in my home it will cost me a 1.5K fitting charge.
If you still want to cancel then they have no hold over you and if they continue to tell you so then ask them for a "DEAD LOCK LETTER". you then send this to CISAS and they decide the decision.
My advice to you would be to put up with it and let them fit the fiber. In ten years time that fiber could be giving you over 1 Gbit up and down whilst FTTC is stuck on 200Mbit.

Whilst this is potentially covered by sales acts, BT have done pre-work installing the fibre that has incurred costs for them and so if the contract is cancelled without agreement then they may try to recover the costs of installing the fibre. This could end in a nasty court case either brought by BT to recover costs or brought by the user to contest the contract cancellation charges that BT would potentially try to make.

While it is being a PITA, I to would still go ahead with the installation, the rewards will out way the grief which will soon be forgotten once connected.

In reply to a post by ian72:

Whilst this is potentially covered by sales acts, BT have done pre-work installing the fibre that has incurred costs for them and so if the contract is cancelled without agreement then they may try to recover the costs of installing the fibre. This could end in a nasty court case either brought by BT to recover costs or brought by the user to contest the contract cancellation charges that BT would potentially try to make.

yeah legal advice required, my gut feeling tho is he is ok but is a chance may be have 'some' liability covering work already done. but in the service market I have seen contracts that have a stated a no point of return prior to services going live although I never looked into if they were legal terms.

In reply to a post by R0NSKI:

While it is being a PITA, I to would still go ahead with the installation, the rewards will out way the grief which will soon be forgotten once connected.

Agreed - the project to get FTTP to our village was estimated at 15 months; it overran by 22 months; evasion and excuses at every turn from BT. Even now not everyone can get it. But if the only option is to plough on with a slow adsl connection then you really have no choice (assuming Virgin is not available). Keep plugging away - it will be worth it, believe me!

Please keep us posted on how things go..

I for one hope that they can get your FTTP installed