In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Soz Ade, BT Business Broadband do have an FTTC product. I have fitted plenty, I think MHC on here uses it ?

Either way, £20 extra just so I can have a static IP is a little too much (I'll make do without, on a "home" Infinity connection) as that works out even more expensive than the ADSL24/Vivaciti business products (although, at that price-point, they're limited to around 45GB peak usage).

Such a shame BE are aimlessly flapping around (trying to work out what to do, regarding FTTC).
Still; BE's loss is now BT's gain

Edited by adebov (Sun 07-Aug-11 17:47:27)

Indeed.
One advantage in being so far from the exchange is BT will set vDSL (from the cabinet) to use part of the ADSL2+ range of frequencies (because nothing, on ADSL, above around 800kHz makes it this far).

Doesn't really matter if vDSL [operating in an adjoining pair] affects the speed of my ADSL2 product, as that will get cancelled shortly after Infinity proves to be as great as everyone says.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Good luck Ade. I am sure it'll be fine.

I wish I could believe you.
8 days after ordering (and 7 days after the 24 hours the "track my order' page is supposed to be able to track by order number alone) and apparently my order still isn't on the system.
I don't have a 'VOL' number because it is (apparently) "a type of order reference number which you usually get when you order by phone".

Not a good start. Only one working week to go and the BT "systems" (such as they are) still don't know about my order.
Not really expecting anyone to turn up on the 22nd

EDIT: Apparently I'd have to pay BT "a charge" if I miss the appointment or change it "without enough notice".
Does that mean I can charge BT a day's pay plus admin charges when they don't turn up on the 22nd

Edited by adebov (Fri 12-Aug-11 18:47:19)

I assume it is being done as a "SIM Provide"? I wonder if those show on a different system? Or at least an unusual part of the system.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I assume it is being done as a "SIM Provide"?

Yes it is.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I wonder if those show on a different system? Or at least an unusual part of the system.

Then you'd have thought BT would have enough sense to put the correct "track my order" URL in the "Thanks for choosing BT" welcome e-mail

EDIT:
According to the welcome e-mail I have two appoinments on the 22nd...
One for a "Phone line engineer for phone line: 01295xxxxxx", the other for a "BT Infinity engineer".
If they turn out to be a different engineer I'd put money on the Infinity engineer showing up before the phone line engineer (assuming anyone turns up at all).

Edited by adebov (Fri 12-Aug-11 18:52:43)

... Then you'd have thought BT would have enough sense to ....

[cough]

If they turn out to be a different engineer I'd put money on the Infinity engineer showing up before the phone line engineer grin (assuming anyone turns up at all).

Damn tootin'.

Well surprise, surprise..........
BT have screwed up the order (who didn't know that was going to happen).
Apparently a simultaneous provide, in BT-speak, means a voice line with someone forgetting to place the FTTC order with OR.

A nice lady from BT called today (two working days before the install was due) to announce "sorry there's a problem with your order".
The excuse is "our supplier" (so BT then) "has not put the broadband order through".
She went on to say "we'll come on Monday to activate the voice line, then call us on Tuesday so we can put the Infinity order through".
This was no use to me. I'd booked (and have now lost) a day off work because an engineer (well; two engineers) were due to visit.
I'm too busy to keep booking random days off work, only for BT to mess up and I'll be too busy to take a day off in another couple of weeks just in case the manual Infinity order actually goes through this time.

There was little point in just having a phone line and then risking they'd somehow mess up again and I wouldn't be able to get Infinity on it (meaning I'd be paying for a land-line, for 18 months, that I have no use for).
So; I told the lady to forget about all of it and cancel the whole order (which she said she'd do).

Now for the next screw-up.....
She only cancelled the Infinity part and immediately sent an e-mail thanking me for my order and confirming the engineer visit.
So I then call their customer "services" line and try to explain that I wanted to cancel the whole order and not just the infinity part.
After great difficulty explaining I only ordered the phone line so I could get Infinity on it, so have no real need for an 18 month phone line on its own, I managed to get through (I think ) and the order has been cancelled (probably).

I'm still expecting to see a voice line engineer on Monday, as I have no faith the order has been cancelled.

What a good job I didn't attempt to migrate my BE broadband (on the existing phone line) over to Infinity, as I'd be left without internet and no way of easily getting BE reconnected (as BT have the wrong line length down for my number, so BE/O2 automatically reject orders).

What a shower!

The worst bit?..................BT taking 14 days to work out they've forgotten to place a broadband order, so now I'd have another 2-3 weeks wait.

Edited by adebov (Thu 18-Aug-11 18:45:05)

Feel free to try us and let us get you a simultaneous provide that actually works!

Well the problem is the cost
There's an obvious reason why BT are the way they are (close to useless). As the saying goes "you get what you pay for"!
They charge £28/month for unlimited FTTC. The cheapest of your packages (which I'd be able to live with - usage wise) is the office 45 pro @ £41/month.
BT charge £120 for 12 months line rental, you charge £154.80
BT do free line install, you charge £79
BT do free FTTC broadband connection, yours is £49
And BT do 3 months free broadband (although that offer expires in one day and a cynic might suggest that's why BT are forgetting to place orders - asking me to place a new Infinity order next Tuesday, after the offer expires!!!!!!).

So the first year costs with BT are £327, compared to £775 with ADSL24. Ongoing annual costs (after the first year) are £400 with BT and £647 with ADSL24.
It's not difficult to see why BT struggle to afford staff and systems capable of doing their job and it's also not difficult to see why I (and many others) are so hesitant to go down the non-BT route.

I would love to return to ADSL24 (I only moved away because Entanet were getting a bit useless and BE suddenly enabled our exchange) but I'm not sure I can justify the extra costs

Of course; a few days un-paid leave (as I'm rapidly running out of paid vacation this year) to randomly book BT installs which get aborted (because BT couldn't organise the proverbial) and I could have afforded your product in the first place .

I wonder if BT are going to pay me for all my wasted time (given they are prepared to charge if customers cancel appointments with too little notice)?