Openreach FTTP Missed Appointment

Posting out of frustration more than anything else and wondering how long this saga is going to go on...


-I originally ordered FTTP with BT (without a landline) on the 11th December 2020 with an install date of 25th January 2021.

-On the 18th Jan 2021 I rang in and BT said the order had been cancelled by their systems due to a problem on the "backend" and that they couldn't fix it after trying for 2 weeks, but regardless Covid-19 restrictions meant that it wouldn't be going ahead anyway.

-I got a call from a manager at BT on the same day and the outcome was that I would not be joining BT as a customer and everything was cancelled down (I didn't trust that they could actually solve the issue and had lost confidence).

-I successfully signed up with Zen the same day as the BT order was cancelled and was given an installation date for today (29th March - PM slot).

-At 4.30 PM today no Openreach engineer had arrived so I phoned Zen.

-Zen said that the job was live but hadn't been allocated to an engineer but said they can't chase until tomorrow as the engineer might turn up before 6pm and work late.


It's now 6 PM and no engineer has turned up and I've had no contact from Openreach at all. I've just wasted a day of holiday waiting for them to turn up and I just think it's so rude not to bother letting people know. How hard can it be to get FTTP installed and why are Openreach so utterly incompetent?

What happens now? Presumably Zen has to chase them tomorrow to find out what happened but any idea how long it will be before I get another engineer appointment?

Edited by ashlez (Mon 29-Mar-21 18:08:14)

Not in any way to excuse the no show - a pet hate of mine too - but they are working through a backlog dues to the restrictions. A courtesy call or text however wouldn't have gone astray!

To lend some perspective; here it took roughly about the same time to get from initial order to actual order placed (early July to late September) - with survey in between. With a nice big bill to pay (all up front). Then a further wait of near enough 10 months for the service to be provided. That was in non-pandemic, so called 'good' times.

I'm sure you'll get connected soon. Good luck.

I have to agree that Openreach's communication is atrocious.

I think every customer would be accommodating, even at the last minute if told that the installer hadn't turned up to work due to having to isolate/a family emergency or something, but the lack of communication is galling.

On the scale that Openreach work, there will be an employee no-show rate that is predictable enough that it can be planned for, and any variance dealt with by means of occasional overtime. Okay, it was different in the early stages of coronavirus, but at the moment the numbers will be steady.

The insistence that nothing can be done before 6pm as they might turn up at 1759 and work late is ridiculous. I've had that one several times and took to calling back at 1755 so that I got in the call centre queue before it shut at 6, but ended up speaking to someone after 6pm so they couldn't use the 'they're on their way' excuse. Not sure it speeded anything up though...

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Not in any way to excuse the no show - a pet hate of mine too - but they are working through a backlog dues to the restrictions. A courtesy call or text however wouldn't have gone astray!

I understand they're working through a backlog but that was partly an issue of their own making wasn't it? They went further with restrictions than required by the government and further than other providers. We all have our opinion on this but I don't have much sympathy for Openreach in this respect as they could have allowed a little bit more flexibility where circumstances were allowing.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

To lend some perspective; here it took roughly about the same time to get from initial order to actual order placed (early July to late September) - with survey in between. With a nice big bill to pay (all up front). Then a further wait of near enough 10 months for the service to be provided. That was in non-pandemic, so called 'good' times.

Was yours FTTPoD?

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

I'm sure you'll get connected soon. Good luck.

Thank you. Let's hope so

Sorry to hear of the O/Ps appalling shoddy treatment by Openreach?

They are a law unto themselves because they simply have the monopoly of the telecommunications infrastructure. It would be more than fair to say they don't know their [censored] from their elbow.

I have had broadband speed issues and from Monday to Thursday a new guy would turn up to fix the fault on some occasions more than one van and they fixed jack [censored]. Then on the Friday yup the 5th day another OR guy turns up saying he will fix the fault. Fair play to this dude he wasn't gone long and the fault was fixed. He told me he just moved my line at the cabinet to another spare pair, simplez.

Have no idea why the other OR guys couldn't do that on the 1st day but hey they are charging for their service so like to drag the job out for as much cash as possible.

You have my total sympathy. I'd bill them for the waste of a days pay £250.

In reply to a post by ashlez:

I understand they're working through a backlog but that was partly an issue of their own making wasn't it? They went further with restrictions than required by the government and further than other providers. We all have our opinion on this but I don't have much sympathy for Openreach in this respect as they could have allowed a little bit more flexibility where circumstances were allowing.

I think they (not perhaps unreasonably) took a more conservative approach with household and resi based services. For a start they are coming into peoples homes and the potential risks are far higher in frequency, diversity and range of exposure scenarios for both customer and service provider than for many other businesses. You only have to look at these boards to see the massive variation in folks attitudes to whether they are (or were) prepared to take that risk in having them come in. So I don't think that's wholly unreasonable at all.

I know for a fact they took a far more 'libertarian' approach to business services as I had a business circuit installed in another property over February and the crews worked days, nights and whatever it took. They were actually incredibly diligent and good.

Getting stood up and waiting unnecessarily sucks, and isn't acceptable but by the same token they can a do redeem themselves.

In reply to a post by ashlez:

Was yours FTTPoD?

Yes that order was oD. Perhaps should be renamed the great exercise in restraint and patience...😂

Hopefully your connection gets sorted soon.

I think they (not perhaps unreasonably) took a more conservative approach with household and resi based services. For a start they are coming into peoples homes and the potential risks are far higher in frequency, diversity and range of exposure scenarios for both customer and service provider than for many other businesses. You only have to look at these boards to see the massive variation in folks attitudes to whether they are (or were) prepared to take that risk in having them come in. So I don't think that's wholly unreasonable at all.

Well said Pheasant.

It could be that they were an engineer short that day. Perhaps they were self-isolating due to working in a house where there was a positive Covid test later?

Or it could be that a job took longer than expected. We know from this list how sometimes people make special requests for how they want their fibre routed, and engineers do try to be accommodating. Or maybe there was an unexpected problem and they needed to send out for some special bit of equipment.

Either way, your job was dropped not because they couldn't be bothered, but because they were helping someone else. It's frustrating though.

As for what happens now: contact Zen to get your new appointment sorted out.

I always choose an AM slot when available, on the assumption that the earlier in the day I'm scheduled, the less likely it is that an earlier job will cause an unexpected delay.

Have you had any activity from Openreach as they quite often do the feed from the street especially with underground feeds to house beforehand and on installation day they do the house work. Might be different for a pole feed though.

when my install was done (pre covid) the engineer needed another engineer to be present as there has to be two present if pole climbing is involved which there was as i have a cbt at the top of the pole in the garden. he sat waiting in his van for 3+ hours then abandoned the job as no other person was available. so delays do happen and can compound jobs. my engineer(s) had to come back another day to finish the job