My house doesn't exist!

Hi one and all, so sorry if this is covered elsewhere but I'm hoping someone might be able to help.

Basically I have been with Virgin media for many years now but have been with BT previously. I've been looking around for a while now at alternative fibre options to Virgin but I hit a brick wall every time. When I do the various provider's online checker thing my address either doesn't exist or they only offer me standard non fibre. If I change my door number to either side of me, I get the full high speed fibre treatment from all the major providers. I spoke on the phone to BT who acknowledged my address wasn't on their list but she confirmed she could manually add me if I bought my broadband from them, tying me into them for 24 months. But that means having a choice of just one provider without any opportunity to shop around first. Sky said they'd love to sell me fibre, and can do a cracking deal and indeed acknowledged that my next door neighbour came up as eligible. But until I was 'brought back' by openreach they could only offer me old fashioned broadband. I dont want to be stuck with just Virgin to choose from forever more but feel a little aggrieved at only having BT as my only other and option for the next two years. Is there a solution or do I have to bite a very expensive bullet?


What I'd like to know is will openreach bring my address 'back to life' , If so, will they charge and hw much?


Many thanks in advance

Edited by deleted (Tue 16-Mar-21 21:37:23)

Out of interest if you do a check on the DSL Checker does your's and the neighbour's properties show coming from the same exchange and cabinet?

Hi, thanks for the quick reply!

Did that check for both our addresses (They are identical other than I'm number 30, he is 31. They are terraced houses in a suburban street,

As I suspected my address wasn't found with a response of 'The address does not map to Gold NAD key please proceed with postcode qualification'.

Changed the search to 31 instead of 30 and I instantly get a full page detailed report about my neighbours broadband status. Didn't mean a lot to me besides confirming that FTTP wasn't available but FTTC was {I think)

In reply to a post by Tuckbox:

she confirmed she could manually add me if I bought my broadband from them. But that means having a choice of just one provider without any opportunity to shop around first.

No, if any ISP puts you on "their" database they really mean they'll put you on the national, Openreach, database. So once you've signed up with 1 you can go to any ISP next time round.

In reply to a post by Tuckbox:

As I suspected my address wasn't found with a response of 'The address does not map to Gold NAD key please proceed with postcode qualification'.

I thought NAD stood for National Address database which is controlled by Royal Mail, have you checked your address here? does it exist?

Thanks. I suspected that was the case but that would be in two years time when any contract I sign up to now expires. That's really the nub of my dilemma. Through no fault of my own I am 'off grid' for some odd reason as far as openreach is confirmed but can be reinstated by a BT salesperson who have a commercial interest in doing so. Sky cant do likewise, who would be my preferred option and it doesn't seem right. I was hoping that openreach will rectify a clear error and then allow me to shop around at my leisure.

You could get a telephone line installed on a one-month contract but then you'll pay for the line to be activated, which may be more than the discount you'd get from going with a supplier other than BT.

In reply to a post by dect:

In reply to a post by Tuckbox:

As I suspected my address wasn't found with a response of 'The address does not map to Gold NAD key please proceed with postcode qualification'.

I thought NAD stood for National Address database which is controlled by Royal Mail, have you checked your address here? does it exist?

Cheers, yes exists there fine and peculiarly exists on sky's broadband address checker (But not for fibre) But go to BT's or Openreach's own address checker websites and when I enter my postcode and scroll down the drop down list of door numbers mine is missing between 30 and 32. There are one or two other missing addresses to and I suspect they are probably virgin customers as well. I'm sure it's something to do with that

Try a PM or an email ([email protected]) to Mr Saffron (andrew) he may be able to poke Openreach for you or at least find out from them what you need to do to get it resolved.

In reply to a post by jpm:

You could get a telephone line installed on a one-month contract but then you'll pay for the line to be activated, which may be more than the discount you'd get from going with a supplier other than BT.

That's an interesting thought thanks. I've had a previous BT phone and Broadband package as recently as around 2014 and I''ve never physically removed anything either inside or outside the house so everything is physically intact as far as I know.

In reply to a post by dect:

Try a PM or an email ([email protected]) to Mr Saffron (andrew) he may be able to poke Openreach for you or at least find out from them what you need to do to get it resolved.

Thanks very much, that's great.

Fill out the web form Here and use the reason I cannot get fibre but my neighbours can. Might have to be patient though.

I am pretty sure that Sky can also get the address added - but it is too much work for them so they don't. BT retail don't have special access to Openreach to get the database fixed - I believe all ISPs can do it if they want to but most don't because the time taken to get it done for you makes it less profitable for them so they would rather just blame BT.

Just an update in case anyone is still reading and mildly interested. I received this very promising reply from Openreach yesterday.

'Hello

I’m sorry for the delay in getting back to you, we’re seeing a higher than normal demand for our help at the moment. I’m aware you’ve been having issues trying to order broadband service.
I have looked into this and there is an error in our records which is preventing you from placing an order. I’m now in the process of correcting this.
I’ll need to do this in two stages. First I’ll need to create your address fully in our system, we refer to this as a Gold Address. Once this is completed I need to associate your address to the nearby fibre equipment. It will take us about a week to complete this and you should then be able to place an order. I will update you as soon as our systems reflect this.
I’ve got all of your details, so shouldn’t need anything else before coming back to you. Thanks for your patience in the meantime.

Kind regards'


So it looks like it will be resolved soon. Thanks for all those here who offered advice.