You are absolutely right. It might have been a crossed pair. Your line going to some one else and you get charged. Once you get charged, try sorting it with BT see whether they are interested in refunding. Its not just me that has got this probs, I know of BT people (engineers and managers) who know of this. I guess you want me to name then so they can get sacked, well I am not going to. These are the people who update places like btsucks.com , btsucks.co.uk.

Other post in this also mentions that the engineers will be subject to displinary and even dismissed. HOW DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR FAMILY MEMBER OR YOU FRIEND IS at any one given time. BT, i'm sure does not the technology to track each and every engineer and if they did they would not track them, as it becomes spying. Is any engineer going to admit to using the customers line on the outside. I DONT THINK SO

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

BT, i'm sure does not the technology to track each and every engineer and if they did they would not track them, as it becomes spying. Is any engineer going to admit to using the customers line on the outside. I DONT THINK SO

I think'll you'll find that BT vans DO have tracking on them.

Errors can occur. That is life. Just because one person has claimed an engineer has done this, does not make it factual. I'd put money on that BT engineers have more to do with their time than make a few calls on someones line.

Matt

They are also required to sign in and out of each job, complete paper work on what they were doing.

Perhaps someone wearing a flourescent packet simply opened the cabinet to make a few illegal calls - its the sort of thing of course that happens every day - or is it?

One assumes if the line fault was reported and tested as fault remotely, then until it was fixed it should be pretty easy to show its unlikely that you did not make the calls.

One assumes you escalated the issue via BT complaints and if that went nowhere have involved the relevant authorities? Widespread abuse by BT engineers would be certain to get many column inches in the press.

Responding on perhaps the central complaint you make:

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Back to ADSL. My complains to get the line checks never got off and I was stuck at 1.1mb. They chaged their estimate from 5.2mb to 1.5mb. How can they get this wrong???

The estimated speed is just that, estimated speed. The wholesale checker uses the last known profile for that telephone number.

So it might be that someone with that telephone number was getting 5.2Mbps at your address at some point.

Or, it could be that broadband has never been supplied, in which case the 5.2Mbps is more or less a guess based on line length.

Or, it could be that the number has been swapped when your line was provisioned, and the person who used to have that number had a much shorter/better line.

Now you're up and running, YOUR profile is used to make the estimate more accurate. Which might help the next person but doesn't help you.

This isn't a case of reneging on a deal as such or anything mischievious going on, it's the way that the estimator works.

What's not clear if is the line syncs at 5Mbps but you only get 1Mbps throughput (in which case you can then complain about Plusnet not having the bandwidth) or whether the line syncs at 1Mbps which potentially means that is all any provider can push down the line to you.

As others have said you might be able to improve on the speed you have now. Since if the prior person got over 5Mbps then checking your router and connection/extension is worthwhile.

Plusnet is owned by BT, that said, that has nothing to do with the speed the bit of wire connecting you to the exchange can supply.

No, I am not a BT Technician - but had a senior management role with BT for many years. Abuse of customer equipment can result in dismissal and it has happened in the past and will in the future.

There are many reasons for what might of happened. A wiring error, damage to a cable that was repaired incorrectly, a third party breaking into a cabinet and using a pair ...

OK, think about it. You want to make a call, you don't fancy using the free (yes, free) mobile you have been given, what's your next choice ? Risk disciplinary action, and use a punters line, (sat by a noisy street cabinet,) or use the free lines in the exchange.. there's a kettle, a comfy chair .........

I am sure you have a genuine grievance, but the old chestnut about the engineer using your line ..... perleese !

I think'll you'll find that BT vans DO have tracking on them.

Yes they do. [sad]

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

They can sit outside, near the green box or on the ground with lots of wires and connect their testing phones to make a call. That is not difficult is it and its discreet as most people walking past see the engineer trying to fix and talking to the office.

Whenever I see an engineer at a street cabinet talking on the phone to anyone it is always a mobile he is using.

The subject of the conversation is usually his trying to find a spare pair that works due to a customer's line being down. Most suggestions he gets turn out to be duff as well.

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btsucks.co.uk
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LOL, good site, it's been hacked