Openreach are they wrong?

I had an engineer visit on 11th of Nov to fit a second phone line. Well this engineer messed up and cut the second pair wire at my house. There was not sufficent length of cable at my property to now connect the second phone line.

BT Openreach have now said they will have to replace the cable from my property to the DP. However I was told on the phone that they will not require access to my property to do this. Does this mean they will leave the existing cable at my property and fit a new cable?

I cant imagine them removing the existing cable with a phone line still attached to it (my first phone line).

Any ideas?

They may just put in a wire with the usual multiple pairs, and then at a later date connect the second line up.

Without knowing the exact location and wiring of all the wires hard to say, and the advice on the phone will only be going off the notes for the job, which can be wrong or mis-interpreted.

If it is an overhead cable, if you look closely at where it reaches the premises you will see some cable strengthener/gripper wrapped round it, before it forms a U-shape and enters a junction box, from which a wire enters the premises.

So they just require from the pole to that junction box.

If it is underground I don't know, but I expect some similar arrangement to enable replacement.

Access to property - no necessarily inside but definitely the garden.

However, if the change the drop wire, they will change the connection on the eaves box and in doing that they should really come inside and check that a call can actually be made! A the eaves box to master link might fail an inch down the cable!

The cable is underground cable. Its so frustrating not knowing when this work will be carried out, its almost one month I have waited for a phone line install.

OK, you hadn't mentioned it was the UG feed that the contractor broke, in the previous thread.
So if the contractor has completed the 'fit' the feed from the external point to the new socket, then no access to inside required.

The second phone line inside the house has not even been fitted yet, as when the cable broke he abandoned the job.

There has not even been a whole made in the wall to fit the second socket yet.

Edited by deleted (Mon 14-Nov-11 16:58:53)

well in that case they will need access to do the fit.

if they work the same way there as were i work this will need to go to a track and mark guy to draw up the job and get you to sign a form ( CTD ) so we can get a new duct put in.You should see some gray paint marking up were the digging will be done .

Have you sign a form yet ? as to when this is done the job will go no were.The first guy there "should" have sorted out a T&M job but i would not bet much on it by the sounds of things,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I have not had any forms to sign yet. I have just been ringing up BT who have then contacted openreach. Any information that they have been given is then passed on to me over the phone.

The whole process has been very vague and I dont understand what exactly is going to happen or when. If only there was a way for me to get in direct contact with openreach so I can find out from the horses mouth what is happening.

Can't they pull a replacement cable through the duct? It seems the premises end of line 1 is still connected and working.