BT 'PHONE LINE FAULT.

[Ed Case]

Jesus wept, just spent thirty minutes trying to sort out a BT phone line problem. Naturally the call centre is in soddin' India and I've no doubt the bloke is a fine fella but his voice is faint and his accent isn't, it makes you want to rip the fuckin' line/socket clear off the wall, talk about hard fuckin' work. Obviously the sole criteria for this 'service' is "Is it cheap ?" and bugger the difficulty the customer has to undergo. Well intended I'm sure but not customer friendly.

[CBFcarl]

I work in this area (tech support, not India), and there is a checklist of sorts to go through before the fault can be raised to Openreach.

If the telephone line test fails EXT (external fault) then we can pass it straight to Openreach, with some questions asked to help ascertain *exactly* where the problem lies. If it fails CE (between the drop point on your street and your home) then we have to do some checks to rule out internal equipment causing an external fault. If it fails CA (Customers Apparatus) then it is *usually* internal and we have to run through full troubleshooting.

Easiest thing to say without having looked at the line test result is to tell you to get into the engineer test socket (usually found in the bottom right hand corner of the master telephone socket, behind the faceplate) and try a phone straight in. If you still have an issue, try a different phone (or yours elsewhere) to show that it isn't your equipment. If an engineer is assigned, they connect their equipment into the hidden socket and would get the same result as you.

I don't work for BT by the way, but if you want to know anything else, let me know.
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thx1138 wrote: Well if you had a car, I'd bet it would smell like urine had had drunken sex with vomit and made a poo baby.
Polarbear wrote: They are all old now. Probably had more abuse that a Rotherham schoolgirl.
Hellkat wrote: I want to know if Nigella smells of garlic, or just minge.

[Ed Case]

Thanks for responding CBFcarl. A couple of weeks ago my extension phone went 'dead' so assuming a fault in the thing I dumped it and bought another......still 'dead' however when we get an incoming call the 'phone rings out but is still 'dead' so I assume that there's a fault either in the socket or line, an engineer will be contacting us. As an aside there was an engineer shinning up and down the telephone pole and messing with the black box for the best part of two days a fortnight ago. Thanks for the offer of help it's appreciated.

[CBFcarl]

No worries, but it does raise a bit of an issue.

When you are raising a fault to Openreach, you have to rule out internal equipment because BT Openreach only cover the exchange upto the master socket (including the faceplate). Anything other than that (extension sockets, for example) are classed as internal equipment. When the engineer comes out, if they test the master socket, and can make and receive calls without issue, they will leave site without any further action and will try to charge for an avoidable callout. Whether that be your provider or you directly (some companies will push the cost onto you), someone will pay.

If it is internal wiring, the best option would be getting an electrician to check over the cabling, and be about £140 cheaper than an Openreach engineer.
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thx1138 wrote: Well if you had a car, I'd bet it would smell like urine had had drunken sex with vomit and made a poo baby.
Polarbear wrote: They are all old now. Probably had more abuse that a Rotherham schoolgirl.
Hellkat wrote: I want to know if Nigella smells of garlic, or just minge.

[anthony_r6]

Are you aware you can raise a fault online for BT? It'll run a line test for you and allow you to raise an Engineer if needed. All without speaking to the guys offshore.
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Ted : "Maybe he's agoraphobic."
Dougal : "Jack scared of fighting? I don't think so, Ted."

[Charlie]

When I had a problem with my phone line there was an automated test which got performed. That found a problem with the line and reported it to a BT technician. Didn't speak to anyone, all automated.

They came out 2-3 days later and fixed it. Turned out in a recent thunderstorm one of the telegraph poles got struck by lightning.

Edit: just seen post above
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