Sorting out my noisy phone line
I have the dreaded crackles on my phone line and it gets so bad that I can hardly hear the other person speaking whilst on the phone. So far my ISP by the name of Zen have been very helpful and have done all they can possibly do, but as for getting the problems sorted out, I would have more fun if I were to try to extract my own teeth.
This has been going on since the 21st of July so far four engineers have called and two of them have found faults. Yet BT still deny there is a fault on the line, one engineer told me that replacing the whole aluminium wire with a copper one would be the only thing to fix this. However, BT will do everything in their power to stop this happening as it costs to much.
It's strange how BT seem to have forgot all about the line rental I have paid in the last 30 years and the money they had from ISDN when I used it. Let us not forget the money they get indirectly from my 5 years of broadband, but when it comes to replacing 60 meters of aluminium wire with copper wire its a no go!
This has left me very disgruntled and I resent having to pay for this shoddy excuse of a phone and broadband service, whilst they fumble around looking for excuses to get out of paying up for the costs to replace my phone line.
I can't believe that the UK gave birth to this monopoly and that we paid for this as a nation, yet get so little in return when asking for help.
By: Suffering BT customer
Comments from visitors
I recently moved house where i was on virgin media fibre optic broadband and cut a long story short when I moved I couldn't get the same services because there are no fibre optic cables but was told about virgin national where you still have a line with virgin but the line is linked to bt and i've got adsl broadband I have a noisy line and can't use the internet without picking the telephone receiver up i've rang virgin about the fault but all they say is they'll arrange for an open reach engineer to come out i've had 2 out up to now and a third engineer is due to come out but they say there is no noise on the line so what am I suppose to do now as I can't get the problem resolved and the virgin faults team have suggested I have a high open fault but bt won't do nothing about it.
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Update. In desperation, on 12th Aug I recruited a sibling to bombard BT with consecutive complaints to the "Priority Care Team", whose response was to state that the department had been disbanded that week (a total lie). They told us to get in touch with Openreach ourselves (thought BT was Openreach?). This we did, along with emailing the BT Board of Directors and contacting Ofcom on the same day. This concerted effort finally produced some action. The tel no provided by Ofcom took me to a very efficient department in India. They told me contractors needed to clear a major blockage underground, then run a line through, (presumably a new line) and as it was major works, if it was going to take a while BT would provide my parents with a temporary line from a pole (they don't have poles in their area, so underground presumably). I was very annoyed that they clearly could have done this much earlier. The inaccessible manhole was bypassed, and a NEW LINE was eventually up and running on 17th Aug. Followed through with Ofcom's complaint procedure and sent formal complaint letter to BT - did not even receive an acknowledgment! It's now with the Ombudsman.
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You could always just drop a note to ian dot livingston who may be at bt dot com
I would be interested to know what you would have proposed instead of BT.
I would be interested to know what you would have proposed instead of BT.
+4
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A short update on my previous post - a BT engineer (the 14th one!) has just turned up at my parents house, stating "I understand you have a fault on your line". He had no knowledge of any of the previous stuff, he had just turned up as if a routine fault had just been reported. My Mother then phoned the Priority Care Team. Her usual contact was on holiday, and the guy she spoke to said "Well, perhaps he's arrived to fix the fault" to which she replied she thought that maybe a digger or something should be coming? He looked through the notes and replied "Oh yes, our Manager is liaising with the local Council and we are awaiting a report" and he couldn't explain why this engineer had been sent. Couldn't make it up.
+1
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Now that is what I call a proper gripe, well done Gloria.
-2
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My elderly parents have had a very noisy line since the end of June, and have been under the "care" of the Priority Care Team as my Father is partially paralysed following a stroke and also undergoing daily treatment for cancer. They have no other phone options in their area, and are too old to become familiar with mobile phones. The problem is the old aluminium cable, complicated by the fact that after many weeks and visits from engineers, the actual fault was traced to an area where BT's manhole is not accessible because our local council built a raised flower bed on top of it many years ago. Then the silly stuff really started. BT can't dig up the soil to access their manhole cover because it belongs to Newham Council, even though Newham Council illegally built on top of their manhole without the required permission in the first place, and according to BT, because it was so long ago the Council may now claim that it actually owns the cover! Naturally a simple phone call to the local Council would sort it out, but no, a "Manager" has been "working" on this for weeks. In desperation I phoned the Council today and they have no record of BT contacting them over the issue, and yet we get daily (box ticking) phone calls from the Priority Care Team assuring us that the "Manager" is dealing with it and the "work" is ongoing.
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Had the same problem with Sky and was getting 0.3mb download and a very intermittent service. To be fair to Sky they were great and agrred there was a problem. Arranged for an Openreach engineer to come and he replaced the socket at expense to Sky. Sky then upgraded the router and now getting over 3.0mb on a regular basis which is superb given that the line is aluminium and I am miles away from the exchange. Have to say this - well done Sky.
-4
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Well I must grudgingly be fair to BT. My problems are resolved.
I reported a line fault (in addition to the original and unresolved broadband fault).
BT OpenReach Engineer came out and agreed that the line was noisy. He replaced the master socket and swapped it to use a different set of wires to the exchange.
Since then no line noise. Broadband now solid and reasonably speedy.
I reported a line fault (in addition to the original and unresolved broadband fault).
BT OpenReach Engineer came out and agreed that the line was noisy. He replaced the master socket and swapped it to use a different set of wires to the exchange.
Since then no line noise. Broadband now solid and reasonably speedy.
+2
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My sympathies. I'm going through exactly the same ordeal.
Rubbish aluminium wiring from the late 1970s (copper prices were high then) decaying and causing snap, crackle and pop - and stuffing up my broadband connection into the bargain.
I remember the days when you could just call 151 and a proper engineer would call you back. Fat chance nowadays. We get Shritty reading from her script. A very nice lady but no use at all when it comes to diagnosing line problems.
BT should be broken up. It's a monopoly and offers shoddy service.
Rubbish aluminium wiring from the late 1970s (copper prices were high then) decaying and causing snap, crackle and pop - and stuffing up my broadband connection into the bargain.
I remember the days when you could just call 151 and a proper engineer would call you back. Fat chance nowadays. We get Shritty reading from her script. A very nice lady but no use at all when it comes to diagnosing line problems.
BT should be broken up. It's a monopoly and offers shoddy service.
+9
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BT deserve to go bankrupt. It has lots of small print and making people going to contract without saying yes. How come is still there.
And by the way, you will have to write to them in order to file up a complain....they dont really trust their own lines, do they
And by the way, you will have to write to them in order to file up a complain....they dont really trust their own lines, do they
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Have you tried another broadband modem or router. Try switching off the modem and see if reduces the interference. It worked in my case.
+3
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Tell me about it - I have an intermittent problem and even though everyone I've talked to on the "helpline" and the three engineers who've visited in the last three weeks admit there's a problem (replaced wall socket and bit of bare wire in the junction box sorted), the system dictates that they can't look for a problem until they know exactly where it is! This means that even though I have a noisy phone line almost constantly and no internet for on average 4 hours a day, because the engineer turned up during one of the periods when it was OK, I now get a £127.99 + vat charge. Am I going to contest it. What do you think!
-7
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I live in Tayport Fife and have been advised today by a BT engineer that the problems I am encountering are caused by alumnium cabling too. My internet connection that I use daily for my livelihood keeps dropping and I cant do my work. I agree with what you say about BT - a monster created by us. Looks like we have a battle on our hands.
+5
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Funny thing is, we were considering going with BT, but I doubt we will after reading this!
Virgin Media is definitely gonna have to be the one!
Virgin Media is definitely gonna have to be the one!
-3
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I'm with Sky and have exactly the same problem and they are charging £160 just to come out, even though it was their fault in the first place as this never happened when we were with Virgin Media, and only started when we switched over.
Even worse is that the internet is just as rubbish with Sky; it's slow and unresponsive the majority of the time.
Even worse is that the internet is just as rubbish with Sky; it's slow and unresponsive the majority of the time.
+7
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I use Skype to make phone calls via my broadband over ADSL. I have no problems with sound quality or noise. BT deserve to go bankrupt. If it were not for their monopoly of the local loop they would have gone out of business a long time ago. Their service is pathetic.
Please do everything you can to ruin them.
It is horrendous that they have put up my monthly charges this past year.
Please do everything you can to ruin them.
It is horrendous that they have put up my monthly charges this past year.
-1
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BT = Bloody Terrible - 13-Nov-10 23:05
I have the same problem. everytime it rains my phone line makes horrendous crackling and popping noises and then the broadband will stop working.
i have had about 6 engineers out who have changed everything but after about 6 months the problem starts again. they're so concerned with the problem being in your house so they can bill you that they dont look OUTSIDE of the house. last time the problem was a corroded wire underneath the pavement!
i have had about 6 engineers out who have changed everything but after about 6 months the problem starts again. they're so concerned with the problem being in your house so they can bill you that they dont look OUTSIDE of the house. last time the problem was a corroded wire underneath the pavement!
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My heart sank when I read this! I have just switched from talktalk to bt because of my noisy phone line, I thought bt would be able to sort this one out! Every time it rains my phone line crackles and the broadband drops as soon as you make a phone call
+10
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We suffered this problem for years and years and years. BT were just impossible to deal with. The Broadband side of BT said our filters were faulty. So had them replaced by an expert. No improvement. They then blamed the phone line and said we had to talk to the telecommunication arm.
The phone line part of BT said the phone line was fine and we needed to talk to the Broadband part of BT.
So it went on, round and round in circles I was tearing my hair out.
Finally we have changed to a company providing phone/broadband/TV by fibre optic. All okay now.
The phone line part of BT said the phone line was fine and we needed to talk to the Broadband part of BT.
So it went on, round and round in circles I was tearing my hair out.
Finally we have changed to a company providing phone/broadband/TV by fibre optic. All okay now.
+4
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Slipitin - the employee wasn't sticking up for BT, only saying that if faults are caused by customer equipment they'll charge you. Personally, I find this acceptable, if you waste their time, they should recoup their costs.
Why do you say BT are lazy and INCONSIDERATE? I don't understand your statement. BT are the supplier for most of the 3rd party internet providers, heavily investinging in fibre to the curb/home to improve speeds and get rid of these terrible copper/aluminum lines. Cable companies may laugh that BT are copying their (aging) network architecture. but they only managed a very small proportion of the UK.
Why do you say BT are lazy and INCONSIDERATE? I don't understand your statement. BT are the supplier for most of the 3rd party internet providers, heavily investinging in fibre to the curb/home to improve speeds and get rid of these terrible copper/aluminum lines. Cable companies may laugh that BT are copying their (aging) network architecture. but they only managed a very small proportion of the UK.
+2
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