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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
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I have had a noisy phone line and broadband dropouts for years now. It's worse in cold weather, or especially when it rains.
The most ironic thing is, the counties main BT exchange is 50 meteres away, and the external wiring is the oldest and most shoddiest I have ever seen.
We complained before, and all they did was replace the plastic cover of the junction box (wow, thanks guys!)
It's shameful, that in the 21st century, and with the high broadband speeds available, more than a few of us are living in the internet stone-age.
05/02/14 ade
The most ironic thing is, the counties main BT exchange is 50 meteres away, and the external wiring is the oldest and most shoddiest I have ever seen.
We complained before, and all they did was replace the plastic cover of the junction box (wow, thanks guys!)
It's shameful, that in the 21st century, and with the high broadband speeds available, more than a few of us are living in the internet stone-age.
0
i too have had a crackling line were i have barely been able to have a conversation, then the calls would end abrutply and then the internet started to loose connectivity and i had to dial my home no to free the line after numerous calls and attempts to fix the problems bt insist that is my equipment, so after four new phones, new extentention cables and the problem still there bt now want to pay £99 callout fee if the engineer finds a fault with my side of the line, i have been without a landline for to weeks now and don't trust bt. i have finaly solved my phone problems by moving to virgin, with virgin there is no hidden charges and they will fix any fault free of charge, i wanted to leave bt for over 14months and was threatend with paying the full amount for an 18 month contract, luckily i am out of contract so bt can go run or maybe call one of there call centres after all as they tell you there all in england????/
28/04/13 lucky
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I posted on 18 jan 2012 about my faulty line and the update is Bt have now resolved the fault and it was BT who where at fault they firstly connected the line directly at the door step rather than using all the wires in the grey box still there was a noise and the engineer was 100% positive that the builders who put the cabling through the walls had damaged them so I argued the toss and another engineer came round with a device that checks continuity in the line suddenly as if by magic it rang the phone line and gave the street location of the box that had the fault and most sickening thing is who ever wired my line up forgot to tighten the screws thats why my line had a fault so just because the wires are ok in the BT box on your street it doesnt mean there isnt a fault some where else down the line.
10/06/12 Dean
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@Gloria
Please can you tell me the number that you got from ofcom, we have the exact same problem as you. If you dont have the number anymore, can you tell me how to get it? Thank you
13/04/12 Charlie
Please can you tell me the number that you got from ofcom, we have the exact same problem as you. If you dont have the number anymore, can you tell me how to get it? Thank you
-6
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.
18/01/12 Dean
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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.
09/11/11 Gloria
-5
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.
16/10/11 Dark Fibre
I would be interested to know what you would have proposed instead of BT.
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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.
11/08/11 Gloria
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Now that is what I call a proper gripe, well done Gloria.
11/08/11 Boblet
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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.
11/08/11 Gloria
-8
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.
14/04/11 Arsenal1429
-18
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.
02/02/11 Silent Bob
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.
-11
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.
27/01/11 Silent Bob
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.
19
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
21/01/11 phil
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
-19
OurSouls
I thought I would give them a chance this year (2014) but they wanted about £130 to connect me up when the line was already there.
Again, because of money-grabbing I decided to go another way.
I don't like BT for their money-grabbing attitude.