Last weds 21st I placed an order for FTTC, and got an acknowledgment that my service would swap (same provider) on the 28th. I opted to get the “free” modem as well. Yesterday (26th) I get am email saying my modem will be despatched today, with a 3-5 day delivery. So that leaves me with no service for anything from 2 days to 4+, depending on the whim of RM. Just as well my existing modem is suitable for FTTC then.
Oh no it won't, as BT/Openretch will not actually install your service on the day they have an appointment for. They need to ignore at least 4 appointments before they actually install anything, and that's after several emails to the CEO of Openretch (Mr Clive Selley clive.selley@openreach.co.uk ) They get added points if by doing so they leave a lone woman in a house in the middle of nowhere snowed in for a week with no phone or internet. Utter bastards, I hope every one of them dies horribly and painfully. BT and Openreach should be stripped of their franchise/monopoly and all of their office staff prevented from ever working anywhere where customers depend on them.
Two things, but first a disclaimer. I’ve got 40 years this summer working for BT, but what I say here is my own thoughts and not company policy. In any case, at Ofcoms insistence at the behest of BTs competitors, Openreach is now a separate entity from BT
1. You don’t know how sad it makes me hearing you slag off BT/Openreach. Most of the people I know would be similarly affected by hearing of such poor service, especially the lifers like me. Yes it’s the tech that gets many of us into the industry, but it’s not long before you realise that customer service is what the business is all about and any of us that want to see the business thrive WANT to make sure the best customer service is delivered.
2. It’s somewhat ironic that you call out the monopoly (no franchise in the utilities) as the issue, because it is the privatisation and introduction of false completion in the utilities that have both reduced the investment in core infrastructure & innovation as well as customer service reduced to levels supported by cost saving measures.
All utilities are by their very nature natural monopolies with the best service and technological advancements being delivered by a state controlled provider. Indeed, did you know that BT had developments in place, planned while it was still whole owned by the government, to install fibre to EVERY premises of the land. We even had the factories built to manufacture the line termination equipment. But Margret Thatcher vetoed the plans because it would prove too be a disincentive to the Americans coming over here and investing in alternative networks. (Does anyone remember any alternative network providers? Yep, they’re lined up right next to the alternative power and gas networks)
I could go into more details about how privatisation destroyed service levels, or stifled research and development and introduction of technological advancements, but I’d need to proved proper referencing to do it justice, and I really don’t want to go into all that here.
