Accrington Exchange

A couple of weeks ago, I got a letter from Tiscali saying that on the 30th
August, BT would be "upgrading" my exchange and the broadband access would
be unavailable for a couple of hours.

Well, OK... I thought.

Come the 30th, and sure enough I wake up to find that my modem will no
sync to the exchange. So I wait... and wait... and wait. All day in fact.
I call call Tiscali tech support who tell me that it will be available by
the end of the day. So I wait.

Next morning, the modem still won't sync to the exchange. So I call
Tiscali again and after explaining to the tech support person that nothing
had changed here (and yes, I have rebooted and the removed and re-added
the modem... it didn't help), and that it has been working fine for a
year. The only thing that has changed is that BT have had one of their
trainee engineers sticking his sweaty butter-fingers into the exchange.

She puts me on hold for four minutes, and comes back to tell me that she's
been speaking with the BT engineers and that there is a fault at the
exchange... and that it could take "upto a week" to fix.

They've got to be kidding. Ok, so it's BT's fault... but fucking hell. How
incompetent are BT that they can fuck up an upgrade like that, and then
say "it could take a week." I'm paying to watch a fucking light flash on
and off.

Cog wrote:

> A couple of weeks ago, I got a letter from Tiscali saying that on the 30th
> August, BT would be "upgrading" my exchange and the broadband access would
> be unavailable for a couple of hours.

They specifically said *BT* was doing that


> Well, OK... I thought.
>
> Come the 30th, and sure enough I wake up to find that my modem will no
> sync to the exchange. So I wait... and wait... and wait. All day in fact.
> I call call Tiscali tech support who tell me that it will be available by
> the end of the day. So I wait.
>
> Next morning, the modem still won't sync to the exchange. So I call
> Tiscali again and after explaining to the tech support person that nothing
> had changed here (and yes, I have rebooted and the removed and re-added
> the modem... it didn't help), and that it has been working fine for a
> year. The only thing that has changed is that BT have had one of their
> trainee engineers sticking his sweaty butter-fingers into the exchange.
>
> She puts me on hold for four minutes, and comes back to tell me that she's
> been speaking with the BT engineers and that there is a fault at the
> exchange... and that it could take "upto a week" to fix.
>
> They've got to be kidding. Ok, so it's BT's fault... but fucking hell. How
> incompetent are BT that they can fuck up an upgrade like that, and then
> say "it could take a week." I'm paying to watch a fucking light flash on
> and off.

Are you sure you're not being LLU'd instead ?

Graham

On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 10:52:47 +0100, Eeyore wrote:



> Cog wrote:
>
>> A couple of weeks ago, I got a letter from Tiscali saying that on the
>> 30th August, BT would be "upgrading" my exchange and the broadband
>> access would be unavailable for a couple of hours.
>
> They specifically said *BT* was doing that

The letter said "BT", specifically.

> Are you sure you're not being LLU'd instead ?

I can't be sure of anything... since Tiscali are notorious for poor tech
support, but I remember the letter being pretty clear that it was BT doing
the work. Unfortunately, the letter seems to have been lost in a general
clear out of papers so I can't triple check it.

Cog <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 10:52:47 +0100, Eeyore wrote:
>
>
>
>> Cog wrote:
>>
>>> A couple of weeks ago, I got a letter from Tiscali saying that on the
>>> 30th August, BT would be "upgrading" my exchange and the broadband
>>> access would be unavailable for a couple of hours.
>>
>> They specifically said *BT* was doing that
>
>The letter said "BT", specifically.
>
>> Are you sure you're not being LLU'd instead ?
>
>I can't be sure of anything... since Tiscali are notorious for poor tech
>support, but I remember the letter being pretty clear that it was BT doing
>the work. Unfortunately, the letter seems to have been lost in a general
>clear out of papers so I can't triple check it.


I received the same misinformation from Tiscali and later found that I
had been changed to an LLU circuit. There were many problems for the
first couple of weeks, none of which were even admitted, let alone
sorted out, by "Tiscali customer service" - Broadband Oxymoron of the
Year.

All the Indian person would do in response was read a prepared script
that told me the problems were all mine. There was no deviation from
the script, and no attempt to acknowledge the nature of my complaint.
My connection had worked perfectly for over a year, then didn't work
immediately after changes at the exchange, so of course it must have
been something *I* had done. How silly of me to suggest otherwise!

Anyway, the *really* bad news came later, when I tried to get a MAC
code in order to escape the woeful Tiscali for the green and pleasant
land of another broadband provider. They told me that because I had
been converted to an LLU circuit (this was news to me) they would not
give me a MAC code.

I had not consented to being converted to LLU. I wasn't even told.
But that's Tiscali. A bunch of incompetent rogues - the worst kind!

;-)

On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 12:44:23 +0100, Tony Polson wrote:

> All the Indian person would do in response was read a prepared script that
> told me the problems were all mine. There was no deviation from the
> script, and no attempt to acknowledge the nature of my complaint. My
> connection had worked perfectly for over a year, then didn't work
> immediately after changes at the exchange, so of course it must have been
> something *I* had done. How silly of me to suggest otherwise!

At least my Indian tech support person didn't do that. I told her that it
wouldn't sync with the exchange. She asked me if I had more than one phone
socket (no), she asked me if I could uninstall/reinstall the modem (told
her I had already done that)... and she asked to put me on hold... came
back after two minutes and asked me if I would hold a bit longer...two
more minutes and she returned to tell me that she had spoken directly
with the engineers and it was a fault at the exchange.

That was when she dropped the "up to a week" bombshell -- which I pointed
out was completely unacceptable.

On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 12:44:23 +0100, Tony Polson wrote:

> I received the same misinformation from Tiscali and later found that I
> had been changed to an LLU circuit.

I just called Tiscali tech support again... and this time asked
specifically who was responsible for the work: BT or Tiscali. The tech
support person responded: "Both. We are working together to provide you
with higher speed broadband access, but sometimes there are exchange
issues."

So I asked specifically whether this was a 'Local loop unbundling
problem"... and got the direct answer: "Yes it is an LLU issue."

> I had not consented to being converted to LLU. I wasn't even told.

Neither was I.

Cog wrote:

> On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 10:52:47 +0100, Eeyore wrote:
>
> > Cog wrote:
> >
> >> A couple of weeks ago, I got a letter from Tiscali saying that on the
> >> 30th August, BT would be "upgrading" my exchange and the broadband
> >> access would be unavailable for a couple of hours.
> >
> > They specifically said *BT* was doing that
>
> The letter said "BT", specifically.
>
> > Are you sure you're not being LLU'd instead ?
>
> I can't be sure of anything... since Tiscali are notorious for poor tech
> support, but I remember the letter being pretty clear that it was BT doing
> the work. Unfortunately, the letter seems to have been lost in a general
> clear out of papers so I can't triple check it.

There's some info @ samknows that suggests BT is installing new ADSL equipment
at your exchange right now. Likely that's the reason.

Curiously Tiscali LLU does appears to be available too but maybe there are no
spare circuits ?
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/ex...hp?ecode=LCACC

Graham

Cog wrote:

> On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 12:44:23 +0100, Tony Polson wrote:
>
> > I received the same misinformation from Tiscali and later found that I
> > had been changed to an LLU circuit.
>
> I just called Tiscali tech support again... and this time asked
> specifically who was responsible for the work: BT or Tiscali. The tech
> support person responded: "Both. We are working together to provide you
> with higher speed broadband access, but sometimes there are exchange
> issues."
>
> So I asked specifically whether this was a 'Local loop unbundling
> problem"... and got the direct answer: "Yes it is an LLU issue."
>
> > I had not consented to being converted to LLU. I wasn't even told.
>
> Neither was I.

Neither was I when Plusnet put me on Tiscali LLU ( their LLU supplier ) which
caused all manner of problems for a host of unrelated reasons too.

Plusnet also told me they wouldn't give me a MAC ( not possible they said ) but
finally relented. I had to leave just to get the line fault fixed. Idnet called
out BT promptly and the connection's spot on now ! What's the matter with these
ppl ? They seem to be willing to lose a customer rather than fix a fault.

Graham

Cog wrote:
> On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 12:44:23 +0100, Tony Polson wrote:
>
>> All the Indian person would do in response was read a prepared
>> script that told me the problems were all mine. There was no
>> deviation from the script, and no attempt to acknowledge the nature
>> of my complaint. My connection had worked perfectly for over a
>> year,
>> then didn't work immediately after changes at the exchange, so of
>> course it must have been something *I* had done. How silly of me
>> to
>> suggest otherwise!
>
> At least my Indian tech support person didn't do that. I told her
> that it wouldn't sync with the exchange. She asked me if I had more
> than one phone socket (no), she asked me if I could
> uninstall/reinstall the modem (told her I had already done that)...
> and she asked to put me on hold... came back after two minutes and
> asked me if I would hold a bit longer...two more minutes and she
> returned to tell me that she had spoken directly with the engineers
> and it was a fault at the exchange.
>
> That was when she dropped the "up to a week" bombshell -- which I
> pointed out was completely unacceptable.

Depends on what the fault is. Tiscali had their own bodge it &
scarper brigade (sorry contractors) install their equipment in BT's
exchanges so if there is a problem with that then yes a week is
perfectly acceptable. Now if it's just a jumper wire problem
(remember BT uses lengths of wire to connect the exchange to the aux
equipment & eventually the local loop, not switches as it's more
flexible & durable) then it should be able to get it resolved within
24 hours but it is down to Tiscali to get the wheels in motion.

Eeyore wrote:
> Cog wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 12:44:23 +0100, Tony Polson wrote:
>>
>>> I received the same misinformation from Tiscali and later found
>>> that I had been changed to an LLU circuit.
>>
>> I just called Tiscali tech support again... and this time asked
>> specifically who was responsible for the work: BT or Tiscali. The
>> tech support person responded: "Both. We are working together to
>> provide you with higher speed broadband access, but sometimes there
>> are exchange issues."
>>
>> So I asked specifically whether this was a 'Local loop unbundling
>> problem"... and got the direct answer: "Yes it is an LLU issue."
>>
>>> I had not consented to being converted to LLU. I wasn't even
>>> told.
>>
>> Neither was I.
>
> Neither was I when Plusnet put me on Tiscali LLU ( their LLU
> supplier
> ) which caused all manner of problems for a host of unrelated
> reasons
> too.
>
> Plusnet also told me they wouldn't give me a MAC ( not possible they
> said ) but finally relented. I had to leave just to get the line
> fault fixed. Idnet called out BT promptly and the connection's spot
> on now ! What's the matter with these ppl ? They seem to be willing
> to lose a customer rather than fix a fault.

Me thinks it more along the line of the fact that they haven't sorted
out any proper routes for communication when there is a fault