BT's "report a fault"

What a farce.

Dial 100 - select the option to test your line, enter your phone number,
confirm it's correct to the robot.

The robot implores you to remain on the line whilst announcing that your
BB connection might get reset if it's active (I've disconnected my DSL
router because I want to demonstrate that I've a noisy line).

Then the robot tells you to remain on the line at all costs.

The the robot says it can't finish the test because the line's busy...

Irony or farce? Not sure - I *do* now that 17070 quiet line test is not
quiet - there's an audio chirp on it a few times a minute as well as
some background clicks.

The reason I am trying to report it now is because my BB has vanished;
loss of sync every few minutes means I can't keep a stable connection
up. It's been raining Datsun Cogs here and the overhead line to our
domestic master socket has always been ropey.

How do I actually contact a humanoid even if it's the other side of
wherever and difficult to make myself understood?

On Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:59:38 +0000, DDS <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<(E-Mail Removed)>:

>What a farce.
>
>Dial 100 - select the option to test your line, enter your phone number,
>confirm it's correct to the robot.
>
>The robot implores you to remain on the line whilst announcing that your
>BB connection might get reset if it's active (I've disconnected my DSL
>router because I want to demonstrate that I've a noisy line).
>
>Then the robot tells you to remain on the line at all costs.
>
>The the robot says it can't finish the test because the line's busy...
>
>Irony or farce? Not sure - I *do* now that 17070 quiet line test is not
>quiet - there's an audio chirp on it a few times a minute as well as
>some background clicks.
>
>The reason I am trying to report it now is because my BB has vanished;
>loss of sync every few minutes means I can't keep a stable connection
>up. It's been raining Datsun Cogs here and the overhead line to our
>domestic master socket has always been ropey.
>
>How do I actually contact a humanoid even if it's the other side of
>wherever and difficult to make myself understood?

The retail arm of BT fired its last human being in, I believe, 1994. It is
at least theoretically possible, although often extremely difficult, to
communicate using human speech via (a working) phone with a subcontract
cyborg on the other side of the world---but said cyborg cannot help with
broadband faults.

Only your ISP can attempt to get a broadband fault fixed.

So complain to your ISP, describing both the behaviour of the broadband
connection and the result of the quiet line test.

And good luck...


--
Regards, Peter Boulding
(E-Mail Removed) (to e-mail, remove "UNSPAM")
Fractal Images and Music: http://www.pboulding.co.uk/
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...&content=music

On Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:42:59 +0000, Peter Boulding
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:59:38 +0000, DDS <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
><(E-Mail Removed)>:
>
>>What a farce.
>>
>>Dial 100 - select the option to test your line, enter your phone number,
>>confirm it's correct to the robot.
>>
>>The robot implores you to remain on the line whilst announcing that your
>>BB connection might get reset if it's active (I've disconnected my DSL
>>router because I want to demonstrate that I've a noisy line).
>>
>>Then the robot tells you to remain on the line at all costs.
>>
>>The the robot says it can't finish the test because the line's busy...
>>
>>Irony or farce? Not sure - I *do* now that 17070 quiet line test is not
>>quiet - there's an audio chirp on it a few times a minute as well as
>>some background clicks.
>>
>>The reason I am trying to report it now is because my BB has vanished;
>>loss of sync every few minutes means I can't keep a stable connection
>>up. It's been raining Datsun Cogs here and the overhead line to our
>>domestic master socket has always been ropey.
>>
>>How do I actually contact a humanoid even if it's the other side of
>>wherever and difficult to make myself understood?
>
>The retail arm of BT fired its last human being in, I believe, 1994. It is
>at least theoretically possible, although often extremely difficult, to
>communicate using human speech via (a working) phone with a subcontract
>cyborg on the other side of the world---but said cyborg cannot help with
>broadband faults.
>
>Only your ISP can attempt to get a broadband fault fixed.
>
>So complain to your ISP, describing both the behaviour of the broadband
>connection and the result of the quiet line test.
>
>And good luck...

With respect that's bad advice.
What the OP should do in the first instance is report the noisy line
to BT and not even mention the broadband.

There is every reason to believe that once the voice line is fixed so
will the broadband.

With any luck in this weather an undergound cable chamber will be
flooded and half his village will have similar problems in which case
it may get mended without him even reporting it...
....eventually.



--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%

On Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:42:59 +0000, Peter Boulding wrote:
> Only your ISP can attempt to get a broadband fault fixed.
>
> So complain to your ISP, describing both the behaviour of the broadband
> connection and the result of the quiet line test.
>
> And good luck...

Speaking to Virgin about broadband faults is a joke. When I had problems
this is the hassle I had:

1. Forced to phone premium rate technical support number even though I
was reporting a fault, not asking for support.

2. Virgin kept raising a fault with BT that I couldn't make phone calls
instead of that I couldn't use the Internet.

3. Virgin requested BT to send an engineer out and told them the problem
was I couldn't make phone calls. The result was that someone from BT came
out that didn't know anything about ADSL.

4. Virgin closed the fault without talking to me, even though I still had
no broadband. Apparently my router managed to make a connection and they
assumed that it was now working.

5. When I finally had enough and said I wanted to cancel they responded
by offering me a month's free internet as long as I agreed to a new 12
month contract. Yeah, thanks Virgin, I really want to be locked into 12
months of something that doesn't work.

On Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:59:38 +0000, DDS wrote:

>How do I actually contact a humanoid even if it's the other side of
>wherever and difficult to make myself understood?

Deal with the voice side first and see if there is still an adsl
problem once that's sorted. If there is still an adsl problem your isp
has to report it.

Try www.bt.com and look for the fault reporting page and log your fault
on that.

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail rpont (at) gmail (dot) com

DDS wrote, on 04/01/2012 22:59:
> What a farce.
>
> Dial 100 - select the option to test your line, enter your phone number,
> confirm it's correct to the robot.
>
> The robot implores you to remain on the line whilst announcing that your
> BB connection might get reset if it's active (I've disconnected my DSL
> router because I want to demonstrate that I've a noisy line).
>
> Then the robot tells you to remain on the line at all costs.
>
> The the robot says it can't finish the test because the line's busy...
>
> Irony or farce? Not sure - I *do* now that 17070 quiet line test is not
> quiet - there's an audio chirp on it a few times a minute as well as
> some background clicks.
>
> The reason I am trying to report it now is because my BB has vanished;
> loss of sync every few minutes means I can't keep a stable connection
> up. It's been raining Datsun Cogs here and the overhead line to our
> domestic master socket has always been ropey.
>
> How do I actually contact a humanoid even if it's the other side of
> wherever and difficult to make myself understood?

From BT's web site (for your information because I realise that your
broadband is not working):

===== quote =====

A faulty phone line

Call us

7am to 11pm, 7 days a week (and automated system outside these hours)

From a landline: 0800 800 151
From a mobile: 0330 123 4151*
From abroad: +44 179 359 6931**

===== end quote =====

--
Dave N

On Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:21:12 +0000, Dave N <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>DDS wrote, on 04/01/2012 22:59:
>> What a farce.
>>
>> Dial 100 - select the option to test your line, enter your phone number,
>> confirm it's correct to the robot.
>>
>> The robot implores you to remain on the line whilst announcing that your
>> BB connection might get reset if it's active (I've disconnected my DSL
>> router because I want to demonstrate that I've a noisy line).
>>
>> Then the robot tells you to remain on the line at all costs.
>>
>> The the robot says it can't finish the test because the line's busy...
>>
>> Irony or farce? Not sure - I *do* now that 17070 quiet line test is not
>> quiet - there's an audio chirp on it a few times a minute as well as
>> some background clicks.
>>
>> The reason I am trying to report it now is because my BB has vanished;
>> loss of sync every few minutes means I can't keep a stable connection
>> up. It's been raining Datsun Cogs here and the overhead line to our
>> domestic master socket has always been ropey.
>>
>> How do I actually contact a humanoid even if it's the other side of
>> wherever and difficult to make myself understood?
>
> From BT's web site (for your information because I realise that your
>broadband is not working):
>
>===== quote =====
>
>A faulty phone line
>
>Call us
>
>7am to 11pm, 7 days a week (and automated system outside these hours)
>
> From a landline: 0800 800 151
> From a mobile: 0330 123 4151*
> From abroad: +44 179 359 6931**
>
>===== end quote =====
Or just 151 from a BT line, or 100 and navigate through the options.

--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%

On 05/01/2012 07:11, Rodney Pont wrote:
> On Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:59:38 +0000, DDS wrote:
>
>> How do I actually contact a humanoid even if it's the other side of
>> wherever and difficult to make myself understood?
>
> Deal with the voice side first and see if there is still an adsl
> problem once that's sorted. If there is still an adsl problem your isp
> has to report it.
>
> Try www.bt.com and look for the fault reporting page and log your fault
> on that.
>
Good advice.
I went through exactly the same loop as the OP a few weeks ago.
I then used the bt.com reporting system and everything then swung into
action, with texts being received reporting progress along the way.
It was fixed later that day, despite the texts giving me a target fix
date of three days hence.

George