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Thread: Openreach - what do I do now?!

  1. #1
    Master
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    Openreach - what do I do now?!

    I had an appointment with Openreach today (coordinated by Sky) to come and install broadband at the house I am moving into this Friday. I waited patiently for them to arrive between 1300-1800hrs only to get a text at 1805hrs saying the appointment had been cancelled and I can book another on their customer services phone line.

    The next available appointment is a week on Thursday, despite my best efforts to firmly insist on a sooner appointment. I work from home at the moment. I need internet. What am I supposed to do now?

    Does anyone have a contact at Openreach?

  2. #2
    Master
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    Can you not use mobile data in the interim?

  3. #3
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jeremy67 View Post
    Can you not use mobile data in the interim?
    I could yes, but I will go over my monthly allowance in a day with ease.

  4. #4
    What can you do? Sod all, Openreach are without doubt the most incompetent company in this country. They aren’t customer facing and will only deal with your service provider.....it all needs to be done through sky who are, unfortunately for you, as much use as tits on a nun. Good luck

  5. #5
    Master alfat33's Avatar
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    Openreach - what do I do now?!

    You can write to Clive Selley @ openreach.co.uk (he is the CEO, the email address is as you’d expect). Your email should be picked up by the CEO’s customer service team who will investigate on his behalf. It’s not much, but your issue will get slightly more attention and it is worth trying.

    Edit: corrected url, thanks bry nylon
    Last edited by alfat33; 7th June 2021 at 21:01.

  6. #6
    Master
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    ^^ that is a good shout but its @openreach.co.uk

  7. #7
    Master Skier's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rico View Post
    I could yes, but I will go over my monthly allowance in a day with ease.
    There are several providers that offer unlimited data: Smarty, 3, O2. I used the 4G networks for years until very recently when I sold my rural home. In my experience EE was fastest but it doesn't offer an unlimited data deal; SMARTY is cheap and runs on the 3 network but was throttled at the start of lockdown, 3 was simply unreliable for me. O2 more expensive but 100% reliable.

  8. #8
    Craftsman
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    Quote Originally Posted by Skier View Post
    There are several providers that offer unlimited data: Smarty, 3, O2. I used the 4G networks for years until very recently when I sold my rural home. In my experience EE was fastest but it doesn't offer an unlimited data deal; SMARTY is cheap and runs on the 3 network but was throttled at the start of lockdown, 3 was simply unreliable for me. O2 more expensive but 100% reliable.
    I have EE, been with them since Orange first started. They used to have a tariff match all those years ago but when it changed to EE that stopped, however I tried it recently in that I was leaving unless they matched 3 network with an unlimited data plan which they did no issues, but getting back on topic I travel far and wide and EE has/is very reliable and fast for me 99% of the time

    BT/Openreach are hopeless, 2 weeks ago they fitted a landline to our static (junction box/router), 1 day later they said there was a problem and it could now take up to 2 weeks, week later I got a text saying my contract had been cancelled and terminated. I tried numerous numbers to different departments and got nowhere to an explanation. The following day got another text saying I could now place another order when I'm ready, the following day I got another text 'we'd appreciate a feedback survey' you can imagine the response, you couldn't make it up :)

  9. #9
    Master
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    Have you tried contacting sky and asked them what they propose?

  10. #10
    Master
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    Speak to Sky as that's who your contract is with.
    I had an issue with sky a few years back and ended using the chat function and screenshot the responses so there was no getting out of it when they promised things they didn't deliver.

    Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

  11. #11
    Master alfat33's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bry nylon View Post
    ^^ that is a good shout but its @openreach.co.uk
    Indeed, thanks, corrected.

  12. #12
    Master Christian's Avatar
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    A pay-as-you go sim card shouldn’t cost you much for a months unlimited data…£35 unlimited 5G data on giffgaff (as long as you are in a good signal area).

  13. #13
    Master
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    I hate to say it but you are stuffed,you cant contact BT and Sky will have little or no sway with them.

    Openreach is a disgrace.

  14. #14
    Grand Master Chris_in_the_UK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Franky Four Fingers View Post
    What can you do? Sod all, Openreach are without doubt the most incompetent company in this country. They aren’t customer facing and will only deal with your service provider.....it all needs to be done through sky who are, unfortunately for you, as much use as tits on a nun. Good luck
    This, they are the installation arm and have no process for dealing direct with the end user whatsoever.
    When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........

  15. #15
    Grand Master Mr Curta's Avatar
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    Bin off Sky and go with a provider that has decent customer service and you can speak to real people. They might cost a few quid more but it can be well worth it. Zen FTW
    Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Curta View Post
    Bin off Sky and go with a provider that has decent customer service and you can speak to real people. They might cost a few quid more but it can be well worth it. Zen FTW
    Problem is, if like me you don’t have the luxury of Virgin and you have to rely on conventional infrastructure then at some point OpenBreach have to get involved. I looked at all providers from Sky to plus net and sadly they all need OpenBreach

  17. #17
    Grand Master Mr Curta's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Franky Four Fingers View Post
    Problem is, if like me you don’t have the luxury of Virgin and you have to rely on conventional infrastructure then at some point OpenBreach have to get involved. I looked at all providers from Sky to plus net and sadly they all need OpenBreach
    Yeah, Zen use Openreach. The difference is in how they work with you and the provider. When Vodafone screwed up installation Zen persuaded Openreach to reinstate our fibre on the same day despite them initially saying it usually took a couple of weeks.
    Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Curta View Post
    Yeah, Zen use Openreach. The difference is in how they work with you and the provider. When Vodafone screwed up installation Zen persuaded Openreach to reinstate our fibre on the same day despite them initially saying it usually took a couple of weeks.
    Ah, fair play, Sky were next to useless when I moved in here back in Nov 19, it took them 4 months plus to sort the problem.

  19. #19
    Grand Master Mr Curta's Avatar
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    Never, ever, ever go with Vodafone BTW. Lying shysters tried to fob me off with a tale about the duct being collapsed when I could see that the 'engineer' had turned up with a way too short cobra reel. It was an absolute feat managing to speak to someone as well, having started off with their dreadful chatbot thing and then online text with some poor fellow half way across the world who took a lot of persuading to hand over a UK phone number.
    Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH

  20. #20
    Grand Master Carlton-Browne's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Curta View Post
    Never, ever, ever go with Vodafone BTW.
    Funnily enough we've just binned Vodafone at work and their number porting team have been an absolute arse. I'm looking forward to the next phone call from a sales person where I get to explain why I won't be putting them on a tender list any time soon.
    In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.

  21. #21
    Craftsman
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    I'd call your mobile provider and ask if you can buy an extra bundle of bandwidth for this month and tether the phone until openreach arrive. Might cost £20-40 but probably cheapest option.

    If it's likely to drag on then maybe a cheapish Mifi device (£40-60) and GiffGaff 100Gig SIM (£20/month) would be a more enduring option if the O2 signal is OK there, you can see nearest mast on their site: https://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker

  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by rico View Post
    I could yes, but I will go over my monthly allowance in a day with ease.
    So as it’s their fault they should make a GOGW of approx £15 for you to buy data - you will need to receipt it in some way

    That’s what my firm does in such circumstances

    Also - why was the appointment missed? If your order is now in implementation delay (it will be) there will be notes that CS can see as to the real reason - and manage your expectation

    You’ll not get a quicker appointment I’m guessing


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  23. #23
    Oh btw

    It’s sky you need to speak to as mentioned

    They will have a middleman that then updates talks to sky

    So you’ll be on a 48 hr SLA for updates when you call sky as they have to wait for the info from OR

    The advantage of sky is that their off the shelf standard router is recognised by the ISP community as the best available - the CS is fine once you get on

    Ultimately they are then skin over the skeleton of OR - just like the firm I work for

    So don’t feel fobbed off when they tell you there’s no update for 48 working hrs - they are telling you what they can see - however, there is the possibility of them contacting the middleman to chase things for a faster update but it won’t change the appointment if that’s what’s been offered

    It’d have been better if connected today and went faulty tomorrow as faults work faster than installs

    Good luck - just get a Gesture if goodwill from them for you out of pocket data (£15 is about the norm)


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  24. #24
    Master
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    If you are in an area where 3 has a good signal they are doing some cracking deals. I have 2 unlimited everything (mins, txt and data) sims for £20 for 6 months and £30 for the remainder of the contract (that's for both sims total price)
    I've not shifted from 3 for a while so signing up for 24 month contracts made sense but 12 and rolling monthly contracts were similarly cheap (i think it was 5 and 10 extra a month)

    Personally if at all possible go with Virgin, they couldn't install us immediately so gave us a free mifi box and a sim card that has 5gb of data on it but automatically switches to unlimited if there is an outage and they switched it to unlimited immediately. Better than BT who we were with who stuffed up our move so badly and then were extraordinarily rude about it.

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