BT = Rip Off Merchants

[Kirkdale Boy]

So for the last few days, my landline as been making a terrible noise when in use.

Contacted BT, who inform me that if an engineer comes into my home, and as to replace the wiring or the socket on the wall, I could be liabel to a £130 charge.

I found this quite a cheek, as surely the socket/wiring belongs to BT, so why should I have to pay.

I have tried using a different phone and the same thing happens

In my mind, BT = daylight robbers, I thought Dick Turpin was dead

[stuart]

I am afraid you may be rather wrong on this.

The BT line you lease ends at the master socket. Any wiring & boxes beyond that belong to you. The installer (even if it was BT) will probably only warrant it for a year as is normal in most things. Gone are the days when the GPO owned everything including the handset, you rented the lot and the GPO was responsible for the lot.

The crucial question is whether the fault is your side or the BT side of the master socket. This is really easy to determine if you have a modern master socket. There are details on the BT website of how to plug a known working handset into the concealed test socket. If the fault persists then BT will fix it for free.

If it it doesn't - then the problem is with your wiring, boxes or something attached to them. At least you now have a good working phone while you troubleshoot your problem.

Keep calm, BT have to tell you if, because of a problem that is not theirs, they will charge to fix it. That's quite reasonable.

HTH,
Stuart

[Kirkdale Boy]

Stuart

Thanks for the info, very helpful.

Think I will just close the lone and use the moby instead.

Still think this is a rip off, as you dont pay British Gas to come and checkwhen you have a gas leak, surely the pipes that supply the gas in your home also belong to you, therefore you should pay for any repairs.

[stuart]

There is a big difference. Gas leaks kill. Hesitating about calling the Gas people can not only kill you but people next door. That's why its free, its fast and a burden a gas supplier must take and re-distribute in all our bills.

Re landlines - their main justification these days is to carry broadband.

Stuart

[Pantwetter]

We had no dialling tone for ages and finally phoned BT about it. No charge though so I'm confused. The problem was outside where the line enters the house.

This of course won't help you, just thought I'd share!

[stuart]

BT have rsponsibility up to the first (master) socket inside the house. Hence no charge.

My mum had a really nasty but intermittant crackle. I was pretty sure it wasn't in the house so I took the risk. Turned out it was on the line down the road where a tree branch had worn away the insulation. No charge.

BT can also remotely check if you remove any devices that could be causing interference (fax, broadband routers, microfilters). Also the cables are in good shape and the dog hasn't got its teeth into a junction box ...

Stuart

[Kirkdale Boy]

Only problem is that BT are saying, do you want an engineer to check. So if I say yes, then they find that the wiring/socket in my home is duff, I will have to pay the £130

Do these sockets/wring normally just pack up ?

[Rachael]

You are responsible for most services once they are within the boundaries of your property. There was a leak in the water mains outside my house. As the leak was within my property boundary, I was responsible for the repairs. If I didn't fix it, Thames Water had the legal right to enter my property, carry out the repairs, and pursue me legally for the costs.

You're not going to have those issues with BT, but you are responsible for the wiring inside your house. Would you expect your electricity supplier to be responsible for the wiring from your mains supply cable to your light switches and sockets?

Have you asked your neighbours if they have the same problem? That might help determine where the fault originates.