topic Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far in Home Phone

Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

DB2212 — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 18:11:55 GMT

Hi,

I am trying to get help for my parents, both in their 80's, who haven't been able to make or receive phone calls for over a week.
My father has tried using the automated bot for help but finds himself going round in circles and achieving nothing.
He has managed to speak to a human being, but the caller hung up on him before the problem was resolved.
Today, I managed to run a fault test online and it showed there is a fault - REP-13551902.

Why is this so difficult to report for elder1y people who aren't "tech savvy" in the slightest.

It's disgraceful that an elderly couple aren't getting the vital service that they're paying through the nose for.

Is there anyone here who can help resolve this farce?

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

KeithFrench — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 21:01:09 GMT

I have asked one of TalkTalk's support to pick your thread up and investigate it for you.

They aim to respond within 48 hours (Monday - Friday) excluding Bank Holidays, but if more urgent you can always try the Service Centre on 0345 172 0088. The posts are responded to in time/date order, oldest first. Please try to avoid posting on here until TalkTalk has responded to you, otherwise, this will just put you further down the queue.

To save yourself time, please make sure that this community profile includes your parent's first & last names, broadband phone number & if possible an alternative contact number. This can be done by clicking on your Avatar picture then click on "My Settings" followed by:-

Personal Profile > Personal Information

Otherwise, TalkTalk will not be able to tie up your forum username to your broadband account. Only you & TalkTalk have visibility of your details.

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

Debbie-TalkTalk — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 06:15:14 GMT

Hi DB2212

I'm so sorry to hear this.

Please can you add your name, your parents name and TalkTalk landline number to your Community Profile, I can then take a look at this for you.

Thanks

Debbie

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

DB2212 — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 14:32:40 GMT

Hi Debbie,
Thanks for looking into this.
Dad tried to talk to someone again to day. 40 minutes on the call before he lost connection with them and they haven't called him back.
They suggested dealing with it online, but he just isn't capable of doing that.

Doug

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

Debbie-TalkTalk — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 06:31:17 GMT

Hi Doug

Thanks for your reply and apologies again for the issues you are experiencing.

The line test is detecting a potential line fault so I have escalated this straight over to Openreach to be investigated by a line engineer.

I will monitor for updates and I will post back on this thread as soon as I have further information from Openreach.

Thanks again.

Debbie

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

Debbie-TalkTalk — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 12:58:06 GMT

Hi Doug

This fault is still with the Openreach line engineers, there are no additional updates as yet.

I will continue to monitor this.

Thanks

Debbie

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

Debbie-TalkTalk — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 11:06:35 GMT

Hi Doug

Just to keep you updated, the fault is still in hand with Openreach.

Thanks

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

Debbie-TalkTalk — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 06:22:59 GMT

Good Morning Doug

Openreach have now closed the fault as resolved. Is everything working ok now?

Thanks

Debbie

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

DB2212 — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 15:53:51 GMT

Hi Debbie,

Thanks for the update.
I have just spoken to my parents and they have mixed news. They finally have a line that receives and makes outgoing calls, but on only one of their 4 phones. All 4 phones worked prior to this fault, now they only have 1 working phone.

Doug

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

Debbie-TalkTalk — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 06:44:07 GMT

Hi Doug

Thanks for your reply.

Just confirm, are they using cordless phones? Are there extension sockets at your parents house?

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

DB2212 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 07:06:21 GMT

Corded and cordless.
Presumably there are extension sockets, but they're the same sockets that all worked 2 weeks ago

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

Debbie-TalkTalk — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 07:10:46 GMT

Hi Doug

Before I raised the fault for you, did an engineer attend at the property?

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

DB2212 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 12:47:23 GMT

Hi Debbie, the Openreach engineer worked in the street but did not attend my parent's property.

Doug

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

Anonymous — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 12:55:15 GMT

Good afternoon,

Thanks for confirming. Usually the extension sockets would only stop working if the engineer removed/disconnected them from the main socket within the property. If the main socket has a dial tone and the extension sockets no longer work then it sounds like a possible internal wiring fault has developed.

Just a thought, did any of our technical team ask your parents to remove the faceplate from the main socket to test at the test socket as this would stop any extension sockets from working?

Thanks

Michelle

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

DB2212 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 13:20:44 GMT

I don't think they asked them to do that.
After the initial fault occurred, I had a look at the main socket and noted that the faceplate didn't fully clip on to the wall mounted part, but my father assured me that it had always been like that.

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

Debbie-TalkTalk — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 13:35:41 GMT

Hi Doug

If they are hard wired into the face plate then this may have become loosened.

Would it be possible to check if the faceplate can be connected securely?

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

DB2212 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 13:42:35 GMT

I'll try to get over to see them later this week and look again. When I looked at it last week, it felt as if one of the clips had broken on one side. BUT, as I said, it's been like this for many years

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

Debbie-TalkTalk — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 13:50:05 GMT

Hi Doug

If there is a fault with the faceplate and internal wiring then we can look to arrange a TalkTalk engineer to take a look at this.

Thanks

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

DB2212 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 13:57:19 GMT

Thank you Debbie, I'll pass this on to them.

Doug

Re: Elderly parents have no landline - 8 days so far

Debbie-TalkTalk — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 13:58:53 GMT

Hi Doug

Thank you 🙂