Elderly Vulnerable Parents with no phone or internet service

[PaulD_48]

Around mid-day today my parent's Talk Talk line stopped working for voice and broadband.  This is a massive concern because they are very elderly, both are disabled, my father has a serious heart condition and breathing difficulties and I live 100miles away.  Not having a phone service puts them massively at risk.  What is more, they have an emergency/falls alarm system which keeps giving a warning message that there is no phone line connected, so in an emergency that will not work.

Incoming voice callers here a ringing tone but the phone at the house does not connect and neither does their answering machine.  For outgoing calls they cannot get a dial tone.  Broadband does not work at all.  We have carefully checked all the connections/cables etc and everything is connected properly and as it always has been.

Around mid-day I used the TalkTalk online system to report a fault.  An automatic remote test was carried out and it appears this did identify a fault.  However, if I go back now to check the fault status, I simply see a rotating circle of dots which continues forever and never displays the current status of the fault report.

I have completed the TT Community profile details to include my father's name (the account holder), their TT phone number and my mobile (because TT obviously cannot contact my father directly as he currently has no phone line or broadband service).

I also have lasting power of attorney for my father, so earlier today I submitted a Power of Attorney application, together with the official POA paperwork from the Office of the Public Guardian, to TalkTalk via email.

What else can I do to get this situation resolved quickly for my very vulnerable parents?

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi @PaulD_48 

Just checking to make sure that this fault has been fully resolved?

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Paul

I can see that Openreach closed the fault on Friday (late afternoon) as resolved.

Is everything working ok now?

[PaulD_48]

Thanks Debbie. Hopefully that means there will be some news soon.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Paul

I can see that the fault has been assigned to an engineer, we are just waiting for the engineer to provide further updates.

Thanks

[PaulD_48]

OK - thank you Debbie.  Obviously, the important thing is getting it fixed as soon as possible.  However, information on timescales is also helpful because it helps us work out what to do in the mean time.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Paul

Our escalations team have contacted Openreach and have requested that the engineer attend today to resolve this fault.

The only potential delays will be is if the fault underground or requires traffic management to access and resolve.

I will let you know as soon as the team come back to me.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Paul

I'm just speaking to our escalation team now and I will post back shortly.

[PaulD_48]

Hi Debbie,

Thank you.  Is there anything that can be done to actively escalate this, rather than just waiting for updates?  Also,is there any way to obtain some sort of estimate as to when an engineer will attend the exchange?  They have now been without service for almost 48 hours with no indication at all of how long this may go on for.

I also notice that the fault tracking says (at 07:21 yesterday): "Internet connection looks good".  However, the internet connection is not working (nor incoming or outgoing voice calls).

Many thanks,

Paul

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi

This fault is still with Openreach this morning, I will keep checking throughout the day for additional updates.

Thanks

Debbie

[ferguson]

Sadly, if there is an issue affecting the network side, you can but wait until Openreach have fixed it. 

[PaulD_48]

So, I've just gone back into the TT website to check status on my fault. It looks like still nothing has happened.  There have been no further updates since 08:08 this morning, when it said: "There is an issue with the line providing your connection. An engineer is on their way.  They will not need to come into your home".  It's starting to look like my very vulnerable, disabled and unwell elderly parents will go into another night without any phone or broadband service and, although an engineer has been "on their way" for almost 12 hours, they still haven't arrived.  What can I do except hope they are OK and don't have any overnight emergencies?

[Karl-TalkTalk]

No Problem 🙂

Karl 

[PaulD_48]

OK - thanks for checking Karl.

[Karl-TalkTalk]

Hi

just checked on the Openreach system, the fault is still in progress, no updates as yet.  If this has been assigned to a field engineer, this could be picked up at any time during the day, the engineers will be out until late.

Karl.

[PaulD_48]

Hi Debbie,

According to the online status update, the engineer has been "on their way" to the exchange since 8am this morning, so it appears they haven't arrived at the exchange yet.  Naturally, I am concerned about whether they will get there today and whether my very vulnerable parents might end up having another night with no phone, broadband service or emergency/falls alarm.

Do you know any more than the information I can see from the online status update?

Thank you again.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Puppy5

This will be an external line investigation, Openreach have not requested a visit to the property.

I will let you know as soon as they provide more updates.

Thanks again.

Debbie

[PaulD_48]

Thank you Debbie.  I can see that the fault status says an engineer is on their way to the exchange but will not need to visit the property.  Hopefully this means things will be fixed later today.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Puppy5

I'm really sorry to hear this.

The line test has detected a line fault so I have escalated this straight over to Openreach to be investigated by a line engineer.

I will continue to monitor for updates and I will post back on this thread.

Thanks

Debbie

[PaulD_48]

OK - thanks.

An extra complication is that my father now has very poor memory, so if TT call him on his mobile (which is not a TT number), 5 minutes later he will have almost certain forgotten what they tell him.  On his TT online profile, I have tried to change the contact mobile number to my own.  However, TT will not allow the mobile number to be changed unless the device is connected using the BB connection at the premises of the account holder, but that's not possible because the BB isn't working at the account holder's premises (plus, I am 100 miles away).  However, I have given my own mobile number in the TT Community profile so hopefully that will be sufficient.

I cannot change the contact email address (to my own) for the same reason, but it's not possible to access his TT account from the account holder's premises because the BB isn't working.  Of course, my father cannot contact his own email because has no BB service!

[ferguson]

You have done all you can in providing those details, the support team here will pick this up as soon as they can when they are back online tomorrow.