Loss of landline services

[asdfg11]

I lost the landline service sometime around 12th July. I have no problems with full fibre internet and TV services, only the landline phone. I have reported the issue twice (fault ref Numbers: 3-1219692616894 & 4-1217604193486). On each occasion talktalk have arranged for an Openreach engineer to visit but the fault appears to be with an overhead copper wire running from a telegraph pole whilst the engineers have only been able to deal with fibre problems. Both engineers reported the issue back to Openreach and said I would receive a follow up visit. In neither case has this happened. Openreach cannot be contacted directly. How can I get an Openreach engineer who CAN deal with copper wire issues to visit my property?    

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi asdfg11

Thanks for keeping us updated.

If you do experience any further issues then please let us know. We do have to report faults to Openreach, this can't be done by the customer, we report the fault for you.

[asdfg11]

Hi Michelle,

I received a compensation notification from talktalk yesterday. Thankyou.

The thing that strikes me most is that rather than having to route all enquiries through talktalk as the provider, a simple phone call from the customer to Openreach directly should have allowed this problem to have been resolved within a week at most. Nevertheless thanks once again to all in the community who have helped me with this over the past few months.   

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Please let us know how you get on.

Thanks 

Michelle 🙂

[asdfg11]

Many thanks to everyone in the community who has helped me with this one. 

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Hi  @asdfg11 

I have asked the Auto compensation team to investigate this

Once the investigation is complete you will receive an SMS/Email.

Regards

[Gliwmaeden2]

@CMJTW, you need to return to the message board and click on start a topic to begin your own thread.

Staff support the original poster only on each help thread.

Also make sure that you have completed your community forum profile details. Add your Talktalk landline number to Personal Information. Go via your avatar/name; settings. SAVE CHANGES. 

Staff need this information to identify your account. 

[Gliwmaeden2]

@asdfg11, there won't be a reduction in billing because if auto-compensation is due it is a generous daily amount.  See the link I sent you much earlier in this thread.

If you need to query your bill, post afresh in the billing section of the forum. 

[CMJTW]

My landline rang for a very brief period this afternoon and then stopped . I picked the phone up to dial 1471 to see which spammer had called me but the line was dead. I unplugged the phone from the socket and tried again but now it is completely dead. When I try and try and  call my landline I get a busy tone. How do I fix this?

[asdfg11]

Hi Michelle,

Similar to my previous bill, my latest bill includes no reduction in the landline charge to compensate for the three weeks I was without those services during July and August, and nothing to compensate for the time I wasted waiting for contact from Openreach that was never going to come because talktalk had cancelled their jobs without first having checked if their work was complete.  How best to pursue these issues?  

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Ok thanks for the update and please let us know if you need any further assistance.

Thanks

[asdfg11]

Many thanks. I think you have explained what happened to my Fridays posts in response to Chris' last post.

[Gliwmaeden2]

@asdfg11, auto compensation should kick in but takes a month to show. If it doesn't, then post afresh in the billing section for staff to chase it up.

When posting, make sure the blue button turns to pink. Otherwise it won't show, and there will be no record of it on the forum.

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi asdfg11,

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean about the missing communication? 

please also see - About your auto compensation credit - TalkTalk Help & Support

Thanks

Chris

[asdfg11]

Hi Chris,

This thread is missing the last communications between us regarding my landline issues, including confirmation that Openreach's engineers managed to restore the line on Friday August 4th. Can you update the thread as it constitutes an almost complete history of the issue.

Also, my latest bill includes charges for the landline service and boosts during the period 8th July to August 7th, a 31 day period for at least 23 days of which I had no service. It's also the case that part of the reason I had no service is because on two occasions talktalk closed off Openreach jobs before they had completed their work. On each occasion (because there is no way of communicating directly with Openreach to check whether they would be returning) I wasted a full week anticipating an arrival that never came. It strikes me that in addition to adjusting my bill, talktalk should be offering me some form of compensation if only for the number of hours I've had to devote to resolving what, in the end, seemed to be a relatively straightforward job.    

Thanks for your assistance

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi asdfg11,

Thanks for the update

Thanks for the update. Unfortunately cancelling the phone service wouldn't make any difference to your monthly bill as broadband and phone are sold as a package and aren't available individually

VoIP should be available with our Future Fibre service (FTTP). If you are thinking of upgrading there is more information here - Guide to Full Fibre and FTTP | TalkTalk

Chris

[asdfg11]

Hi Chris, 

The engineer from Openreach’s sub contractor (Circet telecoms) arrived at the same conclusion as the first engineer who visited on July 17th. The problem appears to be damage to the line extending from the telegraph pole at the rear of my property to the house itself. A secondary problem is that the line is routed through large trees (not mine) also at the rear of the property. I’m led to understand that the trees, along with recent bad weather conditions, are the likely source of the damage and that a new wire will be required before my landline connection can be reactivated. Given the size of the trees this will first require Openreach to organise the cutting back of some  branches. The engineer is now progressing this with Openreach.  

In order to avoid what is developing into a major job, he suggested asking if talktalk could switch my landline phone service over to something called Voice Over IP (available through the fibre service providing broadband and TV, he told me). I, on the other hand, am wondering if the simplest option might not be simply to have talktalk cancel the landline altogether? Can you tell me: a) if VOIP is an option and b) what difference cancelling the landline would make to my monthly bill?  

Thanks

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi asdfg11,

Thanks for the update, apologies for any inconvenience

Chris

[asdfg11]

Hi Karl,

You probably won't be surprised to learn that, far from being past the point of no return, an Openreach sub-contractor arrived (without any prior warning of course) just as we were about to leave the house at 1pm. We've had to make a few re-arrangements to our day because initially he DID need access to the interior of the property. He is now attempting to resolve the issue. I'll let you know if he is successful. He did tell me that "the frames team" would not have been the appropriate people to deal with the matter!

Thanks as ever I wouldn't have got this far without your assistance. 

[Karl-TalkTalk]

Hi

latest update from 04:00 today is that fault is now past point of no return, meaning we cannot make changes, and looks like it is assigned to the frames team.

Karl.

[asdfg11]

Yes, please get the first available. It shouldn't matter whether I'm here or not as they should not need access inside the property and the gate will be open to allow access to the rear. It still seems incredible to me that they won't communicate with the customer even to let them know when they are likely to arrive!  

Thanks again