Loss of telephone

[Ember]

Last Tuesday a young person (no MORON) burned down the telephone exchange and consequently 30,000 phones were affected. All the phones in my street were restored the next day but MINE was only reconnected this morning.(Sunday). Any theories as to why I had to wait 5 days? Several (in fact many) calls to 151 had no response.

[andy hughes]

First, you need to contact '150' which is BT's Customer Service section. When you get connected, ask to speak to a Manager, and don't be fobbed off. Then ensure you get a name, Christian and Surnames, and raise your query. Ask to be called back within two working days, and finally, ask the Manager which 'site' he or she is speaking from. This will enable you to track them down again, and without the anonymity that enables them to slide out of doing anything, you should get a result. If not, re-post, and I'll find some more advice for you, and before you wonder, yes I DO work for BT, so I know all the tricks!

[Maudlettice]

Simply write to BT at the address for correspondence in your telephone book giving a summary of the circumstances and the exact period you were off-line. Did 151 offer you a free call divert to a mobile? If not, include that also. If handled politely and properly you will find that BT will be very much more than generous in cancelling a portion of your next bill.

[Ember]

Ta for the responses, in view of the circumstances at the loss of the phone I am not too cross with being off merely puzzled as to why everyone else was reconnected quickly i.e. in the same block of houses, my immediate three neighbours and yet mine was not, surely it would be the same line, or connection etc?

[Maudlettice]

Not necessarily. Its a bit technical, but, in utter simplicity, in the exchange the connections are grouped together in "blocks" or "racks". It is quite possible that your neighbours are in a different block or rack to you, and that their block was reconnected before yours. It has happened to me, four adjacent dwellings here are each in a different block at the exchange about a mile away and were reconnected days apart after the exchange was badly damaged in the 1987 hurricane.

[gnasher]

i work for bt so this is the way it is ............maude is right in sayin its most likley its a diff exchange however there are a number of reasons for this . Every line has to be connected to the exchange indivudully so the engeneer could have simply not connected yer line properly (they tend to take ages to do little jobs like reconnecting 1 person). and andy hughs says ask for surname but the advisor can refuse to give it . the reason for this is someone called one of the contact centres asked the surname of the girl . It want a very common name and the customer looked it up on 192.com and because he reconised she was from glasgow by the accent he read out her address........poor girl was terrified.....lol