Moved a BT master socket

[Gavin John Hyde]

Had a call this morning, customer come back from visiting family and during the recent up and down weather it appears rain has got in and damaged the BT master socket. they had no phone/broadband I moved it from one corner to underneath the built in shelving in lounge. outside the wall where the BT cable comes in is mud, debris plants etc.. the water had pooled in the area and found a way in as the hole is very low down and not sealed. the floor inside is below ground level by around a foot inside.
Called me as the open reach engineer was going off on one telling them they will have to pay for the call out as quote 'somebody has moved this and its not allowed, it is open reach property' you know the usual script they stick too.
I actually moved it to the other side of room around 18 months ago and have now moved it back owing to redecorating.
they said nobody has touched it (its in exactly the place originally fitted and same plastic fittings)... in any case its the cable and hole openreach/bt drilled that allowed water to get in!
They are refusing to pay the call out charge that the engineer is trying to bill them, they have told the person on the phone that if they issue a bill then they will issue small claims proceedings for the water damage caused by BT drilling a hole in a stupid place and allowing water to enter the property damaging the plaster and wall etc.. apparently somebody will call them back on Monday to discuss it.

Anybody else had issues with the openreach lot being a pain in the backside!?

I have moved loads of bt points and dont see what the problem is myself... it wasnt my handywork that caused the issue but the inability of a bloke to drill a hole and seal it!

 

[alasdairp]

My experience of Open Reach engineers is that if the job was done properly (using BT type cable and crimps or an IDC connector plate) they are quite happy. Modern BT Master Sockets have an internal connector where you are allowed to extend the line to other sockets. They now omit the transorb in Master Sockets which was there to limit high voltages from lightning strikes as "we had to replace far too many"!!! - also because it was limiting broad-band speeds due to its capacitance - so it is now up to customers to unplug or otherwise protect their phones and routers - this applies mostly to areas with overhead telephone wires. Few people know about this.

What they are not happy about - and neither would any of us be (!) - is where they are called out to a fault that was effectively created by someone else (i.e. not a BT engineer). Why should BT/Open Reach cover the cost of sorting a problem that was not created by them? There are lots of really crappy DIY changes out there which is why they ended up with such a strict charging policy. I suspect a decent job done properly by a skilled electrician would not be a problem. You do need to use BT type cable and accessories, though (not CAT5 !).

 

[brianmoooore]

Moved dozens of BT masters over the years, usually to just inside the loft hatch, prior to full refurb jobs, with never a murmur from Openreach or their predecessors.
On one occasion, when I tested the line afterwards, I found I couldn't disconnect from the person (my wife at home) that I called. As we stayed on the line, more and more subscribers on the thankfully fairly small local exchange started appearing on the line, all finding that they couldn't leave either. Hotel California springs to mind.
I quietly replaced my handset and went on my way.
On the subject of moving electricity meters, mentioned earlier in this thread, I once not only removed a meter, but the service head, the board it was mounted on, and the complete service cable, right back to the external pole it was spured off, coiled the cable up neatly, put the whole thing in a large cardboard box, and put it in a safe place.
Unfortunately, I wasn't on site the day the meter reader came calling, and missed all the ensuing fun when this cardboard box was presented to him. Apparently he went absolutely ape, jumping up and down, shouting his head off, and promising to have the whole lot of us jailed for at least ten years, before storming off.
There's more to this story, both before and after, but needless to say, we never heard a thing from the REC.

 

[Octopus]

Well .............. just to add to the amusement ....... the last 2 refurbs I have dealt with both needed the BT master moved and extended.

In both cases the customers organised it and paid for it

In both cases the BT engineer came along did the work plus left me with a large coil of cable so I could place the BT master where ever I wanted ........

 

[123]

Well .............. just to add to the amusement ....... the last 2 refurbs I have dealt with both needed the BT master moved and extended.

In both cases the customers organised it and paid for it

In both cases the BT engineer came along did the work plus left me with a large coil of cable so I could place the BT master where ever I wanted ........

So after they "installed it", leaving you to properly finish it?

That sounds similar to BT over here, last couple of new builds they have left it strewn across the floor and said get your spark to put it where you want it.

Sky installers can be rough and lazy, but BT installers seem to take the biscuit.

 

[Octopus]

So after they "installed it", leaving you to properly finish it?

Well ............. position it where I wanted ............ which suited me fine.

 

[7029 dave]

NTE is the master, plenty of homes no NTE, so which is the master none of them. lol

 

[roady57]

Check out the BT site support pages. The diagram they provide illustrates their responsibility for the service cable is ONLY to the boundary of your property. Therefore the cable within your boundary is YOUR responsibility as is the condition of the wiring and equipment. Your contractual obligation is to ensure that these are appropriately maintained, repaired and connected. DIY.

 

[Deleted account]

I couldn't find the page you mentioned. Bt web site not the easiest to navigate.
Can you post a link on here to appropriate page.
Cheers

 

[Shoei]

I couldn't find the page you mentioned. Bt web site not the easiest to navigate.
Can you post a link on here to appropriate page.
Cheers

Engineer charges | BT help - http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/12439/c/

I don't think it's an invitation to do DIY inside your boundary, it shows the part of the system where a subscriber may have to pay for engineering work if they damage it or cause other problems such as electrical interference.

 

[FatAlan]

Had a couple of BT engineers out to check my connection as I have really poor BB speed. Engineers were fine but due to my location the BB speed is still s***e despite me paying top rates for service. It’s BT customer services that I can’t stand, takes ages to get anywhere.
I’ve now had to move my main incoming box due to building extension on house. Original connection joint on overhead line got bashed off by scaffolding. Currently lashed up with a Wago box. Works the same as before ....just about fast enough for my boy to play COD

 

[Rpa07]

I watched 3 Open reach contractors last night do the same job that I would do on my own working out of my Bedford viva van with Busby flashed across the side (last in = worst van, that was the year the fleet was upgraded to Maestro vans!)
I’m saying that is why costs are so high, back in the day with fault finding we used to go out of our way to get things working again and charge when we could and fault was obviously on customers side.