BT Grrr!

[nextqueen]

Don't you just love BT? Our phone only rings once when we are called by someone but they are still there on the line when you pick it up. We were told the problem wasn't at the Exchange etc so we had to pay 99 pounds for an Openreach engineer to come out and resolve the issue, yeh right. He checked the main bt box inside but then the buck stopped there and he wouldn't do or check anything else. He said we would have to pay again for someone to come and examine the internal sockets, wires etc. So thank you BT for conning us into thinking that BT would resolve the issue internally by charging us 99 pounds, what next!?

[Old_Geezer]

It's the problem with privatisation. With umpteen companies now involved in your service they all guard their border and point at someone else. After their master socket, anything inside is your responsibility and if you call BT out and it isn't their side of the line you have to cough up. For the consumer it's not such a good deal. You want one service supplier to take responsibility for the lot.

[factor-fiction]

I agree with Old_Geezer, although in my experience BT do make it clear before they come out that if they come out they will not deal with problems involving internal sockets beyond the master socket. I didn't realise though that there was a £99 charge for the initial examination of the main box

[Dodger666]

You should have tried a known working phone plugged into the main socket before calling BT. If the problem then goes away then it's your internal wiring that's at fault, that's assuming your phone isn't already plugged into the main socket. If the problem remains it's BT's fault and won't cost you a penny. BT won't check any equipment that doesn't belong to them.

If the initial examination of the main socket had revealed a fault it wouldn't have cost you anything.

[nextqueen]

Easy to say now Dodger! We have had so many problems since moving in this house with BT causing great marital disharmony at times. Over the past two months we had two more problems, each time BT saying that they were going to send out an engineer at a certain time. On both occasions, BT went to the exchange, solved the problem, left me sitting at home waiting and not telling me it had be fixed, thanks BT! So, due to this Dodger, we could only assume it was external, I was shocked when the engineer called to say he was on his way. So, yes, now we have to go through all our sockets and what if we don't find anything, where do you go next!? Would be good to know what we are looking for, nothing has changed, the house is a modern almost new house.

[ZebUK]

Dodger is right but you need to use a CORDED phone. Don't use any of the wireless ones. Just a plain basic corded phone.

Find the master socket
http://www.landlinete...t_master_socket_2.jpg

Unscrew the two screws on the front and pull the bottom half away to reveal the test socket
http://www.landlinete...teimages/image012.jpg

Plug your phone into it and test - make a call, receive a call.

If your phone rings once like before then the fault is the responsibility of BT as it'll either be at that master socket or any of the network wiring.

If the problem vanishes then this means the master socket and wiring up to it is working properly and the fault will be on your property. Next would be a process of elimination at every extension coming off that socket until the fault came back.