BT?
I had no Internet or phone for a week. I used a relative's computer to do the self-tracing faults on BT's website ... and it said 'Fault in or near customer's home'.

I phoned BT ..

A week passed and I still had no Internet/phone ... so I again used a relative's computer to trace the fault which was still 'In or near customer's home' .. and then I phoned BT again..

Next evening an engineer knocked at the door to say the fault was fixed - the fault was a broken wire in the BT box which is just 15 yards from my front door ..

... and the broken wire? It was the one wire that the engineer had jambed as he closed the box door on his last visit .. my wire..

Got rehired to a job I've lost twice already. Will miss the performance related pay of my current one somewhat but otherwise canny...shall see if I manage not to get efficiency savingsed successfully, 3rd times the charm n that.

Just call me super sub..whenever anyone leaves I'm off the benches!

portland_bill said:

After much gnashing of teeth and squabbling with BT, they have at last decided that they think my router is faulty. Yesterday they said they'd send a replacement. It arrived today.

Have now spent half of the day making all four computers see each other again, as they all see it as a new network. Now need a lie down.

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If BT refuse to treat you with the respect and priority that you expect from a modern broadband service why not screw them altogether and move to another provider?

Post Office Broadband now has Fibre and its the lowest price in the UK if it's available in your area. Always check minimum guaranteed speed, I made that mistake in the past!

Or , hammer the sh*t out of BT and phone up demanding an engineer visit every week until they look at your account and realise how much they've spent and conclude that new infrastructure in your area is the next way to go to avoid the costly engineer visits?

Don't forget that Openreach owns the network cables that BT and other supply your broadband with !!

SB1500 said:

If BT refuse to treat you with the respect and priority that you expect from a modern broadband service why not screw them altogether and move to another provider?

Post Office Broadband now has Fibre and its the lowest price in the UK if it's available in your area. Always check minimum guaranteed speed, I made that mistake in the past!

Or , hammer the sh*t out of BT and phone up demanding an engineer visit every week until they look at your account and realise how much they've spent and conclude that new infrastructure in your area is the next way to go to avoid the costly engineer visits?

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werdna said:

Don't forget that Openreach owns the network cables that BT and other supply your broadband with !!

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Absolutely. Whoever you choose to supply the service, it comes via Openreach's cables. So any problem is referred to them to sort. I'd expect BT to be treated with priority, or at least no worse than the others. TalkTalk, from experience, are left until there's nothing else to do.

portland_bill said:

Absolutely. Whoever you choose to supply the service, it comes via Openreach's cables. So any problem is referred to them to sort. I'd expect BT to be treated with priority, or at least no worse than the others. TalkTalk, from experience, are left until there's nothing else to do.

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Except
Virgin... as the OTHER network is currently known.

We had sterling service from COMTEL for 3 years. Changed hands to NTL... @3 years were fine. Then had issues..

Simple fix was found..after 18 months...

Biggest problem was the lack of record keeping/ structure.

Current TalkTalk ...its CHEAP on a monthly basis.

And has not cost my my livelyhood. Unlike the last time with BT...22 YEARS and counting.

There are services here in NI for rural areas that operate a satellite broadband service for home users. I'd imagine similar companies exist in your part of the U.K. Worth enquiring if Openreach don't sort you out

varesecrazy said:

Except
Virgin... as the OTHER network is currently known.

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SB1500 said:

There are services here in NI for rural areas that operate a satellite broadband service for home users. I'd imagine similar companies exist in your part of the U.K. Worth enquiring if Openreach don't sort you out

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Cable is of course only available where there are fibre cables. They are expensive to lay. Quite a few years ago, when it was still NTL, they inconvenienced the traffic for months while they dug a trench from Swindon, all the way here, 12 miles, and then across to Wantage, another 7. At that time, I was told that the actual cable was around £1m/mile, so even if every household took it, it would take several lifetimes to payback. So all we got is a trench, with an empty pipe and presumably the piece of string to pull the cables through with. All along the road to Swindon are bits of trench and manholes, all subsiding. This is why BT have now been tasked with fibre cabling the country, as they already have the pipes. BT's fibre is already at teh box at the end of the road, but I have no need for anything faster than I have already, so no need to pay more for something I won't benefit from. Perhaps they'll run a fibre cable to the house to fix this problem, but I'll still not pay extra.

Had dealings with TalkTalk. If they were the only ones left, I'd give up rather than have them again.

Satellite still needs a broadband phone line. Only the download comes via the satellite, the 'requests' still go up the phone line. A complication I don't need.

I still don't see a need to seek an alternative, when the standard service just needs to be repaired.

I think next door has a new car..I think because it has a new number plate.

It is however literally the exact same spec as their old one.

Not just the same model but the same colour, with the same options. Only the wheels have changed as they aren't available any more.

This is something I don't understand, if you like the car and their old one was 3 years old low miles and immaculate..then why would you replace it with the same car again? I assume the PCP ended but just seems bizarre to me, if you like it that much, get a car loan and pay the balloon payment and buy it rather than financing the deprecation on a new car would make sense to me.

But hey I've been known to be wrong.

I did know someone who used to buy a new car every 3 years !

werdna said:

I did know someone who used to buy a new car every 3 years !

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It's not the getting of a new car I find strange it's the building an exact replica of the old one when you already had the old one.

I'd buy another Panda 169 like mine tomorrow brand new if I could. But I'd move up to Eleganza and make a few upgrades here and there!!!

Personally I think buying a new car every 3 years for the sake of it is like shredding money. It'd be like moving house every 3 years and remortgaging again and again just 'for a change' because 'you can' to be honest

SB1500 said:

I'd buy another Panda 169 like mine tomorrow brand new if I could. But I'd move up to Eleganza and make a few upgrades here and there!!!

Personally I think buying a new car every 3 years for the sake of it is like shredding money. It'd be like moving house every 3 years and remortgaging again and again just 'for a change' because 'you can' to be honest

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Changing to an upgrade I get, yes you pay for it but you hopefully get something in return for that. You pay your money you get a new car with features your old one didn't have.

So in October the Ds3 goes back we actually had the option to buy it. Given the amount of hatred I've vented about this thing over the last 3 years you'd probably imagine it's an utter shed. But I do like a bit of hyperbole, it actually looks like that. Clean example of a DS3 thats barely moved when it's clean it's a new car.



Fulfils the dictionary definition of a car just fine and I've spent time getting the character ironed out of it under warranty. My wife actually did look at buying it, and it's a euro 6 diesel so theoretically ain't getting banned from any cities for a long time.

If we did keep it, which we haven't for lack of back doors related and our usage really not suiting it would actually cost less for a car loan to cover the current value after 13k miles and 3 years than it would to get the same car again. At the end of the 3 year loan it would only be 6 with probably 30k miles..it would still have plenty of life left in it.

You pays your money I suppose.

Whilst out yesterday, postman left two cards for two packages. Couldn't remember ordering anything. One card showed a name I didn't know as recipient.
Collected mine this morning. Remembered what was coming.
Second package was for number 52, I'm at 25. I wonder how much stuff is being delivered incorrectly by a careless postman.

Yesterday morning, my phone died, so I bought a new 1: my god, things have changed in the near 2 years I had my old phone, lol!

Today at the post office, my Father's Day card was too thick for a first class stamp, so as I suspected it was weighed in at 90p, which is why I went there. When asked what the contents where I told the staff and was informed that in his opinion the safest way to ensure my 99p card would arrive at the destination was next day special delivery which would be just short of 9 pounds. I declined the kind offer!!!!!!! And commented that it was good to see the level of faith in the first class service, to which I was informed about the many ways in which my card could be abducted in the care of? and the gentleman wrote on my receipt that the above advice was issued and a claim could not be made. It does make you wonder what the world has come too. At the other end of the system and at the coal face my postman is on the ball, will even flash you....... no no no(not like that) or wave you as you drive past and get your parcels out the van etc can't believe they represent the same organisation

puntofan01 said:

Yesterday morning, my phone died, so I bought a new 1: my god, things have changed in the near 2 years I had my old phone, lol!

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Oooh what you Got?

StevenRB45 said:

Oooh what you Got?

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I had been thinking about getting an Alcatel, but in the end, I bought a Samsung Galaxy J3.

Gotta say I was impressed with the lower reaches of the samsung range when the other half was looking at them. She ended up with the A5 midrange one and it easily equaled my HTC M9 despite having cost half as much. Was that impressed I ended up getting an S8 despite not liking samsung much (I had a tocco ultra and a galaxy S4...it took something special for me to come back).