There are some phrases that we all know. “Don’t rock the boat.”,“Leave well enough alone”and “If it ain’t broke,don’t fix it.”. I not only know all of these but also follow them wherever possible. Every now and then though I fail to heed them and always regret it. My latest lapse has resulted in no Internet access for two days. Of course my failure to follow the sage advice wasn’t entirely to blame,it also required ineptitude from BT and dire customer service procedures from Virgin Media.
Like many things it started innocuously enough. I have no need for a home phone except as a conduit for broadband Internet access. When I moved house several years ago I set up a BT line on the then cheapest package so as to get the ADSL connection I needed. Nothing changed until very recently when I acquired a house guest. Now while I have no need of a home phone my house guest does need to make phone calls and so being fiscally responsible,OK tight,I checked out BT to make sure I was not going to be left with a bill if my phone actually gets used. It transpired that there was a plan that was not only cheaper per month but gave enough free calls at the appropriate times. Perfect. So I signed up. All went well,the changes were enacted and I had emails and letters confirming everything. Quality.
Then two weeks after the changes I came downstairs in the morning to see a bright red light on my router. Not generally a good sign. A reset had no effect and upon further investigation it was clear that there was a fault on the line. After a days work I returned to see the same red light so it was clear this wasn’t a temporary fault. I would have contacted Virgin there and then but of course hadn’t had the foresight to record any of their numbers and with no net access couldn’t find it out. Note to self,record details on Internet provider somewhere that doesn’t require Internet access!
I eventually called the Virgin Media support line and was dealt with by a very friendly chap who was both professional and efficient. Unfortunately he didn’t have an entirely useful toolset on this occasion. Having checked on the system he asked the question that augured very badly,“Have you by any chance changed anything to do with your BT line recently?”. Errr,yes,I have changed my calling plan. He then explained that this was not uncommon but when people change their BT calling plan BT often take it upon themselves to remove other services,like for example ADSL,from said line. At this point I will take time out to hit BT over the snout with a rolled up newspaper. Naughty BT,naughty.
Having had the situation explained I asked how quickly the service could be reinstated. The pause said it all. “Errr,actually I’m afraid that in these cases,and they do happen quite often,the only way to get the service back is to re-sign via the normal sales route.”. The tone pleaded with me not to shoot the messenger. Obviously I wasn’t the first person he’d had to relate this lunacy to and I’m guessing others may have expressed their views on such an idiotic turn of events. I on the other hand,having been the guy on the phone,said I’d call back later.
Much later.
So to sum up. BT can remove ADSL from my phone line with no instruction to do such a thing and without the people actually providing my broadband having any say in the matter. Virgin Media when faced with this situation are unable,or unwilling,to rectify it in a customer friendly way,instead demanding that the customer re-sign as if they were a new customer.
Welcome to Britain’s broadband future.
