BT apologises after three-week Lochgilphead broadband fault
HOMES and businesses in Lochgilphead left without telephone landline or broadband services for around three weeks have been reconnected.
A fault occurred on BT equipment in early February but, as days turned into weeks, frustration began to build as business and domestic customers were forced to make other arrangements to stay connected.
One Lochgilphead householder said last week: ‘We have had no landline or broadband in our house for three weeks now. Our complaint has been escalated to BT, and the latest is they need a multi-skilled manhole engineer to repair fibre optic cable.’
Lost
A Lochgilphead garage was left with no phone line for two weeks, but with intermittent broadband. But that service, too, was lost after a week.
A spokesperson for the garage said at the time: ‘Now the broadband
has gone also, we can’t take calls, take card payments and now we have had to purchase a dongle so we can do MOTs. It’s a joke and really not very funny.’ The Argyllshire Advertiser contacted BT on Wednesday March 1, and a spokesman for BT responded: ‘A small number of customers in the Lochgilphead area may be experiencing a problem with their phone or broadband services. A damaged cable requires complex work to repair it.’
BT Openreach engineers finally managed to identify and repair the fault on Thursday March 2.
Help
The BT spokesman continued: ‘Anyone with a fault should speak to their service provider, who may be able to help with practicalities such as diverting incoming calls to a mobile phone where possible. Service providers can also help with any queries on compensation.’
He added: ‘We’re sorry for any inconvenience.’