Crusader Mystery of the missing broadband
MILLIONS of us have been there – the sudden, inexplicable loss of our broadband connection. But what do you think it takes to find a fix? Acquiring a collection of new routers and recruiting their own independent telecoms engineer definitely didn’t figure in the plans of David and Diana Woore when their line went down recently.
They reported the loss in late April to their supplier TalkTalk. It got to work and the couple, from Gloucestershire, went on holiday shortly after.
Yet when they returned in midMay the line was still dead and this time David was advised he needed a new router. When he tested the one he bought “the line flickered green then reverted to red again”, he says.
Concerned that he might be doing something wrong, he brought in the engineer and they tested two more devices, all to no avail. “I told TalkTalk who did a test and said it must be the internet line,” adds David. When he checked once more the next day, “I was told again it was the router,” he says.
“I explained we had tried three already but they were keen to send out another new one so I agreed.
“I set up another test and then it was agreed the problem was not with the equipment.”
A testy exchange followed between David, who threatened to cancel his £25 a month direct debit, and customer services who told him if he did he would be breaking his contract and would have to pay a penalty.
“I’ve done everything they asked,” he told Crusader when he asked for our help, explaining the hardest part was calling the helpline and every time having to go through the same problem again from the beginning.
As far as he was aware, he said, no test had been done with Openreach, the BT subsidiary that runs the pipes and cables side of the system. Industry regulator Ofcom says from its analysis, 5.7 million cases of service loss occur each year.
It is in consumers’ best interests if they can get a measure of the technicalities involved, both in the home and where their connection goes afterwards, as that increases their confidence when tackling a problem as well as helping speed up fault detection. Ofcom has a handy guide (see below) but in the Woores’ case it appears something more unusual was going on.
After we raised the matter TalkTalk located the fault very quickly, confirming David’s service was up and running again and adding: “We’re sorry that it took so long to restore the broadband and we have provided a goodwill gesture to cover the lack of service.”
Crusader understands that this problem, rather than an issue with the line, required a manual intervention at the exchange with a card reset. Although rare, it might be one for consumers to suggest if they are ever faced with a difficult mystery fault. The Woores have received compensation for the month without broadband and the extra routers they bought plus the engineer’s fee.
“We are grateful for your help,” they told Crusader before making this general plea to customer services departments: “If they could keep more of a continuous record of a problem so people do not have to keep explaining it, that would make such a difference and it would save them money too.”
Ofcom’s fault finding and report help guide: ofcom.org.uk/phonestelecoms-and-internet/advice-forconsumers/problems/ broadband-landline-faults It has also announced plans to introduce automatic compensation for broadband and landline customers who experience faults or loss of services. A decision is due at the end of this year: ofcom.org.uk/ about-ofcom/latest/features-andnews/automatic-compensation