The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Internet woes force OAP to climb telephone pole
TELECOMS: Perthshire man was fed up with broadband provider’s inaction
A Perthshire pensioner was forced to climb a telephone pole to repair his internet connection with a hairdryer after his broadband provider failed to attend his home numerous times.
Peter Goodwin, 72, from Alyth, decided to take matters into his own hands after his phone and internet line went down for the fourth time in four weeks and communications company Talktalk refused to send their own engineer.
The sprightly pensioner said he was fed up with Talktalk running remote tests to try to find the problem when he was sure it was caused by moisture getting into the box and would need to be fixed on location.
Mr Goodwin said: “It had already happened two or three times.
“I told them it was rain because it happened every time it got wet so eventually I just went and did it myself.
“I’ve even told them I’ve fixed it but they’re still investigating.”
To solve the problem the selfemployed dry stone wall builder ran an extension cable 25 yards from his house, plugged in a hairdryer and scaled a ladder.
He said: “I ran an extension up the pole.
“Underneath there are the holes where the cables go in and out and at this time of year bugs are looking for somewhere to go, and if they go in there to die their bodies attract moisture.
“When I blasted the holes all sorts of detritus came out.”
The self-employed Alyth man lives in a remote part of the Perthshire village and relies on his phone and internet connection for work and banking services, as well as contacting emergency services.
Before he fixed the problem, Mr Goodwin had a small scare that he claimed could have turned out a lot worse.
Due to he and his wife’s location they also find it extremely hard to get mobile phone signal.
He said: “I had a medical emergency while it was all going on.
“We know now that it turned out to be a false alarm but it was very scary for a day or two.”
Having found a short-term fix for the ongoing issue the 72-year-old still wants Talktalk to find a more permanent solution.
He also joked that the communications company should be compensating him for his time spent working on their issue.
Mr Goodwin said: “It’s not my job. I’m paying for people to look after this.
“If I had not been able to do this I could have been in serious trouble,” he said.
“No one listens to what you’re saying (at Talktalk). You tell them you don’t get mobile signal so they say they’ll send you a text message.”
A spokesperson for Talktalk said: “I can confirm that we are currently looking into this as a priority and a member of our customer services team will be in touch with the customer to resolve any issues experienced.”