Hi there!

Are there any BT / Openreach engineers out there who know whether there is a upgraded / urgent repair services that is offered by BTand I could pay for? If I had BT Redcare and say someone accidently cuts through the line, who has to contact BT to have the line repaired? I am trying to find out if I can have an emergency repair service added as when there is a fault, it is extremely difficult to get through to BT Customer Services. Why did BT take away the geographic number? It was so easy to get through then - why???

It would be much apprecaited to hear from any of the engineers.

Cheers.

Brooke Bond

I'm not an engineer, but this is how it works.

You just get told when the next available window is when an engineer will be available.

Either 8.30 - 12.30 or 1.00 - 5.30.

Contact BT sales and ask about adding Totalcare to your line.
24/7 4 hour response.
Monthly charge though!!

I used to work on 151, but have checked and here's how it is currently:

Most customers have standard care which means BT will respond by the end of the next working day. The working day ends at 5pm Monday to Friday only. This means if you call on Friday before 5pm, BT will aim to respond by 5pm on Monday. If you call at 5.02pm on Friday, BT will aim to respond by 5pm on Tuesday.

"Respond" doesn't mean "fix", just "attempt to find the problem". Bear in mind, the fault could be under a main road, so planning permisson to dig up the road will need to be sought, then contractors hired to dig the hole, then get the engineers out. However, in practice, BT typically pay (low) compensation based on the delay between their commitment to respond and the time the fault was fixed. Out-of-pocket expenses might be provided as well, but if you're running a business from home, you won't get anything for lost business unless you're paying business line rental.

You can upgrade (there is a quarterly charge of £4.23) to prompt care. This working day is to 8-5pm but now includes Saturday. BT's commitment is to respond within 4 working hours.

You can go further by taking out total care, which has a response time of 4 clock hours (ie a fault reported at 1am should be fixed/identified by 5am, even on a Bank Holiday). However, this level is intended for the likes of hospitals, the police, etc, so you'll understand it's quite expensive at £11.64 per quarter.
Last edited by colin_tomlinson : 06-03-2008 at 21:06

£11 per quarter!?!?!? That's much cheaper than I thought!