Hi All

I wonder if anyone can help me. I am moving into the new flat soon and I rang BT to transfer my account but they told me there is no active phone line at the new address and I have to pay £129 installation fee.

I rang back the builders, as it is a brand new development, they confirmed there is BT line there all BT needs to do is to activate it from the exchange!

I believe I should not have to pay installation charge as builders confirmed the line has already been installed.

What can I do?

Many Thanks

I suspect BT have laid lines to all the houses at their cost so as not to have to dig up holes one by one to install it.
Therefore it still needs paying for, same as if you choose cable instead, it has to be paid for I'm afraid.

Thanks for the reply Dean but it doesn't make sense to me because when we moved into our current property 3 years ago we never had to pay nothing as it had BT line as builders claim the new one has.

I wouldn't mind paying if there was no line but builders confirm that they are 100% sure there is a BT line installed already.

Thanks

I know it is frustrating, but the fact there is a physical line into the building does not mean that the line is active.

BT do charge for the switch on at the exchange irrespective of whether there is a BT cable wired to the house.

At my current house I have had cable phone for years (I told BT I didn't want their service about ten years ago).

For various reasons I needed a BT phone back in the house. Because the number was terminated I needed to be allocated a new one and for this to be enabled at the exchange. For this I got charged £125.00.

Actually as it transpired it was a good deal as an engineer came to check the sockets in the house and decided to relay new cables so I would benefit from the best possible broadband speed to the exchange.

In a twist, I am now (hopefully) in the process of selling my house and buying another.

There was a BT line into the "new" house up until six months ago when it was terminated by the seller as the house was going to be vacant until sold and they did not want the expense of line rental on a empty property.

Sure enough, if I want phone in the house (and in this case there is no alternative) BT want £125 to switch the line on again.

You may not like it, you may not even think it is worth it, but to get a BT phone number you'll have to pay for a number to be allocated to the property and for it to be switched on. The fact there is a BT cable into the property, unfortunately, means nothing.

Thanks Dan

That now makes sense if they charge for the switch on at the exchange however what BT told me was there was no BT line so it had to be installed. I just didn't want pay for installation, as they claimed, if the line has already been installed.

They are not getting full £129 anyway I just found this

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/17525...tallation-off/

In your own words they said that BT said 'there was no active line', that is not the same as saying there is no cable. It actually sounds like the builder and BT were saying the same thing, the builder said 'the line just needs activating' and BT said 'there is no active line' (meaning it needs activating)

And a return thanks to you for highlighting this deal.

If things go smoothly withh all the intricacies of house selling / buying (fingers crossed etc) I may be able to take advantage of it myself.

Even though there is cabling in the property, that will just connect to the nearest DP (if even that far!). It's not just a case of "switching on" at the exchange as the line needs jumpering through god knows how many DP's etc to link back to the nearest exchange which could be a couple of miles away....

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....html?t=211879

As far as i know, and, unless it has changed recently, BT contracted the builders of new properties to install the cables from the street to the premises, known as Direct Lead In, BT then usually have to visit to provide the Line Socket where the customer wants it, (internally cable the premises) connect the line at the exchange, and through the Primary Connection Point which feeds the premises, that is why BT wants £129.99 to provide the line

Even though the builders state 'there is a line' it more than likely ain't connected. The £130 that BT wants in real terms is cheap, if the true charge was raised it would be a little bit more (try a few zero's on the end) Like previous posts state, it is more than simply switching the line on and thats it.

You might even want the BT engineer to check the line inside, if it aint a BT faceplate, get them to change it to a BT one.

Yeah i phone up bt today and still £129 installation fee, Thanks for that special offer link made my day