!12 HOURS!!

[Ibeam]

My day started with an eight o'clock call to NTL to again report the fact that my eighty three year old mother, who is normally on a local council life line telephone, had now been without her telephone for over twelve hours.............
THE STORY GOES LIKE THIS..........

On 15th September NTL come and install telephone cable to mothers house say that have checked the line all is OK and because mother is retaining her BT number it will take 7-10 days before she would be transfered from BT to NTL. When BT cut you off just put the plug into the NTL socker Magic!!

Fourteen days later still on BT so phones NTL to be informed some bright spark hadn't bothered to put the paperwork through so it will now only take another 7 days. In the mean time received communication fron BT "SORRY TO LOOSE YOU COME BACK SOON" then came the letter from NTL on the 5th October we will be changing you over to NTL, you lucky person!!

Well on the 5th October BT pulled the plug on 83 year old mam so I inserted said plug into NTL phone socket ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------that's right nothing except the life line telephone beeping so re connected the plug into BT socket. Phoned NTL after the normal run around one department putting you through to another, cutting you off, there conclusion was ther numbers or was it the line ???? hadn't been portalled so try sticking the plug back in tomorrow. This I did and guess what still------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------nothing.

Now back to today and my eight o'clock call to NTL. I spoke to a woman who told me that when the had tried to portal the number on the 5th there had been a fault on the line but it would happen today and she would call me as soon as it did (Yes right) by three thirty no call so I decided to call back to try and get the situation resolved before eight tonight!!!
Well from 3.30 till 6.30pm I was passed from one persone to another customer services,faults, installation, customer service and on it went. Every different person you speak to wants you to repeat the situation to them over and over again. I was told I couldn't cancel the account as it had gone over the fourteen days, what account I haven't even got a dial tone and they have already charged me £11 rental as of the 15th September, I told them it was only due to their incompetance that this has gone on as long as this and n othing to do with me, she transfe red me to someone else. they said they couldn't talk to me as it was my mothers account as they had just made up some new secutity rules today!! I told her not to cut me off as I had been on the phone for 45 mins and did not want her to cut me off, I asked her to just cancel everything she transferred me to someone else.............................................. .................................................. .. Then I did get one young lady who seemed to care a little and actually talked me in to going to my mothers at 6.30p.m.and she would phone me on my mobile phone and help me to get put through to the fault department but I needed to be at her house armed with my mobile phone. So off I went..................................she phoned at 7.35pm put me on hold while she phone the faults department to tell them what was going on and she came back on the phone at just after eight o'clock to tell me an engineer would be calling me back sometime in the next forty eight hours to arrange a time for him to come out to the house!! But it will probably be Monday because it is now the weekend. So I am still left with my 83 year old mother paying £11 per month for a none existant telephone line for 4 DAYS. I told everyone I spoke to she was connected to a life line telephone and I thought they would have given this some priority.

So at the moment I am frustrated, upset and worried about my mother being left for what looks like at least FOUR DAYS without a phone..................................rant rant rant..................

[hairy_mick]

if you pay for a service it should work when the line was installed it should have had dial tone and a dummy number so at least you would be able to use the phone until it had ported. The tec who installed the line wants sacking if he has left the job with no dial tone i find it shocking!!!!!!!

[Ibeam]

The day they installed the line I didn't check anything as they told me it would be 7-10 days before I would be cut off by BT and to leave everything plugged in as it was until BT cut me off! But everything as far as the NTL installation went was working just fine.
I have found out over the last couple of days that they had given the account a temp number whilst waiting to obtain the BT number.

[Jules]

I really hope you get this sorted out soon as it must be very worring not only for you but also your mum