Having done a massive survey it would seem that unless you go with Virgin-on the ridiculous-media most places have to go with BT, now BT are not all bad (I have my fingers crossed here) after all they did win awards for their customer service, hmmmm so did Virgin and I still cant see why, wonder who you have to bribe for that one? Apart from Hull ( and thats only because I know someone that lives there) BT 'own' all the phone lines, so no matter which internet provider you choose, if it is not cable, you have to have a BT line.
Now this in itself is not a major problem, apart from the amount of time that BT make your provider wait for an activation date when it can actually be done in a couple of days!
The problems arise when you ask them to do something more complicated than actuall fit a line or activate one, when I moved I gave them my moving date and asked them to transfer my phone line, a simple procedure? Apparently not, two weeks after moving in my phone line is still not on, now my sons line had been cancelled and though there was no phone service the line must have still been active as the internet was still on, sky were supposed to be reactivating my sky account at the new address, didnt happen.
Suddenly I have no internet and no phone, I went to the public phone (amid the most horrific smells, lord knows what they had been doing in there!!) After half an hour of being passed from department to department I was assured that my phone would be up and running in seven days, erm excuse me, seven days! They went through all this technical stuff and I argued that as the phone line had been ordered over two weeks before why was it going to take another seven days? Activation, I heard that word a lot over the next few weeks.
OK, I can live with that, just.
Now comes the complicated part, they turned off the phone line that was active two days before they reactivated the new line, which by the way was the exact same number as the one they had just turned off, at the same address? Two days later I have a phone line and the phone is working fine, erm, no internet, now as all BT lines are broadband ready this should have still been there, well in theory yes, but it appears when BT turned off the line Sky cancelled itself. Well thats Sky's excuse anyway!
After two hours on the phone with Sky, and again several different departments they agree that they will reactivate my sky, well actually it is not that simple, apparently because it cancelled itself this has to be a whole new order, which will then take fifteen working days, erm why? Because they have to get an activation date from BT, the thing is that it takes them ten working days to process the order.
OK so now it is another fifteen days to getting back on line, three weeks so far. I can live with that, mainly because I have no choice in the matter!
The day before my internet is due to be activated my phone line goes off! Back to the smelly phone box,
When I finally get through all the options, and the different departments, I am told that the line was cancelled by the customer? Erm I am the customer, dont you think I would remember cancelling my line? It turns out that my ex-landlord had phoned and cancelled the line, erm how? He does not have my account number nor has he been given permission to do so, and if anyone had bothered to look they would have seen that said line had been transferred to a different address the one that you have now cut off!!
Two hours of arguing and getting cut off! ( I am in a payphone , I have dialled a freephone number and it cuts me off as I dont have enough credit?!) and having to go through the whole process again each time I have to phone back (which was three times) I am finally told that despite the fact that it is their fault I cannot be reconnected for two days and it will be a different number?!! By this time I am beyond arguing with them, how can you reason with people that think you know nothing and treat you accordingly?
Ten minutes after I should have been at work I am stuck on the phone with a jobs worth that has a superior attitude, you know the 'I am really sorry that you have been through shit all morning but you are stuck with me now and I am going to make life as difficult as possible for you cos I want to go for my break' type of attitude.
The woman that had been on the phone previously was getting me back on that day, but no that didnt count, cant be done, you know activation!
Needless to say Sky was not connected the following day, when we called them on the friday (when the phone was finally back on with by the way the exact same number!) they told me that it had all been cancelled and it was now going to take another re-order and another fifteen working days! I very politely told them where to place their internet
I rang BT, they could have me on line the following friday, five working days.
So in the end they came through, but considering the whole shebang was their fault in the first place and they should not have allowed some random person to cancel my account, ll is not well that ends well and there will be one heck of a complaint letter going in.