Phone line into property cut...

Transform_IT · 4 Oct 2016 at 09:23

Alright guys,

So when I purchased the house in 2012 Virgin was the provider for TV, Phone and Broadband. I decided to go with them and have had the service ever since. With the recent price hikes I have decided to leave Virgin and have gone with SKY for TV and Broadband. I have been offered a sterling deal with them and Sky Q is now installed. Broadband is to be fitted 10th October - However I have just noticed my phone line which comes in from the back of the property has been chopped and is just clipped to my exterior wall. It doesn't go into the property and the only socket I have found is dead (I think its just an extension from the main one which is non existent anyway.).

My question is, will OpenReach fix the cable and install it into my property or will I need to get this done before the engineer enables my broadband and phone line?

Cheers.

FTM · 4 Oct 2016 at 09:26

they will charge you to have it reconnected I would have thought

Soundood · 4 Oct 2016 at 09:50

at the last count, I paid £140 for a BT line to be installed into my property (Sky uses this too)

same scenario, it had a line once, this had been ripped out and only the box's were present, engineer had to go up the pole and reconnect into my house.

on the up side, the line was new from the pole, instead of old copper.

DXP55 · 4 Oct 2016 at 11:37

If you were providing a service and customer said I don't want you anymore I am going to a competitor- come and get your equipment- wouldn't you recover all of it.

I know I would.

spoffle · 4 Oct 2016 at 11:39

It's not really worth the cost of recovery though.

Dave M · 4 Oct 2016 at 12:08

Does Sky know you don't have an existing line? If Openreach are expecting to do a new install they'll sort it all out, if they think there is an existing line they may give up the job and go away and you'll need to wait for Sky to get in touch and confirm what you pay for a new line.

There's a chance that if you play dumb, you may get a new line for free, or you end up with no broadband for a while - I'd take a chance.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 4 Oct 2016 at 12:47

I had similar a few years ago
BT often quote that if required they will fit a new line for free, where as sky would charge as they would get the charge passed from openreach.

If BT have the same offer now it could be safer to go BT and switch after a year (thats what I did)

Liquidfox · 4 Oct 2016 at 12:59

DXP55 said:
If you were providing a service and customer said I don't want you anymore I am going to a competitor- come and get your equipment- wouldn't you recover all of it.

I know I would.

But you're not OpenReach. OpenReach don't do this.

Jamauk · 4 Oct 2016 at 18:12

DXP55 said:
If you were providing a service and customer said I don't want you anymore I am going to a competitor- come and get your equipment- wouldn't you recover all of it.

I know I would.

We have this in work, there is still access points, old cabling, etc installed from probably the mid-late 90s, it's like this all across the company, it isnt worth the cost of employing someone to remove it and then trying to sell it.