[Re-posted from Ask the Expert} 

Just moved into a new flat in Birmingham city centre, B1 1LA.  The flat is part of a relatively new development, but there were tenants in it before us.  As part of the pack we got with the flat, the section labelled 'telephone' reads:

"your complete installation has been agreed with, and accepted by BT.  Please advise them of this if they suggest trying to disconnect you."

Naively enough, I though this would be sufficient to indicate that there is a BT line in the property.  In addition to which, there is a white BT box, with a dial tone, which when I type into it 17070 offers me a BT line test.  We need broadband, but are outside a cable area, so after considering the options, decided to go with Sky as we get free wireless internet and evening and weekend calls as part of a £35 a month package which includes Sky Sports.  The Sky adverts clearly state that you need a BT line, so I rang up BT to ask them to activate the line.  I thought this would be unproblematic given the above details.  Having taken my details, they ran an address check and said that they didn't have it listed on their database.  They then tried to charge me £125 to have a line installed.  I suggested that the factors above indicated a line was already installed, and simply needed to be activated. They disagreed.  They're telling me that if I don't have a number for the line, then we don't have a line here.  Having now wasted hours being told the same thing by BT operators, I'm getting pretty frustrated, the irony being that the whole situation would rather easier if I had a landline rather than racking up calls on my mobile!  

One of the operators told me it's possible the the prior occupants did have a line, but because BT are moving their information from one system to another, there's been some information loss and it's possible the previous occupants of our address fall into that category.  If that is the case I pointed out, I fail to see why I should pay £125 because BT failed to exercise sufficient care in maintaining their records.

They then said that they'd send out an engineer to look at the problem, but when I questioned them as to whether I'd have to pay him it transpired that I would be footing the bill for this in my first month's bill.  They said that because we had written evidence we had a good case to claim the money back, but funnily enough I'm not particularly inclined to believe them.  

 I know you need a phone line, but am pretty sure you could get it with someone other than BT, and now see I could get it with someone like madasafish.  Wouldn't that mean I'd just have to pay their installation fee though?  And would that work with Sky anyway?  I'm going mad!!

Sorry but there's not going to be many people who will want to cable a block of flats. If BT's there and no-one else is, then BT is who you're stuck with.

Sky or any of the other ISPs will need a BT line to work with before you can do anything else, so that's the end of the line on that issue.

Have you had a phone line in your name before? If so and you are moving then just tell BT that. If the flat came with a telephone line guaranteed, then contact your conveyancing solicitor and get them to sort this out.

SHARK! 

Thanks Shark, haven't had a phone line in my name before, so that option's not available to me unfortunately.  I've referred the problem to our letting agent again, but don't think they'll do much about it.  We just had Sky installed today, and when he plugged the Sky box into the wall it said "telephone connected", which adds further credence to the theory that the line is actually there.  Also, I did 17070 on the phone, and it brought up a BT 'line test' facility, which I'm pretty sure is only available on BT lines... It didn't give me the number though unfortunately, but again is supportive of the theory that a line is in the flat and just needs reconnecting (which was my initial position).  Isn't a reconnection/activation fee £30?

 I'm thinking the best thing to do would probably be just to get the engineer to come out and look at it.  I'm just slightly concerned about the prospect of him saying that in fact we do need a new line, and then having to pay his fee on top of the installation fee. 

I have a Tiscali account for broadband and all 24 hour phone calls, only paying BT for the line. Recently, BT have phoned me a number of times asking why I have had no phone call charges. I explained that my arrangements were the cheapest.

Very soon afterwards, my phone line started making crackling noises which I thought would be temporary due to weather conditions and that we live in a village. However, each time I called BT to inform them of a noise problem, the crackling mysteriously disappeared!! Although at one time, during a protracted conversation with BT's call centre, the noise appeared briefly but the operator stated he couldn't hear it because he was in a noisy office. He advised me to conduct my own test by connecting a reliable handset into the main phone inlet point (behind their panel). Sure enough, the crackling was still there.

The operator did a line test for me which showed no faults and it was therefore more likely to be my equipment. He said he could arrange an engineer to call but that I would be charged a hefty callout charge if the engineer could not find a fault. Didn't like the idea of that especially when the noise happened intermittently.

So then I tried the 17070 number which is BT's own line tester facility and, would you believe, it was noise free.

This seems very odd. Do you know of anyone else experiencing this?