I've just reread this thread - all I can say is that your user name is well chosen - because you must have the patience of a saint!!!!!!!!!!

Hi All,

This will probably be my final post. A quick update on how everything is going and a few words for BT.

My BT Infinity is quite good - but not perfect. As of this morning my connection speed is:

Down: 30.2mbps Up: 8.2 Ping: 8ms

All good.

Connection with BT Infinity seems to drop every now and then (usually after a period of non-use) which involves resetting the hub. Not a huge problem as the internet will be up and running again within 2 mins. But I have had to do it around 20 times since Infinity was installed (at least twice a day). I am contacting BT to troubleshoot the issue.

Suggestions to BT.

Responsibility

I had issues with: Equipment, Passwords, Accounts, Connection, Sales Information. In resolving these issues I had to talk to 4 different departments, each multiple times, and on every occasion the issue was not resolved.

I then talked to the BT Care Team and ALL the issues were resolved except one for which the advisor gave ample information on its progress. All the other issues were solved within 1 hour - by 1 person. This is the care that your customers deserve. We should not have to get passed from department to department to try to find a solution ourselves.

Have your operators take responsibility for the calls they take.

The BT Care Team are great - they get things done, they get it done quickly, and they take responsibility for the issues the customers are having, they double check that things go through and they call people back when they say they will. This is NOT the case with any of your other departments. When calling through to the help desk - it appears that you get certain levels of authorisation - and some issues that I had could not be solved by the person I was talking to.

I know your organisation is huge - and possibly too big for its own good - but there should be a way for someone to take ownership of a customer's issue rather than have it passed between multiple assistants - with whom no one takes responsibility for the issue. I had to explain myself at least 40 times over a period of 2 months to try to resolve the issues I had. I would have been a lot happier if I could have explained myself only once - and the person I call did all the leg work between departments rather than me having to do the heavy lifting (and considering I don't really know the technical side of things - I wasn't anywhere near as effective as someone at BT's end).


Call Backs

If your operators say that they will call a customer back by a certain time - put a system in place so that happens. I had a multitude of times when I was promised call backs and NOTHING HAPPENED. I then had to go through the process of explaining my situation to someone else, again before we could move on to resolve it.


Systems

Why would you run two systems? One for sales (which says that Infinity is enabled) and another for the wholesalers (which says the exact opposite). I spent at least 3 solid days of phone calls getting batted back and forth between departments on different systems being told one thing, then the exact opposite. Nice as the operators were on the phone - I didn't particularly like having to explain to a wholesaler that I did indeed have BT Infinity in my area - because I was told by the sales people that I did. They should have had that information themselves - off the same system that the Sales Team uses.


Offshore Call Centres.

If I had a month free internet connection for every time I was asked by an outsourced department in India if Canary Wharf was in Greater London - I would have free internet for life. 70% of my calls were handled by an Indian call centre - and I would say that they were close to useless. Having to explain basic geography is heartbreaking.

I doubt that it would be cost-effective for you - but I would suggest that replace the Indian Call Centres with staff like the BT Care Team who have the authority to solve issues rather than work off a script and a computer screen. You could replace every 10 of the call centre staff with 1 BT Care person and you would get 10 times less calls - because you wouldn't have the repeat calls from customers when thing weren't resolved first time around.


A Quick Comparison

For a comparison in regard to my above points - I had previously signed up for BE Unlimited when I was in a different location. I had issues with receiving the router. I contacted the customer help desk - they raise a ticket, they followed the ticket through - they updated me every 1 hour or so with news on how they were getting on. They solved the issue and I was extremely happy with the service they provided. The person who I complained to

1. Took responsibility to sort the issue out.
2. Had the authority to action any issues that they needed to.
3. Had a system to keep me updated, and did so regularly as progress occurred. This was reassuring as I could see that progress was being made - and I did not have to continually follow-up.
4. I dealt with the same person the whole way through. I did not need to explain the situation to another individual.


I hope that these comments somehow find their way up the chain of BT and hopefully their customer service will improve.

Thanks for reading all. I hope that your search for a decent internet service provider will be a fruitful and less painful one than mine.

So the big day arrives. I receive a call from Andy the engineer around 10 in the morning. He is running late from he previous job but will be with me shortly. I hang up - very thankful that I do indeed have an engineer on his way.

Another call from him a little while later - he is stuck in traffic and is heading to the cabinet to get things started there. He arrives a little later and proceeds to install the equipment at my home.

After everything's installed, he runs a speed test which comes back as 40Mbs Down and 15 Mbs Up - even quicker than what was suggested by the helpdesk.

Double-checking that the land line hasn't stopped working - he plugs all the wires in and turns everything on. The BT OpenReach modem connects with the exchange no problem (green light on the DSL) - but when connecting the Hub to the modem he run into a problem. The hub doesn't appear to want to sync with the modem.

He quickly calls BT who state that it is not an installation that he should be doing but rather a speed check. (yep - here we go again). Andy is not happy with this. He thinks he is getting the run around from BT. He heads out to his car to check his work notes. In minutes he is back and he was right - it was definitely an install that he was supposed to carry out.

He has a feeling that it may be something at BT's end as his speed check connected fine. He calls BT.

To cut it short - it takes him about 1.5 hours to get to the bottom of the issues. He has to update the wiring in the exchange (he was given the wrong routing codes to start with) and a few calls to BT to sort out the issues.

About 2 hours after he arrived we are finally up and running with BT INFINITY!

First impressions - it is blisteringly fast. Internet is very responsive and it really is a pleasure to use. BBC iPlayer works a charm, even on HD. I can watch it on my TV through my Blu-ray player and it is super responsive. Litterally less than a second to buffer before playing.

I have run a couple of speeds tests over the last few months, and today and thought I would share them here.

My speeds:

My Worst Ever Reading:
BT Total Broadband: Ping: 1730ms DL: 0.03Mbps UL: 0.25Mbps (seriously...)

This Morning:
BT Total Broadband: Ping: 130ms DL: 0.32Mbs UL: 0.23Mbs (about average)

Now:
BT Infinity: Ping: 16ms DL: 36.3Mbs UL: 7.7Mbs wooohoooo!!!

NOW WE ARE COOKING WITH GAS!!!

The engineer, Andy, was great to have. He took his responsibilities seriously and worked through each issue and ensured that he didn't leave until everything was resolved. Apparently he usually works in Leicester but was down in London due to the demand for installs.

So right now - I am relieved and happy - and a lot less stressed than I have been over the last few months in relation to my internet. It is working well, for now at least.

I will probably post one more time to let you know how it continues to go, and leave a few suggestions to BT regarding their customer service etc while I am at it.

Thanks for reading. I hope your interactions with your Internet Service Provider are a lot less hassle than mine have been.

Early in the afternoon today I receive a call from the BT Care Team (couldn't hear his name but I think it was Ciaran again) who had received my email regarding woes and had raised a ticket to look into it. Upon checking his system he said my order was still live, and that an engineer was still organised for Wednesday morning to come out.

When asked about the TAGS Online issue, he stated that TAGS Online has Poplar as an enabled exchange and that I should be able to sign up. Hope this is it then. It sounds like the database has finally be updated for the TAGS Online - which will mean that the wholesale side will not have any reason to cancel the order.

I will now hold my breath for the engineer to come out on Wednesday morning. There is light at the end of the tunnel. It may be a glow-in-the-dark wombat - but at least the end is nigh.

I will update again once Wednesday has arrived and we see where we are with everything.

Its been a day and a half since I contacted BT to ask them to check into whether my order has been cancelled yet again. As I haven't heard anything from BT I decided to call BT to see if I can find out any information.

I get through to Akmal on the Order Management Desk who looks into the order. Apparently the order is still LIVE at BT and that an Engineer is still planned to arrive at my house between 08:00 - 13:00 on the 17th of August. I ask him to reconfirm as when I put the order number in on the www.bt.com/myorder it states that the order cannot be found, even though there was once a point where it did find it.

I am assured by Akmal that an engineer will arrive on the 17th of August.

I am still not convinced - but looks like I will have to wait this one out. Hopefullly I will hear from Loredana or David or Ciaran in the meantime who might have some more information.

Till next time.

I call BT again Wednesday morning.

I speak to Loredana who is part of the BT Customer Options Team. I explain to her the sitation I have found myself in. After checking her system - she confirms that BT Infinity is definitely in my area and that I should be able to sign up for it. After discussing my plight with her manager - she states that she can do the order again - but can't guarantee that it won't be cancelled at the wholesale side. She will however pass on the details of her manager who can look into it should the order fail.

This is a step in the right direction, someone willing to take responsibility on the customers behalf. Thank you. I wish this was more the case in dealing with BT.

Loredana takes the order quite professionally, and within minutes I receive an email from BT stating that they have received my order. (It appears that an order can be placed within minutes and not the 24-48 hours I was told that an order takes on the weekend by the offshore team). An engineer will be around my place on the 17th of August. Another week to wait - but at least we have an order go through.

I also receive the email form Loredana with her manager's details. Thank again for following up and keeping to your word.

By around 15:00 or so in the afternoon I doublecheck the www.bt.com/myorder and it confirms that order is on track.

By 22:00 I recheck - and alas I receive the Order Not Found screen. It appears that the order may have been cancelled. AGAIN

I have now emailed Loredana and her manager to see if they can assist in getting the order through to the wholesale team whose systems obviously have not yet been updated.

I will keep you posted.

I have called BT.

It takes a few passes to get through to the right desk where I am ultimately handed to Sujith who contacted the wholesalers to see when they have organised a Engineer to complete the installation. Sujith promised to call within 5-10 mins and thankfully he did, even though it was to tell me that he was in a queue to talk to the wholesalers - I had to wait some more, but I was happy to do so, I just needed to be kept informed.

So then it starts. He comes back on the phone to tell me that he has spoken to the wholesalers and BT Infinity is not enabled at Poplar Exchange. I tell him that it definitely is, stating the numerous calls I have had with the Customer Sales Team and the BT Care Team (Ciaran). and that it was only the cabinet that was needing upgrading. He puts me back to the BT Options Team (Sammy) who states that Poplar is not upgraded to Infinity. After nearly loosing my rag, she states that she has checked another system and YES, POPLAR IS UPGRADED TO HANDLE INFINITY, and YES YOUR CABINET IS READY - she will put me through to the wholesale team to organise an Engineer.

I get put through to Paul who then puts me through to Rishi who tells me that no - Poplar is not an enabled exchange. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???. So I then go onto to tell Rishi that the exchange is actually enabled that I was just told so by Sammy who put me through to them. I ask to be put through to someone who can help me as obviously the system is incorrect. I am told that they can put me through to the wholesalers.

I have a long discussion with Shane Butler from the Wholesale side who states pretty emphatically that Poplar Exchange is NOT INFINITY ENABLED. I argue with him stating that two of my friends, who live within streets of me, both have INFINITY and since I live within the Isle of Dogs, everyone in the area is serviced by the Poplar exchange. He agrees with me, stating that if we are only streets away it would be handled by Poplar exchange. So - yes there is a possibility that the exchange is upgraded to Infinity (as per my friends, and BT Customer Options Team, BT Customer Care Support Staff are telling me, but since his "computer says no" there is nothing he can do about it. The computer won't let him log engineer out on a job as the exchange is not being recognised on his system. He passes me back to the BT Technical Help Desk - who I talk through the situation again.

Vishal states he can't organise an Infinity Installation Engineer as that is not his department - his engineers are field engineers that fix faults. Also, on his system (TAGS Online) it is coming up as not an area serviced by Infinity. He does note though that there is a note in the system from a previous call that Poplar is indeed Infinity enabled as is the cabinet on the street. He also notes that I have had 6 orders for Infinity cancelled over the last 3 days. The sales team raises a job order to get Infinity installed (after checking their systems where it says it IS active. It then gets passed to the wholesale side, who check their system, and as the computer says no, cancel the order as they can't process.

So - back and forth between BT departments and NO-ONE can help me. Vishal states that he was trying to put me through to the BT Customer Options Team (one of the teams that actually do realise that Poplar exchange is active) to raise - yet another order but since the desk closed at 21:00 he couldn't get through. I should call in the morning at 08:00 and do it all over again.

So - TAGS Online - which half (at least the Wholesale Teams, and the Technical Support Teams) of BT uses is INCORRECT. The Local Search Function (I will try to find out the correct name for it in my calls tomorrow) does recognise that Infinity is in my area as verified by my friends ongoing connection.

I have spent the whole day waiting for phonecalls to be returned, or on the phone to BT bouncing between 3 departments with 9 different members of staff to get literally nowhere.

I will try again in the morning to see if I get any further.

Could the BT CARE TEAM who frequent these forums please contact me - I really have had enough.

So it is now 18:00 - I have not received a phone call from the Engineer team nor have I received a return phone call from Sreeraj as promised. This is now the 4th time they have promised a phone call and not respected me enough to call.

I will once again call BT.

I get a call from the Broadband Help Desk within 5 mins. (Thank you for finally sticking to your word!).

I talk to Sreeraj who, after explaining the issue yet again he said he would look into it with the engineers - I will stay on the line and he will find out what is going on.

After about 3 mins on hold he comes back to me. The BT engineers are aware of my problem, they are organising an engineer to come to my place and install Infinity (so it is available in my area now - can someone please tell your offshore centre that it is) - and that they will call back within 3-4 hours. That will bring us to 17:00 GMT this afternoon. I ask him to confirm that I will definitely get a call back as I have been promised this 3 times in the last 3 days and have never received a return phonecall.

Sreeraj stated that yes - I will receive a call from the BT Infinity Engineer group before 17:00 today - and he has also put a callback alert on his system between 17:00 and 18:00 to ensure that he calls me back as well to double check that someone from the engineers group has called returned the call.

Thanking him I hang up and await the call back from BT engineers - and also from Sreeraj - to tell me when an engineer will arrive to install Infinity.

(Apt name if I have every heard one. Infinity - the time it takes for BT to actually install the service after purchasing it).

I will update later tonight on further developments if any.

So - its 12:30 and morning has passed. Lo-and-behold no call from BT.

I call BT.

Unsure of the number to call I call through to the Order Management Team (India) and ask to speak to the team that called me at 20:30 last night. On the system there is no record of that call, there is a record of my call to BT at 19:00 so I outline the situation, and that I am awaiting a call back from the Tech team. The operator looks puts me on hold to look into it.

After coming off hold she then proceeds to tell me that BT Infinity is unfortunately not available in my area (???!!!). Rather than go through this ALL AGAIN I explain that I don't care if it says that Infinity is not available in my area, as I have spoken to BT systems in London and they assured me that it definitely was, in either case, all I want to do is speak to the team that called me last night at 20:30 can she put me through.

She told me that she is unable to put me through to the team as it is against internal policy. I request to speak to her manager. After a little wait the floor manager picks up the phone. He proceeds to tell me that Infinity is not offered in my area - but he is happy to provide me with the normal broadband package. Once again I tell him that Infinity is definitely available in my area, this is what BT has told me, and in any case I just want to talk to the team that called me last night. After a small discussion he stated that he will email the Broadband Tech Team have them look into it and give me a call - within 30 mins.

Another update from the wonderful land of BT.

So after NOT receiving a call on Monday as promised, I decided to call BT at 19:00. I speak to Maureen at the Order Management Desk stating that I was told that an Order was placed for BT Infinity on Saturday and that I was expecting a call back as promised. After looking into the order she said that the order was not processed properly and that instead of putting another order in, as I was already "on" infinity it would be quicker to just organise an Engineer to come out and carry out the installation. Putting through another order seemed to be a long way around to getting an engineer out.

She puts me on hold and talks to the Broadband Technical Help Desk to organise an Engineer. After coming off hold, I am told that I will receive a phonecall within 24 hours from the Tech Desk stating when they will have an engineer out to do the installation. Happy with the knowledge that it is being looked into I head out to watch a movie. When I arrive home I am told that Richard from one of the teams at BT called (my Mother-in-Law took the call at around 20:30). He stated that he was aware of the issue and that as I wasn't in - he would organise a call-back by the morning.

At least it is in hand, I look forward to the call back in the morning.

I call BT.

I speak to a customer service person and let her know that I was talking to Irmala at the Order Management Desk who had promised me an email within 15 mins and a phonecall back by close of business tonight which 3 hours later I had not received either. The usual apologies are offered before I ask if an order for Infinity has been actually been put through as requested.

She states that "Infinity is already active on your account".

Here we go again...

I yet again explain that though Infinity may be on my account - I do not have Infinity installed as a cabinet needed to be upgraded on the 13th of June which was then delayed until the 15 of July and then delayed again until the 5th of August. I then thought I had organised an engineer out on the 5th to install Infinity - but he was under the impression that he was fixing a fault with the non-existent Infinity. He was to organise another Engineer later in that day to do the install which ended up being the next day (today) 13:00-18:00 which when I called at midday no-one knew anything about.

After mentioning the engineer's appointment for 13:00-18:00 she states, and I kid you not, "Oh yes, we did have an engineer booked for today for you at 13:00-18:00 but it was cancelled by the [service providers] as they noticed that the Infinity order was cancelled back in June."

Now this is infuriating me to no end. Though I think it would have been another engineer coming out to fix a fault on the non-existent Infinity - I would loath to think that there was actually an engineer on his way to install Infinity - only for some back-office novice to cancel them without knowing the full story.

So checking the notes on her system, the customer service office said that the previous assistant was putting the order through and she was to call me back on Monday (an not the stated "later this evening". The order had not yet been placed and in any case it takes 24-48 hours to process.

Personally - I really do not appreciate being told something and for it not to be followed through.

So now I have to wait until Monday an the expected call to see if my Infinity order has been logged, and an Infinity Engineer can be organised to actually install the blasted thing.

2 hours later and no email and no order confirmation. I shall call BT

I receive a call from BT this morning (Saturday) from an engineer (or the Technical Help Desk organising the engineers) stating that they had a record that there was a fault with our broadband and that an engineer was ordered for later in the day.

It tell them YET AGAIN, that it is not a fault with the Infinity, but that it is an INSTALLATION of Infinity. They state that they were not aware of this but they will send someone out to install the Infinity. Unfortunately I forget to check what time they were coming and if it was going to be different from the 13:00-18:00 originally told.

I contact BT to check what time the engineer will arrive. I speak to Nishant at the Technical Help Desk and he tells me that they have no record of anyone coming out. He then goes on to tell me that the order for BT Infinity was cancelled on June 13 and that I haven't got BTInfinity ordered at all and that I need to put another order in to get an engineer out.

I tell him that I called on 3rd Aug and was told at that time that an engineer would be out to install Infinity, and that is why we had an engineer in our lounge room on the 5th of Aug. He tells me again that the order was cancelled and he is unsure why an engineer would have come out.

Really - how many times do I have to go over the events! I outline the whole situation, the multiple delays in the cabinet being upgraded etc. All I want to know what when the Engineer was coming out to install Infinity?

After a 45 min call I get put through to Irmala at the Order Management Desk. It appears that I have to Order BT Infinity again (I thought this was what happened on the 3rd of August). But hey - what the hell - if it gets things moving - and fixes their systems - whatever. I am expecting an email from Irmala within the next 1/2 hour outlining the order of BTInfinity and that an engineer will be organised for the installation.

Let's see how we get on.

My patience is getting very, very thin.

I call Friday afternoon to find out when the engineer will make his appearance for the installation. I am told that they have an engineer organised between 13:00 and 18:00 on Saturday afternoon. I am glad I called as we would have been out at that time, so we rearrange our meetings so that we are home between these hours.