SilverTop669

Incidentally, since the 5 dates above I have since been given 15/02 and now 18/02. And that's just to plant the pole, not get me up and running with a phone and broadband. Everyone assumes we all have a phone and broadband these days. Even gas and electric expect online customer readings. And 3 months of Amazon Prime streaming is down the drain. Mobile phones in this area are dodgy at best between 0900 and 1700. O2 possibly have the strongest signal in this area, but if they are no better than Plusnet mobile (EE network) I am no better off. I blame BT Openreach without doubt for the time taken and (so far) 6 inaccurate installation dates, and do I believe 18/02, no I don't. It's a poor service from a company that when all said is a MONOPOLY. If they were a bank or supermarket they would not be allowed to have such a monopolistic control of the market, and have no responsibility to communicate with the end user (the public). Unfortunately, these isn't an ISP that does not rely on BT Openreach for their infrastructure.

I moved into a new house 30/11. My garden borders 5 other properties that all have internet access. I am hardly a remote farm miles from anywhere. BT Openreach could even put up a new pole in a cul-de-sac at the back of my house. BT Openreach previously told Plusnet that a new pole would be put up 09/01, then 10/01, then 21/01, then 25/01 and now 31/01 but again a pole has not been put up. The months roll by and I see have no idea if I will ever get an internet service or even a landline phone. BT Openreach will not respond to me directly. In this day and age where we are all expected to manage our gas and electricity bills, bank accounts, etc all online it is not good enough. I also have a Plusnet mobile phone and I have to keep paying for data add-ons which are expensive.

Thanks sincerely for all the input to this thread from everyone. In this day and age TVs, CCTV systems and other appliances often want to connect to the Internet (including to activate warranties). We also pay for Amazon Prime to watch films and yet 3 months of the subscription will be wasted. A lot of authorities, councils, utilities etc expect to be notified online of changes of address and other issues we have. I agree that the Internet should be as mandatory as gas, electricity, water and drainage but my independent builder told me he could not get a line installed because the request needs to come from an ISP and he couldn't arrange that through my ISP. Off-topic, because he was a business building the house I am being hit with business rate gas and electricity bills on a 5 bedroom domestic property. I see no evidence that anyone, anywhere has escalated my problem and BT Openreach are not even keeping to their predicted dates. If Plusnet had told me up front that they would not charge me for any service and I would likely be down for 3 months I would have made contingency plans much sooner.

Many thanks, Kieran. I won't hold my breath then. I am learning to live without the internet and a landline phone. I take my laptop to the local pub because add-on data on my phone is very expensive. It's a pity ISPs don't just tell us this in the first place rather than customers looking out the front door every day hoping to see a pole appear.

Does anyone have any idea how long it should take Openreach to put up a pole in front of my house? I live in a large village in South Yorkshire surrounded by houses who all have phone line and internet access. Some overhead and some are underground and I am in the middle, close to both. I moved into a brand new house over 6 weeks ago and still have no idea when a pole will be installed. I have no line, landline phone or internet until the pole/cable is installed. It is such a nuisance not being able to make good quality calls. I have a good mobile phone, but quality in this area is poor and calls usually break up (possibly due to being near an airport). It's hard to believe this is 2019 and some of us still live in the dark ages thanks to companies like Openreach. Openreach will only talk to my ISP and Plusnet tell me little or nothing.