Phone Line Fault.

[tanto]

Hi folks, need some help please. This afternoon our phone line decided to stop working. We unplugged the phone at the master socket and tried another phone in the same socket, still not working. Called BT on the automated fault diagnosis number (from the mobile) and twice they tried to test the line but were unable to do so. Eventually we spoke to a human at BT who was able to test the line and who suggested the fault was in the property. We also used the test socket behind the face plate to test the line, again nothing. The really strange thing is that our broadband access is still working, which would suggest that the line is ok both inside and outside. Engineer is coming sometime Thursday morning so would like to be forearmed and ready with some info as the call-out and repair costs are extortionate if the fault is on 'our side'. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[tanto]

Update.
For anyone interested, BT visited this morning just 5 minutes after the phone started working. When my wife told him the phone was now working, he did a quick check at the socket before saying he would go to the exchange to check it out. Turs out that there had been a fault on the ''line card'' at the exchange last night and this was causing our problem. He is going to call around in a couple of days to check everything is still ok. As for the broadband, apparently while the phone requires 2 wires to function, broadband will work on 1 wire if the other is damaged, although it would be at a slower rate. So problem solved. Thanks to all who read the original post, hopefully this might help someone else in the future. Thanks.

 

[telelec]

There is a very good chance you will get charged for this. BT have requested Openreach to visit when there was no fault on the physical line ( Openreach Network ) , so if the engineer books the job off as this then Openreach will charge BT Retail for this , who will pass the bill onto yourself.

 

[bernardgreen]

Turs out that there had been a fault on the ''line card'' at the exchange last night and this was causing our problem.

So fault on the BT side of the master socket. No charge should be made to the customer ( subscriber ).

 

[simonpolly]

If there has been a storm lately its quite likely that lightening blew the exchange card,did the engineer change your nte ? and did it take out any of your own equipment ?.Basically if you socket gets blown they replace it free of charge(used to charge) if there is no damage to openreach network but your equipment put the line fault on after a storm they charge.Storms put a loop on your line so when tested it comes back pet,perm engaged.IF THEY CHARGE YOU TELL THEM THE ENGINEER SAID IT WAS A LINE CARD FAULT WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN COMMONED UP WITH THE OTHERS LINES ON THE CARD,BASICALLY ONE CARD/LOCATION CAUSING MULTIPLE FAULTS,SHOULD HAVE BEEN PICKED UP.

 

[tanto]

We did have a thunderstorm that day but it was 4-5 hours after the problem surfaced. No damage to any of our equiptment and everything seams to be back to as it was previously.What is the nte?, nothing was replaced. Problem did not appear to affect any of the neighbours phones (we live at the bottom of a cul-de-sac), as the wife went to check at the time. Anyway all seems to be well now and no charge for call-out. Many thanks again to all who replied.