Openreach install issues - has anyone had any issues

[Adam+Fozz]

Has anyone had any issues with open reach installations, and specifically is there any way of contacting them directly ?

just moved into a mid terrace cottage which is situated on a main road. I ordered Sky fibre last week, with an engineer due to come this Wednesday to install.

however, Openreach have then scheduled a pre visit in today, forcing me to take time off work because they only give you a rough slot. After waiting around I got a call to

be told I actually didn't need to be in - all fine, albeit a waste of time! Then, later, I got another call to say that the engineer can't do the work because they need a hoist, and the hoist worker refuses to do the work because it's a main road on a country bend.

they've now suggested that the only way is to delay my order again and carry out the work at 6am on a Saturday when the road will be quiet! I'm concerned that this could cause issues with noise/ neighbours, and also could get delayed again leaving me with no internet. Sky aren't helpful because they can't do anything or communicate with OR - equally OR don't seem to have any customer facing contact details.

i work from home, and also have Sky Glass so having no internet is critical at this point. Has anyone experienced anything similar or

have any useful tips to try and communicate with openreach 

[JimM1]

@Adam+Fozz You are the customer off sky, OR is not any contact for you at all, they may reachout with supplied information to what is going to happen but that is about it, they install the Infrastucture required and Health and Safety is paramount and trumps all other no matter what! If you have any kind off mobile signal at all, try to see if you can hotspot as a temp way to get you connected.

[splatto]

Openreach are atrocious when it comes to first appointments. Sky book them to do the external work, but if when they turn up to your property there's, for example, a garden fence in their way they just clear off without saying a word and tell Sky they can't do the work and Sky rebook. 

[Adam+Fozz]

Agreed, I'm finding them less than helpful so far - and whilst I appreciate I'm not Open Reach's customer, they obviously have a statutory obligation (as per ofcom) to ensure a reasonable broadband connection is provided. I think the biggest issue here is a lack of communication 

[Chrisee]

@Adam+Fozz the only "obligation " is the provision of a line under the Universal Service Obligation of a connection running at 10Mb/s if that can be provided with a cost under £3,400 which the BT group must provide. There is no obligation to supply a full fibre connection and the Openreach roll out Sky use is a commercial undertaking where Openreach pay up to £2,800 costs per connection anything over that amount are down to the customer. In practice this means customers have limited ability to require customisation.

The forum sees issues like your's quite frequently as provision of more than 10,000 lines per day a few inevitably hit snags. Overhead provision is normally more straightforward than underground but if equipment like a cherry picker is required then things take longer. Indeed if a traffic control is insisted on a busy road in the delay can be considerable as the highway authority has to give permission which can take months to get. Openreach do not know the exact requirement for every property until an engineer surveys the site.

As you have found things then go quite quiet as planning is required Openreach do not usually communicate with the end customer directly and give limited information to the ISPs like Sky who can only tell you what they know. If you were given a firm date for the install then you should start accrueing compensation as explained here Customer Auto-Compensation | Sky Help | Sky.com

My own upgrade to full fibre was delayed for a couple of months which was annoying but the compensation covered my first 6 months service.