phone cables

[Rupe]

Yes, but they also have budget for fault repairs so we might as well use that.

[skyhuck]

Yes, but they also have budget for fault repairs so we might as well use that.

 

[tommer9]

They will drop the lines...........£80 call out plus VAT, then £50/ hr plus vat to sit there until the job is complete and another £80 plus VAT to reinstate I was informed 2 years ago. If they decide a tree cutter is at fault/ has broken or mesed with the line they want £1200.

Or you find a friendly engineer who'll do it for logs:)

[Treewolf]

I am confused with the whole situation with BT lines (and I doubt I am the only one).

 

Around Christmas I was asked to help out a family member. Her next-door neighbour (a good friend of hers) was having repeated problems with the phone line and BT broadband which BT seemed unable to fix. Eventually the BT 'engineer' (and I hesitate to use that word since it suggests competence) spotted that the phone line from the neighbour's house runs out over my family member's garden passing striaght through two yew trees (which were there years before the line was last replaced, then out over a third property's garden. Where it passed through the yew trees there was a branch which was rubbing hard on the wire.

 

BT 'engineer' announces that this must be the problem, and says to the neighbour "you need to get that branch cut off", then BT washed their hands of the whole problem. BT said that the neighbour had to arrange for the cutting, even though it isn't the neighbour's tree and isn't on the neighbour's property, which is clearly rather difficult to enforce. I always though in this situation it was down to BT to sort it out, since there was clearly a line fault and they have a contract to supply a satisfactory phone service to the house.

 

In the end, I took the branch off without disturbing the phone line, and the reduced tension in the wire does seem to have solved the problem. I did however notice while doing this that where the line passes through the third property it has been pressed up against an ash tree so hard and so long that the ash has enveloped the line completely - it runs straight through the trunk! Fortunately it doesn't seem to be causing a problem at the moment.

 

So does BT actually do any line clearance themselves? Or do they always take the "not our problem, fix it yourself" approach?

[shanks]

............................So does BT actually do any line clearance themselves? Or do they always take the "not our problem, fix it yourself" approach?

 

A BT chap up here did some, it seems just so he could get to the box at the top of the pole because the line still runs through branches either side. He also kindly left his impressive pile of trimmings on the one foot wide verge at the side of the road.

[volvo]

As far as i know it is up to the customer of the phone company to get there trees cut back now if they are causing an obstruction..

To me they should be doing what the electricty companies do and look after there lines after all you are paying for a service.

[Treewolf]

is the fault a phone or internet problem? and what are the symptons?

 

Both. Excessive crackling sound on a voice call, and evidently the poor line quality was preventing the ADSL from working.

 

As far as i know it is up to the customer of the phone company to get there trees cut back now if they are causing an obstruction..

 

I wondered if that was the case, it was certainly the impression that the BT linesman who came out gave. "Not my problem, mate! You'll have to get those trees cut".

 

To me they should be doing what the electricty companies do and look after there lines after all you are paying for a service.

 

Couldn't agree more. In this particular case the BT bloke said that he thought the problem was probably the trees, but that he could do anything about it. The trees were not on the phone owners land, but on at least two other properties, one of which (as it happens the one where the problem was occuring) just happened to be my family member's, so we were able to sort it out. However in many cases I doubt the phone owner can even find out whose land it is, or where the problem is.

 

It seems to me absolute rubbish if BT has no responsibility at all for carrying out line clearance.

[Hodge]

I am confused with the whole situation with BT lines (and I doubt I am the only one).

 

Around Christmas I was asked to help out a family member. Her next-door neighbour (a good friend of hers) was having repeated problems with the phone line and BT broadband which BT seemed unable to fix. Eventually the BT 'engineer' (and I hesitate to use that word since it suggests competence) spotted that the phone line from the neighbour's house runs out over my family member's garden passing striaght through two yew trees (which were there years before the line was last replaced, then out over a third property's garden. Where it passed through the yew trees there was a branch which was rubbing hard on the wire.

 

BT 'engineer' announces that this must be the problem, and says to the neighbour "you need to get that branch cut off", then BT washed their hands of the whole problem. BT said that the neighbour had to arrange for the cutting, even though it isn't the neighbour's tree and isn't on the neighbour's property, which is clearly rather difficult to enforce. I always though in this situation it was down to BT to sort it out, since there was clearly a line fault and they have a contract to supply a satisfactory phone service to the house.

 

In the end, I took the branch off without disturbing the phone line, and the reduced tension in the wire does seem to have solved the problem. I did however notice while doing this that where the line passes through the third property it has been pressed up against an ash tree so hard and so long that the ash has enveloped the line completely - it runs straight through the trunk! Fortunately it doesn't seem to be causing a problem at the moment.

 

So does BT actually do any line clearance themselves? Or do they always take the "not our problem, fix it yourself" approach?

 

I know a contractor who does stuff for bt, pruning and clearing from poles and taking old poles down.

[volvo]

I know a contractor who does stuff for bt, pruning and clearing from poles and taking old poles down.

 

That will be for clearing for new/replacement lines etc,not for joe public.

[claudie345]

I agree just get the job done, if you break the wire don't worry just let BT know and they will repair at a cheaper price, and you are also not governed by when they can be bothered to take the wire down. I take down trees next to powerlines all day long just have to be carefull, take your time and work round the cable - try not to break it I suppose.