Post by The Natural PhilosopherPost by Malcolm MuirPost by John BrineI reported the problem with the above number on Sunday evening 16:15 hours
and three times since every time being given a different answer, Several
people I know also have the same problem and are unable to connect on this
number, Demon have still not placed any information on their status line or
website. You can still not access their service on this number now 22:05.
It is not your hardware.
It is now starting to annoy me.
This sounds like a problem with your (and the others similarly
affected) telephone service provider and their interconnect. As far as
can be determined only a small area of the country is affected, it is
not a fault here at Demon (yes I know this is little comfort to
those affected).
This must be reported by you to your telephone service provider and
they are required by OFTEL (OFCOM) to log this fault and investigate.
The recipient of the calls (Demon) can not log this fault with your
service provider.
This is the only way to get the problem resolved and is as laid down
by the regulator. It is not a case of Demon not helping, but being
unable to help.
Ah, but BT say the circuits are FINE. They say its a SURFTIME problem.
Surftime (BT Openworld) only have a PREMIUM RATE support number.
What I need is OFTELS number becuase this is clearly a situation in
which BT are faiing on the job of handing off to another telco, and
refusing to acknowledge the problem as a BT (main) problem, and then
wanting to CHARGE the customer to even REPORT the fault to Surftime.
Meanwhile, my expensive surftime anytime ISDN s completely valueless.
It seems likely that BT staff are confusing the Surftime brandname sold
by BT Openworld with the Surftime call discount sold by BT, and the g4
and g5 charging categories. Me, I can never remember which Demon number
is g4 and which g5, so I'd dig into my demon.announce archive and check.
Call BT, stay polite, and be very insistent, especially if they try to
fob you off onto BT Openworld. Have your bill to hand, so you can
precisely describe what you are charged for.
Make sure you get full names of any BT staff you speak to.
Stay polite. If you're prepared on the details, you can tell the person
who answers that you feel they are unfamiliar with the particular
service you are using (very likely true), and would prefer to speak with
a supervisor.
This Surftime confusion seems to be quite common. It's not your fault
that the front-line staff appear to be inadequately informed, or BT made
such a confusing marketing decision on names, and it's not the fault of
the call-centre staff. And, even with a menu to pick from on a
computer, it's not impossible that they're just getting the wrong
Surftime (which is why terms such as g4 and g5, and the precise wording
on your bill can make a big difference).
--
David G. Bell -- SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.
"History shows that the Singularity started when Tim Berners-Lee
was bitten by a radioactive spider."