On Apr 18, 12:39*pm, Bob Eager wrote:
On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:18:19 +0100, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On 17 Apr 2011 23:03:06 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:

How about reporting it to the HSE too?

He he, though as nothing happened as a consequence they might not be all
that interested. But a nod in thier direction might be worth while if BT
are sending out engineers without suffcient understanding/training.

I think they might well be interested. And it'd put the fear of God into
BT.

--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
*http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

This has certainly generate quite a bit of debate. I would like to
thank everyone for their help and advise.

Thing two main points that really pi*&%d me off are the fact that the
engineer didnt own up to what he had done. When he tripped the power
my wive asked him what had caused it. He just shrugged his shoulders
and said 'dunno', then relocated the screws! Then BT's unwillingness
to resolve the problem. I know that no one really wants to work at
the weekend or br called out (I've been there myself providing 24x7
callout), but if its something that they have caused (and it could be
dangerous) then they should pull out all the stops and pay whatever it
costs.

Can you tell me what HSE is and how to go about contacting them?

We found the details of the BT Open Reach CEO, so we will definitly be
writing directly to her as well as sending in our claim to the
compensation department. I was actually planning on including a claim
for my time on top of the cost of the electrician and plasterer/
decorator. I spent from 10:30am (first call to BT) until 10:30pm
(when the electrician left) on Saturday trying to get this sorted. I
was going to put in a claim for my hourly rate * 12 hours. Does that
seem reasonable?

Alan

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:04:17 -0700, AlanC wrote:

Can you tell me what HSE is and how to go about contacting them?

Health and Safety Executive.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/

You may have to dig a bit for a contact but I would think they'd be
interested.

We found the details of the BT Open Reach CEO, so we will definitly be
writing directly to her as well as sending in our claim to the
compensation department. I was actually planning on including a claim
for my time on top of the cost of the electrician and plasterer/
decorator. I spent from 10:30am (first call to BT) until 10:30pm (when
the electrician left) on Saturday trying to get this sorted. I was
going to put in a claim for my hourly rate * 12 hours. Does that seem
reasonable?

I would think so. Others may know a bit more, having done similar.

--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 18/04/2011 00:03, Bob Eager wrote:


How about reporting it to the HSE too?


Paging Dennis, paging Dennis. Will Dennis pick up the white phone...



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On 17/04/11 00:23, Frank Erskine wrote:
On Sat, 16 Apr 2011 15:19:13 -0700 (PDT), AlanC
wrote:

Just thought I would update you guys.

I spent most of this morning and afternoon on the phone to various
people at BT customer services (I think it was call centre in India),
insisting that they send someone out now to investigate and rectify
any faults. I kept getting the same response that no one will come
out at the weekend and all they can do is get BT Open Reach to call me
on Monday. It didnt matter how much I complained about leaving the
house in a dangerous state and a potential fire hazard. I even tried
the 'I have got children in the house' line (which I do).

I can't really see the significance of "chilldren in the house". Are
they more inflammable than normal people?

if you tell an adult not to touch an exposed live wire its their fault
if they do,
if you tell a child then its your fault if they do.
[g]

You can't really do much about the disciplinary action that should
also be taken against the BT Openreach employee that caused the
problem in the first place. It might be worth trying to get in touch
with the local BT Openreach office and formally reporting/complaining
to them. That employee really needs some training or the sack.

Very good advice from Dave there. As an ex-BT engineer with 25 years
service, all I can say is that they will sort it. I've had a disaster or two
in my time (including losing balance of my ladders whilst carrying them
extended and they smashed through a window, and also damaging a hand-painted
pub sign (driving a higher-than-normal van that day) that cost £1,500 to
have replaced) and our boss said that he didn't care what we'd done as long
as we told him immediately and were honest about it.


Yes, we all make mistakes,
the serious thing is that the 'engineer' didnt report drilling through
the mains cable and left it in a dangerous state.

[g]

On 18/04/2011 21:14, Bob Eager wrote:
On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:04:17 -0700, AlanC wrote:

Can you tell me what HSE is and how to go about contacting them?

Health and Safety Executive.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/

You may have to dig a bit for a contact but I would think they'd be
interested.

We found the details of the BT Open Reach CEO, so we will definitly be
writing directly to her as well as sending in our claim to the
compensation department. I was actually planning on including a claim
for my time on top of the cost of the electrician and plasterer/
decorator. I spent from 10:30am (first call to BT) until 10:30pm (when
the electrician left) on Saturday trying to get this sorted. I was
going to put in a claim for my hourly rate * 12 hours. Does that seem
reasonable?

I would think so. Others may know a bit more, having done similar.

We had a car insurance claim after a Co-Op wagon hit my wife's parked
car. As she had patients to see when we had to take the car to their
insurer's nominated repairer, I had to take it and pick it up and due to
their opening times, hire car company delays, getting the kids back to
nursery once it opened, etc. it totalled around 10 hours of my work
time. I billed that at my rate of £28 an hour and after querying it and
me responding, they paid up. However, I was able to demonstrate an
actual loss. Unless you could show that you would have been working if
you weren't dealing with their problem, then you'd be lucky to get
anything other than a very small goodwill gesture.

SteveW