Fault INC0000138​59127 - no resolution in sight

Monday

I have a Talktalk Fibre connection (30Mbps) in a holiday home in Cornwall. It has worked fine, with very few interruptions, since installation in September 2014.

On Tuesday 12/7/16 @ 15:00 the line dropped and it has not worked since. Being a holiday home, I am not normally in residence, so I delayed reporting it to Talktalk until I was next on site. (I know the time the fault occurred, because I have a site-to-site VPN implemented using a pair of Draytek Vigor 2830n's, and monitored by PRTG. You may have guessed that I have a background in I.T. (27 years!). Before ringing Talktalk, I tried all the obvious solutions that were available to me).

 I reported the fault to Talktalk on Saturday 23/7/16 12:55 and was given a fault number. The person I spoke was difficult to understand, but the gist seemed to be the fault would be passed to Openreach, and I would receive some form of automated SMS, to allow me to choose an appointment time. I was told that it might take Openreach 72 hours to fix the fault.

On Sunday 24/7/16 15:50 I rang again, since I had not received any such message and was told that Openreach wouldn't even begin to look at the fault until Monday 25/7/16. However, the 'technician' now changed tack and decided that I needed a new router.

On Tuesday 26/7/16, the new router (HG633) arrived and I rang Talktalk 30 minutes later to tell them that it was exhibiting exactly the same fault as my existing HG635. I was once again told that the fault would be passed to Openreach, and that it may take up to 72 hours to resolve it.

On Thursday 27/7/16 13:25 I rang Talktalk, but only went as far as the automated "our engineer has your details and is looking into it" message.

On Friday 29/7/16 12:15 I received a call from someone claiming to be from Talktalk - re: my 'slow' internet. Since the guy knew my name and address and spoke very poor English, there was no reason to suspect that it wasn't a genuine call. I was subsequently told that Talktalk made no such call to me, and that it was a 'scam'. This is very interesting, since I was told earlier in the year that my account was one that had NOT been compromised. Clearly, it has!

When I rang Talktalk on Friday 29/7/16 12:45 (i.e. when the 72 hours was up!), I was told that "no, Openreach weren't fixing it at all", and that a Talktalk 'engineer' would need to visit the property, to upgrade the firmware in the HG633! Even worse, I was told that the earliest this could happen was 9/8/16. I said this was unacceptable, not least because I wouldn't and couldn't be there - this being a holiday home. Seemingly, 72 hours had passed, during which time Talktalk had not been doing anything to fix the fault...

On Saturday 30/7/16 I spoke to two different 'Fault managers' and someone in the 'leaving Talktalk' department. I gave notice that I would be leaving Talktalk and moving to a new ISP, unless the fault is fixed by Saturday 6/8/16 (when I return home). The best I have been promised is that I would be put on some sort of priority list, in case there is a cancellation.

The fault condition manifests itself as a Red light on the HG635. After resetting the device (I normally use Bridge Mode), I can see from its GUI that the DSL is connected, and that there are 'reasonable looking' power levels present.

Talktalk seem to be using "Witchcraft" as a fault-finding technique. I have no idea why they have a bee in their bonnet about fixing the HG633, when it was never part of the original problem. They've gone off 'down a rabbit-hole' and totally lost sight of what the actual problem is.

This has been a real eye-opener for me. At my home address, I have been a NTL/Virgin customer since 2001. Having seen Talktalk's attempts at fault-finding, I will never criticise Virgin Media again!

The only practical way I can see to resolve this, is to change ISP. Presumably the fault will get fixed as part of the new installation. Other ISPs are more expensive, but you get what you pay for...

 I'm not really expecting this posting to get the problem fixed, but I needed to write it up anyway, for the future OFCOM/Small claims court disputes. Talktalk want £196 to terminate the contract on this non-functional service.

 If anyone reading has any idea how to resolve this, please let me know - I'm at the stage of nothing to lose. I have a config. file that enables Telnet access to the HG635, but I can't really see anything that's not already visible via its default GUI.

TALKTALK

Re: Fault INC0000138​59127 - no resolution in sight

Wednesday

Hi

I've raised this back to networks to progress.  Last update from 26th was to ask for access times for an engineer.  I've asked them to look at this again and let me know if access times are still required.

 Thanks

 Karl. 

ME

Re: Fault INC0000138​59127 - no resolution in sight

Wednesday - last edited Wednesday

OCE_Karl wrote:

Last update from 26th was to ask for access times for an engineer. 

That is not accurate. On the 26th I was told it would be passed to Openreach. Only on the 29th did I find out that they'd been twiddling their thumbs for 72 hours. (Talktalk say they record these conversations - I suggest you play them back)

Only after 3 days of inactivity did they decide to go down the route of  fixing a supposed problem with the brand-new HG633 that was only sent to try and eliminate my existing HG635 as the source of the problem.

Substituting equipent is only viable as a fault-finding technique, if you are certain you are substituting a known-good component. This episode would seem to indicate that Talktalk have no confidence in the state of equipment they ship to customers, which is a very strange state of affairs. Ever considered testing them, before posting?

Personally, I suspect there is nothing wrong with either the HG633 or the HG635. What possible hardware fault with a router would result in symptoms like these (DSL connected, no IP address obtained by DHCP)?

I suspect you have run out of time to fix this fault to my satisfaction. Fortunately for me, other Broadband suppliers are available...

 TALKTALK

Re: Fault INC0000138​59127 - no resolution in sight

Friday

Hi,

 I am sorry to hear this. If you do wish to cancel your services, you will need to call our Customer Loyalty teams directly and they can process this for you.

 Regards,

 Karl. 

ME

Re: Fault INC0000138​59127 - TIME UP!

yesterday

Time for me to disconnect from my neighbour's Wi-Fi and head north.

I will now start the process of changing ISP. Any payments I have to make to terminate the contract are to be considered MADE UNDER DURESS. I reserve the right to recover them via the courts.

I will report, to OFCOM, the scam calls I have received from persons purporting to be Talktalk - since I was told by Talktalk that my details had not been compromised.

The service I have received from Talktalk in attempting to fix this fault has been nothing short of PATHETIC.