My 101-year-old dad was left without a landline and a working panic button after BT switched his phone service from analogue to digital without telling us. BT had informed us that the contract was about to end and he asked me to contact them to renew it. I duly called and at no point was I advised to contact the panic button supplier or informed of the possible need for adapters to connect analog phones to the new service. After four hours on the phone with BT when the service failed, I was informed that digital adapters were needed to ensure our phones worked. Four days later, they still hadn’t arrived and BT said it couldn’t speed up delivery. My father, who is registered blind and only has 30% hearing, was without his panic button for five days until the helpline team came and got it working.
TUBERCULOSIS, Birmingham
Your father’s situation shows the human cost of moving from analog phone lines to an Internet-based service. Since September, customers who start or renew contracts switch to Digital Voice, which requires a broadband router. However, the new technology poses a threat to vulnerable users, as digital landlines do not work during power outages and some drop buttons are incompatible.
Activists have criticized the speed of the launch, which was originally scheduled to be completed by the end of next year. The government has twice required providers to push back the deadline after reports of “serious incidents” involving failed panic buttons. BT recently signed an agreement committing, among other things, not to migrate panic button users unless their device supports digital landlines, and to provide battery backup solutions in the event of a Energy cut.
It appears that these commitments were ignored when his father’s service was changed, and the consequences for him could have been catastrophic. As it was, you had to spend the five days at his side in case of emergency.
The landline was restored after contact from the Observer and his father, who was not on BT’s priority repair scheme, has been marked as vulnerable. BT says: “We are very sorry that the customer experience fell below the usual high standard we strive to offer our customers. “We have agreed on a gesture of goodwill to recognize their expertise.”
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