New FTTP installation - phone cut-off and missing ringback tone

[sheriffbuck]

New installation down in Verwood, Dorset. OpenReach installed FTTP ready for Vodafone to activate BB and Digital Voice service 2 week ago today.

BB appears to be working fine. Ping test consistent 10ms with no obvious connection drops.

Digital Voice is a bit of a mess. Line "appears" to be working in that calls come in and can be made, but suffers two issues:

1. No ring-back tone is heard from callers calling the LL number. They dial the number, but they get silence rather than "ring ring". House phones ring fine, but often caller hangs up because they assume there is a problem because they don't get the ringing tone on their handset.
2. All outgoing calls get cut off after 29 minutes and 28 seconds duration. A tone is heard on the LL at the point of cut-off, then silence. Router shows call in progress. Receiving handset is disconnected.

Been passed around the houses for over a week with Tier 1 support who really didn't know what to do. I kept getting fobbed off by being told it's an OpenReach installation issue, or my router needed to be reset/upgraded/reflashed/turned upside down to pour out the problems....

I suspect it's an issue with Vodafone's SIP gateway service which has nothing to do with OpenReach, but I'm no expert here.

Finally got engagement from Tier 2 on Friday with a ticket number and a direct line. Ran some tests for them on Sunday, so sitting in wait for a response.

I wanted to get this posted in case others were having a similar issue and nothing was showing up in Internet searches.

I was told by one call handler that the problem had been reported by other users.

[sheriffbuck]

Update from my end is that the ringback tone issue was resolved last Friday 6 weeks after the line got installed, but the line cut-off issue after 30 minutes remains an ongoing problem. I wish you all the best in getting this sorted....

[jozxyqk76]

Similar story here, calls still cutting out at 29.5 mins. There's been several days of back and forth calls with an engineer who says it's due to a signal verifying the line is active not being sent/received. He's tried several things without success.

He last phoned on Friday so I don't know if I'm supposed to call back or just be patient.

6 weeks and counting.

[Jayach]

Absolutely keep badgering them. In my experience Vodafone do nothing unless they are prompted.

[jozxyqk76]

Not much to update here. Didn't hear back from the test engineer so I went through the Twitter DM route.

My original ticket (pre-dating the line tests) had been closed. Now reopened.

I've had a couple of courtesy calls from the 2nd line support team but no progress.

[jozxyqk76]

Just to update, I was told this week that the problem had been fixed. Tried phoning a BT number last night and unsurprisingly it was cut off at 29.5 mins (twice).

During a lengthy call with the 2nd line team - it nearly reached the cutoff time - I was told in no particular order,

Try plugging the phone into the Tel 2 socket on the router.

Provide 3 recent numbers where calls have been dropped (even though I did this back in May).

I was later called back and told it's been escalated yet again and an engineer will call tomorrow.

Needless to say, this is very frustrating and all these troubleshooting calls are impacting on my working day.

Seriously considering raising a complaint, citing breach of contract through inadequate service and going to another provider.

[wcox]

Still cutting off after 29 mins here - clearly, lots of customers have the same problem, but VF is still looking into it on an individual basis instead of recognising they have a system-wide issue.

[sheriffbuck]

Yep. Same issue here.

I am getting calls from the 2nd tier support team roughly weekly, but they keep saying the fix is not in place yet and that they are working through issues with OpenReach (I do struggle with this as my understanding that the VOIP services are provided by Vodafone's own network and that OpenReach is just the bearer), but either way they are saying the problem remains and that they have no clear ETA.

Quite exasperating to be honest. I don't believe it's getting that much priority with Vodafone as it's been a problem since 25th April - That's 3 months now.

R

[Gemma]

Hi everyone, please don't think that we're ignoring you. Rest assured that this is being looked into.

If anyone hasn't yet been in touch and had an individual ticket number raised, then please come and talk to us through Social Media. Please include a link to this thread, to avoid having to explain it again. 

[jozxyqk76]

Now the landline isn't working at all. Dial tone has a pulsing sound and gives the dead tone as soon as I try to dial. Inbound calls ring for the caller but don't come through.

Yet another call I have to make to VF during working hours.

I didn't want fttp in the first place - I only rang in April to try to get a bill reduction on my old fttc account and was told it would only happen if I went to fttp.

[jozxyqk76]

Landline now back but still cutting out at 29.5 mins.

Several texts from Vodafone UK saying that there'll be an update in X days, each saying nothing apart from an update's on the way.

More worryingly, yesterday I started getting new customer texts and am unable to sign into my online account.

I've had several meaningless interactions with the social media team, who leave me waiting for ages before parroting the "there will be an update" line. I've given them my personal details and 2 digits from my pin so many times I'm sure they could impersonate me to my bank.