Out for a trip today, saw a Clio upside down in a field having smacked
and all but demolished a telegraph pole in the process.

I thought later I would call it in to OR as it looks to feed a remote
farm and a couple of associated cottages and there was no certainty
whether or not the cable had broken.

Rang the number and got a Script Jockey of Asian descent. He took all
the info <including> the exact location and finally asked for a
postcode. I explained (1) I was driving at the time, (2) I had no idea
of the postcode, and (3) rural postcodes can be a mile or more square.
He insisted he couldn't take the report without a postcode but after a
couple of further minutes going round in circles with him I invited him
to visit a taxidermist (politely of course) and rang off.

Does anyone have a different number for reporting equipment faults apart
from 0800 023 2023 #1?

It was still there (as was the Clio) when we came home 7 hours later!

On 17/11/2023 18:00, Woody wrote:
> Out for a trip today, saw a Clio upside down in a field having smacked
> and all but demolished a telegraph pole in the process.
>
> I thought later I would call it in to OR as it looks to feed a remote
> farm and a couple of associated cottages and there was no certainty
> whether or not the cable had broken.
>
> Rang the number and got a Script Jockey of Asian descent. He took all
> the info <including> the exact location and finally asked for a
> postcode. I explained (1) I was driving at the time, (2) I had no idea
> of the postcode, and (3) rural postcodes can be a mile or more square.
> He insisted he couldn't take the report without a postcode but after a
> couple of further minutes going round in circles with him I invited him
> to visit a taxidermist (politely of course) and rang off.
>
> Does anyone have a different number for reporting equipment faults apart
> from 0800 023 2023 #1?
>
> It was still there (as was the Clio) when we came home 7 hours later!

I've found the 'fault' reporting service really good, and efficient.
I've used it to report the door of our local cabinet not being closed
properly, (fixed within 18 hours) and the same cabinet having been
attacked by a graffiti artist (Repainted after 10 days)

However, I gave them the postcode.

There was a nearby pole almost snapped off, and leaning at 30 degs, but
still connected to everything. Took OR five weeks to replace.

On 18/11/2023 12:41, Mark Carver wrote:
> I've found the 'fault' reporting service really good, and efficient.
> I've used it to report the door of our local cabinet not being closed
> properly, (fixed within 18 hours) and the same cabinet having been
> attacked by a graffiti artist (Repainted after 10 days)
>
> However, I gave them the postcode.
>
> There was a nearby pole almost snapped off, and leaning at 30 degs, but
> still connected to everything. Took OR five weeks to replace.

I have also found there fault reporting service works well.

First was a couple of years ago when I had an intermittent fault, I
think it took a couple of days and a local engineer rang me and fixed
the fault.

But a year of so later I had a more permanent fault, a local engineer
called me and said he was out of the town would look when he got back
later in the day.

He rang back later - he had found a loose wire in the cabinet (probably
not crimped properly on last fault and had been disturbed by someone
working in the cabinet!).

Many organisations rely heavily on postcodes (I once reported a car with
no tax that I saw parked on the street and they wanted a postcode). But
you can easily work out the postcode / using.

https://gridreferencefinder.com/

There is a Northern Ireland version linked from there.

I think often they need the postcode to pass to the nearest person to
deal with an incident rather than actually finding the location of the
fault. They should be able accept a NGR or Lat/Long also but might be
beyond the ability of many of call centre staff!

On Sat 18/11/2023 13:02, JMB99 wrote:
> On 18/11/2023 12:41, Mark Carver wrote:
>> I've found the 'fault' reporting service really good, and efficient.
>> I've used it to report the door of our local cabinet not being closed
>> properly, (fixed within 18 hours) and the same cabinet having been
>> attacked by a graffiti artist (Repainted after 10 days)
>>
>> However, I gave them the postcode.
>>
>> There was a nearby pole almost snapped off, and leaning at 30 degs,
>> but still connected to everything. Took OR five weeks to replace.
>
>
> I have also found there fault reporting service works well.
>
> First was a couple of years ago when I had an intermittent fault, I
> think it took a couple of days and a local engineer rang me and fixed
> the fault.
>
> But a year of so later I had a more permanent fault, a local engineer
> called me and said he was out of the town would look when he got back
> later in the day.
>
> He rang back later - he had found a loose wire in the cabinet (probably
> not crimped properly on last fault and had been disturbed by someone
> working in the cabinet!).
>
> Many organisations rely heavily on postcodes (I once reported a car with
> no tax that I saw parked on the street and they wanted a postcode). But
> you can easily work out the postcode /  using.
>
> https://gridreferencefinder.com/
>
> There is a Northern Ireland version linked from there.
>
> I think often they need the postcode to pass to the nearest person to
> deal with an incident rather than actually finding the location of the
> fault.  They should be able accept a NGR or Lat/Long also but might be
> beyond the ability of many of call centre staff!
>
>

Call centre staff whose first language is not English and who are half
way around the world?

It was postcode or nothing first time, but when I tried again yesterday
evening the guy asked if I had W3W? Fortunately it only took me a minute
or so to find something close to the incident. Job done.

On 18/11/2023 15:34, Woody wrote:
> Call centre staff whose first language is not English and who are half
> way around the world?
>
> It was postcode or nothing first time, but when I tried again yesterday
> evening the guy asked if I had W3W? Fortunately it only took me a minute
> or so to find something close to the incident. Job done.

Weren't BT one of the organisations that moved away from using foreign
call centre?

On 18/11/2023 16:12, JMB99 wrote:
> On 18/11/2023 15:34, Woody wrote:
>> Call centre staff whose first language is not English and who are half
>> way around the world?
>>
>> It was postcode or nothing first time, but when I tried again
>> yesterday evening the guy asked if I had W3W? Fortunately it only took
>> me a minute or so to find something close to the incident. Job done.
>
>
>
> Weren't BT one of the organisations that moved away from using foreign
> call centre?
>
I don't think so.
>

--
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere,
diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”
― Groucho Marx

On 18 Nov 2023 16:12, JMB99 wrote:
> On 18/11/2023 15:34, Woody wrote:
>> Call centre staff whose first language is not English and who are half
>> way around the world?
>>
>> It was postcode or nothing first time, but when I tried again yesterday
>> evening the guy asked if I had W3W? Fortunately it only took me a minute
>> or so to find something close to the incident. Job done.
>
>
>
> Weren't BT one of the organisations that moved away from using foreign
> call centre?

Yes, but that was BT (now EE) not Openreach (still Openreach)

On 18 Nov 2023 15:34, Woody wrote:
> On Sat 18/11/2023 13:02, JMB99 wrote:
>> On 18/11/2023 12:41, Mark Carver wrote:
>>> I've found the 'fault' reporting service really good, and efficient.
>>> I've used it to report the door of our local cabinet not being closed
>>> properly, (fixed within 18 hours) and the same cabinet having been
>>> attacked by a graffiti artist (Repainted after 10 days)
>>>
>>> However, I gave them the postcode.
>>>
>>> There was a nearby pole almost snapped off, and leaning at 30 degs,
>>> but still connected to everything. Took OR five weeks to replace.
>>
>>
>> I have also found there fault reporting service works well.
>>
>> First was a couple of years ago when I had an intermittent fault, I
>> think it took a couple of days and a local engineer rang me and fixed
>> the fault.
>>
>> But a year of so later I had a more permanent fault, a local engineer
>> called me and said he was out of the town would look when he got back
>> later in the day.
>>
>> He rang back later - he had found a loose wire in the cabinet (probably
>> not crimped properly on last fault and had been disturbed by someone
>> working in the cabinet!).
>>
>> Many organisations rely heavily on postcodes (I once reported a car with
>> no tax that I saw parked on the street and they wanted a postcode). But
>> you can easily work out the postcode /  using.
>>
>> https://gridreferencefinder.com/
>>
>> There is a Northern Ireland version linked from there.
>>
>> I think often they need the postcode to pass to the nearest person to
>> deal with an incident rather than actually finding the location of the
>> fault.  They should be able accept a NGR or Lat/Long also but might be
>> beyond the ability of many of call centre staff!
>>
>>
>
> Call centre staff whose first language is not English and who are half
> way around the world?

There are no Openreach contact centres outside the UK to my knowledge.
What evidence do you have that it was abroad?