'IT'S good to talk' says an old advertising slogan — but tell that to a Calstock man, who claims that for the second time in almost nine months he has been waiting on the phone line for a response from BT. Sam Kirby, 31, has been so frustrated with two long drawn out experiences with BT that he has now written to the telephone ombudsman OTELO to voice his concerns. In July 2007 he contacted BT to have a telephone installed at his flat in Bowden Street, which he depends on not just for personal use but also for his business, HomePCFix, as a self employed IT engineer. After missing days off work to meet BT engineers who did not turn up at agreed times, making six hours of phone calls following BT's 'customer services' and letters to its customer services director in Durham, Mr Kirby finally had his line connected in late September. The reason given is that he was on a 'dead line' which needed to be fixed on the supply pole outside. Mr Kirby said: 'This was done; however, further work was required further up the hill out of Calstock towards the supply box.' To add to his communication problems he said that getting a mobile signal is virtually impossible at the village, which is surrounded by steep hills. But that was not the end of his troubles. When he moved to a new address in the same village on December 5 he wanted a reconnection but again Mr Kirby is still waiting — more than seven weeks later as the Times goes to press. He told the ombudsman: 'I am lost for words to describe the experience of the customer service with BT I have had. Their telephone support system seems calamitous, they have failed to keep appointments made on several occasions.' BT responded by saying that with regard to the original complaint they were sorry for the problems Mr Kirby experienced but it was being investigated and they will be contacting the customer to bring the issues he raised to an amicable conclusion. Jason Mann, the regional spokesman for BT, also responded to Mr Kirby's complaint over being reconnected at his new property at Trekensa Cottage. Mr Mann told the Times: 'The delay in the service provided at Trekensa Cottage has been complicated by the fact that a lot of underground cabling and ducts has be to installed at this property. 'The property has not had a working telephone service in recent times. We will be progressing this work as fast as we can but it's a complicated job and may even involve having to erect temporary traffic lights outside, and for that we would have to have the permission of the local authorities. 'This is the reason why this job is taking much longer than usual.'
