Is it just me or is the service from BT getting consistantly worse?

I have a standard fixed line with them which I also use for dial-up.

Over the past couple of months I have had numerous problems with my line, rangeing from complete loss of my line all together to my internet access number been busy or even unavailable at peak times.

Their compensation scheme for lost lines is also questionable as I had no service for over 24 hours and yet I was told I was unable to claim compentation as BT will only pay out if the line is down for more than 1 working day.

I reported the fault at 14:00 on a Wednesday. At 16:30 the following day I got my line back again. That's 26.5 hours I had no service BUT as my fault was fixed before 17:00 the next day, they did not class this as been a full working day. I was also not offered a divert service to my mobile phone (according to the phone book I was entitled to this)

News to BT - my working day does not start at 09:00 and end at 17:00. I, like a lot of people, work a 3 shift system.

The other completley annoying thing is that I reported the fault using my mobile phone using an 0800 number which, of course, it not free from a mobile. How are you supposed to use a freephone number to report a fault when you cannot use your fixed line? I had to make numerous calls to chase the fault repair, for which the cost added up!!

After several phone calls and letters later BT did finally credit my account with £15 for the loss of service.

My advice is be persistant and dont accept what BT first tell you. The only reson why I did manage to finally get the £15 credited was due to a cold-call questionaire company call that I received after the fault, asking me to comment on BT's fault reporting process.

Just waiting now for BT to roll out ADSL in my area (Lancashire).........gonna have a long wait there!!!!