BT Openreach Tells UK Engineers to Remain Neutral if Asked About An ISP

BTOpenreach, which maintains BT’s telecoms network across the United Kingdom, has issued a new Do’s and Don’ts List that advises its engineers to “remain neutral” when asked about ISPs and not to recommend BT’s own retail broadband products (BTInfinity etc.). It also tells them to give people a chance to reach the door when they visit.

The helpful guide (Key Messages for NGA Engineers) follows past criticism from ISPs, some of which complained that Openreach’s engineers had occasionally been known to promote BT Retail’s own products to home owners. Naturally third party ISPs aren’t always best pleased when that happens.

Sample of Openreach Don’ts

DON’T Introduce yourself as coming from “BT Openreach” – always introduce yourself as an Openreach engineer.

DON’T Recommend the products and services of any CP. This includes BT Retail.

DON’T Make negative or derogatory comments about any CP.

DON’T Get involved in pricing discussions with end users.

DON’T Write anything inappropriate on the jobs notes or draw a penis as these are visible to CPs.

In other comical news the star of BT’s previous TV advert series, Kris Marshall, has criticized the operator because “I was supposed to get complimentary broadband, but it never happened. It was all, ‘Oh yes, don’t worry, that’ll all be taken care of’, and then suddenly I got a big bill.”