A Norfolk home-based worker said she had lost clients because of an 11-month delay to the installation of her broadband connection.
Suzanne Brackpool, who works for Travel Counsellors from her home in Hamlet near Swaffham in Norfolk, checked if broadband Internet services were available in her area before she started working for the company last October. “This is why I decided to get broadband. I rang Travel Counsellors and they checked it was available.”
But when BT came to try to connect the broadband, it did not work, Brackpool said. She then waited 11 months for the service, which was connected earlier this month.
“I have been working from a dial-up Internet connection and using my mobile phone. It’s been horrendous. People rang and I would not be able to chat while doing the searches. By the time I rang customers back they might have gone out or found something else. I’m sure this has cost me clients.”
BT has spent around £40,000 providing the connection. Technical difficulties and planning applications caused the majority of the delays, a spokesman said.
Although BT provided a broadband checker service, there were rare occasions when unforeseen circumstances caused delays to the connection, he said.