RESIDENTS in Bowerhill have been left “isolated and frustrated” after being left with no phone line in their new homes despite reassurances it would be fixed months ago.
Harry and Sue Freeman and their neighbour Julia Pitman contacted the Melksham News after they have been left with no phone line for months at their new homes on Manston Close despite numerous promises from Persimmon that the problem would be resolved. They were also left with no waste collections for months until just last week, the council agreed to collect their waste.
Harry and Sue Freeman moved to their home from Somerset and have been left feeling isolated in a new town which has been made worse by a poor mobile phone signal in the area which makes them almost impossible to use.
Sue Freeman said, “It has been a nightmare. We are new to the town and it breaks my heart when I see the ‘Welcome to Melksham’ sign when we go to our new home. Persimmon failed to tell us about the lack of phone line which has left us isolated, frustrated and vulnerable. My husband has been unwell and needs to have regular contact with medical staff in Taunton but this has been made impossible by the lack of phone line and poor signal.
“We have written numerous letters to Persimmon who give us a date of when it will be fixed – only to then produce a new date when they don’t meet it. We have so many letters of broken promises that it has become a joke. It has cost us so much trying to use a mobile all the time and they just will not listen.”
Their neighbour Julia Pitman is also frustrated by the lack of action in fixing the problem. She said, “I moved to the area in December and I feel like we are not being listened to or treated fairly. It has been a nightmare and needs to be resolved soon. I am looking for a job but how am I meant to speak about interviews or apply with no phone or internet?”
Persimmon’s managing director Steve Roach responded to the criticism in a letter to MP Duncan Hames. He said, “We have provided the infrastructure within our development for BT to provide connections to the houses constructed, but they have not provided these connections.
“We had requested that BT Openreach make the connection to their infrastructure which is beyond our boundary with ample notice at the end of 2013. We have tried to support all of our customers at Bowerhill and applied pressure to BT Openreach and tried to keep residents informed even though the issue is beyond our control.”
Following this, MP Duncan Hames has written a letter to Joe Garner, chief executive of BT Openreach asking why the delay has gone on five months and urged him to confirm a start date.
BT Openreach had not responded to the criticism by the time of Melksham News going to print.