Cut Line, Corporate Silence: How Darren took his fight to Openreach's CEO

Nothing is a more powerful reminder of our reliance on the internet than when it vanishes mid-workday with zero warning. That’s exactly what happened to Darren when Openreach engineers cut through his internet cable.

While mistakes do happen, things turn sour when a company won’t take responsibility or take action to put things right.

Following the cut cable and his ensuing connectivity crisis, Darren threw himself into consumer self-advocacy: finding his way through frustrating maze of dead-end phone calls towards an ultimately satisfying victory.

This is Darren’s story…

Back in May, one of my neighbours decided that they finally wanted fibre broadband installed—which is fair enough. We all like a fast connection, right?

Anyway, the installation meant that some tree branches near the utility pole needed pruning to give the engineers access. That’s when Openreach showed up.

I happened to be at home when I heard the buzz of saws and a bit of shouting out front. Curious, I popped my head out the window and saw a couple of guys in hi-vis vests hacking away at the tree next to the pole. No big deal. That was, until suddenly my Internet connection dropped. Just like that everything went dead. No signal, no warning, just gone.

“So there I was: no Internet, no idea when it’d be fixed, and absolutely no way to get a straight answer from anyone.”

I ran outside to find out what had happened, only to discover the Openreach crew packing up their tools and getting ready to leave. One of them muttered something about accidentally cutting the wrong line and then they were off. Not even a “Sorry about that.” They just scarpered like it was someone else’s problem.

So there I was: no Internet, no idea when it’d be fixed, and absolutely no way to get a straight answer from anyone. I tried contacting Openreach directly, but that turned out to be a complete waste of time. Getting through to them is like shouting into the void. I then rang my service provider, who cheerfully told me it would take three to four days to sort out. Great. Just what you want to hear when you work from home and rely on a stable connection.

I was furious—and not just at the inconvenience, but at the total lack of accountability. Being passed from pillar to post, fobbed off with vague timelines and robotic apologies, it felt like no one really cared.

“If no one at ground level was going to help, maybe someone higher up would.”

That’s when I had an idea. If no one at ground level was going to help, maybe someone higher up would. I did a bit of digging online, and after a few minutes, I found the email address for the CEO of Openreach. I figured I had nothing to lose.

I wrote a clear but polite email explaining exactly what had happened: the unannounced work, the severed line, the disappearing engineers, and the complete silence since. I didn’t sugar-coat anything, but I also kept it professional.

To my surprise, it worked. Within hours of sending that email, I got a response from someone in senior customer relations. Suddenly, I had people calling me, appointments being made, and within a day, my Internet was back up and running. No drama, no excuses, just action.

The moral of the story? When you’re getting nowhere with customer service, don’t waste time banging your head against the wall. Sometimes, you’ve got to go straight to the top.

And next time someone’s pruning near my broadband line? I’m keeping a very close eye on them.

Speak up and be heard

It shouldn’t take an email to the CEO to get a basic service restored but sometimes, that’s exactly what it takes.

The lesson this story teaches any consumer is that when front-line customer service fails, don’t just settle for apologies and vague promises. Be polite, be persistent, and don’t be afraid to escalate. Because when you’re the one left offline, you’ve got every right to speak up and be heard.

With Resolver Stories you can read real experiences of people fighting for fairness and share your own. Whether you scored a big win or are stuck in an absurd or never-ending nightmare, we want to hear from you!