@MichaelDee
I don’t know what you do for a living, but I’m betting it doesn’t include technical support.
So once Now know there is a problem, they have to contact Openreach, as @gavs82008 describes, because it’s Openreach who maintain all the physical equipment and wiring linking Now to their customers. As they do for practically every ISP in the UK except Virgin.
So Openreach first have to go and find the fault. This will take x amount of time. Then they have to fix the fault. This will take y amount of time.
x depends on the staff available, the obscurity of the fault, and the amount of digging (sometimes literally!) they need to get to it and identify it.
y depends on the staff available, and whatever is needed to repair the fault - perhaps a simple cable splice, perhaps the need for a replacement electrical unit, which they may have readily to hand, or need to get shipped in from wherever Openreach keep spares in stock, or even from the manufacturer.
So when people ask me how long something will take to fix, which is simultaneously the most reasonable question to ask, and the most infuriating to be asked, I will tell them that it will be x plus y, and I will give them an update at the end of x, when the fault is found, and the best estimate of y that I have at that moment.
This latter is always a hostage to fortune 😢 And if it gets exceeded, I know I will be told “But you promised….” Which I didn’t of course.
Best hope that whoever gives you an answer to ‘How long will it take?’ has learned from long experience that it is always better to give the most pessimistic answer possible, so the customer is pleased it only took less than one day, rather than being incensed that it took over 12 hours 😛
Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it.
Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now.
That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.
