BT and freeserve

[sparkling_quavers]

In October we decided to cancel our ADSL line after the old BT equipment we were using failed. The customer service at freeserve was just awful and we weren't getting anywhere trying to get it fixed so cancelling seemed the solution. It has taken freeserve 8 weeks to get BT to disconnect the ADSL service from our phoneline!! All this time we have had no connection and have made about 100 phone calls chasing it up. I have never come across a company with such bad customer service and all that time I have been missing out on tMP too!!! :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

Has anyone had similar problems with freeserve?

 

[James McFadyen]

I use Telewest Broadband for my internet and phone needs - as yet I haven't seen anyone who can deliver the same quality, customer service and reliability.

Don't even get me started on AOL, great for families with younger kids, but for me, na! :wink:

I haven't delt with Freeserve, but if they are linked to BT, then that speaks for itself, I haven't even seen a BT van in Fife for years! what do they look like again?

 

[sparkling_quavers]

Well someone correct me if i am wrong but all broadband services are bought through BT wholesale unless they are cable lines. So the really crazy thing about this mess if that it took 8 weeks for BT to pull the plug at the exchange on the ADSL service bought through freeserve. Thus they were holding up the line preventing us signing up with a new supplier who would have to buy it through themselves anyway!

 

[cornetchap]

I'm going to be ordering ADSL for my mum's Christmas present as she currently has Freeserve dial-up which is just awful. Last weekend when I was up in Sheffield I could only get connected at 12Kb/s!

I'm going to order her ADSL from Nildram based on information from ADSL Guide and I know one or two others who have DSL with them and have had good service.

DSL is mostly provided through BT wholesale when it's over the PSTN but I think there are one or two companies now doing local-loop unbundling (LLU), in particular Bulldog in London.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[sparkling_quavers]

we have decided to sign up with pipex after researching it a bit and should be back online by mid december... it seems that smaller companies seem to give alot better service....

 

[Keppler]

agreed.
here at work, after being shafted by the larger companies, we took up with a smaller provider, who operate a line of sight microwave based broadband.
Gives us a 4Mbit connection with a 4/1 contention ratio. Hard to beat that.

 

[cornetchap]

agreed.
here at work, after being shafted by the larger companies, we took up with a smaller provider, who operate a line of sight microwave based broadband.
Gives us a 4Mbit connection with a 4/1 contention ratio. Hard to beat that.

And free roast pigeon

Cheers, Greg.

 

[WhatSharp?]

I believe HommicidalBennyBoy had the same problem with Tiscali, they wouldn't cancel the line and BT wouldn't do it.

I try and stay away from anything which has a connection with BT (Bloody Terrible) so I'm with Telewest (Blueyonder) who are superb, their support is terrific, I've only had to phone them twice (one of which was my fault) but both times I got through straight away and had the problem solved quickly and efficiently. Mind you it's not all rosy for cable, NTL (Not Today Laddo .. sorry couldn't think of anything funnier) have a pretty poor reputation.

 

[cornetchap]

Take a look at the CPI website for information on Oftel's comparable performance indicators for various telcos. It can be quite enlightening

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Di]

Broadband! Don't get me started!

We've been trying it seems like for ever to get Broadband. Everytime we get a notice from Freeserve or see an ad that says "just click here to sing up" or "just ring this number to sign up" thats exactly what we do. The result?

I'm sorry, we currently have no plans to supply Broadband to your exchange in the near future". :evil: :evil: :x

We have lobbied BT and Freeserve with mail telling them how annoying it is to be sent mail time and time again offering us Broadband when there is no possibility of them providing it.

Damn frustrating. It means we've got a slow (or slower than it could be) internet connection and to avoid missing calls, we have to "divert" to a mobile phone which, obviously put the bill up.

Thankfully, at last, a small local company has come up with a connection (fingers crossed this one will work, someone tried one last year, but it didn't take off) which we have applied for and are now waiting to be connected, but we don't know how long its gonna take.

 

[cornetchap]

Broadband! Don't get me started!
I'm sorry, we currently have no plans to supply Broadband to your exchange in the near future". :evil: :evil: :x

We have lobbied BT and Freeserve with mail telling them how annoying it is to be sent mail time and time again offering us Broadband when there is no possibility of them providing it.

Have you registered your interest at BT's website?

May not be much help if BT haven't set a threshold yet though.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Di]

Yes, we've registered our interest, loads and loads of times, and tried to get others in the village to the same, but each time we do, they still say they have no plans to get to us yet. Hopefully, the small firm will be able to get through to us.

 

[HBB]

I believe HommicidalBennyBoy had the same problem with Tiscali, they wouldn't cancel the line and BT wouldn't do it.

I try and stay away from anything which has a connection with BT (Bloody Terrible) so I'm with Telewest (Blueyonder) who are superb, their support is terrific, I've only had to phone them twice (one of which was my fault) but both times I got through straight away and had the problem solved quickly and efficiently. Mind you it's not all rosy for cable, NTL (Not Today Laddo .. sorry couldn't think of anything funnier) have a pretty poor reputation.

Did I ever!!


Tiscali, are rubbish .... don't use them!!!!

With Bt now ... no problems though! :shock:

 

[TheMusicMan]

Well... I speak as I find... and I find NTL excellent. I started with their 500KB BB service after being asked to pilot it for them. This worked brilliantly, and I upgraded to 1MB BB on their pilot when they launched that as well!!!

In two years have only had 2 or 3 issues with the cable modem and signal and each time it has been sorted within a few hours.

I'd rec them to anyone, especially the 1MB service....... not as goos as Kepps's WOW'ing 4MB.... but "lightning" springs to mind. :lol:

 

[JessopSmythe]

Freeserve managed to move my account (which uses Caller ID to check you are really you) across to my new number when I moved house but left all the charging information on my old number. Since the bloke that bought my old house transferred his old phone number, no body paid my freeserve charges for nearly a year. Freeserve tried to blame me for the cock up claiming I'd never told them about a change of address :? I'm now with BT :!:

 

[Moy]

I have my broadband through BT and surprisingly have had no probs. Hope that's not the kiss of death.

 

[cornetchap]

Is it just me or do others, when they see BB or bband, think brass band?

My mum text'd me the other day saying that she'd changed her mind about bband and I assumed that meant she didn't want to come and listen to me playing in the band at the carol concert, whereas what she meant was that she'd changed her mind about having broadband as a Christmas present :?

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Fishsta]

I shall also speak as I find...

AOL is fantastic, provided you stick with a broadband-enabled version of AOL 7 rather than AOL 8. Never a problem, excellent speed, just works and does the business.

 

[neiltwist]

i don't have to much of a problem with AOL apart from the stupid software which overwrites your winsock...

 

[sparkling_quavers]

the service from freeserve and BT was fine until the equipment broke and we had to deal with the customer service department! We were on the original broadband trial and so were still using really old equipment. When we contacted freeserve about the reuter breaking they denied we were even customers of theirs as they couldn't find our old account on their system. It is mental! Have signed up with pipex now and should be online later this week hopefully!!