The Common Trends in Appalling UK Broadband ISP`s

[Dont mention Talk Talk !!]

With cup of tea by my side , I spent some time doing a bit of research as to the differring levels of service offerred by different UK ISP`s at differring price points, what I read truly alarmed me.

There are some seriously unhappy ISP users in the UK .

If ever there was a saying I endorse 101% it is " you get what you pay for "

I use hand wired valve guitar amplification and custom shop , USA hand made guitars and again the you get what you pay for principle applies here and Ive no problem with that at all.

Surely there are Consumer Watchdog departments to assist the customer, I read about OFCOM and notied people calling them OFCON , OFTEN COMPLACENT , F@@K OFCOM and Im curious as to why they are perceived as something you would scrape off the sole of your shoe.

The same ISP names just keep on cropping up time and time again. From my readings it seems Pipex, Orange, Talk Talk, Karoo , Virgin Media , Tiscali and Eclipse are providing services that are quite simply appalling .........from connectivity that is a fraction of what punters are paying for, liars on the sales desk feeding you a pack of baloney and under a name which doesnt exist and therefore cant be held accountable, to customer service many miles overseas who give scripted answers and speak half dead pigeon english and just hang up on customers , to no matter what you ring about being put on hold for 40 mins !!, to mediocre efficiency in billing, to absurd 18 month contracts that you regret signing after 1 days usage...........etc etc, how do they get away with it ?

I read somebody saying with a certain ISP it took 4 weeks to get an email account set up correctly, this beggars belief. My IP profile dropped from 7000k to 6500k over the xmas period because of our xmas lights, I rebooted my router and my sync went up to its previous 8000k yet my profile stuck at 6500k. I waited a couple of days, it was obviously stuck , one phonecall to Andrew at IDNet and within the hour my profile was reset, if Id tried that with my previous ISP Talk Talk, I think it would have been many many phone calls , been hung up on many times and being passed from pillar to post.

I dont mind paying £24.99 for my Home Max, its true, you certainly do indeed get what you pay for , you pay peanuts and dont be surprised that you get monkeys , it astounds me to read posts saying hey im off to orange / talk talk / pipex etc, and i feel truly sorry for post starter.

[Inactive]

I dont mind paying £24.99 for my Home Max, its true, you certainly do indeed get what you pay for , you pay peanuts and dont be surprised that you get monkeys , it astounds me to read posts saying hey im off to orange / talk talk / pipex etc, and i feel truly sorry for post starter.

The real problem is, you can tell some people a thousand times, but still they do not listen.

They think one thing only " cheap ", they must think they are comparing the price of a tin of beans, instead of a service.

[Rik]

Not even that, In. They just want something for very little or, preferably, nothing. I presume they do still expect to be paid for their own labours though. 

I waited a couple of days, it was obviously stuck , one phonecall to Andrew at IDNet and within the hour my profile was reset

Technically, it wasn't stuck, the profile takes up to 5 days to recover under BT's wonderful blip logic. The big difference between IDNet and many other suppliers is that they know what you are talking about, and who they can talk to in order to resolve an issue. That alone is worth the monthly sub.

[Simon]

The same ISP names just keep on cropping up time and time again. From my readings it seems Pipex, Orange, Talk Talk, Karoo , Virgin Media , Tiscali and Eclipse are providing services that are quite simply appalling .........

Which is why it remains astonishing that these very ISPs always make up the "Top 10" of most mainstream broadband surveys.  The trouble is, as has been said, the general masses just put up with cr@p service, but then again, I'd rather they stayed where they were than clogging up our little piece of heaven. 

[Dont mention Talk Talk !!]

Am I wrong in thinking the following thought ?....:-

IDNet just plain works, its managed and it has a self contained user base and there is more than enough in terms of capacity for us to use IDNet and enjoy class leading speeds and reliabilty 24 hrs a day. But the common factor in ISP`s sliding down the krapper has been over subscription and services and speeds going to pot. From reading on forums, IDNet has been noticed and folks are starting to realise just how good a company it is. Think Pipex, about 5 yrs ago I remember reading gushing praise about them and they were top of the tree.........look at them now, pathetic everything and too many customers, same story as Nildram too .

If users start to flock to IDNet, you reckon they could go the Pipex route also , thats my only worry but a 1 month contract lessens these fears for me, if it starts to slip , I can easily go elsewhere. IDNet is simply THE BEST ISP ive ever been with and wouldnt it be a shame if they too got oversubscribed and couldnt maintain the standards of excellence that we currently enjoy at this time.

If we got some input from one of the IDNet staff on this, id sure like to read it.

I had considered Be There but a 3 month contract.....yuk !! and users are flocking to them in droves, I wont be surprised within a year to read about users peak time speeds taking a big nose dive and services taking a hit too, i read the dontbe there forum and there are  people whose supposed 24mb connections are nowhere near that level. I think its vital to continue the success of IDNet that numbers are managed and capacity never becomes an issue nor the need to use call centres, Ill pay the extra for them to stay the way they are , I can log on at 6400k at any time , day or night and thats what its all about.

[Simon]

I have to admit, over-subscription and a subsequent degradation of the service was one of my worries when I joined IDNet.  However, the company is run by a small team, who appear to be on top of things, and I think they would notice any significant rise in demand, and expand resources accordingly.  I, for one, am confident that IDNet will be as good in years to come, as they are today.

The guys do keep an eye on the forums, so I wouldn't be surprised to see some input, but if you want some reassurance, just drop then an email. 

[Ann]

I think it puts us as customers in a difficult position.  On the one hand we want to help the ISP to thrive and to encourage others to join but on the other hand we want to keep the good speeds all to ourselves and just keep quiet.

We've seen good small businesses in the past get bought out by the big boys.  I couldn't blame the IDNet guys if they sold out in the end.  My first dial up ISP was screaming.net which was innovative in that it offered free evening and weekend dial up in exchange for having your voice calls routed through them.  It had its problems, most of which stemmed from BT trying to trip them up, but the guys that ran it were good guys who listened to us and even entertained a group of us in order to answer our questions.  Eventually they did okay and the big boys bought them out.  They became WorldOnline and then Tiscali and the rest is history.  I have every expectation that one day similar will happen with IDNet.

So we just need to enjoy it while we can and not expect it to last for ever.

[Simon]

I believe the broadband service IDNet provide to us, is part of a much larger enterprise, and, as such, is possibly less likely to be sold off, but obviously that's just my opinion.  You might want to have a poke around on the About Us page of the website. 

http://www.idnet.net/about/

[Noreen]

My previous ISP f2s used to be run by two brothers (I think) in the days before Pipex. At that time it was very good with super Support too. Then along came Pipex and offered them sufficient money that they'd have been mad to refuse it. There doesn't seem to be any protection against that sort of thing.  

[cavillas]

I have encouraged many people to join IDNET in my 2 years here and there has never been any degradation of service.  The main business of IDNET has always been the business sector and to compete in that area you have to be consistant and deliver, they have obviously done this for over 10 years now and just extended the same principles to the residential sector.

They listen and, where possible, improve the supplied service according to requests.  You can talk to them like an old friend.  There is to be a mutual respect between company and customer.

They will not oversubscribe as it would be detrimental to their base business and also the service they want to provide.  IDNET is an ethical company which is rare in business today, a company who puts their customers first, now that is rare.

If they decide to sell out sometime in the future it would be a shame but something that I could readily understand because this business is hard on those running t properly.

[Rik]

I'll second that, Alf. IDNet are the most responsive company, let alone ISP, I have ever dealt with, and the ethos of their operation was one of the biggest attractions to me.

Since joining, I've watched how they've handled the issues that have arisen, and it has given me even more confidence in the company. Every ISP is going to have some technical issues, it's almost impossible to avoid (unless you charge a lot more for the service and build in additional redundancy). What matters is how they deal with them. When the mail server fell over (a fluke incident in itself), they got us back up and running within a few hours, and then set about recovering the mail from the dead server. In the end, none of us lost any mail. We were unhappy about the lack of information on the status page and made our feelings known. Within days, that had been redesigned so that more accurate information could be given. That speaks volumes to me about the regard that Simon & Tim have for their customers.

There may come a point at which they are made an offer they can't refuse for the business, but until then I believe they will continue to manage it in a way that provides sustainable growth for them, and a continuing happy customer base.

[Inactive]

I'll third that Alf.

Sums it up nicely.

[Glenn]

A forth from me

[Dont mention Talk Talk !!]

What IDNet have to do , in my opinion, is continue to deter the ISP wreckers known as the heavy downloaders. Once a shower of these vultures come on board , then you may as well kiss a successful ISP goodnight.

The last band i played in had a heavy downloader in it. His computer was on 24/7 and he was always adding and adding to his download manager, even through the night his computer was whirring away downloading. Needless to say, its the £7.99 p/m breed of ISP`s that attract these download parasites that just ruin it for everybody else.

Im on 30GB limit Home Max,my total downloads for the  month of nov 2007 were 18 GB in total, and thats a lot for me.

IDNet just gotta keep the Heavy Downloaders well away..................agree ?

[Inactive]

IDNet just gotta keep the Heavy Downloaders well away..................agree ?

I don't have a problem with heavy downloaders as such, as long as the ISP charges them accordingly, which I believe IDNet do.

I cannot see any of the leeches coming to IDNet in a hurry.

[cavillas]

Any of these heavy users would certainly pay for what they download.  Just imagine them being on the Max package and downloading 24/7 £1.00 for every 1Gb over the allowance = lots and lots of dosh.  500GB = £500.00, thats a fair price to pay. 

[Rik]

Agreed. Providing people pay a fair price for what they download, they are welcome to download as much as they want. For that reason, I hope IDNet never, ever, consider the word unlimited as part of their marketing. I am reasonably confident they won't.

[Dont mention Talk Talk !!]

we are a protective bunch arent we 

[Inactive]

Indeed.. 

[Dont mention Talk Talk !!]

does anybody else raise their eyes at reviews of some ISP`s when you read review after review saying X ISP absolutely stinks and then you get one giving it full marks and saying I will never leave, they are the best ever.

Anybody else think that employess of said stinker ISP`s post glorious reviews so as to entice prospective subscribers and make them think it aint so bad ?  

[Rik]

Why, DMTT, you sound ever so slightly cynical.  We trust everyone here, even those nice impartial people at DSL Zone.  8)

[MoHux]

I get the feeling DMTT that you still find us (and IDnet) too good to be true? 

Put your feet up, and forget previous bad service.  Enjoy!! 

 




edit; Snap! Rik ......

[cavillas]

IDNET are a service par excellence and miles ahead of the majority of other isp's.

[Dont mention Talk Talk !!]

anybody here ever have experience of fast.co.uk ?

fast appears to be an ISP with the same ethos as IDNet.

[Rik]

Old Bill was with them for a while, ISTR.