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Some ISP's are out of touch with the customer?

horatioh,

Ignore veryrichguy he seems to have a problem with vISP's and small ISP's, i wouldnt be surprised if he was working at a ISP again now he has left telefonica, who is it this time rob easynet by any chance?

BTW veryrichguy have BT contacted you about giving out the number and telling people to commit fraud yet?
 
horatioh said:
Every now and again you'll see me appear on here to defend ISPs because I think customers are often as bad (if not worse) as the ISP.
Very brave of you to say that in a public forum!
 
Bob2002 said:
Your download allowance (Standard 10GB/month) is not that great considering what you can manage with a 2Mb pipe. Do 95% of your customers download less than 10GB/month because of the package restrictions or because they don't need to download anything else ?

Good question, the stat is calculated on our entire adsl customer base regardless of the restriction they have on their account. Since the capped usage system was only properly introduced by Quik very recently, we looked at what customers were doing when they didn't have a cap and used those figures. As hard as many people find it to believe, the vast majority of customers really don't need huge quotas. We have had heavy hitters in the past and they either pay more, move on or reduce usage.

Bob2002 said:
P.S. [Pedant Mode On]Your broadband summary page, before purchase states

Package Selected: Standard, 10gb per month allowance
Speed Selected: 2mb, download a 20mb file in 4 minutes
Email Package: None, supply your own email solution
Hardware: None, supply your own hardware

Shouldn't that be GB, Mb, and MB ... [/Pedant Mode Off]

See, isn't this nicer. Constructive critisism. Quite right, we'll get that corrected.

Unicast said:
Very brave of you to say that in a public forum!

I know, and I did hover for a while before hitting Submit, but I am just an internet user like everyone here and it seems to me that customers would prefer ISPs to be more honest.
 
i've read in here some people just want a connection only... likewise if you want a modem for free, would you pay a little more, and also, if you want activation, would you pay a little more a month to get this included

i ask this because, AOL (for example) charges one flat rate per month - which all users must pay - say the £25 1mb package - if user X has been with them for 4 years and doesnt care about AOL content - should he pay the same as user Y who has just joined, but wants activation, modem, and AOL content? Or should user X and Y pay a much lower rate - like a £15 connection only, then Y just pays an additional £3 a month for a modem (if needed), and £5 a month for activation (if needed), then £2 a month for the AOL content - which makes up the £25. Then after 12 months, user Y would only need to pay the £15 connection, and £2 for AOL content - thats if they still want it then.


I for one would like something like the above - why should long term users pay the same as new ones?

Does anyone agree, and would it make the ISP more in touch? Results from this could be interesting
 
MrJ said:
i've read in here some people just want a connection only... likewise if you want a modem for free, would you pay a little more, and also, if you want activation, would you pay a little more a month to get this included

i ask this because, AOL (for example) charges one flat rate per month - which all users must pay - say the £25 1mb package - if user X has been with them for 4 years and doesnt care about AOL content - should he pay the same as user Y who has just joined, but wants activation, modem, and AOL content? Or should user X and Y pay a much lower rate - like a £15 connection only, then Y just pays an additional £3 a month for a modem (if needed), and £5 a month for activation (if needed), then £2 a month for the AOL content - which makes up the £25. Then after 12 months, user Y would only need to pay the £15 connection, and £2 for AOL content - thats if they still want it then.


I for one would like something like the above - why should long term users pay the same as new ones?

Does anyone agree, and would it make the ISP more in touch? Results from this could be interesting


Many ISPs already have what you are looking for they have 12 month contracts and charge more for free activation. Wires only packages for those who have modem /or buying their own shorter contract and less per month. Only AOL charge the one set fee you are free to decide who you go with when you first sign up for BB its the migrating away that can be difficult from some.
 
Well I looked through....I was not impressed.....0870 number :(

T&C's do not state which law applies... :shrug:

Oh and the web site is hardly inspiring...

Quik....get me out of here, before any more "spam" posts hit the forum.... :hrmph:
 
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Inactive said:
Well I looked through....I was not impressed.....0870 number :(

T&C's do not state which law applies... :shrug:

Oh and the web site is hardly inspiring...

Quik....get me out of here, before any more "spam" posts hit the forum.... :hrmph:

Was this aimed at me/Quik Internet?

If so, 0870 is national rate - not premium, not 10p per minute, just standard national call rates, as if you were calling our 01270 number.

T&C's, yes, we know they're not great and we're working on. We wanted to make sure potential customers had a good idea of do's and dont's. You make a good point about the stated law, but other than that I believe they favour the customer over the ISP? I agree that they need to be improved though.

Not inspired by the web design? Forgive us for trying something different. I'll go ask the designers to find some pictures of people wearing headsets (and such) so that we too can have generic internet/telephony imagery like the 200 other ISPs in our fair land.

During my previous posts did I ever say 'Wow, Quik are the best ISP ever!' ? I don't recall typing it... For Inactive's post alone, I now further stand by my comment that customers can be as out of touch as the ISPs!

Please feel free Inactive to let me know your thoughts about the site; what can we do to improve it, what are we missing, what do we have wrong. Then we can look at it, improve it, clarify it and correct it. Perhaps then, my posts won't be considered as mere spam? After all, what better way to be in touch with potential and existing customers than listening to them and acting.
 
horatioh said:
Was this aimed at me/Quik Internet?

If so, 0870 is national rate - not premium, not 10p per minute, just standard national call rates, as if you were calling our 01270 number.

T&C's, yes, we know they're not great and we're working on. We wanted to make sure potential customers had a good idea of do's and dont's. You make a good point about the stated law, but other than that I believe they favour the customer over the ISP? I agree that they need to be improved though.

Not inspired by the web design? Forgive us for trying something different. I'll go ask the designers to find some pictures of people wearing headsets (and such) so that we too can have generic internet/telephony imagery like the 200 other ISPs in our fair land.

During my previous posts did I ever say 'Wow, Quik are the best ISP ever!' ? I don't recall typing it... For Inactive's post alone, I now further stand by my comment that customers can be as out of touch as the ISPs!

Please feel free Inactive to let me know your thoughts about the site; what can we do to improve it, what are we missing, what do we have wrong. Then we can look at it, improve it, clarify it and correct it. Perhaps then, my posts won't be considered as mere spam? After all, what better way to be in touch with potential and existing customers than listening to them and acting.

I like some of the answers you gave here and yes i agree EU's are demanding and dont realise that all a ISP is a gateway to the WWW and they dont control the EU's computer and what they do.

BTW if its not already in the T's and C's make sure it says that the EU is responcable for their own computers security.
 
Thank you!

ManOfMeans said:
I like some of the answers you gave here and yes i agree EU's are demanding and dont realise that all a ISP is a gateway to the WWW and they dont control the EU's computer and what they do.

BTW if its not already in the T's and C's make sure it says that the EU is responcable for their own computers security.

Thank you. I'm still expecting to be attacked further for my opinions, but it's good to see that at least one person isn't out for a fight :smilet:

Thanks for the T&C advice, I've made the right people aware of the comment.
 
come to think of it man of means, i did see a post disappear, BT are very welcome to contact me, ill give them and anyone else an earful.

consumer rights shall prevail :)
 
horatioh said:
Thank you. I'm still expecting to be attacked further for my opinions, but it's good to see that at least one person isn't out for a fight :smilet:

You've got a buddy here, too :D

I personally love working with customers, it's good to try and help them along, solve a particular problem, or even answer some queries. Even if they're angry and want something done, it's nice to have a challenge and try and give them what they want, while sorting yourself out in the process.

Now, I don't like working against customers; those who decide to call in and kick off without having any idea of what they want, how they want to go about it, or indeed why the issue might be occuring. I'm perfectly happy to sit down with a customer for any length of period and generate positive dialogue with them, but if I'm talking to a customer who is unresponsive, negative, and generally making things difficult for both of us then it's certainly demoralising for both. I won't be happy after the call, the customer will be ready to kick off on the next agent, and generally things start getting worse until you get customers - like certain members of the forum - just give up and vent their anger on complaint forums. I feel that if customers realise that they need to play ball during some issues, work with us, and generally go about things in a constructive manner - nine times out of ten everything will work out fine.

Rant over, happy days.
 
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horatioh said:
Was this aimed at me/Quik Internet?

If so, 0870 is national rate - not premium, not 10p per minute, just standard national call rates, as if you were calling our 01270 number.

T&C's, yes, we know they're not great and we're working on. We wanted to make sure potential customers had a good idea of do's and dont's. You make a good point about the stated law, but other than that I believe they favour the customer over the ISP? I agree that they need to be improved though.

Not inspired by the web design? Forgive us for trying something different. I'll go ask the designers to find some pictures of people wearing headsets (and such) so that we too can have generic internet/telephony imagery like the 200 other ISPs in our fair land.



HaHaHa....0870 is National Rate...yea..yea...That you/ your company get a nice little earner from...so why not list your 01270 number ?

Your T&C's to be honest are a joke, that would never stand up in a Law Court. A customer cannot find them linked on the Home Page/s, that alone would send me running.

Your web site lacks clarity and detail, I didn't make critical comment about the actual design.


Anyway, why not do as other responsible ISP's do.....pay for your advertising, instead of " spamming " forums...
 
National rate call charges from BT, NTL, Kingston... they're not all expensive. Sure, they may be a little more expensive than your standard local rate call. At the end of the day, even if you were dialling a 01270 number; if you're not in that area you'll be paying the same price anyway.

Dig around a bit and I'm sure you'll find the number anyway, try googling for "say no to 0870".

Anyway, why not do as other responsible ISP's do.....pay for your advertising, instead of " spamming " forums...
Members'll only moan if horatioh packs up and leaves now. Seems like people are damned if they do, and damned if they don't... :shrug:

With regards to the location of the T+C's, it's certainly fair cop; it is indeed something which the company can have a look at and take a proactive measure to put right. Happy days!
 
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Maybe right now isnt the time to remind members to be nice to each other, but then again if I don't this thread will wonder off topic and into trouble. but like this quote

romerogoon said:
Members'll only moan if horatioh packs up and leaves now. Seems like people are damned if they do, and damned if they don't... :shrug:

Now lets stay on topic and not attempting to score points ripping into members.
 
Nah I can appreciate that, and the comments weren't intended for anyone in particular. However it seems that whichever avenues ISP's try and use to support, advertise, or generally contact customers, there will always be a minority who will attack it.

I feel it is on-topic as it does represent the way customer service is going in general across all ISP's; however I'll be extra careful in the future :D
 
Damned if I do it seems

OK, here's the thing, the thread was entitled 'are ISPs out of touch with customers' and since I work for an ISP and don't believe it to be true, I figured I'd have a shot at looking at both sides.

To answer the various things levelled at me;

0870 numbers - note our website, top of each page - Sales and Advice. We don't think its unfair to use our 0870 number for people who want to speak to us. Sure, we get a minor kickback but at the same time we offer a very different level of service than the bigger ISPs and that 'advice' slant is welcomed by those who use us! I'd also add that you won't find premuim rate numbers for support either.

How is this relevant? Well, it seems to me that customers are now so cynical that they expect the ISP to screw them and that leaves smaller ISPs in a very tough place where they are completely unable to break through the negativity. Damn, we use 0870 numbers, we MUST want to leave people on hold for hours whilst we reap the reward!! Jesus, we don't even have a queue system with our phones and if the right person isn't available, we'll take a number and ring back, just like a normal business!

T&C's - can't argue with the comments posted and that is high priority for us to correct. Likewise, I agree that the website needs some refinement and we'll continue to work on that. I don't see that we're any less clear than other ISPs though to be honest - they tend to have so much detail that the average consumer is bogged down in facts, figures, terms and conditions! At least we've made an effort to get back to the basics, even if that hasn't worked out fully.

As for the spamming comments. Get off your high horse Inactive. A forum like this is useless without two-way communications. Without the ISPs getting involved you would simply have a forum of annoyed endusers whittling on about how the world sucks and nothing would ever become of it.

If I wanted to spam I'd add a proper signature to my posts and I'd be posting in a lot more threads, but as it is I post once in a blue moon when somebody says something like 'are ISPs out of touch?...', a question which I felt should be answered by an ISP or two. Seems others ISPs don't want to get involved in an argument like that though, probably the fear of being scorned for actually posting!
 
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credit where credits due least u have come on and commented on the subject, really i should have put some ISP's are out of touch with the EU's as i know all of them aint.
 
horatioh said:
As for the spamming comments. Get off your high horse Inactive. A forum like this is useless without two-way communications. Without the ISPs getting involved you would simply have a forum of annoyed endusers whittling on about how the world sucks and nothing would ever become of it.


Yea...if you say so....My comments were "two-way" otherwise you couldn't have replied..Look forward to reading your new T&C's with excited anticipation.

:eek:
 
ManOfMeans said:
credit where credits due least u have come on and commented on the subject, really i should have put some ISP's are out of touch with the EU's as i know all of them aint.

Done :D

First I apoligise to romerogoon I highlighted your quote to agree with you not to say you was off topic.

Now Inactive I understand where you are coming from after all you have been through with one of your old ISPs. But can we just try to keep this on about ISPs being out of touch with customers.
Lets keep the discussion friendly and hopefully the other ISPs watching might join in.
 
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Thank you kits, hopefully that will stop some of the vISP haters from flaming them as this thread was ment for the ISP's putting forward their views on what the customer wants as a package, you never know hopefully get some feed back of their users, maybe even changes made to the packages and also so the ISP's can see where they are not relating to the customers needs and wants, not all of us want the added features therefore we dont use them and paying for something we dont use or need.

On another point that is on topic is the plusnets auto disconnection which really is going against their advertising as a "always on connection" wouldnt the users of plus net like to hear from their ISP on a forum that isnt associated with the company? and this is only going to happen if they dont get flamed, a sensable thread with sensable questions and maybe we as a whole can get some answers and maybe even the changes that would make every one happy.
 
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