Re: (Andy Hewitt) Re: BT HomeHub + BBC iPlayer disconnects

Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@xxxxxx> wrote:

Rowland McDonnell <real-address-in-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[..]
(there was the business about `It's a Mac app, it doesn't have
`properties', just tell me what information you want and I'll give it to
you.' `We only support MS Outlook and OE and we can't really help you
with that email client'. `There's nothing wrong with my Mac or my email
client: the problem is with BT's email servers. But if you want some
information from me, just tell me what you want: this email client
worked perfectly two days ago, and no settings have been changed. Just
tell me what you want to know'.

(irritated BT woman) `I want you to go to properties' `No, tell me what
information you want' `I want you to go to properties' (repeat).

Eventually, `Look, I've got preferences and all sorts of other places
where it keeps settings. What information do you want?' `I want you to
go to preferences' `What information do you want from that?'
(irritated BT woman) `I want the account details' (Ah! Finally!) `Well,
that's the wrong place to look, I'll look in the place where it keeps
account details, if you'd told me that when I first asked it would have
been much quicker and easier'.)

That's almost verbatim a conversation I had with NTL some years ago when
it took me over a week to convince them their cable modem was buggered.

I had to make four phone calls overnight - and I got cut off randomly
during two of them (although the exchange reconnected me after leaving
me listening to a dialling tone for a bit - bloody strange, whatever was
going on).

I even had my neighbour test it, and confirmed that there was no return
signal from the Ethernet. I even took my Mac to another house and
plugged into another NTL cable modem, and it worked fine there. And I
tried another Mac at my house, which didn't work.

Eventually, with dire warning of being charged for call out, they sent
and engineer, and guess what, the modem was knackered. They still had to
post one out, which I had to connect myself!

It turns out that this problem which the BT Internet `help' line people
kept telling me was down to wrong settings in my email client which is
one that they don't support - well, the supervisor I was speaking to
insisted on putting me through to their Mac specialists even though I
explained that the problem was at their end. Supervisor was adamant
that they had no reported server problems and so on.

The Mac department wouldn't speak to me - they told supervisor to get me
to unplug everything from my BT Home Hub, leave it for a bit, and then
re-connect it all again.

Guess what? It worked. Turns out it's a standard problem with a
standard fix. Supervisor hadn't heard of it - the Mac department had.

I don't think I'd ever go back to cabe again, I'd rather have ADSL, and
use my own hardware. Since I've been doing that I've never had to phone
an ISP.

BT's managed to piss me off several ways. We got charged twice for
technician call-out to sort out the noisy phone line - the charge that
they say they'll apply if the fault is found to be in the consumer's
equipment.

The algorithm they use is `If our man can't find a fault in our kit, we
assume the fault is with your kit and charge you'.

And that's what happened - we got charged as if it were our equipment
that were faulty twice, and on one occasion, the BT technician never
even knocked at our door! And we still have a noisy phone line.

/And/ BT Internet provides the worst service in event of problems that
I've ever met from anyone, ever.

Fuck 'em - we're changing ISPs soon.

Rowland.


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