Time for an isp change

[scott0031]

After being a long term customer of talk talk its time to move on. Customer service is atrocious full of excuses nothing is ever their fault, it take several long long waits to even talk to customer care then they do their utmost to push you away with a simple request, even then you can't understand half the support team. It never used to be like this when it was Tiscali and i have had a gut full of them so vote with my feet it is!


Who can you guys suggest to take a look at? I'm not interested in fancy TV packages or all that old bull. I'm looking for unlimited broad band and phone usage and a company that is not as totally incompetent as above. I am a bit wary of sky and virgin knowing of some of the horror stories BT is silly expensive. So open to suggestions of the smaller companies out there and reviews.


Thanks in advance,


Scott

 

[rtbcomp]

Whoever you choose check who supplies the infrastructure for them, chances are it's Openreach (fibre to cabinet) or Virgin (fibre to premises).

The smaller ISPs (and BT) seem to be having problems with Openreach at the moment.

 

[zardoz]

BT fibre is expensive. The only reason i use them is there 99.9% realiability ( i know others had had problems, and so did i ocassionally till we got a new line to the house.)

 

[cumbriasteve]

I was with AOL and would not touch them with a barge pole, they were adamant I could not get any faster than 1.2 on my broadband unless I signed up for a costlier option.

I signed up to Skys full package, TV, phone and broadband, it all went very easy, great communication from a UK base and a couple of follow up calls to check all was well, my speed is a constant 4.5 and have had no problems at all.

I think with a company the size of sky there will always be a few 'horror' stories, you have to remember for each one there will be thousands that have not published the fact they are happy with the service.

 

[Shox Dr]

Interesting subject. I've been a TT customer since shortly after they started up. And so far I haven't found anyone cheaper. Like you find them hard to deal with but the costs so far out weigh the odd hassel

 

[wookie]

I've been with PlusNet since before they became a part of BT. I have nothing bad to say about them, I've only ever had a couple problems in over 10 years and not only did they fixed it quickly and the communication was good, but both times they credited my account to the tune of a couple of months free to as a sign of goodwill.

 

[octo0072000]

best way to sort out talk talk is go on there own forum to sort out your problems works for me

 

[CompoSimmonite]

I was with NTL (changed to Virgin) for probably 8-10 years. Price kept rising and it got to the point where I needed to check out the alternatives. We already had BT for phone (everybody I know who had Virgin phone has had problems with billing) so asked them for a quote. End result was a deal not advertised :-) Now pay something like £9.99 a month for unlimited broadband on top of what we were paying just for BT phone (free calls local and distance 24/7).
Haven't had a problem with BT other than in 1976 when they tried to bill me for a phone installation in a new bungalow. Told them we didn't want phone and to remove it which they then waved installation charges.
Best phone / internet was Ionix. It was a satellite dish on the house and almost broadband speed in dial up era. Pity they went bump.

Paul h

 

[bigegg]

+1 for plusnet.
I've been with them since 2001(ish), and although not the cheapest, I find the little bit extra for Yorkshire-speaking customer support worthwhile.

I pay 54 quid a month for a business account - telephone + fibre broadband with hosting for five domains, two .co.uk domains, and truly unlimited/unthrottled bandwidth

Stopped using BT for phone lines when I realised it's actually not physically possible to talk to a real person - I spent over 2 hours going through every single option on their automated service.

 

[wristpin]

Was with Tiscali until it became Talk Talk but switched to Plus Net over a year ago and no regrets.

 

[rtbcomp]

I didn't realise Plusnet were part of BT.

That would explain why their adverts say they are better then a handful of other ISPs but don't mention BT!

 

[rtbcomp]

........
Stopped using BT for phone lines when I realised it's actually not physically possible to talk to a real person - I spent over 2 hours going through every single option on their automated service.

I wrote an email to BBC Watchdog and copied to BT, they got back to me pretty dead quick.

Just got a load of corporate bovine poo though.

And my broadband speed has just dropped to 500 Kb/s

 

[ajlelectronics]

This will sound like an advert, it's not meant to!

I have tried many of the ISPs over the years. I have a thing about customer service, so BT were one of the first that got binned. I have used Plusnet, Sky, one I can't remember, then Vispa, followed by Eclipse.

Eclipse so far have lived up to what I need. Their offices are in Exeter, they speak English and you can often speak to the man who "pushes the buttons". Costs are comparable with any other quality ISP, so maybe have a look at them? I think it's eclipse.net.uk as someone unrelated has the plain Eclipse domain.

Edit, Oh and I use a static IP. Eclipse give you up to two at no cost. Some other ISPs including BT will not let you have a static under any circumstances, on a domestic account.

 

[rtbcomp]

....... We already had BT for phone (everybody I know who had Virgin phone has had problems with billing) so asked them for a quote. End result was a deal not advertised :-) .........


Paul h

What's the name of that tariff?

 

[langy]

I'm with Virgin and never had a problem with them, it was NTL before and no problems there either.

 

[pedrobedro]

We've been with Talk Talk for 3 years now and never had to use customer services so I can't comment on their quality. Ours runs at about 17 meg and has been down twice in the time we've been with them both times under two hours. A friend of ours lives two streets away and has had problems so he phones me to see if ours is having them as well. If I go over to see what is wrong it is always something that he has done or not done.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

What's the name of that tariff?

I got a load of different companies quotes for ammunition and then rang BT to see if they could do a better deal than advertised. They went away and came back with unlimited plus low rate for 15 months then 3 months at normal rate (which was still a lot cheaper than what I was paying for Virgin broadband and BT phone).
BTW when I cancelled Virgin they then came up with an offer that beat BT ! Needless to say I told them that they should present such offers from the start and not after customer had decided to swop ISP's !

Paul H

 

[normspanners]

I am with TT also and has been fine never had to use C/S's I sort most things here.
Got my mate onto TT also he is well into IT stuff and he has been made up with the service,
funny we were only talkin about this yesterday.

 

[rtbcomp]

I got a load of different companies quotes for ammunition and then rang BT to see if they could do a better deal than advertised. They went away and came back with unlimited plus low rate for 15 months then 3 months at normal rate (which was still a lot cheaper than what I was paying for Virgin broadband and BT phone).
BTW when I cancelled Virgin they then came up with an offer that beat BT ! Needless to say I told them that they should present such offers from the start and not after customer had decided to swop ISP's !

Paul H

Cheers, I'll try that.

BT is dire round here.

I went for Virgin but they cancelled the appointment at the last minute which left me with a pile of furniture in the middle of my room. so I cancelled the deal completely. To their credit the offered me £50 and a better deal for the same money, and refunded my deposit.

BT then led me to believe fibre would be available soon (There's a cabinet up and running 150 yards from my house). Stupidly I believed them.

I've just got back to Virgin and they now say fibre isn't available in my area, despite the fact that it is - they're probably having a sulk.

I've just found Primus Broadband which seems ultra cheap, anyone had any experience of them?

 

[Luke]

I've been with PlusNet for around 8 years, during which I've moved the account to 4 different addresses. Overall the service has been good. The account has been changed a few times as I've challenged them on new offers vs my original account/deal, each time they've met or bettered the competition as well.

Luke