How and where to complain

[chrisparr]

The ofcom linechecker one is certainly interesting from an ISP point of view, it's something we implemented to comply with the code of practice and gives a realistic expected speed. This is based directly on the telephone number but we also provide information as to why it may be lower than the quoted figure.

It's something that I actually blogged about when we put it live, have a read here:
Ofcom Linechecker Code of Practice - What’s that all about then? | Community Site News

I've attached a couple of quick screenshots to show how our basic linecheck gives the results. The more information link about the expected speeds takes customers to here: About High-speed Broadband

[spud47]

Originally Posted by chrisparr

The ofcom linechecker one is certainly interesting from an ISP point of view, it's something we implemented to comply with the code of practice and gives a realistic expected speed.

Indeed Chrisparr, realistic expected speed! A trabant can pass 50mph if the windows are closed and hurricane winds are behind you.

Seriously though, I know what you are saying but lets fact it, there is still plenty of room for the ISPs to wriggle out of this new legislation as it is not structured well enough to ensure that most people are protected.

The cost of a summons in the county court is NOT expensive. Its £30 for a small claim and I wonder if O2 who offer much but dont deliver in the longer term will actually turn up at all.
O2 have tricked me with false promises and lie all the time . Oh yes you start well enough but come 5 pm and your speed drops to 1/2 a meg which is useless . No refunds and no planned changes either! .... this is the mail I just recieved.. Nice people eh?
Hi Martin

Thank you for getting in touch about your service.

I have checked the notes that have been left on your account to see what is happening.

You were advised yesterday that we would be beginning work on your exchange to increase capacity and bring your speed up to normal. However, this is only the beginning and we can't say when it will be completed at the moment.

With that in mind, I can not offer you a MAC key as you are within a 12 month contract period for your broadband. If you do wish to cancel within this time then there will be a £48.89 cancellation fee for doing this.

I hope this has answered your question.

Kind Regards

Ryan
Connected World Liaison Team
O2 Broadband - Home and Mobile Broadband, made better

Oh and btw I have checked with BT and the exchange is ungrading in 2010!!!

I made the idiotic move to sign up with O2 after 3 years of problem free internet with BT. Reason for leaving BT was simple O2 offered more than double the line speed at 1/4 of the price. Sounds good right?

Since moving I have been disconnected constantly and spend plenty of time to one of the O2 advisors...running ldq tests noise margins firmware you name it....

Feel all this was just stalling me to go over the 30 day cool off period on the contract after todays call.

Todays call I was advised that the line cannot handle a stable connection and I will be downgraded from a 20mb line to a 8mb line. I was not happy with this and decided I will no longer use O2 at which time I was adviced that I am past my 30 day cool off period and would have to pay for the cancelation of my broadband.

I asked them how they can expect me to pay for a contract that is clearly not AS SOLD and they explained that line speeds up to 20mb can mean anything below 20mb and I agreed to this in the terms and conditions. Knowing on 8mb line I will be lucky to get 6mb is a real comfort

If I knew that O2 was going to offer me the same speeds as BT I would have gone to other ISP's in the area, but now I am stuck with a brand new contract, I will be jumping through thousands of hoops complaining here there and everywhere.....but to be honest in my past experience the consumer always looses. My only hope is that I can at least prevent this from happening to another person by posting this and saving someone else the hassles that I have yet to endure.

[huthafunk]

well in all honesty you should be able to cancel your contract free of charge even outwith your cooling off peroid, this is because even though your terms and conditions state up to 20mbps, if you were mis-sold the product, which you have been as they are downgrading the service knowing they cannot supply you what you have contracted to, you can cancel, also, if they are downgrading your package, you are entering into a new contract, as it is in fact a new service on an UP TO 8mpbs package, thus it is a new contract, giving you another 30 day cooling off peroid, and so you can cancel within your consumer rights for free.

If they do not abide by this, it is one simple call to offcom for a claim against the company, and this is the same practise employed by every ISP in the UK, as i deal with the T's and C's every day in broadband tech so I know FOR DEFINATE that they have to give in and cancel your service for free.

Good luck my friend, let me know how it goes

[matthew]

As huthafunk said, they are offering you another service upto 8mb insted of 20mb, so as this is another service, you will have another 30 day cooling of period. With what i know about contracts, when either party changes something (which was not mentioned in the T & C) Then the party which has not made the changes, has the right to cancel at this point, and if you do agree the the downgrade then, you should have a 30 day cooling of period, as it is a new contract.

Just wondering, but did O2 say that you line can handle more than 6mb, when or before, you took the service?

[huthafunk]

good point also matt, because if you were quoted over 8mbps, and the line speed was obviously much lower than this, then you were mis-sold at point of sale and can cancel at any time free of charge

Hi guys thanx for all the replies. When i first looked into O2 they did the checks stating that my line should be giving me at least 12mb based on the information BT supplies. This is where O2 is now claiming they can't be held responsible for BT supplying the wrong information and they are contracted to giving me the best speed possible on my line...the fact that they are now claiming is only up to 8mb/adsl instead of adsl2.

According to them they are still supplying me the service I signed up for and also had the cheek to say that I cant complain about moving from BT as they are now giving me the same package I use to have with BT but cheaper unbelievable!

I received an Email from them and 2 calls from their support team asking how things are going and that they sending out a new router as this is now faulty.... so what is it my line oh no its your router no wait its.... I will be taking this up with offcom as soon as the new router is plugged in and the connection drops again..after all O2 can claim they are in the process of solving the issue. I think I basically have to wait for my router to show a normal adsl connection instead of adsl2 before I can start procedures with offcom.

[matthew]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

...that I cant complain about moving from BT as they are now giving me the same package I use to have with BT but cheaper unbelievable!

I would be outraged if they said that to me, the first response would be; Well the customer service is disgraceful, saying i cant complain!

A new router, that is a classic excuse, saying its your router which is the problem. That is nearly never the problem!

[huthafunk]

Originally Posted by matthew

A new router, that is a classic excuse, saying its your router which is the problem. That is nearly never the problem!

surprisingly matthew that is actually the reverse of what I find, customers who call into sky, and of those who think it is the router that is the fault, around 95% of those customers DONT have a router replaced, and believe you me, it is 1 out of 2 calls that people think it is the router that is at fault, and yet a large amount of people think that our routers are poor quality, anyway, the point made about how they are supplying that service now at 8mbps is a pile of **** (fill with your imagination) it infuriates me as to how O2 can state that, it is a new contract, it is not the same service you signed up for, therefore they are to blame, one thing they state which IS actually correct, is the inital line check about BT, but it is not BTs fault, O2 were the ones that sold you the product, wern't they.............!! anyway, good luck and let us know what OFFCOMs feedback is about the issue