Broadband provider can't provide a proper service: advice on switching

iniltous

GreatBritain wrote: »

Everybody, if me doing troubleshooting steps is important for you, then I will try to do them, even though my question was about the scenario after doing them.

I will try to clarify myself as much as possible, I can assure you my intention is not to confuse you

I was expecting for people to give a few tips, but it appears I had the wrong idea of what a chargeback is for, so that's where all the misunderstanding is.

I would appreciate if someone could explain then when exactly it is appropriate to use a chargeback in any situation? According to consumer advice and some people, it is to be used when you don't receive the goods or services you pay for. Which? themselves recommend doing it. So many people abuse it and commit fraud through chargebacks and get away. But I'm being told the opposite. Could someone clarify all this please?

Thank you, I appreciate all your help.

It seems to me that the advice you are being given, is that if you arbitrarily stop paying for the service you are being supplied with (even if you regard it as being a substandard service) then you will ultimately damage your credit rating.

If your service has deteriorated recently , then report it (or re-report) if your ISP says there is no problem and are 'reluctant' to do anything, insist , they would probably indicate that they would arrange an engineer visit but you would risk being charged if your service was found to be fault free ( as far as what Openreach and your ISP are responsible for).

By doing a little 'work' (like connecting your router to the master socket test port , thereby eliminating your own wiring as potentially the problem) and posting your router stats you may get confirmation you do indeed have an issue ,or that your broadband seems to be performing adequately and a fault report risks a chargeable visit by OR.

It seems to me, that you want BT to just accept that your broadband is faulty and release you from any contractual obligation...that's not the way these things work, you have to follow process to the point where your provider agrees to release you, because they cannot 'fix' the issue...you seem to want to by pass that stage of the process.

If you do have an issue , switching provider ( regardless of any penalty applied by BT for failure to see out any minimum term )probably wouldn't help anyway, the chances are the issue will remain (unless you intend to move to VM cable) so even if you managed to switch (as you want) chances are you would still have the problem, and the new provider would have to accept you had a problem and try to fix it, so you wouldn't be any further forward

pmduk

GreatBritain wrote: »

Then I guess I'll just have to file a complaint first. Are you sure they're not a scam? 0.8/10 rating out of 266 people and they are all misunderstood?

Ombudsmen are not a scam. They're there as an arbiter in disputes between both parties. Many consumers believe they are there to fight for the consumer, which is where I believe the low satisfaction marks come in. When working in the telecoms industry, I've seen complaints settled in the consumer's favour because we were aware our paperwork just wasn't up to scratch, not that we were in the wrong on the complaint itself.

GreatBritain wrote: »

Also, I read somewhere that a chargeback was a final option so that essentially the company fights with the credit card company over the money instead of you. I'm guessing he was wrong?

You have to use this carefully, in your case, you have received internet service, you just don't like it or think it's adequate. Chargeback, in my opinion, is safest used, when you haven't received the goods or service involved. The company will probably have no problems proving you have received an internet service, which might then leave you in the position of having made what the industry call a 'friendly fraud' claim (I hate the phrase.)

pmduk

Of course, we've all missed the obvious, with BT you're never far from a price increase (or so it seems), just wait for the next one and that's your get out of jail free card if you respond to their notification within 30 days

[Deleted User]

GreatBritain wrote: »

Then I guess I'll just have to file a complaint first.

Sounds like a far more likely potentially successful complaint route than anything else you have so far postulated.

I'm certain you could have already easily formulated (and sent) a valid complaint to BT.

Why post here continually about "chargebacks" which will never advance any potential complaint?

GreatBritain

Hey guys, sorry for the late reply. I don't know what on earth happened but some of the posts on the thread have disappeared. Ok so I won't do a chargeback, I'll follow all the usual complain procedures. The thing is big companies don't care one bit, they'll delay any action until they are legally obligated to do so, which as other posts said, is something like 8 weeks, and even then they've got a lot of power over you, and they'll do anything to get your money. This is why I was worried that I might end up having to a chargeback.

Now, all that aside, is there any scenario at all where you would advise me to do a chargeback? When the normal procedure fails? I understand it is a serious thing to do, and even if it's not just about the money, it's a matter of principle, the last option to prevent companies unfairly/illegally taking your money, and some people who have been through all other options have resorted to it.

SROBH

Assuming you are using a service provided via BT - connect via a telephone socket - then as advised already try testing via an ethernet cable with the router connected via the test socket on the wall socket. If this produces poor results, try a quiet line test on the phone (having reconnected it). Dial 17070 and select quiet line test. if there are any crackles call in a possible fault on the telephone line but DO NOT mention broadband.

If however this provides better results, then try using wifi but still plugged in via the test socket. If poorer, then it suggests the wifi is causing the problem.

GreatBritain

SROBH wrote: »

Assuming you are using a service provided via BT - connect via a telephone socket - then as advised already try testing via an ethernet cable with the router connected via the test socket on the wall socket. If this produces poor results, try a quiet line test on the phone (having reconnected it). Dial 17070 and select quiet line test. if there are any crackles call in a possible fault on the telephone line but DO NOT mention broadband.

If however this provides better results, then try using wifi but still plugged in via the test socket. If poorer, then it suggests the wifi is causing the problem.

Why shouldn't I mention broadband? I'm confused sorry.

iniltous

GreatBritain wrote: »

Why shouldn't I mention broadband? I'm confused sorry.

If you have your phone line rental and broadband rental with the same company and have a fault, then depending on which part of the company ( the phone provider part or the broadband provider part ) you report the problem to, could affect the type of engineer sent out, phone line faults can affect broadband, so , if you dial 17070 , and take the quiet line test (using a corded landline phone) from the test port , and it's noisy ( crackles, pops, whistles that sort of thing ) it's best to report that to the landline fault number , and say it's the phoneline that's the problem , that way the engineer sent will be a 'lineman' who can delve into the local access network looking for the cause of the noise, if you called the broadband fault number, they may send a broadband engineer ,who turns up and says 'this job needs a lineman not a broadband engineer' and sends the fault back to be reassigned , so it's quicker to report it correctly in the first place....assuming there is noise when you do the test.