E7Even

Rex_Mundi

Just out of interest........I've seen on the ADSLGuide forums that there a lot of unhappy customers with this ISP. For the customers that paid upfront (1 or 2 years), do they get the unused part of their money back, or is there a penalty if they cancel before the end of their contract?

This doesn't affect me at all (I always thought it wasn't a good idea to pay this far upfront in case of problems), I'm just curious to know what their cancellation terms are.

paul_h

Rex_Mundi wrote:

Just out of interest........I've seen on the ADSLGuide forums that there a lot of unhappy customers with this ISP. For the customers that paid upfront (1 or 2 years), do they get the unused part of their money back, or is there a penalty if they cancel before the end of their contract?

This doesn't affect me at all (I always thought it wasn't a good idea to pay this far upfront in case of problems), I'm just curious to know what their cancellation terms are.

3 months subs by way of penalty, plus any deferred setup fees. Any remaining fees paid up front are returned.

For me that would mean a £30 penalty.

Ted_Hutchinson

Downstream 957 Kbps (119.6 KB/sec) Wednesday, 05 October 2005, 11:12.
Upstream 248 Kbps (31.0 KB/sec) Paul's right it is a 1mb connection.

paul_h

Ted_Hutchinson wrote:

Downstream 957 Kbps (119.6 KB/sec) Wednesday, 05 October 2005, 11:12.
Upstream 248 Kbps (31.0 KB/sec)

That looks better, I assume you're on a 1Mb connection?

Have you seen the new e7 website?

https://www.e7broadband.com/

...and new voip service -

http://www.e7voip.com/

£8 per month for 01/02 calls won't be tempting me away from voipbuster! The 0845/0870 calls look cheap though, at 2.5p peak/0.75p off-peak.

paul_h

I'm still experiencing slower speeds at peak times, I have a support ticket open with them about this - they've been very helpful so far...

After the recent problems, e7 seem to have added a further week to my subscription yesterday - Anyone else noticed this?

mk-donald

Well I'm pleased to have been an e7even broadbander for 3 months today!

They actually READ and REPLY to emails, something which BT staff usually either couldn't or didn't bother with AND manage to do it within hours rather than DAYS.

Their website contains what appear to be honest and detailed statements about the status of services, whereas Tiscali would often show no problems and then after as much as one day without email you'd suddenly receive dozens in a flood as they rectified some glaring problem that they hadn't revealed.

Looking forward to my e7even LLU 4Mbps upgrade later this month too that will be a monthly cost of around £13 for the rest of my contract = AMAZING value.

Seems to me that none of the broadband providers is 100% successful at keeping their service and their customers 100% happy, but e7even try harder and more successfully than most and do so at tremendous value for money, for me anyway - and their Touch Telecom phone service is too!

(And thanks PAUL_H for the pointer to their new website - looking professional!)

Rex_Mundi

Seems to me that none of the broadband providers is 100% successful at keeping their service and their customers 100% happy

I'd disagree with that. I can't remember the last time I saw a complaint from a user of Zen Internet. We pay more for our service, but in return get unbroken internet, never any problems, phone answered immediately if you call them for any reason with UK based staff. Full technical support for Mac users. 1GB free webspace with unlimited bandwidth (and this really does mean unlimited). Up to 8 free static IP addresses......

All the cheaper suppliers may be good to save a few quid, but, as we see time after time. You keep having problems that we don't get at all. Getting a weeks free subscription is fine, but I prefer a service that never goes down and doesn't need to compensate me for slow/lost internet. In this respect the extra I pay each month is worth every penny. I chose my ISP with speed, service and reliability in mind over price. This is exactly what I've got (a quality ISP).

paul_h

No ISP can guarantee 100% unbroken service as so much is out of their control, but I would agree that ISPs like Zen would probably be far better placed to deal with any problems simply because they build excess capacity into their systems.

Trouble is we're all skinflints on here, and I for one couldn't justify spending the sort of money Zen are asking every month. Whilst I admit that Zen could offer me a more reliable ADSL connection, I think that the budget ISPs offer us paupers a useful compromise.

mk-donald

Rex_Mundi wrote:

All the cheaper suppliers may be good to save a few quid.

Well if you look at the calculation it is HARDLY a FEW QUID - it's a TOTALLY MASSIVE saving comparing your impeccable Zen with my slightly flawed e7even.

Zen's website lists a 1Mbps home connection at: £40 activation plus £39 for an Ethernet router modem plus £612.48 (£25.52 x24) = £691.48 for the same bandwidth that I bought from e7even for £240 all in for 24 months.

So my calculator says your Zen is 188% more expensive, or that I paid 65% less than I would have with Zen.

Quite frankly having paid that sort of money I'd want more than 100% reliability - and with gold knobs, bells, whistles and a personal valet.

Nah seriously - you DO have a point that HOPEFULLY if you pay 188% more you deserve something better! Really you do - everyone on MSE would agree with you! But it's NOT a FEW QUID more - it's 188% more quids!

But when I can save 65% and get just a 1%? 2%? say 5%? reduction in quality of service, I'm TOTALL CONTENT to have saved that 65% as I don't have a mission/life critical application relying on my broadband connection. And the £451 I've saved over 2yrs versus Zen - that's £18.79 a month - that buys more than a few bottles of wine to drown my sorrows at the occasional service diminuation.

AND I have a dial-up modem and four different dial-up ISPs access numbers ready for dire emergencies....

I rest my case, £451 richer! (Although that's before e7even offered me an upgrade to 4Mbps for c£3 extra a month - which wouldn't even have got me up to 2Mbps on Zen, who don't seem to offer a 4Mbps service.)

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Zen - I don't know their service and they may well be impeccible - but they are NOT just "A FEW QUID" more expensive than the e7even service I have known for 3 months.

Rex_Mundi

I migrated to Zen (free), and had my own equipment. The only cost to me is my monthly fee. Like I pointed out, when I looked around for an ISP, I was looking for speed, reliability and service (and a completely unlimited service). With Zen I get all of these. Price for me was my last consideration. I know this is a moneysaving site, but in some things I prefer to pay a premium to get a top quality service. They offer the best kind of customer service. The kind you never need! The only times I've contacted them have been to request further (free) email addresses, and IP addresses (free). The term 'you get what you pay for' definately applies to Zen.

Yes I do regard the difference in monthly fees 'a few quid'. Have a look at ADSLGuide comparison . You can compare up to 6 ISPs on speed, reliability and cusomer service. I've never seen Zen beaten in any of these categories by any other ISP. To me, this makes the extra fees worth every penny. Different people need different things from their ISP. For me Zen suits me perfectly for my needs where most (if not all) the cheaper ISPs wouldn't fulfill my needs.

When I recommend Zen to friends, at least I know I'm recommending a top quality service that wont let them down.