trivia

Some of my earlier posts have referred to the “homehubblog”. The author of that blog seems to have had his domain name stolen from under his feet. The address given now links to an estate agent site. I know that there are robots out there just waiting to pounce on domains which come up for renewal so that existing traffic to established sites can be hijacked, but this is just ridiculous. I strongly recommend that anyone using a domain they value get it locked by their ISP or domain manager so that renewal in their own name is automatic.

Needless to say, any references to the homehubblog in my earlier posts should now be ignored – they just won’t work.

My contract with BT has now expired and I am shortly to move my ADSL connection to one of the Entanet resellers (TitanADSL). All the Entanet resellers I have read about get good reviews. I picked TitanADSL because they offer additional webspace and mySQL databases on top of their broadband service. With luck my IP service will improve hugely (BT consistently throttle service at peak times) and I know that my “support” service will improve beyond recognition.

I know I shouldn’t have bothered, but I actually made the mistake of emailing BT Broadband “support” requesting a MAC (Migration Activation Code) so that I could get my new supply sorted. I received the response below. I cannot believe that I actually received an email from someone “trying to be part of the solution”. Needless to say I received no MAC so I phoned the number given on the the BT website and got the code over the phone in minutes.

——–
BT Email

Dear Sir / Madam,

Thank you for your e-mail dated 6/12/07 regarding your request for MAC code.

With regards to your email, I would like to inform you that I have to forward this matter to the relevant team for further assistance. Therefore, I would request you to kindly forward your account details, i.e. the customer account number and the telephone number in reply. We need this information for security reasons, as well as to access your account and assist you further.

I can assure you that on receipt of your account details we will assist you in an appropriate way and will make every possible endeavour to solve your concern as soon as possible.

I realise that I have not been able to resolve your concern immediately. I can assure you that I am trying my best to be a part of the solution and in the meantime I would like to thank you in anticipation of your continued patience and co-operation, and to assure you of our best intentions at all times.

Thank you for contacting BT.

Yours Sincerely,
eContact Customer Service

Since my last post at the end of last year I have been testing my ST780 with a variety of alternative VOIP providers whilst at the same time trying to get BT to sort out my connection. I also lodged a formal complaint about the appalling level of technical support with the BT complaints department on 30 December.

The complaints department initially responded to me on 4 January with an acknowledgement and a comment that I could expect a fuller reply in 24 hours. On the 8th of January I received the following gem:

“BT Broadband – Complaint Management Team

Dear Sir

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the problems you are experiencing with your BT Broadband service. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience this has caused you.

Unfortunately we are unable to assist with technical issues, we have however passed your email to our technical support team, who will be in contact with you in the next 3 to 4 working days to work towards a satisfactory resolution. Should you wish to contact the technical support desk please call 0845 600 7030.

I would again like to apologise for the problems you have experienced. I do hope this information will be of assistance to you.

Kind regards
BT Broadband – Complaint Management Team”

Since that date I have heard nothing – though I have now received my shiny new hub (which I do not intend using).

Now since the substance of my complaint was that the technical support department was neither technical nor supportive I have decided that it is futile to continue down this road and I will simply escalate my complaint (on paper) to the Customer Relations Manager.

Meanwhile, just to prove that there is nothing wrong with my ST780 router, as I mentioned above, I have been experimenting with alternative VOIP providers and have now signed up with Sipgate. Sipgate offers free VOIP services within its own network and with peer networks such as FWD. It only charges for its gateway out to the PSTN. But its charges are very reasonable indeed. Sipgate also offers a rather neat opportunity to gain a UK geographic based telephone number for no additional charge. During my testing (for free) I could successfully dial in to my new Sipgate number from the PSTN and mobile networks but initially could not dial out to the Sipgate test number. Given the problems I have with BT I contacted Sipgate support who very generously credited my account with a small test sum so that I could check outbound connectivity to the PSTN. It worked fine so I have now signed up to Sipgate’s services.

Now compare this attitude and response from a company with whom I had no contractual relationship and had paid no money with that woeful response from BT to whom I pay a very considerable sum of money each month.