# Broadband Problems



## nightdude (25 Jul 2009)

Hi

I am just wondering if it is possible to cancell my phone broadband provided 6 months into the contract (of 24 months)?

The problem I have with them is that the broadband keeps failing in the sense that you can get to google when you start up, but rarely beyond it to anyother page! It keeps timing out & going to the dsne page...

When you call the provider, they state that it is an internal problem that will last 24 hours, HOWEVER, 1. it is more likely to last a week and, 2. the same problem keeps happening every few weeks...

On this basis, I would like to cancel my contract as I do a lot of my employment activities on-line. Is it viable to cancel the contract as the service promised is not being delivered?

Thanks


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## JoeB (25 Jul 2009)

yes, but it can be very difficult and will require persistence...

You need to document your problems.. so every time yo have problems make a note of the date and time..

Since your provider appears to have already stated (in writing I hope) that they do have internal problems ask for a refund or compensation for the periods of non-service.. which may include a complete refund as you need a second internet connection in order to guarantee connectivity.


Try continous pings.. So, in Windows, hit 'Start' button.. then 'Run...', then type in 'command'.. this opens a MS Dos window..

type in 'ping www.somesite.com -t'
this then sets up continous pings..
so you should see
Pinging xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with 32 bytes of data
Reply from ... 231ms etc etc
Reply from ... 231ms etc etc
Request timed out..

If you see many 'Request timed out' you have a problem.. hit 'Print Screen', then open MS Paint.. Ctrl & V to paste the screenshot, save as a jpeg.. great, you now have some docementary evidence..

Also go to a site that measures your internet connectivity.. when you get bad results record them and it's more documentary evidence for you.

Clearly you should not have to pay for a service which isn't being provided...

Under legislation you are entitled to a contract which contains info on minimum service levels, and refund and compensation info for periods of non-service.. unfortunately according to Comreg, all operators are breaking this law, see report Comreg 07/49 from the Comreg website... so check your contract, and write to Comreg specifically mentioning that your contract is illegally formed.. request a refund on this basis too.. not only for yourself but for all that operators users.. (if the contract is in fact illegally formed).

You may find that you have to make a lot of noise about this.. just keep sending emails to both your service provider at first, if unhappy with the responses (i.e if you don't recieve an immediate refund) then also continually email Comreg.. eventually you will be allowed to break your contract with no penalty.. but insist that you receive a further refund for the periods of non-service, consider the small claims cour as in all likelyhood your contract is illegally formed and so it would be madness for the provider to fight you on this...


Please post details of how you are getting on, I would be happy to advise.. I am very confident that you will eventually recieve the refunds and outcome you desire...


I am currently in talks with Ministrer Eamon Ryan about the fiasco that is Comreg and their refusal to enforce the law which is their job.. see report Comreg 07/49 as I've said above.. it clearly states that all operators are ignoring the law regarding contracts.. it was produced in July, 2007.. nothing has happened since although eventually something will happen..mainly because I am continually pestering Eamon Ryan and Comreg about this. The laws concerning contracts came into force in 2003.. so it is surprising that in 2009 it is still ignored by all operators. (It is hard to be certain as Comreg are supposed to report on the level of compliance.. they have only produced the one report in 2007 which showed a 100% level of non-compliance... it  is a reasonable assumption that all operators are still non-compliant as why would they become compliant when Comreg appear to have no intention of forcing them to?, the penalties for non-compliance appear to be non-existent as well whereas the potential cost of compliance is huge for operators.. they may find themselves refunding and compensating many of the 1.2 million people who have broadband connections in this country)

CEO of Comreg is John Doherty.

If you can please name your provider.


Cheers so, 
Joe


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## KatieC (26 Jul 2009)

A good site to test your service is speedtest.net.
Then use the print screen button and paste on to a word document if you wish or as above.

Good luck


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## europhile (26 Jul 2009)

It's not vodafone, is it?  I've been having only an intermittent service from them in recent weeks.


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## NorfBank (26 Jul 2009)

My eircom dropped last night and sometime last week.


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## cleverclogs7 (26 Jul 2009)

europhile said:


> It's not vodafone, is it? I've been having only an intermittent service from them in recent weeks.


 
have had same problem with vodaphone.seems to be working fine since i changed th setting .But if its windy or heavy rain,cant get online.


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## europhile (26 Jul 2009)

Which setting did you change?


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## cleverclogs7 (26 Jul 2009)

I have to do the following if the weather is bad.click on the vf tab.go to settings click choose selection and change from G3 to G3 PREFERRED OR GPRS preferred and click connect.I usually have to jump between the 2 and then i click connect.My contract ends the end of august i think,so im going to try the meteor one and see how it goes.


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## Bubbly Scot (26 Jul 2009)

Perlico has been bad for last few days. I can't get to a lot of websites. I haven't tried to find a way round it, just sat here seething because I can't get onto Facebook 

Makes me wish I'd not bothered switching from Eircom if I'm honest. Saving money is great but not at the cost of a decent service.

That speednet website was a commercial website, trying to sell some booster or other :-(


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## cleverclogs7 (27 Jul 2009)

http://www.speedtest.net/ click next,then the gold triangle click next.it will show the speed of your pc.takes a about 2 minutes


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## JoeB (27 Jul 2009)

europhile said:


> It's not vodafone, is it?  I've been having only an intermittent service from them in recent weeks.



Well, your contract is required to have info on 'service level', and compensation and refund information if the service level is not met...

You should not have to pay for a service you're not receiving.. write an email requesting a refund for the period of non-service... if Vodafone refuse then write to Comreg...

Quote Comreg 07/49 which states clearly that the Vodafone contract is illegally formed, as per July, 2007.. this is the most up to date information available. Write to Minister Ryan, requesting that he direct Comreg to enforce the law as it is their job and they're not doing it and not making a public statement as to why...

Minister Ryan <Minister.Ryan [at] dcenr.gov.ie>

Also mention that you didn't receive a contract at point of sale, not adequate instructions as to where it can be found (if this is the case, vitually certain that it is).... there are no dates, titles or versions numbers on the Vodafone contract.. this hugely disadvantages you and benefits Vodafone.. don't accept that this is an oversight or a clerical error, this is a considered policy by Vodafone which is condoned and implicitily approved of by Comreg...

If enough people make noise about this eventually something will happen..


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## JoeB (27 Jul 2009)

cleverclogs7 said:


> I have to do the following if the weather is bad.click on the vf tab.go to settings click choose selection and change from G3 to G3 PREFERRED OR GPRS preferred and click connect.I usually have to jump between the 2 and then i click connect.My contract ends the end of august i think,so im going to try the meteor one and see how it goes.



Again, same as my reply above... if you have to connect using GPRS then you are not receiving the service you are paying for.. you are paying for broadband while GPRS is a dial up service.. so if you have to use GPRS then you are entitled to a refund or compensation.. you are also entitled to a legally formed contract which you don't have.. as per the most up to date info available from Comreg, see report Comreg 07/49

So again.. write to Vodafone requesting a refund for the periods of non-service, and mention the illegally formed contract.. also write to Comreg asking them to determine if your contract is legal.. make sure you quote their own report which states that Vodafone are breaking the law, as per July, 2007,  the most recent and only report that Comreg have bothered to carry out since 2003 when the law came into force, this is despite the fact that they have an obligation to enforce the law and they are not doing so...

Cheers so, Joe


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## nightdude (28 Jul 2009)

I would like to say a big huge thankyou to Joe for the sound advice....I would have got back to you earlier, but...you guessed it, my broadband was down....
My provider is Perlico & to be honest, I agree with Bubbly Scott & wish I had never had anything to do with them...
I will definately not be signing with them again & I will be contacting comreg to issue a complain on a number of service issues, both broadband service & "customer service". In my experience, both have been seriously insufficient & not worth switching too for the sake of saving a few euro
Broadband service has been down more than it has been availible, customer service fail to reply to e-mails, they keep sending out bills that have already been paid, when you call the "cust. service" they try & fob you off & give you NO explanation as to what the problem is or when it will be resolved, when you are lucky enough to get a narrow window of service, you are left seething when it quickly dissapears & you cannot view any web pages. Also, when I signed up, they failed to implement the standing order with the information I provided, which led to my phone being disconnected with NO notice or warning & a bill for 6 months useage 
It is my opinion that I would not recommend them to my worst enemy & I will be persuing breach of contract for failing to provide a reasonable service. My opinion is that they are a nightmare!


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## pinoyireland (11 Nov 2009)

i knew it was perlico when i read the topic "*Broadband Problems ". *


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## Guest128 (11 Nov 2009)

Im with O2 mobile BB and had limited connection at the end of September for about two weeks. I complained a about 6 times eventually getting to a supervisor and got two months free following resolution of the issues (they never actually told me issue was resolved but service is back as it was before). You really need to push BB providers to get any satisfaction, mentioning ComReg usually gets their attention


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