I have an Email from Tiscali.
It is entitled 'Your bill and payment date', and details the charges they will levy for the past month. Note that this is the month during which I have had no ADSL at all.
They are, it seems, extraordinarily efficient at taking money from their customers.
They are far less interested in actually providing the service those customers are paying for.
Tiscali is not an ISP I would recommend to my friends. It's one I would recommend to people I don't like.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
At last, a book worth reading.
Over on Lulu.com, I have a book available called 'Ghost hunting for the sensible investigator'. Cheaper as a download, and I think the photos come out better on screen than they will in print. Although I think the US printers use better quality paper than the European ones.
It was a reaction to all the nonsense peddled on television and in advertisements, as well as in certain ghost hunting books. People are wasting far too much money on electronics they don't need to buy, and too much time on artefacts produced by those electronics.
It took a long time, using a dial-up, but I managed it despite the best efforts of the UK's broadband services.
I'm also considering a short one on creation and evolution. That should raise a few hackles.
It was a reaction to all the nonsense peddled on television and in advertisements, as well as in certain ghost hunting books. People are wasting far too much money on electronics they don't need to buy, and too much time on artefacts produced by those electronics.
It took a long time, using a dial-up, but I managed it despite the best efforts of the UK's broadband services.
I'm also considering a short one on creation and evolution. That should raise a few hackles.
Corporate stupidity supreme
I have been trying, since February, to migrate to a internet service provider who knows what they are doing. It seems I chose the wrong one.
The woodlouse-IQ'd morons at E7Even/E7broadband went bust on July 1st, leaving my line locked to some cowboy outfit who refused to free the line unless I paid. If I did not, I would have to wait until the 14th to have the line released.
What they failed to mention is that they would order the release on the 14th. It takes another 7-10 days to get the line freed. So I am still in limbo.
The ISP I tried to migrate to was Tiscali. I phoned their helpline with the (I thought) reasonable argument that I was already paying them, so they should take over the line now. They gave me a number to their 'department' which takes care of it.
The 'department' was the line to EasyDSL, the company that has been in existence for less than a month and has already earned the nickname 'sleezy' on the E7Even forum at ADSLguide.org.uk. The same company holding the E7 lines. I spoke to the rather gifted single-celled organism who eventually answered the phone but he could do no more than ask repeatedly whether I wanted to pay the ransom. I said no. Repeatedly.
It goes deeper. Both EasyDSL and E7Even are resellers for a larger ISP. This larger ISP is the one who has been holding me offline for nearly a month, and who has ordered the cease on my line - which means I will have no ADSL at all, and face another few weeks wait for it to be reinstated. Guess who this larger ISP is?
Tiscali.
I have written to them and informed them that, according to their own terms and conditions, their act of ordering a cease on my line means they have effectively cancelled my contract with them. In any event, this is not a company I will stay with, nor would I recommend it to anyone.
They will tell you they cannot migrate your line. Yes, they can. They already hold the line.
They will tell you 'I have a way to fix this. I will call back in two hours'. Then, I assume, they hang up and fall about laughing at the gullibility of their customers. I heard that line myself, two days ago.
I have a limited dial-up access now, though that will change when I get my second phone line activated in a couple of days. It will still be slow, but less limited for time, since it won't block my main phone.
As I said, I have written to Tiscali today. They claim to answer Email support queries within 24 hours.
I won't hold my breath.
The woodlouse-IQ'd morons at E7Even/E7broadband went bust on July 1st, leaving my line locked to some cowboy outfit who refused to free the line unless I paid. If I did not, I would have to wait until the 14th to have the line released.
What they failed to mention is that they would order the release on the 14th. It takes another 7-10 days to get the line freed. So I am still in limbo.
The ISP I tried to migrate to was Tiscali. I phoned their helpline with the (I thought) reasonable argument that I was already paying them, so they should take over the line now. They gave me a number to their 'department' which takes care of it.
The 'department' was the line to EasyDSL, the company that has been in existence for less than a month and has already earned the nickname 'sleezy' on the E7Even forum at ADSLguide.org.uk. The same company holding the E7 lines. I spoke to the rather gifted single-celled organism who eventually answered the phone but he could do no more than ask repeatedly whether I wanted to pay the ransom. I said no. Repeatedly.
It goes deeper. Both EasyDSL and E7Even are resellers for a larger ISP. This larger ISP is the one who has been holding me offline for nearly a month, and who has ordered the cease on my line - which means I will have no ADSL at all, and face another few weeks wait for it to be reinstated. Guess who this larger ISP is?
Tiscali.
I have written to them and informed them that, according to their own terms and conditions, their act of ordering a cease on my line means they have effectively cancelled my contract with them. In any event, this is not a company I will stay with, nor would I recommend it to anyone.
They will tell you they cannot migrate your line. Yes, they can. They already hold the line.
They will tell you 'I have a way to fix this. I will call back in two hours'. Then, I assume, they hang up and fall about laughing at the gullibility of their customers. I heard that line myself, two days ago.
I have a limited dial-up access now, though that will change when I get my second phone line activated in a couple of days. It will still be slow, but less limited for time, since it won't block my main phone.
As I said, I have written to Tiscali today. They claim to answer Email support queries within 24 hours.
I won't hold my breath.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Extortion by Internet
I have avoided naming names so far in the ongoing debacle that has been my Internet service. However, there is only so much anyone can take. As of now, it's cat-out-of-the-bag time.
I have been trying to migrate away from E7broadband since February. They have sent two migration codes, neither of which have worked, and ignored my request for a third.
I see they even have an entry in Wikipedia now. It's not complimentary.
My ADSL line stopped working on July 1st. A Saturday. So no hope of contacting anybody. As if there ever was, with that company.
On Monday, I finally discovered they had closed down, and had terminated all contracts with no warning. I discovered this by searching for news on the company, not because they told me. I have had no information at all from them.
That’s exactly what I have come to expect of this company. However, they continue to occupy my line with a non-functioning ADSL connection.
Why?
Well, it seems they have ‘an arrangement’ with 186k, aka Ezee DSL.
Unless I pay this new company to set up a new account, they will continue to block my ADSL access until the 14th of July, when E7broadband ‘officially’ terminates. There is no option to get out of this arrangement, which was set up without either informing or consulting their customers.
That is, purely and simply, blackmail. It translates to ‘Give us money, or you’re offline’.
Their website has no Email address, and only one phone number. I am forced to wonder if it is E7Broadband in a new incarnation? The website looks new, and the format is rather similar. So, what is it, eh? Cancel all contracts, keep the money, and charge your customers again for the same crappy service they’ve had all along? Speculation, naturally, but it’s a logical conclusion based on the limited information made available to me.
After all, this ‘arrangement’ didn’t materialise overnight. Ezee DSL, as far as I can tell, did just that.
I continue to try to contact Ezee DSL, so far to no avail (sound familiar?). I will not be paying their extortion demands.
Instead, I will be contacting the appropriate ombudsman and possibly initiating legal action.
If you are considering taking up broadband service in the UK, I can only recommend, based on my own experience, that you stick with one of the larger, established companies. Avoid the small outfits.
They might look cheaper, but you get what you pay for.
I have been trying to migrate away from E7broadband since February. They have sent two migration codes, neither of which have worked, and ignored my request for a third.
I see they even have an entry in Wikipedia now. It's not complimentary.
My ADSL line stopped working on July 1st. A Saturday. So no hope of contacting anybody. As if there ever was, with that company.
On Monday, I finally discovered they had closed down, and had terminated all contracts with no warning. I discovered this by searching for news on the company, not because they told me. I have had no information at all from them.
That’s exactly what I have come to expect of this company. However, they continue to occupy my line with a non-functioning ADSL connection.
Why?
Well, it seems they have ‘an arrangement’ with 186k, aka Ezee DSL.
Unless I pay this new company to set up a new account, they will continue to block my ADSL access until the 14th of July, when E7broadband ‘officially’ terminates. There is no option to get out of this arrangement, which was set up without either informing or consulting their customers.
That is, purely and simply, blackmail. It translates to ‘Give us money, or you’re offline’.
Their website has no Email address, and only one phone number. I am forced to wonder if it is E7Broadband in a new incarnation? The website looks new, and the format is rather similar. So, what is it, eh? Cancel all contracts, keep the money, and charge your customers again for the same crappy service they’ve had all along? Speculation, naturally, but it’s a logical conclusion based on the limited information made available to me.
After all, this ‘arrangement’ didn’t materialise overnight. Ezee DSL, as far as I can tell, did just that.
I continue to try to contact Ezee DSL, so far to no avail (sound familiar?). I will not be paying their extortion demands.
Instead, I will be contacting the appropriate ombudsman and possibly initiating legal action.
If you are considering taking up broadband service in the UK, I can only recommend, based on my own experience, that you stick with one of the larger, established companies. Avoid the small outfits.
They might look cheaper, but you get what you pay for.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Tomorrow, there will be weather.
And now the weather forecast: Tomorrow, there will be some.
That's about as accurate as it gets in the UK. Anything else is trim, fluff, empty words.
I don't know why they bother. The UK's weather is notorious for not doing what it's told. They say it'll be sunny, and it's overcast all day. They proclaim rain, then the next day they announce a hosepipe ban.
I'm glad I'm a parapsychologist, and not a meteorologist.
More people believe what we say.
That's about as accurate as it gets in the UK. Anything else is trim, fluff, empty words.
I don't know why they bother. The UK's weather is notorious for not doing what it's told. They say it'll be sunny, and it's overcast all day. They proclaim rain, then the next day they announce a hosepipe ban.
I'm glad I'm a parapsychologist, and not a meteorologist.
More people believe what we say.
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