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I am posting this as a basic warning to other Freeola customers I have been a freeola custimer for a long time now without problems untill the last week or so. Freeola has dropped my internet connection speed from 5 to 1.2 Mbps without explination or reason I have tried to discuss this matter with them on the telephone at their so called support centre a number of times now to get them to at least try and offer some semblance of service but it has been like butting my head against a brick wall. They have been completely unintersted in trying to solve the problem and have done nothing but give out excuses as to why they wont do anything. and they are now making me consider changing my ISP to another company where there is real customer support . I have worked in customer service myself for many years and I can honest;y say that the response I have had from this company is extremely poor at best amd that no paying customer should be treated this badly. In short I would have expected better than the treatment thus far and I would advise anyone reading this forum to consider using this companys services.
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DL wrote:
@pete ... hi pete, how's things?
@Dpontin 1
As you can see, as long standing Freeola users, we have all had connection 'problems' and Freeola Support have always been there to help.
So too has the support from 'Forum' users and between us the problem has usually been solved. The problem here seems to be your inability to provide any feedback to the Forum .... numerous posts throughout today and nothing from you :¬(
I'm good thanks DL, how are you? :)
Seriously Dpontin, as an ex-Tiscali I can tell you about bad customer service, I once spent 45 mins on hold to India only to speak to someone called 'Steve' who's advice was to ask me to turn my firewall off to fix a connection that didn't actually work! I'm being totally serious, it took me nearly 3 months to finally leave them (still didn't get my requested MAC code they just terminated my non-functioning connection!). I was promised money back which to this day I have never received, I did consider complaining to Ofcom but I honestly couldn't be bothered, I was just glad just to be free of the clowns. Freeola on the other hand are a very good ISP in my experience, follow their advice and you will get to the bottom of your problem.
@pete ... hi pete, how's things?
@Dpontin 1
As you can see, as long standing Freeola users, we have all had connection 'problems' and Freeola Support have always been there to help.
So too has the support from 'Forum' users and between us the problem has usually been solved. The problem here seems to be your inability to provide any feedback to the Forum .... numerous posts throughout today and nothing from you :¬(
I'm good thanks DL, how are you? :)
Seriously Dpontin, as an ex-Tiscali I can tell you about bad customer service, I once spent 45 mins on hold to India only to speak to someone called 'Steve' who's advice was to ask me to turn my firewall off to fix a connection that didn't actually work! I'm being totally serious, it took me nearly 3 months to finally leave them (still didn't get my requested MAC code they just terminated my non-functioning connection!). I was promised money back which to this day I have never received, I did consider complaining to Ofcom but I honestly couldn't be bothered, I was just glad just to be free of the clowns. Freeola on the other hand are a very good ISP in my experience, follow their advice and you will get to the bottom of your problem.
@pete ... hi pete, how's things?
@Dpontin 1
As you can see, as long standing Freeola users, we have all had connection 'problems' and Freeola Support have always been there to help.
So too has the support from 'Forum' users and between us the problem has usually been solved. The problem here seems to be your inability to provide any feedback to the Forum .... numerous posts throughout today and nothing from you :¬(
@Dpontin 1
As you can see, as long standing Freeola users, we have all had connection 'problems' and Freeola Support have always been there to help.
So too has the support from 'Forum' users and between us the problem has usually been solved. The problem here seems to be your inability to provide any feedback to the Forum .... numerous posts throughout today and nothing from you :¬(
Hi Dpontin1 and welcome to the forums,
I too had my connection speed crash around a year ago and BT checked and informed me that my line was fine. After some further testing and swapping of components (Router, Cables, Filters all without success) the problem turned out to be intermittent static on my line. This caused my connection to drop from 6.5Mbs down to around 0.6Mbs, as it did not happen all of the time it was very difficult to locate the cause of this problem and as it turned out even more difficult to fix. I called out a BT engineer and he ended up rewiring my house (from the box outside to a newly installed master socket). Unfortunately after a very short period of time this problem reared its ugly head again and BT were called back out. This time they followed the line down my street re-making all the connections and this eventually fixed the problem.
This experience was all very frustrating but throughout it I honestly found Freeola customer support to be very good and extremely helpful. I say this having had the misfortune to have to deal with the technical support at the likes of Tiscali and Orange (both of which were absolutely atrocious). I'm sure that the guys at Freeola support are doing everything they can to sort out your problem, if it was an easy fix that could have been sorted remotely then I'm sure that they would have already done it. I would imagine that your issue is going to take a little bit of investigating and unfortunately this takes time.
I too had my connection speed crash around a year ago and BT checked and informed me that my line was fine. After some further testing and swapping of components (Router, Cables, Filters all without success) the problem turned out to be intermittent static on my line. This caused my connection to drop from 6.5Mbs down to around 0.6Mbs, as it did not happen all of the time it was very difficult to locate the cause of this problem and as it turned out even more difficult to fix. I called out a BT engineer and he ended up rewiring my house (from the box outside to a newly installed master socket). Unfortunately after a very short period of time this problem reared its ugly head again and BT were called back out. This time they followed the line down my street re-making all the connections and this eventually fixed the problem.
This experience was all very frustrating but throughout it I honestly found Freeola customer support to be very good and extremely helpful. I say this having had the misfortune to have to deal with the technical support at the likes of Tiscali and Orange (both of which were absolutely atrocious). I'm sure that the guys at Freeola support are doing everything they can to sort out your problem, if it was an easy fix that could have been sorted remotely then I'm sure that they would have already done it. I would imagine that your issue is going to take a little bit of investigating and unfortunately this takes time.
If you are happy to pay for an engineer visit by BT (should they determine that the fault is in your premises) then please advise support of this. I'm sure as long as we have your consent in writing an engineer visit can be arranged.
I'm afraid addressing your other points would be down to a Support representative, as despite reading your tickets, I did not have all the information or 'facts' that you have detailed and do not know what was said over the phone (I'm not at work at the moment and don't work in Support).
All I can say is that swapping equipment and expecting an instant change is not always the case, it can often take more that 24 hours (especially on 20CN connections). Your connection speed has dropped due to something changing somewhere on your line, we have not reduced your speed deliberately. ADSL is 'rate adaptive', meaning it will adjust and provide the best connection speed that the line will allow. If the line quality changes then so will the connection speed. BT have a threshold line speed at which your line would be considered faulty and even though you may have been getting a higher speed, your current speed is not below the BT fault threshold. This means that a lot more testing needs to be done to persuade BT that there is a fault.
I'm afraid addressing your other points would be down to a Support representative, as despite reading your tickets, I did not have all the information or 'facts' that you have detailed and do not know what was said over the phone (I'm not at work at the moment and don't work in Support).
All I can say is that swapping equipment and expecting an instant change is not always the case, it can often take more that 24 hours (especially on 20CN connections). Your connection speed has dropped due to something changing somewhere on your line, we have not reduced your speed deliberately. ADSL is 'rate adaptive', meaning it will adjust and provide the best connection speed that the line will allow. If the line quality changes then so will the connection speed. BT have a threshold line speed at which your line would be considered faulty and even though you may have been getting a higher speed, your current speed is not below the BT fault threshold. This means that a lot more testing needs to be done to persuade BT that there is a fault.
Not having a modern style Master Socket is a pain!
Follow the link above to see my previous Freeola thread for more details and comments on getting your line 'regularised' - I see the BT price list info has moved.
I believe in your current situation (with no TEST socket) all you can do if ensure that you've removed EVERY device that fits into a phone socket in your house apart from your router. Then look to see if the situation has changed - see my earlier comments about line stats as Speed Tests etc. won't help immediately due to the speed profiles (IP Profile and Target SNR) that will/may have changed if you have a line problem.
Then if you are as happy as you can be with all your internal phone wiring and equipment a BT Engineer will be required - BUT if they don't find any issues with their side of the network you run the risk of a nearly £200 bill :¬( This will be the same with all ISPs.
I've had to do this 3 times over the years on my overhead rural line. Each time an external line fault was found - but it isn't much fun waiting for the BT Engineer to decide what's wrong.
I monitor my line very closely using the excellent free RouterStats software. So without any effort I always know my connection speed, line attenuation and Target SNR along with my error counts - making it easy to see when things are going pear shaped.
Follow the link above to see my previous Freeola thread for more details and comments on getting your line 'regularised' - I see the BT price list info has moved.
I believe in your current situation (with no TEST socket) all you can do if ensure that you've removed EVERY device that fits into a phone socket in your house apart from your router. Then look to see if the situation has changed - see my earlier comments about line stats as Speed Tests etc. won't help immediately due to the speed profiles (IP Profile and Target SNR) that will/may have changed if you have a line problem.
Then if you are as happy as you can be with all your internal phone wiring and equipment a BT Engineer will be required - BUT if they don't find any issues with their side of the network you run the risk of a nearly £200 bill :¬( This will be the same with all ISPs.
I've had to do this 3 times over the years on my overhead rural line. Each time an external line fault was found - but it isn't much fun waiting for the BT Engineer to decide what's wrong.
I monitor my line very closely using the excellent free RouterStats software. So without any effort I always know my connection speed, line attenuation and Target SNR along with my error counts - making it easy to see when things are going pear shaped.
[s]Hmmm...[/s]
Morning Dpontin 1 ...
While I can appreciate your frustration, have you seen this thread?:
Broadband Speed Question
and indeed, tried the following links to provide some further information:
Exchange Detail
Broadband Connection Speed etc
I had a similar speed and connection problem a few years ago - working fine, then sudden drop and connection loss. Connect to internet again and fine for a while then repeat. The solution was to update the ethernet drivers for the network card :¬)
My Master Socket doesn't have a test socket either - Noah fitted mine!
While I can appreciate your frustration, have you seen this thread?:
Broadband Speed Question
and indeed, tried the following links to provide some further information:
Exchange Detail
Broadband Connection Speed etc
I had a similar speed and connection problem a few years ago - working fine, then sudden drop and connection loss. Connect to internet again and fine for a while then repeat. The solution was to update the ethernet drivers for the network card :¬)
My Master Socket doesn't have a test socket either - Noah fitted mine!
Firstly I would like to point out some facts
1/ I have already followed all the advice given in the open support ticket.
2/ despite explaining a number of times now that my Telephone line does not have a test socket behind the faceplate and that the wires are wired directly to the faceplate this was done by the original bt engineer who installed the line but he did not use a proper master socket. This has been explained to the Freeola customer support staff more than one time now.
3/ I have already replaced the Router DSL cable and filter with brand new ones in the last few days myself at my own expense for testing purposes again this has also been explained numerous times
4/ There are no open BT fault reports on my line as I got BT to clear them all and I got them to test the line twice this morning that is Friday July the 6th and they both came back clear.
5/ I spoke with a Freeola representatives a number of times today which again Friday the 6th July the first person advising me to change out my router's and if my line speed did not increase then I would need a engineer to visit. This I did which has caused my line speed to fall from 1.5 to 1.2 that it is now running at. I then spoke with a different advisor in the afternoon after complying with what the first advisor had requested who completely refused to run any test's or to try and resolve this issue for me
In short at the moment I have more than complied with all of Freeola staffs requests but I am still getting no co-operation in return this constitutes a very poor levell of customer service and the fact's as pointed out above speak for themselves. I have now been trying to resolve this matter for 6 days and it no futher along then when it was first raised this is not good customer service.
1/ I have already followed all the advice given in the open support ticket.
2/ despite explaining a number of times now that my Telephone line does not have a test socket behind the faceplate and that the wires are wired directly to the faceplate this was done by the original bt engineer who installed the line but he did not use a proper master socket. This has been explained to the Freeola customer support staff more than one time now.
3/ I have already replaced the Router DSL cable and filter with brand new ones in the last few days myself at my own expense for testing purposes again this has also been explained numerous times
4/ There are no open BT fault reports on my line as I got BT to clear them all and I got them to test the line twice this morning that is Friday July the 6th and they both came back clear.
5/ I spoke with a Freeola representatives a number of times today which again Friday the 6th July the first person advising me to change out my router's and if my line speed did not increase then I would need a engineer to visit. This I did which has caused my line speed to fall from 1.5 to 1.2 that it is now running at. I then spoke with a different advisor in the afternoon after complying with what the first advisor had requested who completely refused to run any test's or to try and resolve this issue for me
In short at the moment I have more than complied with all of Freeola staffs requests but I am still getting no co-operation in return this constitutes a very poor levell of customer service and the fact's as pointed out above speak for themselves. I have now been trying to resolve this matter for 6 days and it no futher along then when it was first raised this is not good customer service.
Dpontin1 wrote:
... I would advise anyone reading this forum to consider using this companys services.
Hi Dpontin1 and welcome to the forums ...
Eccles and Hmmm are only advising you of the difficulty of solving your broadband problem - which has more than often in the past been found to be at the user's home!
Patience in these situations is perhaps not, understandably, good advice but unfortunately it is the case.
Information, like Hmmm suggests would be of great use and has been in the past when such problems have occured with other users.
But I must add that I am delighted that you can still find it within your heart to recommend Freeola to others despite your present predicament ;¬)
... I would advise anyone reading this forum to consider using this companys services.
Hi Dpontin1 and welcome to the forums ...
Eccles and Hmmm are only advising you of the difficulty of solving your broadband problem - which has more than often in the past been found to be at the user's home!
Patience in these situations is perhaps not, understandably, good advice but unfortunately it is the case.
Information, like Hmmm suggests would be of great use and has been in the past when such problems have occured with other users.
But I must add that I am delighted that you can still find it within your heart to recommend Freeola to others despite your present predicament ;¬)
Sorry to hear you are having problems with our broadband service and have found the responses from our support department unsatisfactory.
I can see that you have 3 support tickets created with us recently (since 01/07/2012) and the latest one shows that we have already done full line tests and been investigating the fault. It also suggests that you have a fault open with you line provider, so no more line tests can be run until that fault has been cleared on BT's systems.
Unfortunately due to the nature of ADSL broadband, determining what is causing a fault can take some time and several tests need to be run from both ends of the connection (ISP side and customer premises side) over a period of time. As the latest ticket hasn't closed yet I would advise you to follow advice in that response.
I understand that this fault resolution process can be frustrating for customers but we cannot ask BT to send an engineer to you unless you have followed all fault finding steps that have been outlined by Support. If the fault was a result of anything within your premises (not on the line side of the BT test socket) then you would incur the standard BT charge of £165 or so, which I am sure most people would not be too happy about!
I can see that you have 3 support tickets created with us recently (since 01/07/2012) and the latest one shows that we have already done full line tests and been investigating the fault. It also suggests that you have a fault open with you line provider, so no more line tests can be run until that fault has been cleared on BT's systems.
Unfortunately due to the nature of ADSL broadband, determining what is causing a fault can take some time and several tests need to be run from both ends of the connection (ISP side and customer premises side) over a period of time. As the latest ticket hasn't closed yet I would advise you to follow advice in that response.
I understand that this fault resolution process can be frustrating for customers but we cannot ask BT to send an engineer to you unless you have followed all fault finding steps that have been outlined by Support. If the fault was a result of anything within your premises (not on the line side of the BT test socket) then you would incur the standard BT charge of £165 or so, which I am sure most people would not be too happy about!
Hi and welcome to the forums!
I hope you find this reply as your post was moved from the Chat to Technical forum while I was writing :¬)
I'm also a long term Freeola customer - obviously I can't comment on the Customer Service you've received, but can say that getting a broadband fault sorted is well known to often be hard work whoever your ISP is! :¬(
BT Wholesale/Openreach unfortunately are still responsible for the condition and performance of your phone line - this is the same whoever your ISP is.
Unfortunately broadband isn't like many services which are either working or not - 'ADSL' can almost be like black magic!
I've tried to explain here how normal broadband works. If you are able to grasp some of these points it could help you to improve your situation.
Don't give up on Freeola as in my experience (10+ years) they will be able to sort things out for you eventually :¬)
If you are able to post some 'line stats' then it might help to say what's happened.
I hope you find this reply as your post was moved from the Chat to Technical forum while I was writing :¬)
I'm also a long term Freeola customer - obviously I can't comment on the Customer Service you've received, but can say that getting a broadband fault sorted is well known to often be hard work whoever your ISP is! :¬(
BT Wholesale/Openreach unfortunately are still responsible for the condition and performance of your phone line - this is the same whoever your ISP is.
Unfortunately broadband isn't like many services which are either working or not - 'ADSL' can almost be like black magic!
I've tried to explain here how normal broadband works. If you are able to grasp some of these points it could help you to improve your situation.
Don't give up on Freeola as in my experience (10+ years) they will be able to sort things out for you eventually :¬)
If you are able to post some 'line stats' then it might help to say what's happened.
[s]Hmmm...[/s] Page: