Internet nightmare- Zen.

octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
I need to let off some steam before I frankly explode with frustration.
I am currently squatting in a field trying to get an internet connection because it is the closest place to my house I can get a phone data reception.

2 weeks ago I gave Zen Internet a month's notice to end our internet connection as we are moving.
They started to send me notifications that the connection would end on the 18th of June and not the 28th I requested.

Many emails phone calls to them later I was assured that the internet connection would end on the 28th and not on the 18th.

This morning, of course, I have no internet.
We live in rural Oxfordshire and have no phone signal that we can use for data without going down the street to get it.

It is a total pain in the cock.
I need to sign documents for our work visas in Singapore and generally run the relocation from here at home without an internet connection.
To do this I have to walk (or drive 500m) to get a phone signal, then come home and transfer that to the computer to print things out.
Then I need to scan them back into the computer, transfer to the phone and then drive (or walk) 500m back to send the documents.
Then 10 minutes later I have to go back down to get a reception to check if anything else has been sent.

You would think Zen would be able to do something about it?
Nope.
I've had many apologies from people but there is basically nothing that can be done about it and commissioning a new connection for a few days won't be possible either.
Last time it took us 2 weeks to get Openreach to commission the line.

If I wasn't packing up the house I'd just go to a hotel but I can't do that because we are doing up the house and I have 3 teams of workmen to co-oridinate and a lot of packing to get on with.
It is a pity because up until this point Zen were actually pretty good and I couldn't speak highly enough of them.
This escapade though I have to say they are no better than any other provider.
It doesn't seem to be worth their bother to get anything sorted.

I asked to speak to a manager.
Their response was ' a manager can call you back in 24-48 hours'.
What a delightfully useless response that basically sums up my last 6 hours.

At least it is pretty:


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Comments

  • zen - adjective. "relaxed and not worrying about things that you cannot change." ;)
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    zen - adjective. "relaxed and not worrying about things that you cannot change." ;)
    Yes, the irony of the situation vs the name is not lost on us.


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  • ThorpyFXThorpyFX Frets: 6090
    tFB Trader
    have any of your neighbours got BT? if so you can pay to log onto their wifi using BT WIFI with FON. might get you through till 2 weeks time?
    Adrian Thorpe MBE | Owner of ThorpyFx Ltd | Email: thorpy@thorpyfx.com | Twitter: @ThorpyFx | Facebook: ThorpyFx Ltd | Website: www.thorpyfx.com
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    ThorpyFX said:
    have any of your neighbours got BT? if so you can pay to log onto their wifi using BT WIFI with FON. might get you through till 2 weeks time?
    Unfortunately not.

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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    Rent a 4G router with an antenna to boost reception. A guy in my business networking group does this very cheaply. You can rent one day, one week or one month.

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    edited June 2018
    Well it looks like emailing the CEO has yielded some sort of result.
    They can't or won't get the landline or broadband back on- that will take longer than we have left in the country.
     
    They are sending me a wifi hotspot (with an ethernet connection) for the next 2 weeks.
    This would be brilliant if we could get a reception but it is at least on a different network to the one I use so perhaps it might.
    Hopefully I can run cat 6 from it to the LAN and see if we get anything useable.

    Zen have be a complete disaster in terms of communication though- a lot of 'sorry but we can't...' from them, which does me no favours at all.
    One of the cheeky buggers even had the gall to say 'well if you wanted guaranteed uptime then you should have had a business account'.

    They need to advise customers that giving more than 10 working days notice will just mean you end up getting cut off 10 days after you give notice- you effectively cannot give a month's notice, you have to give 10 working days.
    This is not posted anywhere on their website, nor do their staff actually understand the issue.

    Don't seem logical that they can cut you off early but putting you back on it 'technically unfeasible'.
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  • boogiemanboogieman Frets: 12314
    I’d be amazed if “cutting you off” involved anything more than disconnecting a couple of jumper wires in the local exchange. Reconnecting should be a matter of minutes work but actually getting this done is a different kettle of fish; Zen have to raise a job, which gets passed on to Openreach (eventually). I suspect they just can’t be arsed to do it for a matter of days service. 
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    boogieman said:
    I’d be amazed if “cutting you off” involved anything more than disconnecting a couple of jumper wires in the local exchange. Reconnecting should be a matter of minutes work but actually getting this done is a different kettle of fish; Zen have to raise a job, which gets passed on to Openreach (eventually). I suspect they just can’t be arsed to do it for a matter of days service. 
    I think the issue is the time it takes Openreach to commission a new line, which will be 10 working days.
    By then we will have gone.

    I've been continuing to escalate so I'm now getting the hotspot and 3 months of service refund, which is about £165.
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Just had a personal response from the CEO (or someone with access to his mailbox).
    Stay tuned.
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    edited June 2018
    A very kind neighbour has allowed us to run an ethernet cable between our two houses, which I have on a wifi booster/bridge thing (which I was about to throw out), so I am back online to a degree.

    I have to say that I am looking forward too Singapore's 2 gigabit internet.
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  • rsvmarkrsvmark Frets: 1373
    And before you go, I hope you have a great time there. Is there an end date to the trip or is it an open return ticket?
    An official Foo liked guitarist since 2024
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    edited June 2018
    rsvmark said:
    And before you go, I hope you have a great time there. Is there an end date to the trip or is it an open return ticket?
    Thanks Mark.

    We will be in Singapore at least 3 years.
    It is likely we will be out of the UK for at least 5.
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  • fandangofandango Frets: 2204
    Take care @Octatonic. Happy memories of your drumming at the jam at Quad in Leicester last year. Look after yourself, but let’s make sure that whilst you’re gone, you’re not forgotten. I hope tFB has enough going for it that you won’t drop out.
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  • Although a pain in the arse... And I totally empathise... It doesn't look like a terrible 500m walk from that photo! 
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