Wanadoo alledge "Ofcom put cease order on your ADSL line"

I have a customer who's ADSL is no longer working. After many cycles thru
tech support at Wanadoo and BT, etc. it turns out that the ADSL equipment
has been removed from the exchange. One of the reasons given by Wanadoo,
was that Ofcom put a cease order on the ADSL line. Ofcom have told the
custer that this is not something they have the power to do.

BT can see exactly what the problem is but are not allowed to talk to the
ADSL customer. They have to tell Wanadoo what to tell the customer and then
the customer tells me (Wanadoo won't talk to anyone but the account holder).

The customer is now being told that it will take 5 days to reinstate the
service because the equipment has been removed from the exchange and it is
not a simple case of installing a box to bring back the service.

Does anyone have any comments on how much bull is being dispensed here?

Wanadoo and/or BT asked the customer if they recognised a particular 0208
905 xxxx number (which they don't), but wouln't elaborate on that. The
customer is not likely to have exceeded any bandwidth limit, they do not run
a server on their line (except the occasional remote desktop sharing). The
only thing I can think of is that there is a networked fax machine connected
to the line brining in the broadband - but no one uses it - they prefer the
olde world one on another line. BTW, when the number above is called, the
customer reported that it "just beeps". I just rang it and it went into BT
answer phone service (the residential type).

Why does it take 5 days to refit ADSL equipment to a line that is known to
be good for 2 Mbit ADSL? Surely, it doesn't take 40 hours to fit the
equipment, etc. otherwise connection fees would run into the thousands, and
it would take 20 million man weeks to provide ADSL to the whole of the UK.

BT are banding about the term, "Rebuild" for anyone that knows the internal
lingo.

The bottom line is that the customer is loosing money every day they have no
web access (e-mailed orders, on-line CRM system, etc.). What is the most
rapid way to get the ADSL back again?

Thanks.

Joe Butler wrote:

> The bottom line is that the customer is loosing money every day they have no
> web access (e-mailed orders, on-line CRM system, etc.). What is the most
> rapid way to get the ADSL back again?

The customer must take up this issue with its ISP directly i.e. the
company being paid for Broadband provision.

The loss of money needs to be quantified - before attempting a claim.
In any event the conditions of the service will help identify the
complaint procedure and any automatic compensation due.

Colin Forrester wrote:

> The loss of money needs to be quantified - before attempting a claim.
> In any event the conditions of the service will help identify the
> complaint procedure and any automatic compensation due.

I am amazed if he had the gall to claim!

If, as suggested, internet connection is a mission critical requirement
for this customer then having such an single point of failure is
unforgiveable.

To elaborate - the chosen ISP is not a bad one, but not the finest. It
is large, operates at the budget end of the business and unsurprisingly
cannot offer a personal highly qualified support in an emergency. So
should we be surprised over this unusual problem?

The first mistake was not electing to use a business orientated ISP
that has a reputation for providing personal and highly experienced
support.

Secondly to choose an ISP that doesn't provide a backup service. (Zen,
my ISP does that as standard).

Thirdly - even I (a one man business) don't rely on Zen. There is a
backup from the office using a different ISP. And there is a backup of
yet another ISP from another location.

So I think I am invulnerable from ISP failure, BT exchange failure,
flooding, hurricanes and more. The cost - probably a fiver a month more
than this guy and an investment of less than a pony. I'm the remaining
single point of failure. I can't get round that

I do get fed up of people who blame - and sue - others for their own
incompetence. Makes me (almost) feel sorry for Wanadoo!

Stuart

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> Colin Forrester wrote:
>
>> The loss of money needs to be quantified - before attempting a claim.
>> In any event the conditions of the service will help identify the
>> complaint procedure and any automatic compensation due.
>
> I am amazed if he had the gall to claim!

And he will find that the ISP will limit it liability to something like
the equivalent of 1-years subscription.

Thanks for the two opinions so far received. The customer (not me) is not
looking for compensation - I don't think that has crossed their minds. What
they want is some answers and for the service to be reinstated ASAP.
Wanadoo have already pointed out that the account is not to be used for
'business purposes' (the customer asked how it could be that their logon
name was "example.fsbusiness.co.uk" - Wanadoo repeated the same sentence
again).

As an update, I've just received a call from the new owner of the telephone
number implicated in this affair (I left a voice message earlier). The
number belongs to someone some 10 miles distant from the customer on a
different exchange number in North London (my customer is in South London).
This person has been trying to get ADSL enabled on his line for 4 weeks - he
has been told that the line was being held by another account and therefore
he could not order ADSL for that line. Now, 3 days ago (coincident with my
customer loosing their conectivity), this guy's ADSL went live....

Is this a coincidence?

Regards,


"Joe Butler" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:442d08a4$0$23297$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a customer who's ADSL is no longer working. After many cycles thru
>tech support at Wanadoo and BT, etc. it turns out that the ADSL equipment
>has been removed from the exchange. One of the reasons given by Wanadoo,
>was that Ofcom put a cease order on the ADSL line. Ofcom have told the
>custer that this is not something they have the power to do.
>
> BT can see exactly what the problem is but are not allowed to talk to the
> ADSL customer. They have to tell Wanadoo what to tell the customer and
> then the customer tells me (Wanadoo won't talk to anyone but the account
> holder).
>
> The customer is now being told that it will take 5 days to reinstate the
> service because the equipment has been removed from the exchange and it is
> not a simple case of installing a box to bring back the service.
>
> Does anyone have any comments on how much bull is being dispensed here?
>
> Wanadoo and/or BT asked the customer if they recognised a particular 0208
> 905 xxxx number (which they don't), but wouln't elaborate on that. The
> customer is not likely to have exceeded any bandwidth limit, they do not
> run a server on their line (except the occasional remote desktop sharing).
> The only thing I can think of is that there is a networked fax machine
> connected to the line brining in the broadband - but no one uses it - they
> prefer the olde world one on another line. BTW, when the number above is
> called, the customer reported that it "just beeps". I just rang it and it
> went into BT answer phone service (the residential type).
>
> Why does it take 5 days to refit ADSL equipment to a line that is known to
> be good for 2 Mbit ADSL? Surely, it doesn't take 40 hours to fit the
> equipment, etc. otherwise connection fees would run into the thousands,
> and it would take 20 million man weeks to provide ADSL to the whole of the
> UK.
>
> BT are banding about the term, "Rebuild" for anyone that knows the
> internal lingo.
>
> The bottom line is that the customer is loosing money every day they have
> no web access (e-mailed orders, on-line CRM system, etc.). What is the
> most rapid way to get the ADSL back again?
>
> Thanks.
>
>

Joe Butler wrote:

> As an update, I've just received a call from the new owner of the telephone
> number implicated in this affair (I left a voice message earlier). The
> number belongs to someone some 10 miles distant from the customer on a
> different exchange number in North London (my customer is in South London).
> This person has been trying to get ADSL enabled on his line for 4 weeks - he
> has been told that the line was being held by another account and therefore
> he could not order ADSL for that line. Now, 3 days ago (coincident with my
> customer loosing their conectivity), this guy's ADSL went live....
>
> Is this a coincidence?

This could to have been a migration that went wrong somehow on the North
London line and the South London number was used in error.

You could contact Ofcom with details of this if you can demonstrate the
error - they may not be able to accelerate the fix but it might be of
use to them to know this happened.

If you client if concerned about loss of business they ought to consider
ordering another Broadband service on another of their lines today.
This would probably mean it was live by the middle of next week.

In message <442d2518$0$23278$(E-Mail Removed)>, Joe Butler
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
>Thanks for the two opinions so far received. The customer (not me) is not
>looking for compensation - I don't think that has crossed their minds. What
>they want is some answers and for the service to be reinstated ASAP.
>Wanadoo have already pointed out that the account is not to be used for
>'business purposes' (the customer asked how it could be that their logon
>name was "example.fsbusiness.co.uk" - Wanadoo repeated the same sentence
>again).
>

Section 3.8 in Wanadoo's terms and conditions (acceptable use policy)
say that if an account is used for business or commercial purposes that
they provide the service without any guarantee etc.
--
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

"Colin Forrester" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Joe Butler wrote:
>
> > The bottom line is that the customer is loosing money every day they
have no
> > web access (e-mailed orders, on-line CRM system, etc.). What is the
most
> > rapid way to get the ADSL back again?
>

As he is using ot for business he is in breach of the Wanadoo T&C which
say:-

"You acknowledge and agree that the Services are intended for residential
use only. You will ensure that anyone you permit to use the Services is
aware that the Services are intended for residential use only. Neither you
nor anyone you permit to use the Services will do so for business purposes"

These are from the current "capped" T&C. The uncapped version was similar

> The customer must take up this issue with its ISP directly i.e. the
> company being paid for Broadband provision.
>
> The loss of money needs to be quantified - before attempting a claim.
> In any event the conditions of the service will help identify the
> complaint procedure and any automatic compensation due.