B/Band 12 month contract

[joe2812]

I'm with AOL and not happy with the service (slow download rate, pages not opening etc), after 3 hours (yes 3 hours), of holding, being passed from Cust. Services, to Broadband Customer Services, to Tech Support, to Billing, back to Customer Services..... etc..... I have been told I cannot cancel my subscription as they're holding me to my minimum 12 month thing.

How on earth can they do this when i'm get a pooy service????

Not happy... :mad:

[SoftTop]

Have a look here (http://www.bt.com/broadband) and follow the link to "Getting Broadband" then "Find a Supplier" then click on the "Full Listing" tab.

That will give you the current list of UK suppliers. You then have the unenviable task of comparing the offerings.

I found a supplier that I consider to be very reliable and responsive that way. Been with them for almost two years now since transferring from the mighty AOL. Much less stressful :ok:

ST

[BOAC]

joe -´'tis true - they will offer you all sorts of 'reasons' why you are having problems - BT line, computer distance from master socket, your machine, firewall etc etc. I had the same, but have limped through to the 12 months and am moving to 14.99 a month, 1 month contract and unlimited.

If you REALLY feel they have 'broken' their part of the contract, have you put it in writing? That often helps your case. I´m sure some legal wizz will help you here, but words like "failure to provide a service as advertised" and "product not of merchandisable quality" often help. Your contract (read the small print!) MAY require you to pay for the modem or return it.

[Memetic]

First read you contract, see what level of service they guarentee.

Don't forget most home ADSL is at 50:1 contention so you are only paying for 512kbps/50 users which equates to about 10kbps.

Do you have, or can you compile, a record of when you have contacted them to complain about the service? (If not do so, collect ping stats screen grabs of speed tests, times of failure s that you can prove are thiers not the site that you are visiting.)

If so and they have had say a month to improve the sertvice since your first couple of complaints I would write to them, say you are terminating the contract with XX days notice for non performance on thier part, documenting the faults and when you reported them and send it recorded delivery. Cancel you payment after XX days.

Worst case as far as I can see they persue you for the 12 months fee so you give in and go back on the contract. Best case they accept the termination.

Although Ao'hell do do some strange things with images and proxy servers etc. If it is just the ADSL speed that is the problem as I understand the ADSL system (ready to be corrected!) you may not get a faster connection through the same exchange.

[Evo]

I'd take a look at adslguide.org.uk - there's bound to be some advice on dealing with AOL and escaping contracts because of poor performance on there.

[SoftTop]

Just a thought - contention ratios ....

are they independent of ISP or does the local exchange have equipment segregated by ISP? If it's the latter, it might pay to have a less well known/used ISP if speed's important.

Any BT folks on here?

ST

[Maxflyer]

joe2812


I use AOL and must admit that I don't have any issues, I use the 2Mb broadband. I do understand how annoying their customer service can be though. I suggest you go online and use their live help facility. This will allow you to copy all of their responses to your comments and therefore you will have a more complete record of their brush offs. I don't know if it will help, but it may be something you can use against them. You'll have to ask a legal bod about this.

Good luck

MF

[joe2812]

Thanks for the replies all, most informative!

On going....perhaps leave the odd update for you to snigger at.

Joe