Telephone and Broadband provision

[steve]

My sympathies. Their customer service is appalling and in my experience their idea of dealing with customer complaints is either to ignore them or keep repeating requests for basic information before they can progress the query. I have never obtained anything like the speed they claim either. I paid for 12Mbs for a long time before they acknowledged that my line would not support more than 8Mbs. They graciously reduced my line rental charge to that for 8Mbs but totally failed to respond to my repeated requests for a refund of the months of overcharge. I now pay for 8Mbs. I have never obtained more than about 3.6Mbs but because my line is said to support 8Mbs they will only reduce my contract to 4Mbs if I pay 30 euros.

If there were a realistic alternative through the phone line I would be off like a shot.

[shanagarry]

They are due here at 11.30am on Monday - watch this space

[shanagarry]

Well 11.30am came and went - nothing.

2.30pm - Call from a person at PT - spoke no English and I do not have enough Portuguese to have a telecommunication conversation - call terminated.

2.54pm - Call from my lawyer's office looking for update - told her about 2.30 call

3.38pm - Call from PT Complaint's Department asking about the previous services supplied to me at our previous address.

4.06pm - Call from another person in the PT Complaint's Dept asking me for the phone line number for me ADSL connection. She told me I would have a technician making contact in the morning

And another day draws to a close - I'm €40 poorer as I have had to top up my dongle - again.

[shanagarry]

Just had a call at 13.28 from PT informing me:

- That a technician will attend tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday) between 2 and 6 to install my broadband
- To have multiple extensions for my telephone I must pay a 'tax' of 37cents per socket

They have given me a number to call if I have not heard by 5.00pm of 707203030

Could this be progress

[shanagarry]

Steve

Are you saying that World Telecom is not a realistic alternative?

[steve]

I used to be with World Telecom (I think!- there were two outfits with similar names and it may have been Worldbrokers) but switched to AR telecom for my line and used SAPO for broadband provision. I am not aware of what World telecom now offer but when they last approached me the big hook was VOIP calls which I was getting much cheaper via VoipStunt on my PC.

I will be interested to see what the new parallel thread produces by way of info on Word Telecom. Due to change in domestic circumstances I am in the process of changing my phone line and broadband provision from my wife´s name to mine and moving the line back to PT since they are now cheaper than AR who have confirmed that despite initial expectations they have no plans for a broadband service. I have not yet signed a new contract so I could move but I am anxious not to interrupt my broadband supply. I would be lost without the internet.

[shanagarry]

If its any consolation - BT in the UK are not a lot better. The other great pretenders (Virgin, Sky etc) are nothing to write home about either.

Once I get this sorted I will be reluctant to 'rock-the-boat' unless a genuine and reliable service provider emerges (if such a beast exists)

[steve]

Which is why most people stick with Sapo and why Sapo really don't have to try too hard on the customer service front.

[pointersister]

You are having a tough time! Maybe stick to the dongle!!

[shanagarry]

Its Sunday 11th July and still operating on my dongle.

No sign o or contact from anybody from PT since last week so yesterday we went and got my wife an Optimus pay-as-you-go mobile (I have had one for some time) at Algarve Shopping.

While there I saw that they (Optimus) have a system that requires me to buy a special router/modem and a dongle for a combined €119.80 and for a monthly €29.90 I can have unlimited broadband and phone each month. In addition if I have not used my money's worth, it carries forward.I have to buy a phone(s) but as there is no need for wiring etc - this appears to be a 'good' solution. The pessimist in me thinks this is too good to be true

Has anybody else tried this

[James Faro]

This Optiumus package - is the connection okay? Are there any interruptions in the service?

What you are enduring with the other supplier is reminiscent of the old nationalized GPO in the 1970s. Really bad delays.

Thanks - J

[shanagarry]

It's Tuesday morning ((13th July) and I have spent 2 hours on the phone trying to get some indication of the current position - I am no further forward. I spoke to 4 different departments and had to retell the 'tale of woe' to each. The only satisfaction I am getting is that the people I am speaking to are equally confused.

While I am not sure, I think the problem (in part) originates from my account being in the name of the offshore company that owned our previous property and the contact name being our management company - coupled with there being no apparent record of this address. The offshore company was sold and all the legal shenanigans involved were completed last month - there is still a gap. Given that a technician did 4 hours work here last Thursday, I would have thought that would have been recorded - it appears not.

I have been promised a call back in 2-3 hours and if nothing comes of that - I am off to the Optimus shop in Algarve Shopping this afternoon.

[EMM]

Reading all of this makes us realise that we made the right decision in NOT using PTT. It was not their service ( or obvious lack of it ) but the pole they wanted to erect on our plot.
We are definetly going to stay with Cabo, may not be as fast as we would like but at least it is reliable and all the connections were done in a day.

Hope it not too busy at Algarve shopping we had to wait almost an hour for our ticket no to come up at the vodaphone shop.

[shanagarry]

I went to Algarve Shopping yesterday with the intention of going direct to Optimus but as I walked past the PT Shop decided to go in and try a different approach. That was an education - but a complete waste of time.

Despite giving my details to 4 different operators over the telephone over two days - their system still had the line/number registered to the offshore company. After handing over my Passport and NIF number - the system was updated - all this took 45 minutes.

Feeling I was making progress I asked if my broadband would be installed any minute now. No such luck - apparently there is a cable fault in our area (Mato Serrao) and they have no idea when it will be repaired. I went across to Optimus and bought a Router Huawei D100 Modem (Size:12 x 9) and a Kanguru Pen USB E169 for €99.90 + €29.90 per month (for unlimited internet access) for a year - came home and installed it and it works a treat. However, I have a Sonos system which needs a wired connection so I need to find a solution for that. As my greatest priority is to have the ability to communicate with the UK and USA - I have got that sorted - finally.

Now for the Sonos - that's another obstacle to overcome - any ideas?

[widge]

and the contact name being our management company

If you have a "management company" why get involved ????

Surely that's what you pay them for ..................or are they useless????