Telecom breaking contracts?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Telecom breaking contracts?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

3946 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#349915 11-Jul-2010 12:35

A little earlier I started to write a lengthy response to this, then got a little frustrated at the amount of ground I'd have to cover so I walked away. I'm back at it now and with a slightly different approach...

Do you really think (even for the slightest fraction of a second) that a corporate as large (in New Zealand terms) as Telecom, which has had so many wrangles over the few decades, would not have themselves an array of well paid, experienced lawyers carefully picking through their contracts before putting them into the public domain?

GBristow - you are wrong. Terms and conditions (T&C's) *are* the contract. If you take them out all you're left with is a blank piece of paper. Although, rather ironically, a blank piece of paper is what most people may as well sign given the scant attention they pay the T&C's.

It is not illegal to break a contract. The breaking of a contract is a civil matter.

cafeg

697 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#349948 11-Jul-2010 16:18

qraider: It seems as though they can't win either way ...

People complain that the Big Time plan is broken, slow speeds, etc, etc, etc,
People complain when Telecom removes the plan because it's broken ...

Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

To be honest with you, I had no complaints or issues with big time. If I wanted to download anything I did it in the early hours, Which is what they told you to do anyway quite plainly everywhere - inbetween 2am and 9am was fullspeed, all web browsing and video chatting on skype or whatever was fine for me during peak.

I think most of the complaints from what I read on here were people trying to use it as a Fullspeed 24 hr plan and expected to be able to download during peak times at full speed,
When in actual fact it wasn't as telecom quite clearly stated all along that it was shaped and you couldn't do anything like that..
Then there was the issue of people bypassing the shaping which I have only one thing to say about that.

As usual a small few spoil it for the rest of us, SIGH.. What did you do with all that data guys ? I hope you weren't just downloading for the sake of it then deleting it ? Don't tell me you had a room full of Terrabyte Hard Drives ?

If the terabyte downloaders couldn't download during peak legally, why didn't they just move somewhere else the perhaps Big time would still be here now for us that used it as it should have been used !
All the terrabyte downloaders have to move anyway now that they have spoiled it for the rest of us who were quite happy with what we had !! Thanks for that ars@#$%^les !

So I ask you - who actually broke the contract,
the Terrabyte downloaders bypassing the shaping or Telecom ??

kaljames79

64 posts

Master Geek

#349958 11-Jul-2010 17:07

The people who were downloading up to a TB+ were obviously not downloading anything legally; there is no need to use 1tb of bandwidth; what were they trying to do? download the entire internet? LOL.. thats if there were people actually using that much data and not just Telecom using that as an excuse.

Telecom could have easily have had a fair usage policy built into the contracts like most 'unlimited' plans and then warned people using excessive data aka 1tb users and terminating individual contracts if they refuse to stop downloading excessive amounts instead of cancelling EVERY-BODIES contracts.

40 Gigabytes per month is a joke guys; by the time you use youtube, download all the good tv shows that are not shown in NZ or shows that NZ is months behind on then you are well above 40gigs and then there is TVNZ on-demand if you want to go that route.

cafeg

697 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#349962 11-Jul-2010 17:21

or they could quite easily give us double data like they are giving all new users,
that would make pro 80 gig and would ease the transition from unlimited to capped plans without losing to many customers..
After all what harm is is it going to do them, they'll get extra $$ from the $2 a gig from extras over the data allowance..
If we all ring them and ask for it they may change their mind ?

kaljames79

64 posts

Master Geek

#349963 11-Jul-2010 17:26

Naah they wont change their minds, in their eyes they are the internet gods of New Zealand and their word is law; they don't care about the little people like you and I.

80 gig is better then 40 gig but its still restricted; Im with Xnet and my average is 70-100 gig, I dont think I have gone over 100gig in a month but that is only because it costs so damned much and I am using it for legal purposes.
If I had a cap of 120 I would feel far better and less restricted and could use the internet freely IE streaming legal movies and tv shows; streaming adless radio; video conferencing ect ect.

Kelem

188 posts

Master Geek

#349970 11-Jul-2010 17:50

I have got the lot with telecom / xtra all come on one big fat bill has done for as long as i can remeber.
Got the hump the last ime they did this , Just took it - got on with it.
But now im pissed - they are toast what a bull$hit excuse.

Changing ISP and Tel provider as soo as i find a better one - Any recomendations?
Tele, tolls, cells x 4, and broadband.

oh yeah is there anyway i can keep my @xtra without paying them a small fortune

Cheers

kaljames79

64 posts

Master Geek

#349973 11-Jul-2010 17:55

Not sure about your @xtra email but Xnet is pretty good as an ISP or Slingshot :-)

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

quickymart

13963 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#349986 11-Jul-2010 18:22

kaljames79: The people who were downloading up to a TB+ were obviously not downloading anything legally; there is no need to use 1tb of bandwidth; what were they trying to do? download the entire internet? LOL.. thats if there were people actually using that much data and not just Telecom using that as an excuse.

That's not an excuse, I understand there were people doing around 1TB per month. Ridiculous really.

The current price to keep your @xtra address is $10 per month.

kaljames79

64 posts

Master Geek

#349991 11-Jul-2010 18:29

@quickymart thanks for clearing that up :-) shame on them

Kelem

188 posts

Master Geek

#349992 11-Jul-2010 18:29

quickymart:
kaljames79: The people who were downloading up to a TB+ were obviously not downloading anything legally; there is no need to use 1tb of bandwidth; what were they trying to do? download the entire internet? LOL.. thats if there were people actually using that much data and not just Telecom using that as an excuse.

That's not an excuse, I understand there were people doing around 1TB per month. Ridiculous really.

The current price to keep your @xtra address is $10 per month.

Cheers for that.
Whatever they were downloading is their business, way i see it

sadamhu

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#349998 11-Jul-2010 18:59

THEY GAVE US UNLIMITED INTERNET!!

"OH NO THEY ARE TAKING AN INFINITE AMOUNT OF DATA!!!!"

"Lets Shape it"

"Lets change the plan name, slow it down a bit more and charge more"

"Lets stop all together and pull the plug"

If you give people unlimited internet and also shape it, is it really unlimited, NOOOOOOO?

Can you as an ISP provide unlimited internet and then say "Hey your taking too much?" what a paradox.

Its ridiculous and a lame excuse BUT because its written in their contract and you sign it then it makes it ok.

They arent even handing out competitive packages! whats the point in being with them?

Don't they still own the copper loop? Isn't that considered a Monopoly? I can't remember, but if it is shouldn't that business be sentanced to death? LOL! YEAH I SAID DEATH! TAKE IT LITERALLY TOO!

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#350000 11-Jul-2010 19:06

kaljames79: Naah they wont change their minds, in their eyes they are the internet gods of New Zealand and their word is law; they don't care about the little people like you and I.

I believe that's an exceptionally narrow minded view. Telecom are not the only ISP in town. There are a vast number of ISP's to chose from, many of whom don't even use any Telecom infrastructure and those who only rely on Chorus for the copper cable bwteeen your house and the exchange.

Telecom have under 50% of the market share. If you don't like them why not move to another provider?

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#350001 11-Jul-2010 19:08

sadamhu:
Don't they still own the copper loop? Isn't that considered a Monopoly? I can't remember, but if it is shouldn't that business be sentanced to death? LOL! YEAH I SAID DEATH! TAKE IT LITERALLY TOO!

Telecom (through Chorus) might own the copper loop but Telecom Retail have to pay the same costs as any other ISP or telco do to use that piece of copper between your house and the cabinet or exchange - at a rate that is set by the Commerce Commission. I don't see that as being a monopoly in any way.

kaljames79

64 posts

Master Geek

#350005 11-Jul-2010 19:31

It is not a narrow minded view; okay so there is Telecom and Vodafone as the 2 main contenders; I'm not gonna count Telstra because they are not available in most places that the other 2 are.
Other ISP's buy bandwidth from those 2 contenders hence monopoly; and unless telecom and Vodafone lower the price of wholesale international bandwidth we are always going to have crap prices.

New Zealand has one of the worst value for money broadband in the developed world and until telecom and Vodafone gets with the program we will always be struggling as a technological country.

Telecom had unlimited broadband for awhile sure it was shaped but thats to be expected because it is telecom and then they go ahead and cann the plan because people were downloading 1TB+ per month.
Solution bring in plans with the same price tag that the unlimited plan had but with a cap of 250GIG per month.

If telecom made a plan like that I would jump straight on it; I haven't been with telecom for years but I would jump on a plan like that and I know tons of other people would too if the speeds were good enough.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#350010 11-Jul-2010 19:39

kaljames79: It is not a narrow minded view; okay so there is Telecom and Vodafone as the 2 main contenders; I'm not gonna count Telstra because they are not available in most places that the other 2 are.

You're obviously completely unaware then that TelstraClear's have NZ's largest unbundled network? It covers significantly more exchanges than Vodafone.

Other ISP's buy bandwidth from those 2 contenders hence monopoly; and unless telecom and Vodafone lower the price of wholesale international bandwidth we are always going to have crap prices.

That's not entrirely true. Most providers buy backhaul to the USA that ultimately gets carried over the SX cable that is owned by Telecom but in New Zealand there are a number of providers who provide ISP backhaul and interconnects including FX Networks, Kordia and TelstraClear.

New Zealand has one of the worst value for money broadband in the developed world and until telecom and Vodafone gets with the program we will always be struggling as a technological country.

That's entirely a personal opinion but I'm not quite sure what Vodafone has to do with this.

Telecom had unlimited broadband for awhile sure it was shaped but thats to be expected because it is telecom and then they go ahead and cann the plan because people were downloading 1TB+ per month.
Solution bring in plans with the same price tag that the unlimited plan had but with a cap of 250GIG per month.

If telecom made a plan like that I would jump straight on it; I haven't been with telecom for years but I would jump on a plan like that and I know tons of other people would too if the speeds were good enough.

I'd love the price of beer to be cheaper also. I don't think it's fair the way it is. If you want a 250GB plan there is nothing stopping you from getting it. Just don't expect to pay $79 for it because that is a totally unsustainable price.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7