So we just moved into a new place in Kapiti. As far as I can tell, there's no demarc point on the outside of the house for copper. No Telecom/Chorus box anywhere, just a Saturn covered box (although it's not covered, it's falling off and full of spiders).

We're in a UFB area, so obviously I wanted to get UFB installed, and found out that the only RSP in the area was Spark (MyRepublic came along later, but for a variety of reasons we stuck with Spark). Knowing these UFB installs can take a while, we started the process before we moved in and when we got here, I had a look around the outside of the house to check if there were any obvious demarc points on the front of the house. I can't find any, just the cabling at the end of the shared driveway. Of course, that's not going to be a huge problem for fibre, but in terms of getting internet before next year, it'll be a problem.

Problem is that Spark can't give us a straight answer about anything, and they don't seem keen to, you know, help us. Is there copper service to the house? Three different answers: yes/no/maybe. So if there is, can we get ADSL or VDSL while we wait for the UFB install?

One says yes, but we'd have to sign up on a 12 month contract and then pay to end that contract and then sign up for another 12 months with UFB. And of course, they don't have the status updates on the install either. That's with the LFC (which isn't Spark's fault, it just adds to the shambles). The other one says we still don't know what's running into your property, so when we say we'll probably cancel and go with VF cable instead (ugh), he then says that there'll be no cancellation fee or installation fees if we're getting UFB.

And now we're just slightly miffed that no one can give us any straight answers, and together with having to get consent from our neighbours, not knowing how we get updated on the process through the LFC or really anything nearly three weeks after we signed up, this UFB is turning into a bit of a shambles. I can't imagine the average family wanting to go through this. I have little hope for VF customer service being any better and I know the internet is worse and probably will only be speed upgraded after three years of being told, we can't tell you anything... but at least it's already wired so they'll be able to do it sooner and won't require any consent from our neighbours.

It's a long shot, but anyone had a similar experience with Spark? At the moment they can't seem to find their arses with both hands, but is it worth sticking it out with non-existent lead times, not knowing what's at the property, being told different things by different people?