Feedback on BigPipe Please

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Feedback on BigPipe Please

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Keats222

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1791503 30-May-2017 08:39

Be careful with Bigpipe. I have been a customer for over a year. Due to unforeseen financial issue was unable to pay for my connection one month so was disconnected (despite emailing to say I could pay the next day).

The next day i resigned with them. Since then is has been nothing but a nightmare. Minimum time for reply now 3+ hours and poor service. Previous emails are not read and half the time a 1 sentence reply that does not answer the question or help.

This has been ongoing for over a week now and I still have no connection (connection date was supposed to be 22nd May) If this isn't sorted in the next day I will be claiming a rebate on my $49 connection fee and going to another company.

They may advertise a 2 hour to reply window with excellent service but from what I have received would no longer recommend bigpipe to anyone.

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung (affiliate link).

michaelmurfy

meow
13163 posts

Uber Geek

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1791508 30-May-2017 08:51

@Keats222 to be perfectly fair (with only hearing one side of the story) it does sound like you were at fault here. Depending on the issue also it may take them longer to respond. Sending an email like "my WiFi is not working" doesn't aid them in any way as it could mean a problem with your router or you're referring to your connection physically being down. The $49 fee is not refundable as per the connection agreement (and this is clear when you sign up).

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
Referral Links: Quic Broadband (use R122101E7CV7Q for free setup)

Are you happy with what you get from Geekzone? Please consider supporting us by subscribing.
Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

Keats222

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1791518 30-May-2017 09:04

michaelmurfy: @Keats222 to be perfectly fair (with only hearing one side of the story) it does sound like you were at fault here. Depending on the issue also it may take them longer to respond. Sending an email like "my WiFi is not working" doesn't aid them in any way as it could mean a problem with your router or you're referring to your connection physically being down. The $49 fee is not refundable as per the connection agreement (and this is clear when you sign up).

Hi Michael,

All info was given to Bigpipe not just an email saying 'I don't have internet'

I gave them full rundown of the situation. Diagnostic pictures from my modem, ADSL speeds, reprogrammed modem (on request), 30+ modem resets and all relevant information so it was not a matter of me being at fault but the poor contact.

It took over a week of this back and forth emailing to get a technician to visit the property only to find the fault, inform me he will be back after lunch and that was the last I saw of him.

As Chorus cannot be contacted (isp needs to log fault) I have had to contact bigpipe more to try and get the technician to return.

I say the service is poor due to the numerous emails with replies from bigpipe such as 'you were disconnected due to non payment'. The customer service rep hasn't bothered to read the 8 other emails with the same reference to know it was a new connection and there had been issues. This relates to a 2 hour for reply (was over 3 hours) and I had to inform that it was a new connection. So had to email again and wait 3+ hours.

This is just one example of the many. So Michael how am I at fault here?

michaelmurfy

meow
13163 posts

Uber Geek

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1791525 30-May-2017 09:20

Keats222:
michaelmurfy: @Keats222 to be perfectly fair (with only hearing one side of the story) it does sound like you were at fault here. Depending on the issue also it may take them longer to respond. Sending an email like "my WiFi is not working" doesn't aid them in any way as it could mean a problem with your router or you're referring to your connection physically being down. The $49 fee is not refundable as per the connection agreement (and this is clear when you sign up).

Hi Michael,

All info was given to Bigpipe not just an email saying 'I don't have internet'

I gave them full rundown of the situation. Diagnostic pictures from my modem, ADSL speeds, reprogrammed modem (on request), 30+ modem resets and all relevant information so it was not a matter of me being at fault but the poor contact.

This is just one example of the many. So Michael how am I at fault here?

This does sound like more a Chorus issue here. I've seen many instances of great service from BigPipe. I was referring to the non payment as you stated in your first post.

Maybe @JoshBigPipe can chime in but you may want to start a new thread (without directly blaming BigPipe) if you're having internet issues. Without knowing the full story here and the fact you signed up to just post that does indicate it is more isolated and there is more to this story then you're letting on.

robjg63

4074 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1791528 30-May-2017 09:21

Michael was not blaming you. He was just pointing out some reasons that can affect responses etc.

I guess this is the downside of an ISP that has straight email only support - that said there are plenty of customers on GZ that have had really good service from them.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

JoshBigpipe

122 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

BigPipe

#1791557 30-May-2017 10:08

michaelmurfy:

Keats222:
michaelmurfy: @Keats222 to be perfectly fair (with only hearing one side of the story) it does sound like you were at fault here. Depending on the issue also it may take them longer to respond. Sending an email like "my WiFi is not working" doesn't aid them in any way as it could mean a problem with your router or you're referring to your connection physically being down. The $49 fee is not refundable as per the connection agreement (and this is clear when you sign up).

Hi Michael,

All info was given to Bigpipe not just an email saying 'I don't have internet'

I gave them full rundown of the situation. Diagnostic pictures from my modem, ADSL speeds, reprogrammed modem (on request), 30+ modem resets and all relevant information so it was not a matter of me being at fault but the poor contact.

This is just one example of the many. So Michael how am I at fault here?

This does sound like more a Chorus issue here. I've seen many instances of great service from BigPipe. I was referring to the non payment as you stated in your first post.

Maybe @JoshBigPipe can chime in but you may want to start a new thread (without directly blaming BigPipe) if you're having internet issues. Without knowing the full story here and the fact you signed up to just post that does indicate it is more isolated and there is more to this story then you're letting on.

Gidday @Keats222. Thanks for reaching out and for your PM just now. If you can flick me another message with a quick breakdown of what's been happening for you, and make sure to include the email address you use for Bigpipe, I'll have a look at your case and we'll take it from there.

www.bigpipe.co.nz

https://www.facebook.com/BigPipeNZ

https://twitter.com/BigPipeNZ

AKLWestie

641 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1794165 3-Jun-2017 11:24

Up until a few weeks ago, I will not hesitate to recommend BigPipe because their offering is solid and the one off $45 fee for a static IP is great.

However, in the last few weeks I need to contact them by web forms, and then emails for a number of reasons (related to a move to UFB), and the response time is bad.

Latest problem: yesterday was my scheduled scope day for my UFB installation. Chorus turned up in the morning and said they can do a full install on the spot (no need to wait for another 10 days). So I emailed BigPipe at around 9am in the morning telling them Chorus is doing the install now (not just scoping) so I want BigPipe to make sure things are ready for the switch over from BigPipe VDSL to BigPipe UFB.

Now, more than 24 hours have past, still no response from them.

Luckily, there was no problem with the switch over. Otherwise, this long weekend will indeed be very long.

It will be difficult if it turns out to be any technical problem and I need to wait for days to get any support.

BigPipe, you really need to improve this. This is form happy and loyal customer.

DarkShadow

1647 posts

Uber Geek

#1794208 3-Jun-2017 13:55

AKLWestie:

Latest problem: yesterday was my scheduled scope day for my UFB installation. Chorus turned up in the morning and said they can do a full install on the spot (no need to wait for another 10 days). So I emailed BigPipe at around 9am in the morning telling them Chorus is doing the install now (not just scoping) so I want BigPipe to make sure things are ready for the switch over from BigPipe VDSL to BigPipe UFB.

Now, more than 24 hours have past, still no response from them.

Luckily, there was no problem with the switch over. Otherwise, this long weekend will indeed be very long.

It will be difficult if it turns out to be any technical problem and I need to wait for days to get any support.

Your UFB connection is provisioned at the time Chorus confirms the appointments. (ie a few weeks before the actual scope) Therefore it'll start working immediately after the Chorus tech finishes installing it.

Also protip: if it happens that your connection doesn't work, you should use the web form to lodge a ticket, instead of sending emails. This way it will be dealt to faster (2hr SLA).

rjagape

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1795581 6-Jun-2017 18:57

I envy your internet speed! With that kind of speed, offsite backups would be a breeze! For normal users though, it's over the top :D

I wish UFB is already available here at home but unfortunately, I only got the next best option which is the VDSL.

Resnick:
invisibleman18:

Did you stick with the Vodafone modem or have your own one?

Also since I'm on ADSL would things go smoother if I was to first sign up for ADSL with Big Pipe then once connected upgrade to UFB? I gather it could be a big hassle trying to switch from ADSL with one ISP to UFB with another?

I have my own (pfsense box) which is overkill by a long shot, but fun to play with. I was advised by a friend to wait for ufb to be installed and change providers which is exactly what I did :)

evnafets

529 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1801901 16-Jun-2017 09:29

JoshBigpipe:

evnafets:

Yeah, I'm still waiting. Not Bigpipes fault though (I don't think)

The technician came out for the first scoping visit (09/05). Couldn't find the cable (after digging around where he was told it should be) and so put the job on hold.
Apparently there should have been a cable coming from the pole across the street to the bottom of our driveway where the phone cable is. But there wasn't.

Bigpipe on the same day updated me "Due to issue preparing your installation, Chorus have had to reschedule your scope date".

Cool I thought. I can understand that. No cable, no connection. They'll be back in touch once someone actually runs the cable.
I haven't heard anything from Bigpipe since then.

Then on 15/05 I received a text message from Chorus "Just a reminder that your fibre installation is still on hold, please call your service provider with your reference number to rebook your installation"...

Query sent to Bigpipe on the same day. 48 hours later and no response as yet

From the chorus message it seems I need to do something to rebook the installation?
As far as I think, Bigpipe can't do anything until Chorus gets their side of things done. But if that is the case why are Chorus telling me to call the service provider?

Hey @evnafets, have you heard back about this yet? Let me know if not and I'll see what I can do.

Just as a follow up on this.

Josh managed to kick something loose, and scoping and installation were rescheduled.

Scoping 31/05, Installation 13/06

Scoping went ok. The installation did not.
Chorus have yet to bring the fibre to the box at the bottom of our drive.

Technician has hooked up the ETP and run the cable down the drive. Can't do anything more until that cable comes from across the street.
Installer can't do anything until the Technician has finished his job and the fibre is blown.

Bigpipe?

Logged on to their website yesterday afternoon to check the status and triggered a "hmmm, things are taking longer than they should, we'll call you within 24 hours with an update" message.
Now waiting to see if they can keep that promise. (They have another 4 hours or so :-) )

However bigpipe sent an email yesterday morning rescheduling the install date to 04/07. I just didn't see that email until after I had visited the website.

evnafets

529 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1818916 10-Jul-2017 15:04

Still not connected update:

Installation day was scheduled for Tuesday 04/07. I confirmed this with Bigpipe the week before. However the work at the bottom of the drive was still pending so I was fairly certain it could not go ahead.

Send a query to Bigpipe on Tuesday 8am as the work was still undone and was unsure if I should stay home or not.
Got a response Friday 12pm saying that on 03/07 (the day before the install) Chorus had rescheduled to 28/07.

Thus far I can't say I'm terribly impressed with any of the parties involved.
Not being informed of the change in installation date until several days AFTER the previous install date had passed just has me fuming.

On topic feedback:

Bigpipes aspirational 24 hour response time to email support issues around installation is (in my experience) nowhere near its target.

The "hmmm things are taking longer than they should, we'll call you within 24 hours with an update" has never to my knowledge resulted in an a call, or even an email.

I can accept that it is not Bigpipe's fault that the cable hasn't been run to my driveway. However the communication on the status of the install process and speed of reply to support email inquiries do not meet my expectations.

AKLWestie

641 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1826008 20-Jul-2017 17:00

I had a good experience with email support yesterday evening.

I went home in the evening and noticed my static IP is gone, so I was on CG-NAT. Then I used their support page to submit a problem, at around 1815. I got an email about an hour later saying it was all sorted. So I rebooted my router and get my static IP back.

evnafets

529 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1852453 25-Aug-2017 12:13

Just to update on progress.

As of last Wednesday 16/08/2017 I am now connected on Fibre.

They ended up running a cable from the telephone pole across the road to a pole on my side, and then underground to the bottom of my drive where the cable from the garage was waiting for it. Apparently this was the part that took the time as they
a - didn't have the equipment to bore it under the road
b - needed a break in the weather to go climbing telephone poles

The Chorus tech who actually did the inside installation was excellent. He even used the existing wall socket (with a little bit of pulling wires up and down) rather than taking the "easy" path to run it down the wall surface from the ceiling.

Once hooked up everything worked like a charm, and am getting the advertised 100/20 (or close to it) for the connection. Got an email from Bigpipe a couple of days later to confirm from their end that it all was looking good.

My previous opinions remain however. Bigpipe's tardy response to emails, inability to keep me informed as to status, and requiring being chased several times through the process to get things moving all contributed to a less than ideal experience.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5