Bigpipe VDSL -> UFB

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Bigpipe VDSL -> UFB

AKLWestie

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#214608 20-May-2017 12:37

Checked the Chorus website showing my house now has UFB. However, it is not showing up on Bigpipe's address checker.

Did a live chat with Bigpipe and told them I am an existing Bigpipe VDSL customer and want to move to UFB. Cannot use the change plan tool because the UFB options are greyed out. The agent told me to use the contact us page to submit a request.

It is almost 24 hours since I sent the request and all I get is an automatic reply.

Anyone has a similar experience like this? How long would I need to wait until someone comes back to me?

Thanks!

RunningMan

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#1785116 20-May-2017 12:49

Might be that BP don't provide UFB in your area.

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DarthKermit

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#1785117 20-May-2017 12:49

Could be there's a delay between Chorus livening up the area you live in until Big pipe has it available. Also, are you sure that Big pipe definitely covers the area that you live in for UFB?

AKLWestie

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#1785119 20-May-2017 12:52

DarthKermit:

Could be there's a delay between Chorus livening up the area you live in until Big pipe has it available. Also, are you sure that Big pipe definitely covers the area that you live in for UFB?

I live in West Auckland so BigPipe should be able to provide UFB coverage. Also checked the street behind me (using BigPipe's address checker) and BigPipe is doing UFB there.

quickymart

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#1785123 20-May-2017 13:01

Yes, they have coverage there. It can take a few weeks for your address to show as being UFB available in all systems, so that could be the cause of the delay.

AKLWestie

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#1785303 20-May-2017 19:21

What a joke! I got an email from Bigpipe which have a boilerplate reply like:

"Thanks for getting in touch and letting us know you would like to change your plan :)

We have now made it easier and more secure for our customers to change their plan through our online dashboard. Head to https://www.bigpipe.co.nz/login and then once you are logged in click on the 'Change of Plan' option, it is then just a few short steps and we will do the rest.
"

Of course I know I can change plan there. Clearly the agent did not read my original message clearly. I clearly saying Chorus said UFB is available at my address, I also had an online chat with a Bigpipe agent and he confirmed UFB is available. However, Bigpipe's address checker is not up to date so he told me to use the contact us page to send a request.

@JoshBigpipe can you come to the rescue?

Thanks!

AKLWestie

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#1785308 20-May-2017 19:26

I also checked another address nearby that I knew (from Chorus' website) where UFB has been available for four weeks. Bigpipe's address checker said UFB is not available. However, Spark and Voyager both said it is available!

Bigpipe, you need to up your game!

DarthKermit

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#1785314 20-May-2017 19:41

Try a few other addresses close to you and ones further away. I think it's likely that BP's UFB availability data is simply not up to date. Chorus normally sends ISPs a list of all the new properties that can get UFB once it becomes available.

phrozenpenguin

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#1785733 22-May-2017 07:53

AKLWestie:

[]It is almost 24 hours since I sent the request and all I get is an automatic reply.

Anyone has a similar experience like this? How long would I need to wait until someone comes back to me?

Thanks!

I had similar experiences - Bigpipe were very slow (multiple days) to respond to any emails, and when they did they were boilerplate replies or apparent they had not read the content of my email. The only way I could get progress from the Bigpipe side was to start signing up as a new customer, then the live chat appears, then you can speak to a person. That person can't answer anything useful about your order, but can "hurry things up" and that generally meant I got a reply within the next half day. One of the live chat agents also explained their ticketing system works on a "first come first served" basis, and if you send another email it will move your entire ticket to the bottom of the queue. So if you send a followup query, your ticket gets put to the end of the queue. Seems a bit crazy, but that was how it was explained to me.

Good luck. I did end up getting connected with Bigpipe and the connection has been great except for a couple of glitches which seem to have resolved themselves now.

trig42

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#1785754 22-May-2017 09:00

Weird. When I signed up for UFB, their address checker was showing it as unavailable (but Chorus' was).

Live chat sorted it. I was connected within two weeks.

Sounds like their live chat peeps might be having a bad day?

solutionz

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#1785962 22-May-2017 13:33

Almost identical situation...

West Auckland, currently on VDSL. Chorus Map showing UFB available, BigPipe showing only VDSL.

However I just sent a contact form message to CS requesting upgrade last night, this morning received RFI which I responded to and couple hours later received order confirmation & install date for 4 weeks time.

Strangely though the order confirmation emails are all branded as "Skinny Broadband".

Requested plan was "BigPipe $79 Starter Plan 100/20" however email confirms "Skinny Unlimited Broadband" (so will it be $68 ??).

Is BigPipe brand being migrated to Skinny Broadband? Or just an error in the backend?

robfish

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#1785977 22-May-2017 14:25

I had the same problem. Apparently the BigPipe site is updated monthly.

Live chat sorted it out for me too. I was also connected within two weeks. (Their web site still shows fibre unavailable at home)

Rob

JoshBigpipe

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#1786003 22-May-2017 15:10

Well, this doesn't look right. It's not okay that we're taking ages to get back to people about a relatively simple question. Obviously we have to lift our game.

@AKLwestie, can you please PM me your email address you use for Bigpipe and I'll get this sorted for you.

@solutionnz: this is ridic. Skinny Unlimited and Bigpipe run on the same stack, but you shouldn't be getting service emails from one to another! To be fair, I have never seen this before, but it's completely unwarranted. Again, if you could please PM me the email address you're using for Bigpipe, I'll sort this out.

Deeply sorry for the trouble you've had here. One case falling through the cracks is entirely understandable, but this looks like multiple instances and all with similar issues.

With regard to the fibre availability database - our availability map is different to other providers. There is a chance that people can get fibre with other providers (i.e. Spark) when they can't with us. We update as frequently as we can - we're due for another one very soon.

www.bigpipe.co.nz

https://www.facebook.com/BigPipeNZ

https://twitter.com/BigPipeNZ

AKLWestie

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#1787075 23-May-2017 21:09

trig42:
Weird. When I signed up for UFB, their address checker was showing it as unavailable (but Chorus' was).
Live chat sorted it. I was connected within two weeks.

robfish:
I had the same problem. Apparently the BigPipe site is updated monthly.
Live chat sorted it out for me too. I was also connected within two weeks. (Their web site still shows fibre unavailable at home)

You guys are lucky to have it sorted out by the live chat. I do wonder why the guy I chatted cannot do that for me.

Update: I replied to the "boilerplate" message on Saturday night, and to Bigpipe's credit, I got a reply back in about 10-15 minutes! Now I have an appointment for scoping and another for installation.

Sorry that I could not post an update here sooner because of work and domestic issues.

@JoshBigpipe, I will forward you the email and the reference number for training and QA purpose.

And I hope that after the install, I can get a static IP again (I already paid for my existing VDSL connection), and IPv6. =-)

AKLWestie

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#1787077 23-May-2017 21:11

phrozenpenguin:

One of the live chat agents also explained their ticketing system works on a "first come first served" basis, and if you send another email it will move your entire ticket to the bottom of the queue. So if you send a followup query, your ticket gets put to the end of the queue. Seems a bit crazy, but that was how it was explained to me.

Wow, this is bad!