My neighbour just had a random guy from Chorus asking her if she would like a fibre upgrade. She did not request this from Spark

Forums › Spark New Zealand › My neighbour just had a random guy from Chorus asking her if she would like a fibre upgrade. She did not request this from Spark - is this legit?

tonynz

55 posts

Master Geek

# 257188 19-Sep-2019 18:04

Hi guys,

My neighbour came home today and as she was getting out of her car, a guy claiming that he's from Chorus and asked if she wants a fibre upgrade.

She had not spoken to Spark about fibre, this guy said the upgrade would be free and arranged for a time to come back.

Is this normal? Are Chorus now signing households by waiting for the owners to get home and asking if they want to sign up?

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Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

# 2320605 19-Sep-2019 18:25

100% sure he said he was from Chorus or is that what she heard it as?

Plenty of RSP's selling door to do, and the usual pitch is normally around Chorus making fibre available. There would't be any logical reason for somebody to say they were from Chorus.

tonynz

55 posts

Master Geek

# 2320646 19-Sep-2019 18:27

I didn't try to listen into their conversation but the guy definitely had a Chorus high-vis vest on.

That's what I was thinking - Chorus shouldn't initiate the request.

I'll speak to her and get it checked with Spark.

riahon

931 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 2320648 19-Sep-2019 18:33

A friend had the same thing, it is legit, he works for a telco and had the scoping done.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

# 2320650 19-Sep-2019 18:41

riahon:

A friend had the same thing, it is legit, he works for a telco and had the scoping done.

So why claim to be from Chorus?

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everettpsycho

39 posts

Geek

# 2320654 19-Sep-2019 18:49

Were chorus actually selling or suggesting? As a wholesaler they can't sell you a product but there's nothing stopping them marketing the fibre product and suggesting you talk to a service provider and upgrade. I don't think they are allowed to sway you to a certain provider though and should remain impartial on that front.

It makes more sense when an lfc is trying to win customers over from copper or wireless as they stand to gain a lot more with a new customer. Is your neighbour using fixed wireless and chorus could be trying to tempt them back on to their network?

riahon

931 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 2320657 19-Sep-2019 18:58

freitasm:

riahon:

A friend had the same thing, it is legit, he works for a telco and had the scoping done.

So why claim to be from Chorus?

I mean my friend works for a Telco and a chorus rep door knocked him and told him fibre is now available and offered scoping to get fibre to his door as it had only just been made available in his area. His Telco had nothing to do with it. Chorus doing this independent of a provider makes sense to me. It would be no different to moving into a house that has already had fibre installed.

tonynz

55 posts

Master Geek

# 2320658 19-Sep-2019 19:00

riahon:

freitasm:

riahon:

A friend had the same thing, it is legit, he works for a telco and had the scoping done.

So why claim to be from Chorus?

I mean my friend works for a Telco and a chorus rep door knocked him and told him fibre is now available and offered scoping to get fibre to his door as it had only just been made available in his area. His Telco had nothing to do with it. Chorus doing this independent of a provider makes sense to me. It would be no different to moving into a house that has already had fibre installed.

We've had Fibre here for ages, it also seemed strange that the Chorus was basically camping outside her house waiting for her to get home.

As soon as the 'appointment' was made - he drove off in his private looking car.

I believe that she's using Spark ADSL2 at the moment.

riahon

931 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 2320662 19-Sep-2019 19:16

tonynz:

We've had Fibre here for ages, it also seemed strange that the Chorus was basically camping outside her house waiting for her to get home.

As soon as the 'appointment' was made - he drove off in his private looking car.

I believe that she's using Spark ADSL2 at the moment.

For every legit offer there are just as many scam offers that are not so understand skepticism. Nowhere before my post did you say anyone was camping outside her house, you said he walked up as she got out of her car. Chorus will know which addresses don't have Fibre so targeting your neighbour makes sense. Or if he was door knocking and sees a car pull into a drive, a savvy door to door person would use that opportunity. The 'private looking car' is suspicious but he might be a contractor with a list from Chorus but I would assume he should have proper ID. The use case for installing fibre independent of a provider makes sense to me. If you have doubts then do due diligence and ask neighbours, ring Chorus, ring her provider or search google "chorus door to door".

https://sp.chorus.co.nz/stories/our-migration-programmes

tonynz

55 posts

Master Geek

# 2320664 19-Sep-2019 19:25

I'm fairly certain that he was just waiting for her to get home as he wasn't visiting other houses.

All I know was that as soon as she got out of her car - he approached her and he left as soon in his car as the order was done.

mattwnz

15164 posts

Uber Geek

# 2320666 19-Sep-2019 19:33

3 people support this post

I recall seeing a similar thread on this same topic, and apparently it was apparently legit as they were working in the area. But obviously people should always check that the person is legit, as I wouldn't be surprised if there are scams going around for this type of thing.

RunningMan

5575 posts

Uber Geek

# 2320667 19-Sep-2019 19:37

3 people support this post

As with @mattwnz I recall a previous thread on exactly this. I cannot find it though. Long story short, there are times and location where Chorus has been pro-actively installing up to the ONT even without an order or connection from any ISP.

RunningMan

5575 posts

Uber Geek

# 2320668 19-Sep-2019 19:44

One person supports this post

Found the old thread

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=49&topicid=242666

EDIT: The confirmation from Chorus that this is legitimate.

Chorusnz:

Hi there,

First off, we'd like to confirm this is not a scam, we have active Chorus reps who are visiting homes to bring Fibre to your premises as part of our infrastructure upgrade.

We'll bring the Fibre from the road all the way up to the installation of the ONT. During this process you'll go through a scope meeting to agree on where the build and connect will take place, as well as agreeing to end user terms before any work begins. This is where you'd agree to the placement of your ONT.

At that point you'd contact your broadband provider to request to connect to services when you're ready.

The fact that the installers just drove off and the install was cancelled is really concerning and we do apologise for the inconvenience caused. We'd like to take a look at your request in more detail to find out exactly why this has happened, provide feedback to the techs in question and make sure there are no more issues with this process moving forward. Are you able to send us a private message with your address?

Cheers,

Sara.

BlakJak

704 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

# 2322673 22-Sep-2019 14:47

RunningMan:
Found the old thread

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=49&topicid=242666

EDIT: The confirmation from Chorus that this is legitimate.

Chorusnz:

Hi there,

First off, we'd like to confirm this is not a scam, we have active Chorus reps who are visiting homes to bring Fibre to your premises as part of our infrastructure upgrade.

We'll bring the Fibre from the road all the way up to the installation of the ONT. During this process you'll go through a scope meeting to agree on where the build and connect will take place, as well as agreeing to end user terms before any work begins. This is where you'd agree to the placement of your ONT.

At that point you'd contact your broadband provider to request to connect to services when you're ready.

The fact that the installers just drove off and the install was cancelled is really concerning and we do apologise for the inconvenience caused. We'd like to take a look at your request in more detail to find out exactly why this has happened, provide feedback to the techs in question and make sure there are no more issues with this process moving forward. Are you able to send us a private message with your address?

Cheers,

Sara.

Do Chorus have a mandate to push fibre services like this?

As a wholesaler why should they be talking to end users unless it's associated with a retail provider service order?

No signature to see here, move along...

tangerz

538 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 2322815 22-Sep-2019 18:25

One person supports this post

BlakJak: Do Chorus have a mandate to push fibre services like this? As a wholesaler why should they be talking to end users unless it's associated with a retail provider service order?

Is this possibly just Chorus being efficient? While their contractors are in the area building along the street, instead of terminating on the street, why not build out all the way onto the property ETP/ONT? Would certainly make the switch to fibre easier for the customer, much like a 'greenfields' subdivision where all service infrastructure, including fibre, are in place before building even starts.

hio77

'That VDSL Cat'
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Spark

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# 2322834 22-Sep-2019 18:45

This is just one of the options chorus use to try to do all the installs at once.

It makes sense from a resources and network impact angle.

Makes it an easy process to upgrade for a RSP, as it's just an intact activation.

Also makes it an easy job for chorus as they dont have to chase schedules.

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