Welcome to IHUG helpdesk, can you help us ?

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xpd

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#20974 11-Apr-2008 15:27

Our home internet got stopped because of a billing issue.... sorted that out and got told 20mins and we should be back online. Fair enough.

2.5hrs later and were not online - router isnt getting PPP.

Got the wife to ring IHUG helpdesk and ask whats going on. She got some muppet who told her to delete her cookies and passwords from Internet explorer and restart the router and that should fix it.

WTF ??

Wife amused the "tech" by doing so..... then got asked "do you have a firewall" - on the router yes not that it will stop a PPP session from logging in.

Then my wife got told "oh some other users have called with similar problems, Ill put you through to one of them"

My wifes thinking "WTF, why do I want to talk to other users with issues ???"

30s of being on hold... "Oh yes there is a problem, we wont be fixing it for 2-3 hours, Bye"

Ive already been looking at jumping ship, but now Im convinced IHUG/Vodaphone is sinking and Im on a liferaft floating in the sea until some ISP with a clue rescues me.

XPD / Gavin

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marmel

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#122895 11-Apr-2008 17:01

Have a read through the other telco threads, help desks don't appear to be the flavour of the day. If you are happy with your dsl speeds, especially international traffic, you may be better of staying where you are. Better the devil you know......

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#122896 11-Apr-2008 17:01

Well that sucks, we've never had a problem with their billing for the last 7-8 years. Direct Debit though.

I've had too many ping problems to aussie and even NZ servers in the past couple of months.
Too bad theres no other isp which will do minimum of 20gb for $50 at fs/128 like ihug BB3, And turn off interleaving.
If there was i'd probably join straight away. I guess im dreaming.

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#123806 15-Apr-2008 20:21

Interesting you've never had billing issues.

My bill is paid by direct debit and I'm supposed to get an email version of the bill. It used to show up in the inbox about the 11th or 12th and was due on the 18th. when I complained about short notice I was told the delay was due to me having to receive it about the same time as those getting theirs by snail mail and that nothing could be done about that. WTF?

This month I haven't got it yet and it's due on the 18th. I've had to check it online which I reckon I shouldn't have to do.

I find it hard to believe that an ISP can't arrange an emailed bill earlier than close to 2 weeks after the billing period cut off ie end of the month. As soon as I find another reasonable ISP ihug are getting the big sticky finger.

my 2c = avoid ihug/vodafone

hads

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#123866 15-Apr-2008 22:52

To offer another opinion, we've been with ihug for a couple of years and haven't had any billing troubles or really any other troubles. The very occasional connectivity issue but you'll see the same thing with any DSL provider in New Zealand. Sure, the helpdesk isn't great but I've yet to talk to one that is.

hads

nicegear.co.nz - VoIP, DVB and other Linux compatible hardware

xpd

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#123963 16-Apr-2008 11:14

/rant

OK, that does it.... IHUG/Vodafone are morons.

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/home-phone-and-broadband/home-phone/index.jsp#

I click on the link "$36 per month" and get a page showing me the areas that are eligible for the cheaper phone rental rate.
Yay, Glenfield is on the list, so I send IHUG accounts an email asking to make this so on my line if possible.

After almost a week, no response so I emailed them again asking whats taking so long...

Got this yesterday :

What's it about?
Fwd: cheaper phone rental ?

Our conversation
What did we say? (Leigh-Ann Venter)	15/04/2008 09.59 AM
Dear Gavin. The landline price of $36 is only available in wellington and christchurch CBD's so unfortunatly you are not eligable for this rate being in auckland. Cheers,
What did you ask? (Gavin Quayle)	14/04/2008 09.56 AM
Still waiting for a reply.... cant be that hard to say yes or no :)

My instant response :

You might want to either give me a different answer, or change your website then. Copied from your website :
<pasted info from their site>

Just shows that the customer service at IHUG/Vodafone is going downhill extremely quickly. Before the official intergration with Vodafone, whenever I contacted IHUG, I got a pretty quick response and dealt with people who had a clue 70% of the time.

/end rant

XPD / Gavin

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xpd

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#123991 16-Apr-2008 11:59

Well, their response times are getting quicker but not the information/knowledge.
<sigh>

XPD / Gavin

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NZtechfreak

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#124000 16-Apr-2008 12:06

Nice avatar xpd!

Yes, had my share of troubles with Ihug, fortunately never really need to phone the helpdesk (man its good to be able to sort nearly everything yourself). Posted elsewhere about some friends who had bad experiences with the helpdesk...

Its kinda getting to the point though where you start to wonder if there are actually any good guys in NZ telecommunications...

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Blogs: HeadphoNZ.org

xpd

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#124036 16-Apr-2008 13:27

Cheers :) Even after almost 20 yrs I still love the Amigas :D

And yeah, I usually dont have to contact them, but when I know its not my end, dont really have much choice :p

But since Vodafone have come on board, its all gone to crap...

They did send another reply regarding my phone request.

What's it about?
Re: Fwd: cheaper phone rental ? [I 414-

Our conversation
What did we say? (Henry Mascarenhas)	16/04/2008 11.28 AM
Dear Gavin, Thank you for your email. Based on your current location you are not eligible for Zone1 deal at $36.00. Should you have a question please reply to this email. Regards xxxxxxxx Self Service Manager
What did you ask? (Gavin Quayle)	16/04/2008 11.11 AM
You might want to either give me a different answer, or change your website then.

=============================================================

I asked why not.
They havent replied. Heh.

And a geek waits.

BTW, any IHUG staff actually on this forum or have they all been banned from visitng here ? :)

XPD / Gavin

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Gravy

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#124175 16-Apr-2008 20:44

I got a reply to my fairly stern email about not receiving a bill yet.... turns out there was a server error according to the email.

It then went on to say the account closes off on the 1st and is due on the 25th and some other blurb about what happens when you don't pay it.

I never used to have this issue - I've been with ihug a couple of years - and only recently changed to direct debit payments about 6 months ago and did the emailed bill thing at the same time.

I can't understand why an account due on the 25th is direct debited on the 18th. I'm sure it can't have anything to do with the banking side of things cos I work for a bank and know how these things work.

I see XPD's sentiment ........ "IHUG are morons" and raise it with "they wouldn't know what service is if it came in a bright sparkly package with flashing lights saying this is service"

Sadly though, going through the forums there is no such thing as a good reliable NZ ISP

xpd

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#124374 17-Apr-2008 13:12

xpd:

I asked why not.
They havent replied. Heh.

And a geek waits.

And a geek still waits 26hrs later.....

All I want is a semi-intelligent answer - something better than "You cant have it" :)

Ah... memories of the good old IHUG days of coming up with "carefulyl worded responses" (aka bs) to customers pushing for more info are flooding back to me.....

Or maybe Im just impatient.
Or maybe the staff truely just dont know why i cant have it.

XPD / Gavin

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