Why are Chorus techs so blasted useless?

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Kyanar

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#101336 29-Apr-2012 12:15

So on Friday a Chorus tech came around and connected the neighbour's house for phone and presumably internet. In the process of doing this, they broke my line and I lost my dial tone. My internet was still up so I didn't consider it the end of the world. I called up my provider, and they said the earliest someone could be sent out was 3PM yesterday (Saturday). This tech did not show up, so I still don't have a dial tone. Today (Sunday), another Chorus tech came out to fix a different neighbour's DSL connection, and in the process broke mine, knocking my connection speed down to 600Kb/s (with a high enough error rate to make it almost dial up). I grabbed the Chorus tech and asked what he was there for, and told him he had broken my line in the process of fixing someone else's, but all he said was that he was not assigned to fix my line, so he wouldn't look into it (despite the fact that he bloody broke it). This is the second time this has happened (Chorus techs breaking my line to do something to someone else's).

Why are they so incompetent?

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#616913 29-Apr-2012 12:29

The Chorus tech that sorted out my parents line issue was awesome

Kyanar

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#616914 29-Apr-2012 12:37

I wish I was in that area then. Every single Chorus tech that comes up my driveway, bar the one that installed my DSL master splitter, has broken my line beyond usability. And always to fix someone else's issues. I can't work out why it's so hard to fix an issue without causing more, and why they don't seem interested in fixing the stuff they screw up - no, got to log a fault for that.

The blood boiling "sorry, we won't help you on weekends" from my provider doesn't help my blind rage much either.

johnr

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#616922 29-Apr-2012 12:48

Kyanar: The blood boiling "sorry, we won't help you on weekends" from my provider doesn't help my blind rage much either.

Out of your providers hands

Kyanar

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#616933 29-Apr-2012 13:06

johnr:
Kyanar: The blood boiling "sorry, we won't help you on weekends" from my provider doesn't help my blind rage much either.

Out of your providers hands

Oh yeah I know the Chorus tech not showing up isn't something they can do anything about, absolutely. But they literally wouldn't talk to me once they heard "business connection". Suddenly they wouldn't even log a fault with Chorus because "we can't touch business accounts". Patently false, since I called back and got a different person who happily logged the fault because I didn't mention it was a business line. That's definitely in their hands.

vinnieg

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#616951 29-Apr-2012 13:25

I had a similar issue where one came into my house. For no real reason at all, since I hadn't asked them to check the internal wiring. Wife was home alone at the time, and didn't know they weren't meant to come in. Spent a while checking my wiring/network in my home cupboard.

Laid a formal complaint with my ISP, and Chorus. You could do the same? Your neighbour should have a slip/receipt with the chorus persons name/number on it? Or their ISP should have the details

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

gzt

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#616955 29-Apr-2012 13:32

My guess is the terminations and crosstalk are just horrible and confused where you are making it a challenge to fix anything without breaking something else. Ask the next guy exactly why the problem occurs and he'll probably tell you all about it in great detail if you are genuinely interested.

I don't understand the thing about business vs non business lines - is that because your provider does not operate a business help desk on weekends?

Not fixing anything without a work order is standard behavior for contractors, they don't get paid without one, and it makes it difficult for the job scheduler.

The more you can find out about the nature of the problems from the chorus techs, the more information you can pass on to the next one that turns up.

It's a strange system, but that's the way it works for me.

[Edit: Agree with the above also]

chevrolux

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#616993 29-Apr-2012 15:28

Whereabouts in the country are you? I work for a company who contract to Chorus. I don't work on the network much any more and I'm bloody glad I don't. The boys doing it now are having massive trouble at the moment (and or the last 6 months) with bad cable records. This means lots of people are getting knocked off and we get the blame for it. In saying that, I know our guys will find out what line has been taken off and make sure it gets hooked up again. We don't get paid for it but it is unfair customers get penalised for Chorus/Downer's CRAP system.
In most areas though contractors are owner operators and simply can't afford to be doing extra work as the codes are rock bottom as it is. Being a company with a few guys we can do the extra work and absorb the cost alot better.
Are your lines overhead or underground? Sounds like your neighbours and yourself and hooked up to an old cable terminal that needs rehabbing. If your phone dropped out and BB there must be a corroded joint in the cable terminal, also if your speeds dropped but you could still use it I think it is a one leg/high resistance fault. Does your phone sometimes just ring once and cut out? In saying this though, if the terminal did need a good going over it should have happened when the first tech came out as it is part of the minimum expectations when entering a CT.

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#617000 29-Apr-2012 15:50

I have had 6 visits or so in the past year, either they don't bother tell you the situation straight up or they're incompetent.. after being told the line is fixed for sure 5 times in a row does this to me.. I guess at the end of the day it really depends on the individuals you get for the day since my line is fixed at the end.

hellonearthisman

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#617008 29-Apr-2012 16:12

With the contractors being owner operators, it's in there interest to only do the job they are ticketed for and if they break a few other connections, then it's a new job and more work for them.
There seems to be no accountability. It's like they have no intensive to be more careful as it will cost them more work.

I hope Chorus can fix this now they are independent of Telecom who hacked and slashed the workers jobs into contracts.

cisconz

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#617014 29-Apr-2012 16:31

I have a lot to do with Visionstream and the records of what pairs in what cable work etc are rubbish.
Visionstream are also having issues now as they work differently to Downer and Transfield.
I know that VS will not pay a tech if they don't fix the issue first time, nor if they break someone elses line.

Hmmmm

chevrolux

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#617023 29-Apr-2012 17:09

I hope Chorus can fix this now they are independent of Telecom who hacked and slashed the workers jobs into contracts.

Chorus care more about us putting 'pride tags' in CT's and writing in log books in cabinets than they do about the service the end user gets. It is complete and utter bullsh*t some of the things we have to do on the network now. They care more about us filling out log books than testing the dam circuit we are working on. This mean complete noddys can work as techs and as long as they do the paperwork it doesnt matter how many customers they disconnect while they are at it. Makes all of us look bad. I can assure you the majority of the techs aren't complete retards and are very capable at their job.

Kyanar

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#617175 29-Apr-2012 23:28

chevrolux: Whereabouts in the country are you? I work for a company who contract to Chorus. I don't work on the network much any more and I'm bloody glad I don't. The boys doing it now are having massive trouble at the moment (and or the last 6 months) with bad cable records. This means lots of people are getting knocked off and we get the blame for it. In saying that, I know our guys will find out what line has been taken off and make sure it gets hooked up again. We don't get paid for it but it is unfair customers get penalised for Chorus/Downer's CRAP system.
In most areas though contractors are owner operators and simply can't afford to be doing extra work as the codes are rock bottom as it is. Being a company with a few guys we can do the extra work and absorb the cost alot better.
Are your lines overhead or underground? Sounds like your neighbours and yourself and hooked up to an old cable terminal that needs rehabbing. If your phone dropped out and BB there must be a corroded joint in the cable terminal, also if your speeds dropped but you could still use it I think it is a one leg/high resistance fault. Does your phone sometimes just ring once and cut out? In saying this though, if the terminal did need a good going over it should have happened when the first tech came out as it is part of the minimum expectations when entering a CT.

Auckland, so we're covered by Visionstream. It's all underground stuff. But just to correct one point, they're not disconnecting my line, they're breaking it - instead of just no dial tone, every time a Chorus/VS tech goes near it, my one is pulverised into static and what sounds like radio interference, with the DSL connection crippled beyond usability (currently, it's so slow I've disconnected from my router's wireless and I'm using the hotspot on my XT mobile). With the ring once cut out thing, no - never happens.

cisconz: I have a lot to do with Visionstream and the records of what pairs in what cable work etc are rubbish.
Visionstream are also having issues now as they work differently to Downer and Transfield.
I know that VS will not pay a tech if they don't fix the issue first time, nor if they break someone elses line.

Well, sucks for the two completely different techs that came out here this weekend then - they're both Visionstream, and they both broke my line, so I guess neither of them are getting paid. And it absolutely astonishes me that you can tell them they just broke your line and they just say "oh, well you need to log a fault". I'll definitely be filing a formal complaint with Orcon on Monday (who don't, by the way, offer any support to business customers on weekends unless you "forget" to mention you're a business customer).

networkn

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#617185 30-Apr-2012 00:03

Kyanar:
johnr:
Kyanar: The blood boiling "sorry, we won't help you on weekends" from my provider doesn't help my blind rage much either.

Out of your providers hands

Oh yeah I know the Chorus tech not showing up isn't something they can do anything about, absolutely. But they literally wouldn't talk to me once they heard "business connection". Suddenly they wouldn't even log a fault with Chorus because "we can't touch business accounts". Patently false, since I called back and got a different person who happily logged the fault because I didn't mention it was a business line. That's definitely in their hands.

Actually that isn't true. Your ISP has channels they can complain down which have in turn, protocols which must be followed. Beyond a certain number of complaints about a staff member they have protocols around things to resolve that. It won't solve your problem today, but it will help the process in the long term. My current ISP - Unleash have worked with me over failed installs and they have passed feedback which got better results. I have found that being really nice to installers who are competent often will yield a business card with a mobile number, and willingness to go the extra mile.

I have had a 50/50 split of good and bad to terrible experiences with Chorus over the years.

Kyanar

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#617320 30-Apr-2012 11:00

networkn:
Kyanar:
johnr:
Kyanar: The blood boiling "sorry, we won't help you on weekends" from my provider doesn't help my blind rage much either.

Out of your providers hands

Oh yeah I know the Chorus tech not showing up isn't something they can do anything about, absolutely. But they literally wouldn't talk to me once they heard "business connection". Suddenly they wouldn't even log a fault with Chorus because "we can't touch business accounts". Patently false, since I called back and got a different person who happily logged the fault because I didn't mention it was a business line. That's definitely in their hands.

Actually that isn't true. Your ISP has channels they can complain down which have in turn, protocols which must be followed. Beyond a certain number of complaints about a staff member they have protocols around things to resolve that. It won't solve your problem today, but it will help the process in the long term. My current ISP - Unleash have worked with me over failed installs and they have passed feedback which got better results. I have found that being really nice to installers who are competent often will yield a business card with a mobile number, and willingness to go the extra mile.

I have had a 50/50 split of good and bad to terrible experiences with Chorus over the years.

It'd be great if we could get a 100/0 split of good to terrible experiences though- this level of terrible service would get any company with a direct customer relationship investigated by the commerce commission, yet Chorus via its contractors somehow gets away with providing an overwhelmingly crap service without any way of holding them to account for it.

All these years of thinking Telecom was the bad guy, and yet you split them from their network component and suddenly you discover that all this time it was Chorus dragging everyone down, Telecom was just stuck along for the ride.

networkn

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#617322 30-Apr-2012 11:07

Kyanar:

It'd be great if we could get a 100/0 split of good to terrible experiences though- this level of terrible service would get any company with a direct customer relationship investigated by the commerce commission, yet Chorus via its contractors somehow gets away with providing an overwhelmingly crap service without any way of holding them to account for it.

All these years of thinking Telecom was the bad guy, and yet you split them from their network component and suddenly you discover that all this time it was Chorus dragging everyone down, Telecom was just stuck along for the ride.

Err what? You realistically expect 100% good experiences from a company? Companies are full of people, people make mistakes. I run an IT Company. We strive for excellence every day. Are we perfect? Of course not. We aim to be as good as we possibly can be. Chorus is a company just like any other.

Commerce Commission would have no power here. They investigate misleading business practices and play a part in upholding the current legal requirements for a companies trading practices, particularly around warranties, and advertising. To suggest they would be involved because a staff member from a company didn't turn up to do a job when they said they would, is just nonsense. If they were responsible for this, almost every company in NZ would have to be investigated over 10 years.

Also your comment about Telecom, I am not sure where to start, but it's just wrong.

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