Is there a way to get hold of Chorus directly?

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DarthKermit

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#810910 3-May-2013 16:15

Next time you see a Chorus van going past, throw out some road spikes to stop him. Then you'll be able to get Chorus's full attention.

Whatifthespacekeyhadneverbeeninvented?

Foiler

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#811126 4-May-2013 10:42

When the line condition is bad, is it your ISP or physical line provider to rectify? True that the ISP is the first stop shop.

But .. if the line does not meet specific line testing standards then surely one can ultimately turn to the Line provider?

The minimum testing spec of a line used to include 2Mohm insulation and 60dB Line Balance (measured from the customer end of the line, not the Exchange). I wonder if those standards still exist or if they are conveniently forgotten in the veil that now exists between internet subscribers and the real physical world that delivers it?

One way around this is if you have a bad line affecting internet then report a noise fault for the line, not an internet fault.

pjamieson

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Chorus

#811130 4-May-2013 10:46

Ignoring the unhelpful comments, there is an Escalation process for just this type of situation. So I'd suggest you ask your Service Provider for an Escalation.

If your fault is awaiting a permanent fix, this can take some time due to the work and cost involved and also may involve resource consents depending on what part of the street is involved. Additionally your SP should be able to provide sign off notes from the Field Tech to give more detail (although this is up to them). Sounds like there is a part of the story missing.

chevrolux

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#811162 4-May-2013 11:55

pjamieson: Sounds like there is a part of the story missing.

Exactly. This sort of thing just doesnt happen without good reason.

freitasm

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#811165 4-May-2013 12:04

Kyanar: So I'd say in the last four months I have probably logged no less than 30 jobs to Chorus via my ISP to fix my services, and in every single case their "temporary fix" either didn't fix the issue at all, fixed the issue for less than a day, or broke completely unrelated services that worked perfectly fine - they've finally gone so far as to completely break ALL of my services and then declaring "can't fix it" and leaving.

Is there some process for getting hold of someone at this incompetent organisation? And people complain about power companies - Chorus puts them to shame for abysmal technical service and zero customer service.

I know you're a long time user, so no one asked this but...

Have you checked your house wiring? Are you using a master splitter?

mattwnz

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#811170 4-May-2013 12:36

I would have thought under the CGA you would have been allowed to contact them. Eg if you have a fault with a product you can choose to either go to the retailer or the manufacturer or supplier, even though you never entered into a direct contact with any party apart from the retailer. Services are also covered by the CGA when you buy for personal use.

Kyanar

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#811234 4-May-2013 17:17

Foiler:
One way around this is if you have a bad line affecting internet then report a noise fault for the line, not an internet fault.

Funny you mention that. i actually have two lines running to the house (one is a business line) and the business line does indeed have a noise fault. That buzzing gets annoying.

pjamieson: Ignoring the unhelpful comments, there is an Escalation process for just this type of situation. So I'd suggest you ask your Service Provider for an Escalation.

If your fault is awaiting a permanent fix, this can take some time due to the work and cost involved and also may involve resource consents depending on what part of the street is involved. Additionally your SP should be able to provide sign off notes from the Field Tech to give more detail (although this is up to them). Sounds like there is a part of the story missing.

I logged a formal complaint with the ISP which I assume is the first step in that process to escalating it up to the line provider.

I have been told on a previous occasion that a permanent fix (overlay) has been requested and is awaiting council permits, however later discussions with techs have told me that the request was either cancelled or never existed in the first place. Some techs still claim that request is in place however. At this point, unless someone who actually has a "bird's eye view" of Chorus operations can look into it, I don't know who to believe.

freitasm:

I know you're a long time user, so no one asked this but...

Have you checked your house wiring? Are you using a master splitter?

There is no master splitter - buuuuut if you recall I did verify a while back in a thread on this very forum that this is in fact unnecessary for a naked DSL line delivered to a single isolated jackpoint (i.e. there is no voice service delivered, and the single jackpoint connected is the DSL port). The wiring consists of 3m of cable from the demarc point to the jackpoint outside the house, installed about 3 years ago by - you guessed it - Chorus.

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Foiler

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#811331 4-May-2013 20:46

Buzzing can be symptomatic of an HR Dis (bad joint) in the network, as opposed to scratchy noise more often the result of an insulation fault. Unfortunately the HR Dis fault often won't be visible by testing from 120 faults, more so if it is close to your premises. Nevertheless, you could give them a go, or one of the Telecom geeks here might offer to do the remote line test for you.

You may need to take a risk and say you will wear the cost of a tech visit if they prove the line is ok - but make sure you get their test results. Most of them don't know how to do a balance test correctly though the test should still be mandatory to prove a good line.

The buzzing on your line will stop anyway when/if Tiwai Point switches off (their rectifiers put distortion and audible harmonics of 50Hz onto faulted pairs). But even without the smelter and the buzzing, the adverse affect of your imbalance will prevail on your internet pair assuming the same sort of fault exists there and other nearby pairs.

Faulty building earth? This won't be the case if you have buzzing on a passive (ie line powered) phone. You can check your building earth - measure the ohms between the earth of any appliance and your metal water pipes or a stake into the ground outside.

Cbfd

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#811340 4-May-2013 21:11

If an overlay has been requested - this can take anywhere from between 6-18 months to get done due to chorus and designers looking at all avaible options before it gets okied for overlaying - chrous try everythng they can before soing an overlay to save on cash

Kyanar

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#811436 5-May-2013 07:53

Foiler: Buzzing can be symptomatic of an HR Dis (bad joint) in the network, as opposed to scratchy noise more often the result of an insulation fault. Unfortunately the HR Dis fault often won't be visible by testing from 120 faults, more so if it is close to your premises. Nevertheless, you could give them a go, or one of the Telecom geeks here might offer to do the remote line test for you.

You may need to take a risk and say you will wear the cost of a tech visit if they prove the line is ok - but make sure you get their test results. Most of them don't know how to do a balance test correctly though the test should still be mandatory to prove a good line.

Many of the techs tell me they "replaced some corroded joints" (how many joints are there?!?) so this sounds like it may be a good direction to go in, but I actually have had one tech say the physical line between two pillars is damaged (he actually tested it at each pillar to isolate where the fault lies).

In terms of "taking a risk", there's no risk - I have Chorus techs here every 2-3 days at the moment. Which is why I'm wondering why if an overlay is the solution, isn't it rapidly becoming more economical (even at $10,000+!) to do it than constantly attend callouts?

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