is Bigpipe still the only UFB provider with no contract sign up?

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › is Bigpipe still the only UFB provider with no contract sign up?

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alexj

61 posts

Master Geek

#1212078 11-Jan-2015 20:09

So with Bigpipe if someone is having issues with the router do they just turn around and say "too bad, so sad"? I guess that is all they CAN do. There are people who can handle that I am sure but where the fault is not clear as to what is going wrong I feel sorry for the poor customer AND poor CS rep who have to deal with random CPE.

plambrechtsen

1948 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1212096 11-Jan-2015 20:37

alexj: So with Bigpipe if someone is having issues with the router do they just turn around and say "too bad, so sad"? I guess that is all they CAN do. There are people who can handle that I am sure but where the fault is not clear as to what is going wrong I feel sorry for the poor customer AND poor CS rep who have to deal with random CPE.

Bigpipe is online only support (they don't have a phone support number) so it's really targeted at power users not your average granny. So it all depends on you as a customer to sort yourself out. They just provide the bigpipe.. hence the name. ;)

xlinknz

1127 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1212097 11-Jan-2015 20:39

plambrechtsen: Mobile is a completely different beast from fixed line.

One with mobile the operator owns the complete stack. The fixed contract subsidises the purchase of the phone. If the customer doesn't want a contract they can walk away with only minor cost incurred from supplying the sim card.

Fixed no one owns the physical network apart from Vodafone and the ex-TelstraClearSaturn cable network in Wellington and Christchurch. So there are real costs the ISP pays to the wholesaler and contracts they sign for a fixed term to get it connected.

So to compare the two is a bit of a nonsense.

Fair comment re owning the "stack" but to say to compare is no sense is your opinion not mine

Bear in mind that Spark and VFNZ both offer a discount on their UFB offerings when in a on account mobile contract

I would not be surprised if the market sees more RSP's drop contracts albeit as a way to get customers. Personally I went with a RSP that offers 3 months with no commitment, the advantage being if I don't like their service or product I can walk at no penalty. Tier 1 providers are known unfortunately for their poor service ratings.

plambrechtsen

1948 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1212126 11-Jan-2015 21:33

xlinknz:
plambrechtsen: Mobile is a completely different beast from fixed line.

One with mobile the operator owns the complete stack. The fixed contract subsidises the purchase of the phone. If the customer doesn't want a contract they can walk away with only minor cost incurred from supplying the sim card.

Fixed no one owns the physical network apart from Vodafone and the ex-TelstraClearSaturn cable network in Wellington and Christchurch. So there are real costs the ISP pays to the wholesaler and contracts they sign for a fixed term to get it connected.

So to compare the two is a bit of a nonsense.

Fair comment re owning the "stack" but to say to compare is no sense is your opinion not mine

Bear in mind that Spark and VFNZ both offer a discount on their UFB offerings when in a on account mobile contract

I would not be surprised if the market sees more RSP's drop contracts albeit as a way to get customers. Personally I went with a RSP that offers 3 months with no commitment, the advantage being if I don't like their service or product I can walk at no penalty. Tier 1 providers are known unfortunately for their poor service ratings.

I respectfully disagree with that statement in regards to Spark. If you visit any of the social media channels and considering we have half the fixed broadband customer base statistically speaking you would expect us to have 50% of all complaints. But I would guesstimate that number to be more in the 20-30%. That doesn't happen by accident. Yes I know things do go wrong. But on average they go wrong less often than the competition.
Here and Facebook are two good places to see the level of complaints between the big two.

xlinknz

1127 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1212136 11-Jan-2015 21:50

plambrechtsen:
I respectfully disagree with that statement in regards to Spark. If you visit any of the social media channels and considering we have half the fixed broadband customer base statistically speaking you would expect us to have 50% of all complaints. But I would guesstimate that number to be more in the 20-30%. That doesn't happen by accident. Yes I know things do go wrong. But on average they go wrong less often than the competition.
Here and Facebook are two good places to see the level of complaints between the big two.

From memory the consumer.org results in regards to ISP service are not just based on numbers of customers each ISP has but the questions asked.

You are quite correct in the difference between VFNZ and Spark service of late [well at least in contact centers response times !] . My personal experience with both has been good [I just left VFNZ but not because of service]

BigPipeNZ

1170 posts

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Trusted

BigPipe

#1212373 12-Jan-2015 11:18

alexj: So with Bigpipe if someone is having issues with the router do they just turn around and say "too bad, so sad"? I guess that is all they CAN do. There are people who can handle that I am sure but where the fault is not clear as to what is going wrong I feel sorry for the poor customer AND poor CS rep who have to deal with random CPE.

somewhat off topic for this thread, but no that's not how we handle it.

Whilst there are lots of different modems out there, typically there are only about 5-10 models that cover the majority of the population. (mostly the ones given out for free by the customer's previous ISP)
With Port based authentication, most modems will just work straight out of the box, maybe with a factory reset. For the few that don't work out of the box, we have developed simple guides for how to set them up which we can send our customers if they are having issues. (and for random new ones, it's very rare to find one that doesn't work in a pretty straightforward way, since they all ultimately need the same settings put in)

That actually sets us apart from other ISPs IMO, since other guys will often refuse to provide ANY support if you don't use their modem, even if the fault isn't with the modem - and not everyone wants to use their providers modems (becuse they are often not very good)
We, on the other hand, help everybody.

For the more complex issues (port forwarding, file sharing, setting up QoS etc) most ISPs level of support even for their own modem is typically worse than just googling the problem yourself or reading the owner's manual (not to mention if you are the sort of person who wants to do that sort of stuff, you probably know more than the average ISP's CSR anyway)

bigpipe.co.nz
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Coon

97 posts

Master Geek

#1212634 12-Jan-2015 16:06

plambrechtsen: Bigpipe is online only support (they don't have a phone support number) so it's really targeted at power users not your average granny. So it all depends on you as a customer to sort yourself out. They just provide the bigpipe.. hence the name. ;)

they called me multiple times on my mobile when I was moving from adsl -> vdsl. never needed to contact their customer service after that except to request public ip

imho no contract means the provider need to keep up an acceptable level of service past which they'll customers flee

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alexj

61 posts

Master Geek

#1212683 12-Jan-2015 17:52

BigPipeNZ:
alexj: So with Bigpipe if someone is having issues with the router do they just turn around and say "too bad, so sad"? I guess that is all they CAN do. There are people who can handle that I am sure but where the fault is not clear as to what is going wrong I feel sorry for the poor customer AND poor CS rep who have to deal with random CPE.

somewhat off topic for this thread, but no that's not how we handle it.

Whilst there are lots of different modems out there, typically there are only about 5-10 models that cover the majority of the population. (mostly the ones given out for free by the customer's previous ISP)
With Port based authentication, most modems will just work straight out of the box, maybe with a factory reset. For the few that don't work out of the box, we have developed simple guides for how to set them up which we can send our customers if they are having issues. (and for random new ones, it's very rare to find one that doesn't work in a pretty straightforward way, since they all ultimately need the same settings put in)

That actually sets us apart from other ISPs IMO, since other guys will often refuse to provide ANY support if you don't use their modem, even if the fault isn't with the modem - and not everyone wants to use their providers modems (becuse they are often not very good)
We, on the other hand, help everybody.

For the more complex issues (port forwarding, file sharing, setting up QoS etc) most ISPs level of support even for their own modem is typically worse than just googling the problem yourself or reading the owner's manual (not to mention if you are the sort of person who wants to do that sort of stuff, you probably know more than the average ISP's CSR anyway)

Sorry 'Pipe guys I didn't intend to "Bigpipe bash" I was just trying to understand how Bigpipe alone can offer no contract UFB terms and as others have mentioned BYOR explains a lot of it otherwise I guess you are simply absorbing any associated costs?

Has the OP received an acceptable response to this thread's query? Have we ruled out any other RSP's that offer no contract UFB signups?

rb99

3422 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1212688 12-Jan-2015 18:03

Not sure if anyone mentioned MyRepublic, but there's MyRepublic. OK they are basically offering a 12 month contract but the 3 month trial does offer a 'get out of gaol free' thing i.e.. leave during the trial with no penalties.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

xlinknz

1127 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1212725 12-Jan-2015 20:02

rb99: Not sure if anyone mentioned MyRepublic, but there's MyRepublic. OK they are basically offering a 12 month contract but the 3 month trial does offer a 'get out of gaol free' thing i.e.. leave during the trial with no penalties.

correct I am now with MyRepublic and you can walk anytime up to 3 months. Note you do pay a $50 bond on the router they provide which you can return with refund or keep for $50 [it will work with other UFB providers]

The 3 month promotion ends today and you can sign to it even if you don't have UFB available yet at your address

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