Getting Chorus to do something

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Getting Chorus to do something < any tips??

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#3086673 8-Jun-2023 19:50

You may need to volunteer to pay. Chorus is normally used to everyone trying to pass the buck to someone else, and the idea that the customer paying will fix things, even if it's not the customer that screwed up, is likely unusual.

Or go yell at the developer or their sparky, because it really is their fault and they need to fix it.

Wheelbarrow01

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#3086728 8-Jun-2023 20:31

Quick update - I have escalated this internally and am now awaiting a response back, and the OP is aware I'll be in touch when I have some news to share.

Apologies, I didn't mean to suggest in my previous post that the end user should pay in this scenario - merely that there may be a few parties (Chorus, Visionstream, UCG and possibly even the original developer) that may be having the back and forth conversation between themselves about the situation and how to resolve it - and that conversation may include a discussion on the allocation of any additional cost.

It's not the OP's fault the duct was put where it is, so I don't expect we'll be asking the OP for a contribution in this scenario. I thought I should make that clear.

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

evnafets

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#3086805 9-Jun-2023 09:54

nicsd:

Thanks to all for responding, I thought I had answered the questions posed, I am genuinely looking for help to solve the issue. But unfortunately ranting did help (at least it helped me). I was super polite for 7 months and got roundly ignored. So sometimes we just need to blow off steam. I am in contact with @Wheelbarrow and their offer to help.

Welcome to the Geekzone, where you will find generally find people willing to help out, with no ranting required. okay - maybe minimal ranting?

Good to hear that things are progressing. In a perfect world we wouldn't need back channels like these to grease the wheels of bureaucracy. We appreciate the volunteers who do so and try not to abuse them too much so we can keep them around.

If you want to blow off some more steam, might I suggest the "Annoyance" thread? Or even (gasp) the politics forum.

nicsd

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#3088964 12-Jun-2023 12:36

I am not sure who Wheelbarrow01 is behind the keyboard, but as I said in a DM to him, if he's not already CEO of Chorus, he should be. I have very helpful technicians from UCG on site this morning, just turned up out of the blue, and they are installing fiber as I type. it turns out they can use the overhead powerlines to run the fiber most of the way to where my builder put the drop off pipe, a good solution so the drilling is now minimal, about 1 meter under a small path.

I will be singing the praises of Geekzone to anyone who will listen for the rest of the year. I had hit a total brick wall until I found this place, and I am hugely grateful. As I mentioned previously, because we work from home this was a complete nightmare.

Thank you Wheelbarrow01, and thank you for all the others who have taken time to read adn reply.

Cheers. Happy Monday.

Bung

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#3089034 12-Jun-2023 13:44

I think the usual measure is one wheelbarrow does the work of 3 men 😀.

Wheelbarrow01

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#3089744 13-Jun-2023 22:00

I'm happy to have been able to help you @nicsd and apologies that I came across somewhat frosty in my first reply post. I can see now there were definitely some communication issues (both between Chorus and you, and between Chorus and our service partner UCG) that caused an unacceptible delay. I will pass feedback on to be addressed internally so that better processes can be put in place to avoid similar problems for other customers in future.

One of the issues looks to have been that your ONT install order was initiated directly by Chorus with no RSP involvement. It appears one downside of this might have been that you didn't have a retailer to go into bat for you when things started to go wrong, and it appears our team that was in direct contact with you did not understand what was required to get the order moving again. Again these are great insights that will enable us to learn and get better.

Thanks for giving me the chance to put things right for you, and I hope your "badnet" days are shortly behind you 😎

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The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

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BarTender

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#3089802 13-Jun-2023 23:21

Reading this thread as always hats off to @Wheelbarrow01 for his amazing work here on Geekzone outside his regular day job as a Chorus Staffer. I know I appreciate it as you’re not being paid for it and do it because you’re an excellent person and want to help.

But the takeaway I have from it is.

1) Always order service via an RSP rather than going directly to the LFC. Things always go a whole lot smoother if you have a RSP who knows what is required.

2) If you come on Geekzone wanting to rant then rant. If you’re rightfully hacked off because you have had a difficult time navigating a complicated system.. because you didn’t do #1 and didn’t mention that during the rant.

3) Ask politely for help as we are all people on here and many have quite senior roles in their respective organisations and I don’t want to annoy them so they leave this great community. So rather than being accusatory about a system you don’t understand because you didn’t do #1 express your frustration but ask politely. Then you have a far higher chance of being helped out. In all honesty if I had read the first post in my previous employer I probably would have thought sod it.. it’s not worth the pain and not responded.

From the subject to the first few posts the OP hasn’t showered himself in glory.

4) Once you were helped by the awesome Mr Barrow I would completely rewriten the subject and first post saying “Well I made some key mistakes in this process and here is what I have learned for the future so others can learn from it”

BMarquis

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#3089843 14-Jun-2023 08:11

@nicsd It is great to hear there is some tangible progress and a pragmatic way forward. Wheelbarrow is certainly good at unpicking these trickier situations, but lets not let his head get too big with talk of CEO :)

@BarTender - That is quite unfair on nicsd. We provide a way for people to do RSP-less UFB installations.
While the RSP-less installs process is relatively new compared to 13+ years of fibre installs initiated by an RSP - We are always committed to making sure processes are working well. Clearly in this case there were some difficulties in getting the right customer outcome.

I know the teams involved will be working on Wheelbarrow's feedback and finding ways to avoid this in the future.

By in large (but anecdotally as I'm in a different part of Chorus), RSP-less installs usually go as smoothly as RSP-initiated.

hsvhel

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#3089881 14-Jun-2023 09:26

BarTender: Reading this thread as always hats off to @Wheelbarrow01 for his amazing work here on Geekzone outside his regular day job as a Chorus Staffer. I know I appreciate it as you’re not being paid for it and do it because you’re an excellent person and want to help.

But the takeaway I have from it is.

1) Always order service via an RSP rather than going directly to the LFC. Things always go a whole lot smoother if you have a RSP who knows what is required.

2) If you come on Geekzone wanting to rant then rant. If you’re rightfully hacked off because you have had a difficult time navigating a complicated system.. because you didn’t do #1 and didn’t mention that during the rant.

3) Ask politely for help as we are all people on here and many have quite senior roles in their respective organisations and I don’t want to annoy them so they leave this great community. So rather than being accusatory about a system you don’t understand because you didn’t do #1 express your frustration but ask politely. Then you have a far higher chance of being helped out. In all honesty if I had read the first post in my previous employer I probably would have thought sod it.. it’s not worth the pain and not responded.

From the subject to the first few posts the OP hasn’t showered himself in glory.

4) Once you were helped by the awesome Mr Barrow I would completely rewriten the subject and first post saying “Well I made some key mistakes in this process and here is what I have learned for the future so others can learn from it”

Just re-point one

It's not always feasible to do so. Have worked directly in two cases now and although it requires a bit more leg work to get the UCG guys to actually show up and stay to completion, if you wish to have the service connected but not yet need a service running, they process is not too painful......most of the time

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Wheelbarrow01

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#3090071 14-Jun-2023 17:34

BMarquis:
@nicsd lets not let his head get too big with talk of CEO :)

But Brent I already picked out my corner office!

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

Wellingtondave

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#3090160 15-Jun-2023 03:20

RunningMan:

cyril7: Hi you as a home owner have no relationship with Chorus,

Except if you ask them to install fibre to your home https://www.chorus.co.nz/request-install you have a direct relationship with them. They've offered this service for quite a while now, no RSP needed.

I find that positioning quite bizarre too. You call your / an ISP. They start the process with Chorus.

During the UFB process I didn't speak once to Spark, initiated the build request online. Chorus guy phoned [NOT SPARK], met up with him to discuss the plan. Couple of days passed then Chorus guy txts [NOT SPARK] to see if we can do an earlier than planned install date., which was awesome. Job then was done.

So yes, you have no reason to initiate doing anything with Chorus but this whole disconnect thing is B.S.

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nicsd

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#3090187 15-Jun-2023 08:42

I’m not suggesting that through this process I was blameless, but I am new to the country, I asked contacts who installs fiber, everyone said Chorus, so I go to their website and raise a request. There was no reason to go via Spark, Chorus bake the rolls so I went there rather than to Countdown. Seemed to makes sense at the time….

I think as is often the case, this was not a problem of process but a problem of people. I think I just got unlucky with the Chorus folks who initially came out. All they saw was the need for a big and expensive hole, so I assumed that was the only option.

I have also to give huge credit to a fella called Sohit Arora. He’s the fella who came to my house this week and looked up, everyone else had only looked down. He said they could use the power pylons to string it between and then it only need a small tunnel which they did by hand.

If you get the right people; Wheelbarrow01 and Sohit, then the world is a much less complicated place.

RunningMan

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#3090356 15-Jun-2023 15:01

Wellingtondave:

So yes, you have no reason to initiate doing anything with Chorus but this whole disconnect thing is B.S.

Sorry, but Chorus have for quite some time provided the capability to deal direct for an installation, so there are reasons why you would initiate doing something with Chorus.

Handle9

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#3090401 15-Jun-2023 17:30

nicsd: I’m not suggesting that through this process I was blameless, but I am new to the country, I asked contacts who installs fiber, everyone said Chorus, so I go to their website and raise a request. There was no reason to go via Spark, Chorus bake the rolls so I went there rather than to Countdown. Seemed to makes sense at the time….

I think as is often the case, this was not a problem of process but a problem of people. I think I just got unlucky with the Chorus folks who initially came out. All they saw was the need for a big and expensive hole, so I assumed that was the only option.

I have also to give huge credit to a fella called Sohit Arora. He’s the fella who came to my house this week and looked up, everyone else had only looked down. He said they could use the power pylons to string it between and then it only need a small tunnel which they did by hand.

If you get the right people; Wheelbarrow01 and Sohit, then the world is a much less complicated place.

Don't stress about it. The Chorus reps on here have already acknowledged things didn't go right from their end and you didn't get the right level of service.

IMO the other opinions on here are just that, and in some cases quite out of line.

You've got your connection and the Chorus reps on here have done what they do well. Job done.

raytaylor

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#3091233 17-Jun-2023 19:53

I understand this has now been solved, but one thing I am interested to know

Q) Did the original chorus installer that turned up tell you where the outside boundary network access point is, and show you where the inside ducting had been laid to?

The reason I ask is any electrician or contractor with the right skills could have been employed to solve that roadblock by the homeowner, if the homeowner had been told where the correct position was. Without that piece of information, the homeowner couldn't be expected to hire their own contractor to fix the problem.

It does amaze me, the amount of people who blame chorus when they need to fix their own problem first. I work for a local isp and spend much of my time visiting customer sites to come up with such solutions which typically involves us getting our own cabling guys and subcontractors to install the lead-in duct, move ducts and re-install whatever the chorus installers claim is stopping them.

The biggest cause of these problems in my opinion is the chorus network does not match the electricity or water network. In a well designed subdivision all should be at the same point on the property boundary.

The subdivision developer knows where the network access points are. But they sell the land to a buyer, who then contracts a company to build a house, and an electrician to wire it up.
The electrician just runs the telco duct out to the electric pedestal because thats where the chorus network should also be, but sometimes isnt.

Because chorus doesnt leave any surface markers now - the drop ducts are buried waiting for the installer to dig them up, nor do they make maps public to the detail required, the developer is uncontactable and the network has deviated from the conventional standard, then I dont believe the electrician can be blamed for not knowing the correct position.
It was better in this regard when chorus used the 1st / 2nd year square pillars because they were a visual target for the duct destination.

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