Broadband rip off....

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#283572 17-Dec-2009 22:52

Screeb: From their AUP:

3.2.1. Virgin Media does not place a limit on monthly network usage. However, in isolated cases (currently less than 0.1% of customers) where excessive network usage at busy times (9am to 9pm) is having a detrimental effect on other users, we may need to take appropriate action in accordance with the terms of this AUP to notify users of the impact they are having and require them to move some of their activity into the less busy period.

The throttling seems to be an automatic way of dealing with this (instead of the "notify" bit they mention in the AUP), and it is currently being trialled.

And you think they do what? They ask the users "to move some of their activity" and if it doesn't happen then next step is cutting the user. So where's the unlimited?

As for the your "FFS" and "pulling crap out of your arse" I did find their T&Cs and posted that they do have a policy on that - which is exactly what you described.

Screeb

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#283587 17-Dec-2009 23:30

freitasm:
Screeb: From their AUP:

3.2.1. Virgin Media does not place a limit on monthly network usage. However, in isolated cases (currently less than 0.1% of customers) where excessive network usage at busy times (9am to 9pm) is having a detrimental effect on other users, we may need to take appropriate action in accordance with the terms of this AUP to notify users of the impact they are having and require them to move some of their activity into the less busy period.

The throttling seems to be an automatic way of dealing with this (instead of the "notify" bit they mention in the AUP), and it is currently being trialled.

And you think they do what? They ask the users "to move some of their activity" and if it doesn't happen then next step is cutting the user. So where's the unlimited?

As for the your "FFS" and "pulling crap out of your arse" I did find their T&Cs and posted that they do have a policy on that - which is exactly what you described.

The "soft cap" is being replaced by the throttling. And like it says, it only applies between 9am and 9pm, so according to their terms you can download as much as you like outside those hours with no throttling and no "fair use", which IS unlimited. Besides that, you're only throttled down to 2.5Mbps, and even then only for a maximum of 5 hours. I don't think you'll find many people who claim that doesn't fit with the general broadband definitions of "unlimited", unless they were being extremely pedantic. To get a "real" unlimited plan would be to get a dedicated business line, so I'm not sure what you're trying to suggest by dismissing it as having a "soft cap".

kiwiscoota

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#283883 18-Dec-2009 19:44

I've lived in Europe, UK, USA, Australia and NZ. I would say that while we do pay more for some things in NZ and we are certainly ripped off on electricity prices, items like food are definitely cheaper here than most countries. Recently I read a report where a number of items from grocery & fresh food items (meat, vegetables & fruit) were price compared, it was interesting to see that overall food prices in NZ were significantly cheaper than UK/Europe/Australia although the USA was cheaper overall than NZ.

I particularly liked the 2008 study done by the Australian "ACCC" (corporate & consumer watchdog) where the commission asked Woolworths Aust why the same products sold by Woolworths NZ (in many cases products manufactured in Aust and exported to NZ) were cheaper in NZ, despite the cost of shipping to NZ, Woolworths Aust official response to the Commission Inquiry was to explain they (Woolworths) had more competition in NZ than Australia and hence margins in NZ were considerably smaller than in Oz.

The ACCC reported "Since 2002, food prices (excluding meals and takeaway foods) in Australia have increased at a greater rate than food prices in New Zealand. Significantly, from 2002 to 2007, food prices increased in Australia by around 20.3 per cent compared to 7.7 per cent in New Zealand. Despite this, overall consumer price inflation has been remarkably similar for Australia and New Zealand over the same period."

NonprayingMantis

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#283923 18-Dec-2009 23:50

so what have we learned?
lots of things are priced differently in different countries for multitudes of reasons relating to both supply and demand.

In other news, water is wet.

crazed

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#283952 19-Dec-2009 08:40

NonprayingMantis: In other news, water is wet.

Makes Note, Didn't know that

CraZeD,
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devonanne

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#283954 19-Dec-2009 08:54

We too have had problems with Telecom's broadband usage. We have had 3 periods now when our use has escalated over a 3 day period and we have NOT been using it any differently. We have phoned telecom and they have said it was because we are running wireless and someone must be hacking into it. So we got our computer technician to come in and ensure it is even more secure (it already was). I phoned telecom and we got a read out on when the broadband was being used and it seems we were fast asleep when there were large volumes of OUR broadband that was being used. I explained all this to the woman and she finally admitted they were having some problems with usage. The other problem is that quite often when I go to check Telecom's usage on the internet, I cannot access their site as it is out of action. This is very frustrating. The other thing we have noticed is that it happens around the same time of the month - somewhere around 17, 18, 19th of the month and not every month. We of course upped our amount of broadband so we didn't have to go back to dial up - if I was suspicious I might even think this is something that is done on purpose???
DAT

GBristow

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#284050 19-Dec-2009 17:19

I used to get offended when a British immigrant complained about my country (and it seems almost all of them do). Then I realised that they don't just complain about New Zealand, they complain about everything. They complained even more about the UK - which is why they're here now. Don't take it personally, it's just how they communicate. Once they get settled into the "she'll be right" mindset, I think they'll make alright Kiwis

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friedCrumpet

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#284158 20-Dec-2009 11:27

Britguy: How dare you make such a statement you xenophobe!

How dare he? What, are you the queen? Come on man, people stereotype all the time, are you going to claim you have never done so?

Back on topic - maybe the lukewarm responses are because this has been discussed to death before, on this forum and others, and in general conversation elsewhere. Things have actually improved significantly over the past 5 years and improving broadband is now very much in the public forum. It was even used as part of a campagin promise in the last election.

As I mentioned things have improved significantly recently, and I don't blame people for feeling a lot more content with the services that they are receiving - especially as we are still seeing an improvement in these services. ISPs are introducing new plans fairly regularly, talk of a competing cable to the southern cross, and there's the current national fibre rollout from the government.

This is all not without fault however, and there are a lot of people who are taking a keen interest in these areas and are providing appropriate criticism. Just checking out the rest of Geekzone should provide many examples of this.

jtbthatsme

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#284159 20-Dec-2009 11:31

I have to say i agree with your sentiments there the she';; be right attitude is doing NZ as a country no favours.

However to keep it on topic NZ as a whole does get ripped off for broadband compared to a lot of other countries, there are however a lot of places worldwide where our service would be considered fast.

Ultimately though your posts make a valid point without complaint then no action is generally taken as those people responsible for making the changes would not know that the consumer was unhappy.

I still stand by my first reply on this though we will not see real competition until there is a second line into the country. Basically as Telecom have the network all to themselves how can you create real competition (unless you count Telstra with their limited reach of cable as competition).

Real competition needs to become a priority as onsellers can't generate much competition as whomever they buy off can always undercut them. Why do you think most companies have similar pricing. Also if it was soo expensive to offer better data caps why would a lot companies now offer unlimited download during offpeak hours (or 75 gigs anyway) Slingshot and Worldexchange both have this and i am certain there's others who offer the same or similar. There is absolutely no change in cost for the bandwidth to get into the company so why not offer these sorta services with better overall datacaps.

Take Slingshot as a example $29.95 sees you get full speed up and down and a 5 gig cap and 75 gig of off peak data anyone who actually needs 50 or 60 gig a month or more is a lot better off paying for the smallest plan available and do all downloading off peak. Worldexchange offer there usage at $1.02 per gig or if you want $1.54 (ish) per gig and you get 75 gig off peak.

These are as close as you get to a decent priced plan.

Why pay more than you have to as really it's just a case of impatience. Is it really that bad to have to wait til the next day to get your downloads done???

:-)

nate

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#284184 20-Dec-2009 13:35

I've hidden a couple of posts as we are heading into personal attacks, lets stay on topic please.

Detruire

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#284261 20-Dec-2009 22:03

jtbthatsme: Take Slingshot as a example $29.95 sees you get full speed up and down and a 5 gig cap and 75 gig of off peak data anyone who actually needs 50 or 60 gig a month or more is a lot better off paying for the smallest plan available and do all downloading off peak.

Slingshot plans don't have any GB-type limit on off-peak traffic (although it is shaped and there isn't too much to go around for the first few hours.)

rm *

browned

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#284304 21-Dec-2009 09:47

Slingshot may not have a GB-type limit for their off peak traffic but try and download more than 1GB from any one source during off peak times will result in frustration and a large queue of downloads.

The reason I moved to Telecom was purely because I was sick or scheduling downloads for off peak to find off peak was shaped to death. It was useless, it would take days to get anything done. You really have to ask why they offer free off peak and then throttle and shape the hell out of it.

As for all this it's expensive talk. I would agree with Britguy. NZ is a rip off. Having lived and worked in similar jobs in both countries I can say that comparing NZ to GBP prices is stupid, you are better to compare....your after tax income.....to total monthly expenses....in both countries. Most would probably find they would be better off in the UK in that they would have more after tax income left each week in the UK.

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BiggusDoggus

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#284305 21-Dec-2009 09:56

Man, 'tis the season to be poopy, it seems.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries

jtbthatsme

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#284331 21-Dec-2009 11:15

I'm not sure who your provider was but i agree initially shaping of offpeak traffic was terrible but certainly has improved i'm with World Exchange and manage to get anywhere between a couple of gig to as much as 12gig (know it was this much as was surprised i had got the files so quick so i added up how much i had managed in the 6 hours of offpeak) downloaded a night when needed.

Speed would also depend on where and what your downloading but i do agree it was pretty bad when they first came up with these plans. Now i find it not to be a problem. One of the worst thing about the information age is that we all expect everything we want straight away and patience goes out the window hehe.

Kyanar

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#284833 23-Dec-2009 13:36

kiwiscoota:
I particularly liked the 2008 study done by the Australian "ACCC" (corporate & consumer watchdog) where the commission asked Woolworths Aust why the same products sold by Woolworths NZ (in many cases products manufactured in Aust and exported to NZ) were cheaper in NZ, despite the cost of shipping to NZ, Woolworths Aust official response to the Commission Inquiry was to explain they (Woolworths) had more competition in NZ than Australia and hence margins in NZ were considerably smaller than in Oz.

Interesting. Someone should ask Fonterra the same question about our dairy prices. Especially cheese.

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