Compass

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Compass - any good?

ignishin

91 posts

Master Geek

#116447 29-Apr-2013 14:32

Hey guys.

Some of you may have seen my other thread here: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=138&topicid=116300

I made it to get enquiries regarding Maxnet as at that stage I was interested to sign up with them, however I had been contacted via Snap and was told that they could sort me out with a sweet deal (I only wanted broadband as the place I'm moving into -a relatives- already has a POTS with Compass and I wanted to be billed separately from the POTS so ideally my relative would continue to pay for their phone line with Compass and I'd be paying for my broadband connection with Snap - separately.

Everything with Snap had been amazing - they had been really communicative about the process until I got some bad news. Turns out the line at my relatives address is an LLU line to Compass (makes sense, as currently, the address has a Compass account/POTS) and Snap can't use it without having my relative drop their POTS with Compass and go with Snap so I can get broadband with them. However I don't want to do this because it creates an unnecessary situation of uprooting a service and porting it to another company that my relative wouldn't otherwise bother with (or need to do).

So, at this stage my only option (i believe) is to bite the bullet and go with Compass for broadband and just explain to my relative the extra broadband charge that will be appearing on their phone line rental.

Can Compass clients give me a heads up at what they're like to deal with? By looking at the first 5 threads it doesn't paint a pretty picture, however I understand that people usually post to get some sort of solution / answer to a problem they have so it's difficult to see the good feedback people may have.

Thanks!

PeterReader

6018 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#807386 29-Apr-2013 14:32

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

- you have reset your modem and router

- your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing

- you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap

- your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing

- you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

- Your ISP and plan

- Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)

- Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)

- Your general location (or street)

- If you are rural or urban

- If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin

- If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service

- If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

- Is your premises phone wiring impacting your broadband performance? (very technical)

- Are you receiving a substandard ULL ADSL2+ connection from your ISP?

I am the Geekzone Robot and I am here to help. I am from the Internet. I do not interact. Do not expect other replies from me.

These links are referral codes: Sharesies | Mighty Ape

nzjc

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#807453 29-Apr-2013 15:20

For what it's worth I have always had excellent speeds/reliability with Compass (except for today of all days, they seem to have an international bandwidth issue). I'm on their Mammoth plan (naked, unlimited $80/month) and am in central Auckland.

Their phone service is pretty basic which I guess means they're simply running off a script, not as personal as places like Snap, but I wouldn't go through the trouble you mentioned to avoid Compass - once it's up and running it's all good.

The day I had it installed it was really crappy, one phone-call and 2 hours later they had a Chorus tech at my front door ready to swap the copper pair I was on to a better one - I was very impressed in that regard.

ignishin

91 posts

Master Geek

#807473 29-Apr-2013 15:30

Thanks nzjc - boosts morale a bit about going with Compass :P

jasonbrice

100 posts

Master Geek

#807480 29-Apr-2013 15:37

I have never dealt with them for residential, but my experience with them for business services was less than ideal. They wouldn't be my first choice, but given that they have your family member sewn up, you don't have a lot of choice.

OTH, if you had been asking about Snap, you would've gotten a much more positive response from me.

bagheera

539 posts

Ultimate Geek

#807514 29-Apr-2013 16:06

we was with them for a while - when thing was working - it was great, but then we had a issue that was their fault and we was with out internet for about 2 week while they "fix" it. There customer service was very bad (worse CS i ever had in my life) , was 1 week before they even said that there was a major issue, before that it was only an "intermittent" issue (if you call no internet for 1 week intermittent) - oh and at the time we had VOIP with them and as there was no internet we tried to use cell phone but they did not accept calls from cell phone to their fault line at the time - think that changed now.

That said they have had a new CS manager appointed since we left who has posted here that their CS was lacking in the pass and he going to fix it - no idea if that the case or not.

ignishin

91 posts

Master Geek

#807535 29-Apr-2013 16:26

jasonbrice: I have never dealt with them for residential, but my experience with them for business services was less than ideal. They wouldn't be my first choice, but given that they have your family member sewn up, you don't have a lot of choice.

OTH, if you had been asking about Snap, you would've gotten a much more positive response from me.

Snap had been incredible through the sign up process, I've never had such clear and transparent communication with a service of any sort. They did everything they could to have me sign up but without having POTS with them they couldn't give me broadband :(

Once I'm out of my relative's place I'll be back in contact with Snap.

As for Compass. The general consensus is; they're fine until you have a fault. I just hope I have no faults :\

SATTV

1648 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#807567 29-Apr-2013 16:57

I would avoid compass like the plague.
The internet was slow ( compared to SNAP ) ( was about the same as world exchange )
Trying to get someone to answer the phone for any query took at least 1/2 an hour.
I wasted probably 12 hours on hold over four months
The always mucked up the billing and I could not wait to leave them.

I know enough to be dangerous

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

ignishin

91 posts

Master Geek

#807841 30-Apr-2013 08:49

Holy hell.

Not a good start.

Send an inquiry email regarding residential broadband. Get an email bounce back because the email it goes to doesn't exist.

I used Compass's automated email form from their website.

What a joke.

ignishin

91 posts

Master Geek

#807848 30-Apr-2013 09:06

I don't believe this, I really don't.

After getting a delivery failure from trying to contact the Residential Broadband team I attempt to contact them via a different method - 'Media Enquiry'.

This is what I get back:

"I am overseas returning on 3rd May 2013 and will have limited email coverage"

What in the ****.

nzjc

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#807854 30-Apr-2013 09:13

Haaah, that's the Compass you'll learn to love (j/ks).

If you're really stuck and need to get on Compass against everyone's advice - PM the Compass account here on Geekzone. Ryan was helpful to me yesterday, good luck.

bagheera

539 posts

Ultimate Geek

#807856 30-Apr-2013 09:13

ignishin: Holy hell.

Not a good start.

Send an inquiry email regarding residential broadband. Get an email bounce back because the email it goes to doesn't exist.

I used Compass's automated email form from their website.

What a joke.

hehe reminds me of one of the bad CS i had - "if you want to escalate your fault you need to go to our web site and full in the form x" and when i pointed out that i have not had internet for 1 week now and how do you want me to get to the web site, the reply was "not my problem, you need to full in the web page if you want to escalate"

ignishin

91 posts

Master Geek

#807857 30-Apr-2013 09:18

nzjc: Haaah, that's the Compass you'll learn to love (j/ks).

If you're really stuck and need to get on Compass against everyone's advice - PM the Compass account here on Geekzone. Ryan was helpful to me yesterday, good luck.

I don't think I have much option right now.

I'm forced to go with Compass if I don't want to change the POTS to another provider. If that was my decision, I would change it over in a heartbeat.

30 posts

Geek

Trusted

Compass Communications

#807934 30-Apr-2013 11:43

Hi ignishin,
Thank you for alerting us to this. Our Residential Sales team have received your enquiry yesterday afternoon and have already tried to make contact with you. We are sorry you received an undeliverable message but please rest assured your enquiry made it through and we’ve fixed the problem that caused the error message. Thank you once again for letting us know. If there’s anything else I can do to assist, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.

Kind regards,

Ryan @ Compass

ignishin

91 posts

Master Geek

#807973 30-Apr-2013 13:30

Compass: Hi ignishin,
Thank you for alerting us to this. Our Residential Sales team have received your enquiry yesterday afternoon and have already tried to make contact with you. We are sorry you received an undeliverable message but please rest assured your enquiry made it through and we’ve fixed the problem that caused the error message. Thank you once again for letting us know. If there’s anything else I can do to assist, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.

Kind regards,

Ryan @ Compass

Hi Ryan,

Thanks for your response. I had not received any reply from the Residential Sales team. I have however received your email message. Thank you for getting in touch.