Compass Communications lack of communication

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Jedsdad

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#179448 9-Sep-2015 05:56

Some weeks ago I decided I would change to UFB as it was in my street.
I investigated on line looking at all the different ISP’s and even made up an excel spreadsheet so I could compare all their different plans.
I put all the options into the spreadsheet like speed, naked or phone included, bandwidth plans, caller ID cost (or free), can use your own router or not, contract length, connection fee, and price.

I preferred to use my own router (or modem as I have 2 and they both do ADSL, VDSL as well as UFB)
I had to keep my home phone (the missus said so LOL) so naked UFB was out unless I used a third party VOIP.
I did not want to use another box to deliver the home line, I would rather use the ONT for that.

So I decided on Compass Communications as that seemed the best option, after also reading various reviews and even including Geekzone.

I called Compass on about 3rd August and after discussing with them I applied on line the following day.
They did advise it would be into September before the install could be done which was fine with me as I had an Early Termination Fee with my previous ISP (Spark)which expired on 7th September

I applied on 4th August and got a “Welcome” response from them on the 5th August.
I paid a deposit ($25 to be refunded from my first account) and also completed a Direct Debit Authority to pay my monthly account.

And then…. Nothing, no communication from them at all.

I fired off a support ticket on line to them on 27th August asking what was going on.
And then…. Nothing, no reply or anything.

I got a text from Chorus on 1st September that they would call me to confirm the onsite scope date.
They called after midday when I got home to say they would be out on 2nd September to scope the job and then on 10th September to do the install.
I asked him if it was going to be cutover that day and he said yes.

Chorus turned up on 2nd September as arranged but note there was no real scoping of the install or where I wanted the ONT to be placed.
He did run fibre from the road to the ETP which he had replaced on the house ready for the final install on 10th September.

I was concerned that I still had not received any Welcome Pack from Compass which has the parameter settings required to set up my router so I fired off another support ticket on 7th September.
I did get an automated reply from the ticket and later an email from someone advising they would get back to me.
But, you guessed it…. Nothing, no Welcome Pack, no email, nothing!!

So here it is 9th September with the install and cutover due tomorrow and I cant even prepare the router.
I cannot be absolutely sure the cutover will occur then.
I also don’t know if they even gave Spark 30 days notice of my shifting to Compass, I may get stung with another bill from Spark as the monthly account ends 14th of every month

Maybe I will get lucky and someone from Compass will read this on Geekzone today and I will hear from them.

PeterReader

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#1382145 9-Sep-2015 05:56

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.

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Jase2985

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#1382148 9-Sep-2015 06:04

im just going to state the obvious but have you tried calling them?

Jedsdad

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#1382150 9-Sep-2015 06:18

I will call them tomorrow if I dont hear from them today.
However right through the process there has been a lack of communication.

It has been me doing the follow up

Even if I had received automated emails saying that the install is proceeding and the Welcome Pack is on its way, that would have been ok
But nothing

Surely good Customer Service is paramount to retaining your Customers.

kornflake

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#1382156 9-Sep-2015 06:56

That sounds like the majority of ISPs communication with their customers, give them a call.

haysking

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#1383201 9-Sep-2015 09:07

good luck but don't Wana turn this into a soap box so that all I say

haysking

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#1383204 9-Sep-2015 09:15

When it all said and done your details will show up in the online portal it normally yourusername@mamoth.compass.net.nz and the password the one you had choose at sign up, PPPOE and no vlan tagging on compass

The best thing to do is ring them or even online chat as I was with compass for 5 months and still waiting for replys to emails now happy with spark

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kornflake

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#1385160 10-Sep-2015 18:53

Jedsdad how did your communications go in the end, compass are not a bad provider just there call centre leaves alot to be desired, yet they have had years to fix this culture.

Jedsdad

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#1385241 10-Sep-2015 20:49

I called Compass this morning and it seems you have to call them once the fibre has been installed.
They say they will talk you through the setup on the router (a 3rd party one) with all the correct parameters even the User Name and password.
I am quite familiar with setting these up but it seems that is the process they go through.

Now if they had sent an email at the outset when I first applied setting out the current procedure I would have been happy, but the email they originally sent only mentioned getting the Welcome Pack and nothing else.

I did get a call from Chorus about 1245 today to say they would be around between 2.30pm and 3pm to install the fibre but by 4pm no sign of them.
I tried calling and it went to voice mail.
So no fibre today and wont know when Chorus will come again until they call me.

Oh well, progress of sorts I guess LOL

Jedsdad

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#1387605 15-Sep-2015 07:17

On Friday I tried to call Compass but got sick of hanging on the phone so updated the Support Ticket I had previously started with all the details about the contractor not arriving to install the fibre.
I received a call from Compass on Monday afternoon and he said he would follow up with Chorus and I should hear back today (Tuesday)

I also asked Compass about who was responsible to advise my current ISP that my existing services would need to be cancelled (relinquished)
He said it was mine, which I thought strange so decided to call Spark myself and see what they say.

I put a callback request late Monday with Spark as they were showing a 1 hour 55 minute wait time to answer calls.
Over 2 hours later they did call back.
The first question I asked was has Compass requested to port my phone number to Compass, they said they could not find a record of it. (Note my wife wants the home phone, so people can call her for her part time alteration service)
The other question related to cancelling the Broadband and phone services. They said I could but may lose service before the new service is completed.
I had also heard that some people had lost their phone number because they had cancelled their service before the phone number had been ported.
So I did not want to go down that route.

I updated the Compass support ticket with this additional information and this morning decided to do some research myself as I could not believe it should be so difficult to change ISP's.

I looked up the NZ Telecommunications Forum (TCF) and found a couple of documents, one which had a flowchart showing the process that should be followed by signatories to the TCF of which both Spark and Compass are.
Low and behold it shows that all a Customer has to do is apply for service with the new ISP and it is up to them to work with the old ISP to transfer the services over.
The Customer does not have to do anything, they will get advised when the work has been completed by the new ISP and a final bill from the old ISP.

That is exactly what I would have expected to happen, and not having to chase after the old ISP to relinquish the service
Its just a pity that some staff at the ISP's do not know what the process should be.

And now the saga continues, I wonder when I will finally get the fibre installed and the new service!

Jase2985

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#1387612 15-Sep-2015 07:38

im not sure the transfer of service applies when you are going from copper to fibre?

TBH i would much rather be the one to cancel the copper service because that way you can ensure you have fibre before it happens, other wise it may be premature and you have nothing for a period.

BigPipeNZ

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#1387649 15-Sep-2015 09:15

Jedsdad:

I updated the Compass support ticket with this additional information and this morning decided to do some research myself as I could not believe it should be so difficult to change ISP's.

I looked up the NZ Telecommunications Forum (TCF) and found a couple of documents, one which had a flowchart showing the process that should be followed by signatories to the TCF of which both Spark and Compass are.
Low and behold it shows that all a Customer has to do is apply for service with the new ISP and it is up to them to work with the old ISP to transfer the services over.
The Customer does not have to do anything, they will get advised when the work has been completed by the new ISP and a final bill from the old ISP.

That is exactly what I would have expected to happen, and not having to chase after the old ISP to relinquish the service
Its just a pity that some staff at the ISP's do not know what the process should be.

And now the saga continues, I wonder when I will finally get the fibre installed and the new service!

that's the theory about how it is supposed to work, but in reality, there is so much that can (and does) go wrong at both ends, and also in the middle with Chorus, and so, as an ISP, it's good practice to recommend your new customer contacts their old ISP to make sure everything is closed off from that end.

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sbiddle

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#1387659 15-Sep-2015 09:29

Jedsdad:
I updated the Compass support ticket with this additional information and this morning decided to do some research myself as I could not believe it should be so difficult to change ISP's.

I looked up the NZ Telecommunications Forum (TCF) and found a couple of documents, one which had a flowchart showing the process that should be followed by signatories to the TCF of which both Spark and Compass are.
Low and behold it shows that all a Customer has to do is apply for service with the new ISP and it is up to them to work with the old ISP to transfer the services over.
The Customer does not have to do anything, they will get advised when the work has been completed by the new ISP and a final bill from the old ISP.

That is exactly what I would have expected to happen, and not having to chase after the old ISP to relinquish the service
Its just a pity that some staff at the ISP's do not know what the process should be.

And now the saga continues, I wonder when I will finally get the fibre installed and the new service!

If your new connection was a transition using the same copper or UFB connection that's how things should work.

If your connection is an entirely new one (ie not a transition) whether this be from copper to copper or copper to UFB the LSP has absolutely no idea in the world that you've ordered a new connection and don't require the old one so you would need to contact the LSP to advise the connection is no longer required.

Contacting your old ISP is certainly the norm and if you don't there are plenty of things that can, and will go wrong.

Jedsdad

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#1401461 7-Oct-2015 08:09

And the saga continues:

After ordering the UFB at the beginning of August and being advised that the install will be early September (which was fine) I still do not have UFB as at 7/10/15.

Note I live in Takanini so not the end of the world.

Chorus have actually installed the fibre in my house, however there was a problem back towards the exchange somewhere.

They have had 2 further attempts to get the problem sorted after escalations to the ISP the last on 28/9/15 , the latest try just last Friday 2/10/15.

They even took the ONT to try it further down the road but could not resolve the problem.

The Chorus guy did escalate to his manager but I have heard nothing back so far.

The cost to Chorus for all the number of visits and trying to resolve the problem must be horrendous.

I just hope this is not the norm for UFB installation, next they will want to increase their charges for UFB.

I will be escalating to my ISP again today

Jedsdad

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#1402239 8-Oct-2015 10:24

I called the ISP yesterday about 8.15am and they said they would call me back after they spoke to their Connections Team who dont start till 9am.
However no call back received at all yesterday.

Called the ISP again today at 9.20am. Told them I did not get any call back yesterday.
They spoke to the Connections Team and are also calling Chorus to see what is going on and promised to call me back by midday.

Time will tell I guess if that happens.

Jedsdad

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#1403333 10-Oct-2015 08:48

I finally have my UFB up and working with Compass.
I did have to call them to get them to port the phone number over from Spark and then call them back to activate Caller ID.
But apart from that all OK.

Just one gripe though related to Speedtest.net tests to London, New York, LA etc but that will be in another Thread
The throughput is lousy, especially the download.