Getting Chorus to do something

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

nicsd

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#305827 6-Jun-2023 17:47

I have recently moved from abroad to NZ, first time living here, and tbh I have never come across a company as unhelpful as Chorus @Chorusnz

Moved into a new house, didn't know it at the time but the builder put the drop off point on the wrong side of a shared drive, not far, perhaps 5 meters, doesn't seem like a big issue to any normal company.

Chorus discovered this in Dec 2022, since then they have visited twice, (I assume to confirm that the drop of point hadn't moved by itself) and phoned me once to tell me that my drop off point is one the wrong side of the drive, then they sent me an email to confirm that one field manager was discussing with another field manager that my drop off point still hadn't moved of its own accord. 6 and a half months this has been going on.

I reckon I have phoned >15 times, I also phone UCG the service provider, just so I don't keep giving the nice Chorus ladies a hard time, I like to change it up a bit. And no one ever phones back or in fact has any idea of what they plan to do to install fiber. I'm not talking out in the woods here, this is Mairangi Bay, main street. Digging a hole and pulling a few wires shouldn't be this hard.

It has gone from frustration to amazement at their level of incompetence. Does anyone else get the feeling Chorus must be doing it deliberately? Like they are gaslighting the whole of NZ? I've lived in a lot of places round the world, and this is by far the worst company I have ever had to deal with. Is there some kind of reality TV show I'm not aware of where stupid members of the public are set up by Chorus? What am I missing here?

So my question to you lot is do you any suggestions as to how to get Chorus to do their job? who can I complain to other than my dog?

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#3085692 6-Jun-2023 18:05

@ChorusNZ

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boosacnoodle

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#3085705 6-Jun-2023 18:59

What did your ISP say when you contacted them?

Jase2985

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#3085717 6-Jun-2023 19:41

@wheelbarrow01 is this something you could look at?

cyril7

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#3085725 6-Jun-2023 20:02

Hi you as a home owner have no relationship with Chorus, have you tried via an RSP?

Cyril

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#3085735 6-Jun-2023 20:26

That was my question too - what has your RSP said, or was this order placed directly with Chorus?

Wheelbarrow01

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#3085801 6-Jun-2023 22:37

Without having any specific details to investigate, I can only take a guess at what has happened based on the limited information supplied. One possible set of circumstances could be as follows:

Assuming your dwelling was built by a developer carrying out a new greenfields subdivision or infill housing development (knocking one house down, subdividing, and building several new houses), they would most likely have paid Chorus to provide a fibre drop-off to the boundary for each new dwelling. As part of the prep work for that, there is a network design drawn up which clearly shows where we will put our network on the street, and where the developer/builder needs to place their lead-in duct to meet up with it.
If the developer/builder has deviated from those plans, then that is their responsibility, not Chorus or our service partners.
If the Chorus network on the street was installed more than 18 months ago, that work could potentially have been carried out by Visionstream - our previous service partner.
Now that you are trying to get connected, UCG (our current service partner) is having to deal with it. Sometimes just up and moving a network element on the street is not so easy - especially if it is feeding multiple dwellings.
There's also the question of who pays - 5 metres of additional trenching/thrusting/cabling that hasn't been accounted for in this install may not sound like a big deal to Joe Bloggs but it still has a dollar cost in terms of labour, materials, design fees, council permit costs etc. UCG won't want to pay because they didn't make a mistake. Chorus probably don't want to pay it because we didn't make a mistake either (based on the limited information provided).

Given you seem to know the developer/builder has put the inside boundary duct work in the wrong place, is this problem also affecting other adjacent dwellings? Have you raised this issue with the developer/builder to see if they intend to put it right? If you haven't, that probably should have been your first port of call before spouting off about the failings of Chorus and our service partners.

It's really not that cool to publicly have a crack at Chorus when you yourself have stated that the issue came about by the failings of another party. Chorus ultimately wants to make a return on our network investment, so we are motivated to get end users connected in the shortest amount of time to start getting that return. Every day's delay is money we will never earn. We don't delay connections because we enjoy it - it will be because there is a serious problem onsite that needs to be solutioned for.

If you send me a DM with your name and service address I can look into the situation and see what the problem actually is. I appreciate a resolution hasn't happened as quickly as you might expect so I can look at why that might be - eg has Chorus asked the developer/builder to fix their mistake and are they dragging the chain?

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

nicsd

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#3085807 6-Jun-2023 23:07

Thanks for the replies.

I am only having a go at Chorus because they are incompetent, not because I get any kick out of it. If they had solved my problem, I would be on here giving them a big thumbs up, but truth be told they are worse than no help at all. They literally don't know what they are doing. I don't mind paying to dig a hole, let's say its $5,000, I'll do it, the issue is that no one from Chorus has any suggestions on what needs to be done, they just lean on shovels, suck teeth and wander off promising to return or call, but do neither. Don't defend the indefensible.

I spoke with Spark, and they say that the property is ready for fiber but I explained the situation and so they are on hold, the fiber needs to be dragged from the street into the house before an ISP will get involved.

Maybe the fault lies with the fella who built the house, but that is in the past, the point is I have a real issue and I need it fixed. But Chorus can't tell me how, all they tell me is that they are coming back later in the week with the field manager and then never turn up and never contact me for months on end, what do you expect me to do?

My guess is I have to get a thrusting firm to burrow under the drive close to where the neighbour's fiber branches off and fit a conduit to where my builder put the drop off, but again until Chorus give me some direction, I would just be digging a hole with no guarantee of success and possibly causing a world of harm to other infrastructure. This is all outside the boundary of my property, not like I can just start randomly digging up the pavement. I need Chorus to add value to this situation. Frankly after 7 months I am left utterly frustrated, as I said, after a life living all around the world they are by far the worst company I have ever had the misfortune to deal with.

boosacnoodle

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#3085831 7-Jun-2023 08:25

You haven't answered any of the questions that anyone has put to you, so not sure how you can expect anyone to help you here.

I get that it's frustrating but if you are looking for a resolution (as opposed to a rant) you need to answer the questions.

trig42

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#3085836 7-Jun-2023 08:57

Have you sent the DM to Wheelbarrow01?

They are offering to help - that is what you want. I see you posted your rant 30 minutes after their (I think) helpful response, so you must have read it.

I get it is frustrating, and Chorus, like any large company, can be frustrating to deal with. Biting the hand that is trying to feed you is not helpful though.

freitasm

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#3086027 7-Jun-2023 11:34

@nicsd:

My guess is I have to get a thrusting firm to burrow under the drive close to where the neighbour's fiber branches off and fit a conduit to where my builder put the drop off, but again until Chorus give me some direction, I would just be digging a hole with no guarantee of success and possibly causing a world of harm to other infrastructure. This is all outside the boundary of my property, not like I can just start randomly digging up the pavement. I need Chorus to add value to this situation. Frankly after 7 months I am left utterly frustrated, as I said, after a life living all around the world they are by far the worst company I have ever had the misfortune to deal with.

Answer the questions here (and PM wheelbarrow01 as requested). Rants aren't helpful.

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Wheelbarrow01

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#3086063 7-Jun-2023 12:42

The OP messaged me last night with the address details and I am following up internally now to get a handle on what the issues are - looks to be broadly in line with what the OP said - the inside boundary duct work does not meet up with where our network is on the streetside. I suspect there has been some back and forth on who is responsible for paying to fix it, but I agree that it probably should not have taken so long without a resolution being identified and put into motion. As I mentioned previously there may be more to the story so I'll post back once I have more information :)

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

RunningMan

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#3086087 7-Jun-2023 14:24

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.

RunningMan

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#3086091 7-Jun-2023 14:30

nicsd: [snip]

I am only having a go at Chorus because they are incompetent, not because I get any kick out of it. If they had solved my problem, I would be on here giving them a big thumbs up, but truth be told they are worse than no help at all. They literally don't know what they are doing. I don't mind paying to dig a hole, let's say its $5,000, I'll do it, the issue is that no one from Chorus has any suggestions on what needs to be done, they just lean on shovels, suck teeth and wander off promising to return or call, but do neither. Don't defend the indefensible.

30 minutes before you posted this, you've had one of the most helpful people here, who works for Chorus, reach out to you personally to offer some help. Don't really think this is worse than no help at all.

Thanks @Wheelbarrow01 if nobody has already thanked you.

nicsd

11 posts

Geek

#3086566 8-Jun-2023 14:03

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.

nicsd

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#3086577 8-Jun-2023 14:21

Just to add there has been no back and forth about paying, as mentioned I am ok with that conversation. I'd love Chorus to come to me and explain the solution and let me know what needs to be paid for, I have no idea. Until I found this site I have been essentially shouting into a void for 7 months, so I offer an apology for ranting. But the current solution is a Spark smart modem, and for whatever reason that drops wi fi connection probably 5 times a day, and when you work from home on conference calls with clients and my wi fi drops, and my kids can't study because their zoom meetings are kicked out and I can't get fiber installed, things get very stressful.......

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