Broadband and consumers' rights?

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Broadband and consumers' rights?

GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#73327 11-Dec-2010 21:34

Hi there what are the rights of the consumer under the law when receiving a service from a NZ ISP and what you agreed on as the product purchased is not the actual product or service and ISP seemed vague when it comes to answering our questions. The service is inferior the one purchased and the data cap is lower than the one purchased.

I would not like to go into detail of what ISP is doing this but just like to know what my rights are in regards this issue that i think is unfair.

thank you,

Andy

tdgeek

29746 posts

Uber Geek

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Lifetime subscriber

#415984 11-Dec-2010 21:57

Without knowing anything about your situation Iwill offer my personal opinion.

"The service is inferior the one purchased"

I can only assume that you mean the broadband is unstable. If so, your ISP can assist you to getting that resolved. If the issue is that speed has reduced, you need to take that up with your ISP, there may be many possible reasons

"the data cap is lower than the one purchased" If you thought you had a X GB data allowance and you now find that the Gb data allowance is not what you thought, just advise the ISP.

ascroft

396 posts

Ultimate Geek

#415985 11-Dec-2010 21:58

Start by writing them a letter outlining the situation and what you want.

common sense is not very common

GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#416034 12-Dec-2010 07:30

Thank you guys:
this are the problems

1. i payed for 20GB traffic with priority full speed up and down streams
2. i payed for wireless fast broadband and got dsl broadband
3. original invoice is 20gb data allowance, now new invoice says 5gb eh

I have written to them and take a long time to reply and when they do is confusing or don't actually answer the question.

what rights do i have if this people fail to answer my questions or ignore my requests?

thanks guys,

Andy

tdgeek

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#416070 12-Dec-2010 10:19

Ok, so you ordered two connectons.

1. A DSL 20Gb plan with priority up and download. And they gave you a 5Gb plan. Surely that is a mistake with the rep you talked to and can be resolved.

2. You ordered Mobile Broadband and they gave you DSL. I cant see how that can happen as for DSL they must have asked what phone number? Ans surely they must have confirmed the MBB data device with you?

3. It appears thay they placed you on a 5Gb plan, that as I stated in 1 is easily resolved.

You need to not assume they are ignoring you, if they are busy the reply may take longer than usual. If the reply is confusing just ask them to simplify. To be honest, I am not 100% clear based upon what you have said. I take it you now have a 5Gb ADSL plan and another DSL plan as well, and not the 20Gb DSL and the additonal Mobile Broadband?

The other is Mobile Broadband.

GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#416221 12-Dec-2010 19:00

My apologies english is my third language so i did not explain as good as i should my bad.

Firstly I moved to a new house so I changed internet provider therefore I purchased wireless broadband and voip telephone package and was promised that wireless range was not an issue.
However now they say I will have DSL cable instead of wireless due to poor range in that area.

the problem is that I paid a lot for the hardware for the wireless broadband however i no longer getting that just dsl and connection is not that good and on top of the problem what i paid for was 20GB with full speed up and down and what im getting 512kbps up and 2mbps down??? and only 5GB and when i request my money back for wireless hardware i got no reply to my email.

frustrating,

thanks guys

Andy

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#416244 12-Dec-2010 19:47

so it's whoosh I presume?

GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#416259 12-Dec-2010 20:36

Hi there is not Whoosh and actually as mentioned before i would not like to mention the ISP name all i want is to know where i stand in regards of my rights as costumer,

thanks,

Andy

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webwat

2036 posts

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#416313 12-Dec-2010 23:48

I get the feeling something is missing, so being a geek you won't mind a few "if then" statements...

1. If you applied specifically for a fixed wireless service at a place thats out of coverage, they should have been able to tell you its unavailable and then let you decide if you want an alternative like DSL and let you choose the appropriate plan. If you just requested the same price then you should check the alternative data limit.

If you applied for a service that includes different technologies, they should be able to explain up front what the prices and data caps are for each option.

If the new fixed wireless appeared within coverage, theres no guarantee until the installer tests for a signal on site. They won't install the antenna without sufficient signal strength and signoff from the property owner for mounting onto the building.

If you just want to keep using your Ethernet router, then set the DSL modem to "half bridge" mode and set the Ethernet router to pickup its WAN IP using DHCP. I'm a bit rusty on that, so you might have to experiment a bit or ask the modem supplier.

If they offered you a 20GB DSL service for a particular price, they must provide it.

If they expect you can survive on a 5GB data cap, they must be crazy.

If they said you get "priority" on residential DSL, then they are definitely crazy. You only specify priority on a business grade service with an SLA saying exactly what is prioritised. Some kinds of gaming/voip traffic might get priority on the ISP network but its still shared bandwidth and shares the same queues on Telecom network.

If you take another look at your invoice, it should show a credit for the unsuccessful wireless plan, so you only pay for the DSL.

Time to find a new industry!

tehconz

47 posts

Geek

#416552 13-Dec-2010 14:54

Reading this again, I'm pretty sure when he says "wireless broadband" what he really means is that he signed up for a DSL account that comes with a wifi router, rather than 3G broadband or Woosh or something.

I think the only real problem here is the 5GB / 20GB issue which should be easy to solve with the ISP. I imagine the "wireless" confusion came about like this: Customer: "Is it wireless?" ISP: "Yes, this plan comes with a free wireless router" Customer: "Hey! This is DSL, I thought I ordered wireless!" etc.

There was never any "wireless broadband" plan ordered, just a DSL plan that comes with a router that provides both wireless and wired ethernet connectivity to the computers in the house. I think ISPs need to be more careful when they describe a service as "wireless" when really its standard DSL broadband bundled with a wifi router. This should never be described to a customer as "wireless broadband" because really, its wired broadband with a wireless home network.

GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#416559 13-Dec-2010 15:03

tehconz im sorry i tried to explain and seemed not been enough,

firstly there is in Palmerston North Wireless broadband not dsl and it is broadcasted from different points throughout the city including the wind farms out town this wireless service is not dsl cable it is actually tranfered like 3G vodafone or telecom but is not either of those companies and im not confused about purchasing dsl and thinking is wireless as the actual dsl internet i got it has wireless router,

thanks

Andy

tehconz

47 posts

Geek

#416561 13-Dec-2010 15:05

Ah, cool that clears things up. If you ordered wireless internet from a local wireless ISP, how did you end up with DSL? They can't just go messing with your phone line without your permission.

tehconz

47 posts

Geek

#416567 13-Dec-2010 15:24

Ok, I found your ISP, I'l keep them anonymous on here as you wished, but a quick google will find them for anyone interested. I see they offer both wireless and DSL based plans, so obviously they have given you one when you asked for the other. I would suggest you give them a call and explain the situation, just say you signed up for their wireless service but ended up with their DSL. It sounds as though you may be just out of their coverage range, or something about the terrain around your place means you wont get a good signal, and thats why they gave you DSL. If thats the case they should have explained all this to you and given you the option to get their DSL or go with another ISP.

As to your rights as a consumer in this situation, you signed up for 20GB of wireless service, If the company is unable to deliver this to you you are entitled to a full refund of everything you have paid, including any wireless equipment. You can then decide if you want to sign up for their DSL service, or go with another provider. Considering your experience with them so far, you may want to consider taking your business elsewhere.

Hope this helps and sorry about the wireless / wifi confusion. I've had conversations with people who insist they have wireless internet only to find out its just a wifi router hooked up to standard DSL!

GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#416570 13-Dec-2010 15:30

"Ah, cool that clears things up. If you ordered wireless internet from a local wireless ISP, how did you end up with DSL? They can't just go messing with your phone line without your permission. "

this is where it gets pretty odd

1. we did not sign any papers he just gave us invoice for nearly $400 just for wireless hardware and install..

2. we purchased Wireless Broadband and we were given DSL...he said range was poor too many trees and then he told us he ordered connection through DSL.. We were confused at that point.

3. He came and install it DSL and charged us with $150 for that and stated free month broadband for the inconvenience.
4. we requested take $150 from the $400 we already paid and pay us the rest back however he said we will credit you the left overs from $400 but when i check credit only have $75 eh.

5. Internet service is not good and 5GB is not gonna do for us.

I just want to know what to do.

in regards dealing with my phoneline issue for dsl, we did not have a phone line so sold us a package for 20GB full up and full down speed broadband with phone line included.

I hopes this makes it clear,

thank you,

Andy

GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#416579 13-Dec-2010 15:41

Hi tehconz, thank you so much for your help i was just worried about how to go about with this issue. I cant believe this company is so bad at communicating and keeping to the agreement.

Thank you will go and ask for full refund and take business elsewhere,

thanks again,

Andy

tehconz

47 posts

Geek

#416595 13-Dec-2010 16:04

The installer should have tested the signal strength at your house before starting your wireless install. You should be entitled to that $400 back. I'm not sure how much luck you might have getting a refund for the DSL install, it depends if you agreed to it or not. If you didn't ask for DSL and the installer just did it without your permission and then charged you, then I think you should get that money back as well. The good news is that you shouldn't have to pay that $150 connection again fee to move to another ISP.

I would focus on getting that $400 back for the wireless install, there's no way they can justify charging you for installing equipment that they can't actually make work at your location. If you have to, you could contact the commerce commission, as you have paid for a service they have been unable to deliver, so you are legally entitled to a refund (I'm not a lawyer etc).

Once you have all that sorted out, get onto them about moving from 5GB to 20GB, that shouldn't be too hard as its really just a billing change at their end.