Need to vent to someone, here seems to be a good spot.
Both my wife and I work from home and use internet. Three years ago we had an ADSL link with Orcon, service was good, but started suffering speed problems and service started to deteriorate. We applied for an upgrade to VDSL and were told that a re-installation would cost $160. An advert for Spark (Telcom then) said "switch to VDSL and get free installation and first month free" so it was a no brainer, we switched with a one year contract. Ok, so speed was no faster than our old Orcon ADSL and we had the odd brown outs, but what peeved me off was not being able to talk to a human when we have a problem. When my year was up, I spoke to Slingshot, the saleslady was nice and assured me that they have real people working on their helpdesk and they are based in Auckland. I filled in my online form and a modem duly arrived in the post.

Then the problems began. Text messages, all starting with "Slinshot here.."

29 Oct "your broadband is due to be connected on 03 Nov 2015."
30 Oct "Sorry, change with connection date, now 30 Nov 2015"
25 Nov "..your connection date is 01 Dec 2015" (It doesn't happen)
02 Dec 10:59 "..Sorry new connection date is 02 Dec.. (It doesn't happen)
02 Dec 11:02 " ..Great news your home line service is now active with slingshot." ??
02 Dec 12:16 " .. A technician is due to connect you new service on 03 Dec 2015

During this litany of texts I phoned the help line a couple of times and during the hour on hold, was told that I should use their "on line" help service! Difficult when you are phoning to report that you are not "on line"
However on one successful call I managed to speak to a lady who stepped me through some modem settings and our internet connection came up. Too soon for celebration..only up for three hours then internet drops. Modem lights all report OK DSL is up and it says that internet is up but nope..dead.

My very frustrated wife also phoned to vent her wrath and was told that the problem was with Chorus. We were given a Chrous job number. A Chorus technician pitched and told us that nothing was wrong with the home installation.
Then a Chorus quality controller turned up, he was very nice and suggested that we monitor the service and report the frequent drop outs to Slingshot. But how? Their "on line" reporting system seems to be un-read. No response!

Finally, yesterday, another Chorus technician rolls up. He says the modem is getting too hot and re-installed my old Spark VDSL modem. Happy to report our setup is stable. At least until Spark want their modem back. Anyone know how to tell Slingshot that we need a new modem? Can anyone suggest a service provider who will take their customers a little more seriously?