ClickSilver ..just died...again !

silent

I agree dub45. And the new 30E product will probably make things worse. To be honest I don't care about packet loss, slow pings even complete outages - as long I'm informed after they have been resolved, what the cause was, what will be done to prevent this in the future, basically a short incident report, no need to be technical or so (I understand they have agreements with their subcontractors to not discluse full details nor would want to they themselves due to security implications) - in the event of a major disruption sent to all utv users by email together with apologies from utv. A dedicated support forum would be welcome too - relying on a unmonitored newsgroup is too archaic I think.

problems occur and people make mistakes, that is normal. But it's really no communication from utv's side that makes things bad presently. As I said during and after an outage. Did they finally implement the voice banner when calling during a general outage on their support phone number? That would be a first step. An informative, working and well comunicated support page would be a second.

Ideally I'd like to see all utv users addressed by email, reasuring about utv's commitment and what steps will be taken in a timelly manner (that means few weeks at max) to implement an improved support structure. I think of broadband as an utility like gas - you expect it to work all the time - when it doesn't - you want to be informed why and for how long. Even if it takes longer, as long as this is updated - it's ok. There's no extras in an utility - either it works or not.

edit: I'd like to add that the reason I'm with utv is not solely price but because I hope that they will improve their support, I have liked them in the dial-up days and like some features like a well working billing, easy signup with a creditcard, good account management inteface. And I still hope that they will improve the points raised in the first paragraphs

dub45

Originally posted by Aepos
Surely any contract is a two way thing and if UTV are not providing what they advertised then the validity of such a contract is questionable.

Anyone on boards.ie with the necessary legal qualifications willing to give an informed (free) opinion?

Cheers

What has put me off pursuing this is that even if UTV release me or you from the contract there seems to be a long period then of disconnection before you are up and running again with another ISP. And reading the posts on here none of the ISP's seem to be any great shakes in that they have all managed to give a number of their cusomters trouble one way or another. Although none of the others appear to have the service issues that UTV have.

I really am still very annoyed at UTV's insistence that their customers sign up for another 12 months before they allow the 'benefit' of the reduced prices. Even if the service were better that would nearly drive me away.

dub45

Originally posted by silent
Did they finally implement the voice banner when calling during a general outage on their support phone number? That would be a first step

Well not unless they implemented it since last night! Jonski reports here about being on for half an hour waiting on an answer!

DMT

Originally posted by silent
Any1 has good suggestions for a domain name?

www.clunksilver.com

rymus

The reason I keep having to restart my router is... lets say unknown. It doesn't crash, I can still login to it and the network stays up. When I go into the WAN connection status it says "idle". If I then click connect it'll go to "trying" and either stay like that or go back to idle after a bit. I find that when I go and unplug my modem & router for anything up to 20/30 secs and then plug it back in I can login to the router again and it connects a few secs after I click connect.

That only started last week, it was perfect up till then so I seriously doubt it's a router problem. Directions I received in an email from UTV (one of the maintenance emails) was that in the event of connection failure, unplug router & leave for 3 mins. This seems to be happening at least 5/6 times a day now, really starting to get annoying. Well, it really started to get annoying when it was in the second day. Now it's just bloody ridiculous.

As for domain names
www.clickslither.com
www.clicksloth.com (as in the slow animal.. spelling might be off)
www.tricksilver.com (as in it's a trick if you can connect)
www.takingthemicksilver.com (for obvious reasons)
www.clicksilverispants.com
www.youteevee.com/clicksilver

I have more.. but theyre all as crap as the above.

David-[RLD]-

On clicksilver on blanchardstown exchange.

Two words: NOT FUN!!

I'm getting sub-dialup speeds of 0.2KB/sec to 5 KB/sec and I'm very VERY p!ssed off.

David-[RLD]-

Just spiked to 30KB/sec for a minute or so there before dropping back to... 0.07KB/sec. Back at 6KB/sec.

Like I said before: not fun. *cries*

Aepos

lost connection 4 times in the last hour. speeds roughly same as dial up with the odd surge to 25ish.

Totally and absolutely p**sed off with this.

Aepos

got so pi**sed off with the service just sent the following email to the support bods


"Why don’t you folks respond to the emails and complaints you are getting?



Check this link for info on the level of dissatisfaction with Clicksilver in the republic.



http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=148341"

Xcellor

Originally posted by Aepos
Surely any contract is a two way thing and if UTV are not providing what they advertised then the validity of such a contract is questionable.

Anyone on boards.ie with the necessary legal qualifications willing to give an informed (free) opinion?

Cheers

I'm not a solicitor but have studied a bit of consumer law. The Sale of Goods and Supply of services makes reference to a service or good being fit for it's purpose and living up to it's description...

Always on Internet.
Fast Download speeds.

Both of those do not constitute what you are getting from ClickSilver presently and I believe consumer law has higher precedence than a contract. I come to this conclusion because if you sign a contract that is stating you must do something that is illegal by state law then that is not binding.

Also a retailer cannot get out of their legal obligation to provide merchantable quality goods by inventing a limited warranty. Your consumer rights overpower any warranty provided by a shop and a warranty is only supplementary but does never replaces comsumer law.

They are providing a service which is not living up to consumer laws... and therefore the same principle applies.

If you are seriously thinking of dropping UTV I would advise keeping an accurate log of downtimes that can be verified by someone else. But I doubt they could put up much of a fight considering the service of late...

X

Aepos

Thanks for that information. I am sure many other subscribers to UTV will be most interested in your post..As will UTV.

Every time I have a problem I confirm same with an email to utv (as requested by a UTV supportperson), so I have quite a collection of emails and ticket numbers confirming their receipt of same. Unfortunately though, very few proper replies to my legitimate complaints.

Cheers

Xcellor

This link gives some further info regarding contracts.

http://www.odca.ie/cfmdocs/documents/docs2.cfm?article_no=3863

Have a read through it, some of it is applicable.

It always falls on the shoulders of the service provider to put things right.

X

DMT

Originally posted by David-[RLD]-
Just spiked to 30KB/sec for a minute or so there before dropping back to... 0.07KB/sec. Back at 6KB/sec.

Like I said before: not fun. *cries*

What are you downloading and what are you using to download it?
For instance, that will often happen when using eDonkey, eMule or Kazaa, but not if you're downloading something big from microsoft.com

rymus

I'm afraid to say that I've experienced a "the straw that broke the camels back" moment with UTV. After all my patience I never thought it'd happen. Only complained a bit after all the downtime, crap speeds and huge amounts of trouble moving my account to my new house but now it seems that I have to pay for the month of downtime I had when moving house. Well, three weeks at least. I'm still being charged the normal monthly rate for not being connected to clicksilver. This is not a billing error either. **** utv, **** their God awful service and **** their attitude towards their customers. As soon as I can, I'm off to IOL, Netsource or anyone else that'll give me DSL and doesn't have a company name that sounds like Eircon.

Couch Potato

Guys - signed up with utv last week.

They have taken off the 99 euro fee on the credit card.

My question is that given all the bad press here with regard to the service I really want to hang off to see if they get this sorted - Can I cancel the service at this stage even though I have not received the service / modem etc. yet ????

Aepos

If I were you I'd do it now and while your on to them point them to boards.ie to get the reasons for your cancelling the sign up......

I did email them and gave them the link but I doubt very much that they will bother to check.

Xcellor

I'm not an expert but there is a period of time after a contract is signed called the "cooling off" period which allows time for change of mind...

"The consumer then has a period of 7 working days to cancel the contract with you without giving a reason. This is known as the "cooling off period". The only obligation on the consumer is to return the goods to you. "

That is EU law. Also for all of you people who have been waiting 30 days + for installation read this.

"The contract with the consumer must be performed within 30 days unless otherwise agreed. If not the consumer can demand a full refund."

Hope this helps,
X

dub45

Originally posted by Couch Potato
Guys - signed up with utv last week.

They have taken off the 99 euro fee on the credit card.

My question is that given all the bad press here with regard to the service I really want to hang off to see if they get this sorted - Can I cancel the service at this stage even though I have not received the service / modem etc. yet ????

Well at the very least why not email them pointing towards boards and saying that you when you signed up you had no idea that their service was so iffy and that you now have serious reservations about progressing the matter. Tell them that the service people appear to be ´´receiving´´ bears no relation to what they are advertising. Ask them for reassurance that they are attending to these matters and ask for confirmation that the service you receive will be what is advertised. At least then if it comes to you wanting to cancel later you can produce your copy of the email.

Couch Potato

Originally posted by dub45
Well at the very least why not email them pointing towards boards and saying that you when you signed up you had no idea that their service was so iffy and that you now have serious reservations about progressing the matter. Tell them that the service people appear to be ´´receiving´´ bears no relation to what they are advertising. Ask them for reassurance that they are attending to these matters and ask for confirmation that the service you receive will be what is advertised. At least then if it comes to you wanting to cancel later you can produce your copy of the email.

Already done with offending link included ... ticket number assigned etc....

Couch Potato

Guys - Have you any idea what is causing this ... (really )

Is it outside their control ?? ie. €ircon ???

Is there anyway to get reassurance of this being fixed ... perhaps Malcom could interact with us boards people ???????????

Gonzo

If I were you I would get out while you still can without costing you any real money and try IOL or Eircom. Im on Eircom and as much as we all hate them i have to admit that their broadband product is the only thing they have ever gotten right. It would be flawless except for the still very low caps of 8gb for plus and 4gb for the cheaper one. IOL is meant to be very good after a bit of trouble getting setup with its 16gig cap, they are acting up a bit at tlhe moment but unlike UTV I think IOL are only having slight problems and hopefully be fully sorted very soon. Good luck in your efforts to ditch utv before its too late.

dub45

Originally posted by Couch Potato
Guys - Have you any idea what is causing this ... (really )

Is it outside their control ?? ie. €ircon ???

Is there anyway to get reassurance of this being fixed ... perhaps Malcom could interact with us boards people ???????????

Malcolm did make a posting here but I have to say it really infuriated me.

UTV has been really poor since the start of the year with no apology or communications from Malcolm and then this sanctiminous guff appears. For instance I have been pressing in the support group for news on two three hours breaks (on Sat Sun 28 & 29th Feb)which UTV dont appear to have a clue about the cause and which they on their own admission did not start investigating until the following Monday!

Remember the proxy issue? That problem started immediately after a breakdown in a UTV router and still they fobbed loads off loads of complaints by telling people they all had a problem with their own computer. And this is UTV´s self proclaimed unrivalled technical support!!

I particularly like this bit

and tomorrow will be demanding a full and explicit reason for the outage and to put in place measures to prevent a re-occurrance.

UTV´s own customers have been requesting exactly such explanations and assurances from UTV themselves almost since the inception of Clicksilver to no avail unfortunately!!!

And dont forget they will not pass on the benefits of the reduced wholesale prices to customers who have been with them from the beginning and who have had to put up with all the problems unless they commit to a futher 12 month contract. No other ISP has adopted this attitude. You would think that they would be falling all over us to get us to stay but what do we get? Contempt for our concerns and a lousy service.

People hanging on for support to answer for up to 30 minutes and even then there appears to be no satisifactory information available.

If your grocer is constantly selling you sour milk how long do you put up with him telling you its your fridge and/or his supplier?

P.S. Seeing as I am in full flight here moaning I have to put in a word for Jonski's 'beloved' pings!!!

Couch Potato

Thanks

That post is from 18th March - this is 25th ..... 7 days ago and the problems still don't seem to be resolved ????

Gonzo

I aint sure what UTVs problems are but I think its their routing system for their network which is particularly dire in the republic, not sure how it performs in northern ireland. Even when Utv was working normally it has always giving very bad pings for people here even before UTV owned the network, it was previously called DNA Internet and they are the reason why the routing is so bad, UTV bought them out and imo bought problems. If I were UTV i would take a serious look at the way the network is routed for the republic, if they are fully serious about becoming a premier broadband service here they should have some sort of decent setup in Dublin with all the routing going thru Dublin instead of Belfast/London. That initself would prolly cure the ping problems alot. As for the disconnections, 56k style speeds no-one knows what is causing that not even utv it appears. They get it fixed and its back again a day or two later:( Its a real shame because UTV had their heart in the right places offering us better value and competition but unfortunately their network is not able to cope and their friendly input on these boards has dissappeared. This cant go on forever, its already caused harm to their broadband sales id imagine by now and they need to get it sorted very soon in every respect, pings, downloads, speeds etc. If UTV could provide a broadband service with their current prices and stability of Eircoms network, UTV would clean up down here and be an excellent source of competition.

dub45

Originally posted by Gonzo
Its a real shame because UTV had their heart in the right places offering us better value and competition but unfortunately their network is not able to cope and their friendly input on these boards has dissappeared. This cant go on forever, its already caused harm to their broadband sales id imagine by now and they need to get it sorted very soon in every respect, pings, downloads, speeds etc. If UTV could provide a broadband service with their current prices and stability of Eircoms network, UTV would clean up down here and be an excellent source of competition.

The unfortunate words here are 'had' 'if' and 'would' - there is no doubt that a Company offering Broadband at good prices and with good communications with their customers would clean up. But unfortunately on present performance and really since the introduction of clicksilver UTV have not been that Company. I think they took on far more than they were able for at that time (Just read back in the support group to the introduction of Clicksilver and at times UTV had not got a clue what was happening and this is based on their own posts to the group) If you read their annual report you will see that they place a great emphasis on keeping costs down so hiring extra people for support etc would not appear to be a priority for them. Maybe they simply underestimated the difficulty of running a broadband service in the republic - a lot of the time they simply dont appear to know whats going on - and thats based on other´s posts here.

And their attitude to passing on the reduced prices to their old customers confirms for me that the heart has long gone from the right place and moved much closer to UTV's wallet!

Xcellor

I think the moral of this story is unrelated business diversification does not work.

UTV are a television company. They produce TV documentaries, news programs etc. They don't do Internet...

Even the Internet companies that have always been Internet companies such as IOL have been having problems with BB and they are experienced in running an ISP (ok... it hurts to say that.. but they must be doing something right)

UTV have come from having little experience in the ISP world to offering dial up Internet and Broadband. It's not surprising that their technicians who are probably more familiar with camera equipment than routers are having probs...

I remember when Esat Telecom was first developed. They were a joke, they knew nothing and there were constant probs with little white boxes they sent you to get you on their network prior to CPS. I'm sure UTV will get it right eventually but how long that will take is anyone guess...

X

Gonzo

yeah they are mainly a tv company and not really a good one at that:) They are a very stuborn company - they refuse flatout to carry the ITV-1 networks professional image like all the other regions and instead opt for thier own brand everywhere. Their regional output is also quite poor compared to other regions and as for their main presenter Julian i think his name is I wont say anymore lol. Their network has a clearly unprofessional look imo and as this is thier main business what chance do we have of them running their Broadband network professionally:( Sry went off the main point there a bit:)

rymus

Originally posted by Xcellor
They don't do Internet...

If the few dozen complaints threads on here and their own newsgroup is anything to go by then no, they certainly do not do Internet!

colin300

i aint trying to get up peoples noses at this but i am in bray and have had no outages since the night a few days ago that iol went aswell i was on for about 23hrs 50mins yesterday and no probs.
I serve on IRC and i'm not sure if it it was my fault or the guy who was getting stuff of me but the upload speed was going all over the place but at least the upload went ok about 200mb uploaded in 4 hrs which aint half bad considering it would take weeks on dialup to get that up. Well maybe not weeks but days.getting speeds of about 47kb/s I dont surf to a huge extend so i dont know when my connection is bad or good but as long as i'm connected i'm happy.

But i understand how mad people must be on Clicksilver being disconnected i nearly up rooted my computer when i got disconnected cause i thought it was my winsock settings and was uninstalling things all over the place. The disconnections happened just as i had got it so it was understandable i decided to come here and saw that after the hours i was messin with it wasn't my computer.

But everyone here is forgeting one thing. The days of eircom are nearly coming to an end having a monopoly. Think back to a few years ago trying to get eircom out to fix a prob was a nightmare. When they came out what happened, the guy says yes its your handset (he replaces it) says alls good now. Then he speeds off at about 100 miles an hour. U lift up the phone and there it is the problem is back.

Plus another good thing to help everyone with these probs is that if your on the dearer old contract thinking of packing up with utv instead of starting a new contract u can cause they aren't giving u a suitable product.

jonski

Gone again ....so whats new .


John.