Irish Broadband Experience :(

Red Alert

I don't know if anybody else has had similar problems, but here's my experience with IBB so far:

I initally signed up for the Breeze Home service. About a week later, I got a call from a girl who said they no longer did that, so I went for the ripwave device instead - having got an assurance that the device had BOTH USB and Ethernet ports. I have a linksys router and WLAN access point so I really needed ethernet connectivity. Things went downhill from here.

The device was shipped but seemed to be stuck in the interlink warehouse for over a week. I eventually was forced to walk up there this morning from ballinteer and collect it, as the delivery I had arranged for this morning didn't materialise, and upon ringing Interlink was told that IBB hadn't specified for it to be deliviered!?!

So I got the Ripwave unit home, and what did I find only that it had just a USB socket, which is no use to me - and it was not what I was told. I am now being charged 25 euros for the privilage of changing the device to one which complies with my original order to this company.

To say i'm displeased is an understatement - has anyone had a similar fracas with this crowd?

EDIT: The piece I forgot the most is that i'm paying for the 3 weeks or so of access that i haven't had!

anthonymcg

Not really related to your topic but I went for an interview with IBB who were looking for a web administrator at the time. Interview went well but I was amazed by the fact that they wanted to store customer details in an Access database. I told them about the disadvantages and they were like "wow, I never knew that" and I advised to use either mysql or postgre. They didn't hire me and I certainly wouldn't do business with them after having that conversation.

MicraBoy

I have had similar shananagans with IBB so far. I originally inquired about the Breeze Home package and was told that it didn't exist anymore. I was told I could choose the Ripwave or Breeze Lite. (Bit ticked off because the website was totally inaccurate in terms of products - its updated now).

I applied for Ripwave only to get a similar phone call to say they couldn't find my address and that I wasn't covered by any product. I was not impressed at all. After a day or two I decided to check back with the person I had been in touch with in my original inquiry, this time I was told I'm not covered by Ripwave (the coverage was reduced) but could get the Breeze Lite. I am now waiting to see will they accept the original order for Ripwave instead of having to submit a new one.

Not looking good based on whats said above.

Creamy Goodness

ripwave isn't actually available in all their areas and even after that i hear you gotta be in reasonable distance of the tower to get a decent connection

scary

Rang IBB yesterday about disconnecting my service ( moving house and all) without asking any details I was told I would have to pay €150 to have someone come out and take the equipment down. I laughed and told them I would get up on my roof and do it myself but the nice chappy on the phone said that could not be done and the charge went towards sending a crane out to get it down ( I kid you not) Needless to say direct debit will be cancelled and if they want the equipment back they know where it is.


scary

DapperGent

I live in Glasnevin and emailled them ages ago about getting broadband.

Gave my location and asked a few bits and bobs like how obtrusive the dish was etc., I live in an apartment complex that has a fairly strict policy about visible stuff cluttering up the outside. No reply.

Emailled them again and said I talked to a few people and that the dish should be okay and also that there were a good few people in the apartment complex interested in getting broadband. Asked some more questions about how many users could be run off a single dish etc. etc. No reply.

Hello Esat? Can I have broadband? Yes, yes you can. Thanks Esat.

Ardent

RedAlert, I got my Ripwave modem last wednesday (IBB lost my first application form and I only got the modem by constantly ringing them up harrassing them about it). I was never asked by sales which version I wanted (USB or ethernet) and I never thought to ask as I assumed it was going to be ethernet judging by posts from other users on here. Finally, when it arrived, I got the USB version. No big deal I thought initially.

Two problems:

1) Turns out the USB cable isn't very long. So I had to go into Maplin to buy a 5 metre Active USB cable in order to get the modem near the window. These cost 33 euros! The sales guy in Maplin said if I had the ethernet modem the ethernet cables are dead cheap. I ring IBB customer support and ask them if I can exchange for an ethernet modem and yer wan said sure but you have to pay 25 euros. I told her I was never asked which version I wanted, assumed I was getting the ethernet version, was sent a USB modem, and now I have to pay for the privilege of getting the modem I wanted in the first place? She said, well sales should have asked you which version you wanted. C'est la vie kind of attitude.

2) Maybe it's just me, but the USB version of Ripwave is very flakey! The diagnostic tool shows the connections between the PC and modem dropping every few minutes, not to mention the connection between the modem and the IBB transmitter. I have nothing weird installed on XP, it's a brand new PC. After hours of trial and error and killing loads of services in XP I was finally able to get the modem to sustain an internet connection (and it's fast when it works!). However, I am no longer all of a sudden able to get any sort of a signal since Thursday of last week. For some reason it just stopped working, constant flashing red light. IBB suppot haven't been able to sort this out and they want the modem back for testing. Meanwhile I'm paying for an internet service I'm not even getting!

Personally, I don't think the modem is faulty, I think it's an engineering/administrative problem of some sort and if they don't get this sorted ASAP I'll be writing a nasty letter to whoever the head dude is in there. This whole fiasco is costing me money and has left a bad taste in my mouth since the very first moment I contacted them.

(In their defence however, the sales people are amiable enough as are the customer support crew - I just think the whole outfit is very badly run with little or no inter-departmental communication).

Red Alert

In your case i'd seriously advise suspending direct debits from your bank while you've got no service.

My service appears to die between 6.30PM and 11.30PM and usually comes on with a steady amber light sometime during the night. Thing is, if I upgraded to Breeze, would I get a refund for the 'service' with RipWave?