Me & UPC: Giving a little credit where it's due

vibe666

just to be clear before I start, I'm not excusing any of the shoddy business practices or hit & miss support (or any other UPC foibles), i just wanted to say something positive for xmas.

I know there's a lot of grief being laid at UPC's door at the moment with the price increases and some speed & connection issues and whatnot and god knows i've had my fair share of problems with them myself right back to the old NTL & Chorus days, but I'm having a great morning and I just wanted to say something nice for a change.

right now, I'm on the 30mbps package and due to the snow I've been working at home for the last couple of days and so is my wife, so we're both VPN'd in to our separate work networks (her on her laptop downstairs, me on mine upstairs and never the twain shall meet, except for lunch:)) getting on with the day to day stuff of our respective jobs and its working fine and has been for a good while now with only a single connection drop yesterday lunchtime for about 60 seconds.

whilst we're doing this, I've been filling in a couple of gaps in my video collection (all perfectly legal public domain stuff, obviously:p) at between 2.5-3MB/s (megabytes not bits, note the big MB) AND she's streaming episodes of come dine with me from 4OD on the HTPC connected to the telly in the front room and neither of us have had any speed or latency issues with the VPN's at all.

5 years ago when we moved into our house, we had 3mbps DSL from BT and i remember that sometime after that i was all excited when my exchange was upgraded to 8mbps, even tho i only actually got 6mbps on a really good day and maybe 2-3mbps on a bad one.

when UPC rolled out their 20mbps in my area i was hesitant at first because of all my previous bad experiences with both NTL TV in our old apartment in Dublin and Chorus TV when we first moved and couldn't get sky because our phoneline took almost 3 months to get put on and at that time they wouldn't sign us up without one.

i'd sworn to myself that id never deal with them again because of that no matter what.

what pushed me over the edge and made me sign up was the continuing abysmal service of BT that even their complaints department continued to screw up AND that UPC took over officially and as people have mentioned, they're not the same company now as either chorus or NTL so i thought i'd at least give them a chance.

since then its been a bit of a rollercoaster with UPC and there have been some ongoing issues although they are all sorted now and (touch wood) i haven't had any issues at all for a long time now.

now we have 100mbps being rolled out in parts of dublin and the rest of the country in the next few months and rumours that existing 30mbps customer will be upgraded to 60mbps in the next couple of months too, so its all good.

looking at the investment UPC have made in Ireland over the lat few years to make the 100mbps rollout a reality is a pretty impressive achievement and i honestly believe that without the competition from UPC rolling out the 20mbps service that eircom would not have rolled out their (up to) 24mbps DSL products any time soon, given their financial situation and we'd all be on here complaining about being stuck with 3-6mbps on their rickety old 8mbps DSL instead of complaining that our 100mbps cable broadband is only running at 80mbps over wireless.

just think about the kind of leap in speeds that is in just a few years, it's pretty amazing stuff to think that Ireland (well, not all of it, but a good portion) is going to be way up their with the fastest broadband in europe and is now way ahead of the majority of the USA and is only really properly beaten by a few countries in Asia with 1gbps broadband.

anyway, it's christmas and I just wanted to share a happy experience of UPC for a change.

FoxT

Good! I am a UPC subscriber myself now (Cable TV, phone, broadband) - had a few hassles getting the broadband set up at first - so they gave me the service free for a month. Have found the service fast & reliable, for about 18 months or more now.

I am also chuffed that I am not giving eircom money anymore. Getting away from them was a dearly held ambition of mine for years.

So, me is happy too

Cabaal

Although not with UPC anymore, I used to be with them for about 18 months. Never had a reason to call their support line once and always had decent speeds for the package I was on.

I moved from UPC because I physically had to as they don't have services in the place I live now

dub45

No matter what products a company offers it does not excuse shoddy behaviour to put it kindly.

UPC will increasilngly dominate the market for a number of reasons and there is no likelihood of their behavour getting any better in those circumstances.

No one can deny that they offer excellent products.

What also cannot be denied is that they cannot be relied on as an organisation to behave with the integrity that one is entitled to routinely expect when doing business.

What does it say about a company that does not notify its customers in accordance with its own terms and conditions about a price increase that will net them millions in the coming year?

M.J.M.C

vibe666 wrote: »

looking at the investment UPC have made in Ireland over the lat few years to make the 100mbps rollout a reality is a pretty impressive achievement and i honestly believe that without the competition from UPC rolling out the 20mbps service that eircom would not have rolled out their (up to) 24mbps DSL products any time soon............

You said it. Could not have put it better myself.

Just to add, I'd also like to give a little credit where it is due.

I order my BB from them with ZERO issues.
I contacted them about an upgrade ZERO issues.
My BB went down once, they sent out an engineer ZERO issues.

UPC is the one and only thing on my bank statement I don't mind seeing

Nice post Vibe666

Nollog

dub45 wrote: »

No matter what products a company offers it does not excuse shoddy behaviour to put it kindly.

UPC will increasilngly dominate the market for a number of reasons and there is no likelihood of their behavour getting any better in those circumstances.

No one can deny that they offer excellent products.

What also cannot be denied is that they cannot be relied on as an organisation to behave with the integrity that one is entitled to routinely expect when doing business.

What does it say about a company that does not notify its customers in accordance with its own terms and conditions about a price increase that will net them millions in the coming year?

You weigh the good they offer against their bad.
For me, the speed and cap was enough and still will be in January.
That might change someday, but for now I'm OK.

dub45

M.J.M.C wrote: »

You said it. Could not have put it better myself.

Just to add, I'd also like to give a little credit where it is due.

I order my BB from them with ZERO issues.
I contacted them about an upgrade ZERO issues.
My BB went down once, they sent out an engineer ZERO issues.

UPC is the one and only thing on my bank statement I don't mind seeing

Nice post Vibe666

Is that not what we pay companies for???? Service?

dub45

/\/ollog wrote: »

You weigh the good they offer against their bad.
For me, the speed and cap was enough and still will be in January.
That might change someday, but for now I'm OK.

Why should you weigh the good against the bad? It's that sort of lazy attitude on the part of consumers that companies exploit.

Good products should not blind people to a lack of integrity.

Integrity in business should not be an option.

M.J.M.C

dub45 wrote: »

Is that not what we pay companies for???? Service?

Yes, but not all of them deliver on it

dub45

M.J.M.C wrote: »

Yes, but not all of them deliver on it

Sadly not and UPC do their fare share of non delivery as well.

It is sad that getting what we pay for becomes "remarkable".

M.J.M.C

dub45 wrote: »

Sadly not and UPC do their fare share of non delivery as well.

It is sad that getting what we pay for becomes "remarkable".

Maybe to you, to me they are the best Broadband provider in Ireland.
I couldn't give a flying toss if they raise their prices and don't email / post / txt me provided its listed on their website.

anyway you clearly have a bee in your bonnet with upc, vibe666 just wanted to "say something positive for xmas."

No amount of posting on boards will change your issue with them..:rolleyes:

I presume you asked for 100meg bb from upc for christmas then yeah?

vibe666

ah c'mon, i was trying to make this a happy post instead of the usual UPC bashing they normally get.

where's your christmas spirit?

dub45

I have issues with a busines that behaves consistently with a lack of integrity.

It would give me the greatest of pleasure to be able to praise UPC. As I have posted earlier a company with great products and integrity would be an unbeatable combination.

I am genuinely saddened that people on here cannot see beyond the fast bb.

And when one company behaves in a particular way the others follow "down".

Just look at the "unlimited" debacle.

There is no reason for UPC to behave in the way they do. It is a mindset in the organisation that they do not appear to be able to change. What sort of mindset cannot use the word "increase" when it comes to a price increase.

What sort of organisation greys out a charge and prints in a smaller size?

dub45

vibe666 wrote: »

ah c'mon, i was trying to make this a happy post instead of the usual UPC bashing they normally get.

where's your christmas spirit?

I just took it for granted that Hightower had hijacked your identity.:eek:

mickoneill30

dub45 wrote: »

It is sad that getting what we pay for becomes "remarkable".

It's probably sadder to say that people can't start a postive thread without some people popping on to point out negatives. I'm sure loads of people have problems with UPC. Then they should start a UPC bashing thread instead.

I'm with UPC too and I'm a heavy broadband user (I know the package I'm on has a 250Gb cap but I'm not that heavy a user so it doesn't bother me). I get what I paid for. I've only had downtime one day and when I rang them, they already knew about it and said they were working on it and it was fixed about 2 hours after I'd rung them.

That's not remarkable, just what I'd expect but I'm happy with it.

M.J.M.C

I could debate their use of the word "unlimted" but there are so many threads about that and what you are talking about already.. it spoils Vibe66's thread.

So to get back on topic!
UPC FTW!! :D

dub45

M.J.M.C wrote: »

I could debate their use of the word "unlimted" but there are so many threads about that and what you are talking about already.. it spoils Vibe66's thread.

So to get back on topic!
UPC FTW!! :D

Vibe's thread deserves spoiling as it is taking an uncritcial view of a company that constantly needs critical looking at.

mickoneill30

dub45 wrote: »

Vibe's thread deserves spoiling as it is taking an uncritcial view of a company that constantly needs critical looking at.

So if you don't agree with a thread it's OK to spoil it. Is that from a Moderators perspective or just a users?

Every company constantly needs critical looking at doesn't it?

dub45

mickoneill30 wrote: »

So if you don't agree with a thread it's OK to spoil it. Is that from a Moderators perspective or just a users?

Every company constantly needs critical looking at doesn't it?

How does one "spoil" a thread? I was using M.J.M.C.'s term to reply.

Is there some rule somewhere that says a thread has to be agreed with?

Yes every company needs critical looking at and unfortunately far far too many people allow fast bb speeds to blind them to a company's demonstrable downside in this case.

Praising a company without qualification at a time when they are increasing their prices and not informing customers as they should - a price rise which will generate millions for them -will only encourage that company to continue behaving as they have in the past.

M.J.M.C

dub45 i see your argument - and i raise you............100MB Broadband....Boooo YEAH!

Only joking :D:D:D

Seriously though, it would be good to have a "are you happy with your upc service" poll.

mickoneill30

dub45 wrote: »

How does one "spoil" a thread? I was using M.J.M.C.'s term to reply.

Dunno, I was also just replying to your post where you said it deserved spoiling.

dub45 wrote: »

Is there some rule somewhere that says a thread has to be agreed with?

Absolutely not. There are a few posts in this thread from various people with positive experiences and a lot of posts from one person with negative. We get it.

And this is off topic now so I'll end it there (from me anyway).

moonboy52

In my opinion there is way too much UPC bashing on Boards.

Every one is entitled to their opinion of course .

vibe666

moonboy52 wrote: »

In my opinion there is way too much UPC bashing on Boards.

Every one is entitled to their opinion of course .

that's the thing, i'm one of the biggest UPC bashers on here (altho i definitely wouldn't take the crown:pac:), i just wanted to say something nice about them for a change.

it doesn't change all the negatives, but it's christmas and i'm feeling all festive, happy & forgiving and i know that despite all the bad things, there's good in there as well.

nobody is a saint after all. let he who is without sin cast the first stone etc. etc. if i'm honest, i'm actually missing hightower1 because it's just not the same UPC bashing if he's not around to defend them. i'm starting to think that once he got his 100mbps installed he found loads of HD streaming pr0n and has fapped himself blind and can't find his PC or read the forum now. :pac:

moonboy52

vibe666 wrote: »

that's the thing, i'm one of the biggest UPC bashers on here (altho i definitely wouldn't take the crown:pac:), i just wanted to say something nice about them for a change.

it doesn't change all the negatives, but it's christmas and i'm feeling all festive, happy & forgiving and i know that despite all the bad things, there's good in there as well.

nobody is a saint after all. let he who is without sin cast the first stone etc. etc. if i'm honest, i'm actually missing hightower1 because it's just not the same UPC bashing if he's not around to defend them. i'm starting to think that once he got his 100mbps installed he found loads of HD streaming pr0n and has fapped himself blind and can't find his PC or read the forum now. :pac:

Haha. Love it!

vibe666

M.J.M.C wrote: »

Seriously though, it would be good to have a "are you happy with your upc service" poll.

DONE!

now vote you filthy animals! :pac:

P.S. sorry dub, couldn't resist the last one.

hightower1

vibe666 wrote: »

i'm starting to think that once he got his 100mbps installed he found loads of HD streaming pr0n and has fapped himself blind and can't find his PC or read the forum now. :pac:

Who... who said that... come closer?! :cool:

Lawrence1895

I'm quite happy with UPC as well.

I switched over to them when I moved house in January, because there was no phone line in the house at all. My old provider (not Eircom) were not able to fix it, so I rang UPC, as I had them for the TV already.

Within 2 days, everything was set up and no bothers since:cool:

The good thing is, phone and broadband are provided via the TV cable, which makes it independent from waiting ages for activating a phone line.

slave1

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King...

Nollog

dub45 wrote: »

Why should you weigh the good against the bad? It's that sort of lazy attitude on the part of consumers that companies exploit.

Good products should not blind people to a lack of integrity.

Integrity in business should not be an option.

Because this is the world.
It's where people exist, and other things are too.
Welcome.

hightower1

/\/ollog wrote: »

Because this is the world.
It's where people exist, and other things are too.
Welcome.

+1 , No ISP is perfect, UPC, Eircom, Vodafone etc... all of them.
In fact no company full stop is perfect.
We accept this as the way of the world not just the way of UPC.
Although some seem to focus on UPC at every opportunity possible.
If its not too rude to ask , DUB45 are you a UPC customer? If not who is your ISP?

In fact nothing is perfect, or at least very rarely.
You'll never have a perfect woman, car , kids or house. There will always be trade offs but as people the best we can hope for is that the good vs bad ratio is more good than bad. I think in UPCs case we feel the good outweighs the bad, that doesnt mean as consumers we should rest on that and not strive to get a better deal or conditions but we also need to accept when things are good they are good and ultimately if we are not happy with something we buy into that we individually do not have to continue to buy it.

Happy christmas to everyone here, hope you ALL have a very happy festive season and a brilliant new year.

dub45

/\/ollog wrote: »

Because this is the world.
It's where people exist, and other things are too.
Welcome.

No its your world. And if you tolerate a consistent lack of integrity from a company then thats the way it will stay. What incentive is there for a company to behave properly if people like you are blinded by fast bb speeds and will put up with a lack of integrity from business. UPC's reflex is sadly not towards behaving with integrity and they consistently prove this.

Their current behaviour in relation to the price increase is ample proof of this.
What is more basic for a business than to inform customers directly of a price increase?

The many customers of their so called "Unlimited" products who received letters from them recently got a sharp wake up call and a realisation that they had been deceived.

Thats the way it will continue to be if people like yourself put up with it.