Crackly lines
I have had about 12 months of difficulty getting a totally reliable connection since I was switched to the ADSL Max service (up to 8Mbits/sec).
In that time I found out that the crackly phone that had crackled for years was seriously reducing the speed of my connection as the interference, on occasion, was so severe it would reduce the speed to 100Kbits/sec, which the exchange would not reset until 24 hours later.
Also, the connectors that are sold for DIY extensions are not without their problems, and the reason why you have the option of loading any version of the router's firmware that has been issued in the past as well as the most recent version, is that sometimes the older version is more stable for your connection than the most recent version.
Fortunately I have experience of electrical fault finding and eventually found a workable solution to overcome the intermittent problems I had. However, even for me it has not been easy. BT was adamant that the line was satisfactory and, if I were to book a visit, I would be charged £180 pounds if they felt that the problem lay at my end.
I do not see how a competent telecoms technician could take longer than half an hour in such a visit and this charge is in excess of its actual cost. For many users, a visit from BT may be their only option as many problems are beyond the competency of the average user.
Neil Hardy
Give me choice
I’ve been looking to buy a new desktop system for some time and finally settled on the Dell Dimension XPS 420 with a colour laser printer. I configured the system to my requirements online and the total cost came to just under £1,250 - not an inconsiderable sum considering the starting cost is advertised at £649.
The only problem was the operating system. There was no option to have XP instead of Vista, this is vital to us as one our essential work programs (Avid Xpress Pro) cannot yet run under Vista - in fact this is true of many of our current programs.
In addition my wife’s work intends to remain with XP for several years and our machine had to be compatible with their system. So I phoned Dell to get this changed.
The first operative I spoke to said I couldn’t have XP, but I could load it on additionally myself. I said this was ridiculous; other manufacturers offer this option and I wasn’t about to pay £1,250 to then have to reconfigure the machine myself. After much discussion he promised to investigate this further and email me back - he never did. Two days later I called Dell again, spoke to a different operative and got the same answer.
I find it extraordinary that one of, if not the largest supplier of computers in this country will let you configure every aspect of your system but not the version of the operating system.
Tim Marchant
Check your tariff
I hope your readers are considerably more savvy than me. I take broadband from BT mainly because one I am too lazy to change. Well, I checked what I am paying and found it is £25 per month for 2MB and a cap of 20GB.
When I saw the better deals others (even BT) were offering it made me very annoyed - I can get 8Mbit/sec service, unlimited usage and a whole range of VoIP goodies for the same price.
Please tell your readers to check their contracts every year and like car insurance move it every year. If you just renew you get stung!
David Shaw
Laptop letdown
I have purchased a total of 23 HP laptops, mostly on behalf of my adult students and myself, the latest being a TX1020ea for myself direct from HP in April 2007.
Soon after purchase the 'Y' key kept detaching. Being an obvious manufacturing fault, collection for repair was arranged and I was told that repair would take 7 to 10 working days.
I tried over several days to call the service department, at different times of the day for periods of 10-20 minutes at a time without success. I finally got through on the 12th day, only to be told that they were still sourcing a replacement keyboard - why this was not done prior to collection, having been clearly told the problem, shows the first of numerous flaws in HP's repair system.
It is hard to accept that there can be any valid reason why such a basic component for a current model is not in stock at HP’s central repair centre in Bracknell. As the service centre could not tell me when the required keyboard would be available (they have 8 weeks according their terms of trading before they would consider replacing the unit) I asked them to return the laptop which I could still use until such time as the keyboard was available - at which time I would return the unit personally as I only
live 15 miles from the repair centre.
I was then advised that, if the unit was returned, the order for the replacement keyboard would be cancelled. When I asked to speak to the service manager or supervisor, neither would talk to me. And, when I requested the manager's name, I was told this too was confidential - this is HP service department not the Pentagon.
My dealings with customer services in Gateshead fared no better, as they too could not get through by phone to their own company service department and could only communicate via internal email.
Hewlett Packard makes excellent products but its after sales service is shamefully inefficient. They either have too many repairs to keep a fully stocked spares department or insufficient adequately trained telephone staff.
My experience has left me disappointed and disillusioned with Hewlett Packard, the owner of a laptop with a loose 'Y' key and asking myself why should I recommend and give business to a company that treats its customers in such a cavalier way and cannot provide an adequate repair service.
Mel Franses
HP responded: "HP was disappointed to learn of Mr Franses's experience and is working to resolve the matter as quickly as possible. HP takes the after care service it provides to its customers extremely seriously"
Exemplary customer service
In this era of litigatious insanity and over-frequent complaints it is a pleasure to report an example of exemplary service.
Having tried unsuccessfully to reinstall drivers for my Freecom TV decoder on my upgraded desktop I contacted their helpline and obtained two days of free courteous and helpful advice which solved my problem.
Not bad, two years after the initial purchase.
Alan Ridgway
The trials of buying a new laptop
Currys
Almondvale Shopping Centre, Livingston
Me: I would like to buy one of the Sony Vaio N Series laptop’s that’s on display.
Currys: Hold on, I’ll check and see if we have any in stock... I’m sorry we don’t have any in stock.
Me: Can I order one?
Currys: No, we don’t do orders.
Me: Can you supply one from one of your branches?
Currys: No, we don’t do that, but I have checked on my PC and they have them in stock at PC World in Edinburgh if you want to drive there to get one. It’s only 12 miles away.
Me (on phone): I’d like to buy a Sony Vaio N series laptop and Currys said you had them in stock.
PC World: Let me check... yes, we have some in stock.
Me: Thanks. So if I drive across I can get one?
PC World: The ones in the shop might already me reserved for other customers.
Me: So can you tell me if they have all been reserved?
PC World: I’m sorry, I am not allowed to give out that kind of information.
Me (on phone): Hello. I’d like to buy a Sony N Series laptop. They cost £499 in Curry’s.
Sony Shop: No problem.
Okay, so maybe I am just turning into another whinging customer, but do Currys or PC World actually manage to sell anything?
Jim Fanning
Vauge policies
I found the article by Kelvyn Taylor on Peer-to-Peer/Bittorrents (PCW October 2007, Bittorrent Secrets) very interesting - especially the how they work part.
A big problem I have found is with the ISPs, in particular their Fair Use Policies and the threats that account will be terminated for overuse.
My ISP, OneTel, which recently brought in the policy, says its fair use policy restricts high bandwidth activity in peak hours and go on to mention P2P, though are rather vague what fair and reasonable is.
Ev Owen
Insufficient warranty
My Philips 250 GB external drive recently decided that it no longer wished to function, however, residing on the drive was a relatively important document for a project I was working on, along with some personal photos which I had stored on the drive and a few other bits and bats of less importance.
To my dismay, I thought these were now lost. However, a friend offered to have a look at the drive and see if the data could be recovered. Fortunately he managed to recover my information, for which I was most grateful, however in doing so, he had to remove the drive from the casing.
The drive came with a two year warranty, and having contacted Philips directly to replace the drive under warranty, I was informed that as the drive had been removed from the casing the warranty was now void even though all the components and original packaging has been kept and is accounted for.
This I feel is a catch 22 situation which is unfair on the consumer. Philips’ response was that the drive had to remain in the enclosure for the warranty to be valid, however, if the drive is not functioning, yet the information stored on the device is required and retrievable, surely the warranty should allow for its retrieval by the consumer before replacement?
It appears the Philips warranty only covers replacement of the drive and not data recovery, which Philips do not offer. This is often worth more to the user than the value of the drive itself and I feel this is totally unreasonable.
Dale Moorhouse
Yes, we have no internet
I picked up your magazine this morning just as I was deciding which Blackberry to go with. Having read the review about the Treo, I trotted off to Vodafone in Peterborough.
They knew nothing about the product (or Blackberries for that matter) but were as helpful as one can be without any knowledge. I bought the product and signed up for the appropriate service. On leaving the store a text came through from Vodafone (on my old phone), inviting me to use my new phone to visit their website and get set up. How efficient I thought!
But that's where it ended. Having spent an afternoon setting the Treo up, I eventually rang Vodafone when I couldn't get an internet connection. I was told the product didn't exist. I explained it did as I had it in my hand.
After being told by the call centre member that my voice was too loud (I do talk loudly!) and it was hurting her ears, I called back to hopefully be in contact with someone more helpful.
A very helpful young (they all sound young nowadays!) man told me that the product did exist (as if I didn't know) but that there were no support details on their system. He spoke with technical services and they confirmed that neither the settings for internet connection or the support documentation had been released. No-one knew when they would be released.
The advice I was given - go back to the store and get a refund. I will say, though, that I was given a £10 credit on my phone for my trouble.
So, the product reviewed by PCW and promoted by Vodafone is being sold without the only reason for buying such a device - an internet connection - being unavailable. Surely a case of mis-selling? Perhaps Vodafone could train their staff.
And if you've still got the device, could you tell me what the settings are so that I can have a go at getting connected rather than just take it back and move after many years with Vodafone to another provider.
Caroline Page
Well done, Dabs
I have noticed that your excellent magazine receives quite a few letters of complaint concerning online shops, and that you are tireless in upholding consumer rights. I would like to buck the trend of complaint! I have always considered the Dabs website to be superior to those of its competitors: the ability to filter product ranges by connector type/colour/size/etc is invaluable.
Recently Ibought a not inexpensive consumer electronics device from Dabs which arrived with a faulty fan - that in itself was no problem as one can expect to receive goods with faults from time to time.
Through my own fault however, I failed to notify Dabs until just after their 28 day limit. I felt that there were extenuating circumstances and fired off an e-mail to that effect. The next day, Dabs responded that they would consider the item "dead on arrival" as a good-will gesture. I consider this excellent customer service. I will continue to shop at Dabs and I commend them to your readers.
Nicholas Mace
