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Rory Cellan-Jones

Tech corr in tech hell

  • Rory Cellan-Jones
  • 14 Jul 08, 09:45 GMT

Is there anything more boring than other people's stories of their domestic IT disasters, and their desperate struggle to get an answer out of tech support? No, but I've suffered plenty of these tales in my time - and now it's your turn. Hopefully this will be brief and to the point - and for a technology correspondent to spend some time in tech hell can be instructive for both him and his audience.

So, 10 days ago my wife's e-mail - connected to a domain she bought from our ISP seven years ago - just gave up the ghost. She's a reasonable woman but this left her close to despair. I was deputed to fix things - replacing our 17-year-old director of IT who was out with his mates.

First call was to the ISP. I've no wish to inflict public humiliation in them so let's call this company "Tunnelvision". We've been with them for 12 years but I've grown more and more unhappy with their prices, broadband speeds and service - especially since they were taken over by a larger company who we shall call "Monteverdi". I had suggested moving - but my wife was reluctant, fearing that moving her website and e-mail would be a nightmare.

But the nightmare did indeed begin with a call to Tunnelvision's outsourced call centre somewhere in the Far East. They could only tell me there were no general problems with the network and our issue would be addressed by a "second-line engineer" within a day. When we grew impatient and called back 24 hours later, the story had changed. There was an issue affecting a number of customers - and we should not expect to hear a result for 48 hours.

My patience snapped - and I decided on swift executive action. We were going to switch ISPs - but that would take around 10 days, and in the meantime we would move my wife's domain to another hosting company. She was impressed by my new-found decisiveness.

I contacted a hosting company - this one had 24/7 UK-based support - to get the domain to a safer place. They told me this could happen in a couple of days and then the e-mail would be up and running again. All we had to do was forward an e-mail to Tunnelvision asking them to change the name servers on the domain. So we sent off the e-mail, along with a letter sent by registered post, and we waited. And waited.

Three days on, with nothing happening, I began an extraordinary series of phone calls all around the Tunnelvision - or rather Monteverdi - empire. First, customer service. "Not us, speak to our domains registration business." "Nothing to do with us," said the next lot, "speak to the hosting company, Tunnelvision Solutions." No solution there either: "Never heard of your domain, go back to customer service." "Sorry, we know nothing about domains," said customer service, "speak to technical support in the Far East."

Then a long, long call to technical support (interspersed with much Vivaldi while on hold) which ended with the message that the only option was to e-mail domains@tunnelvision.net. "But that's where we started three days ago," I screamed. "Is there no phone number for the domains department?" No.

In desperation, I started posting messages on the Twitter micro-blogging service about our problem. Within minutes, lots of kind Twitters were proffering advice, much of it very learned. But without a response from Tunnel vision, we could do nothing. Then a few hours later came a call from the company itself. Their PR people had spotted my anguished Twittering and wondered if they could help. Yes, yes, yes, please! But that was Thursday. Friday brought no advance - except for an request to resend the original e-mail detailing the required change in name servers.

On Monday morning I'm still awaiting the call to say the domain has been successfully moved. And if it isn't done today, I will be sleeping on a park bench tonight - there's only so many excuses I can make for my failure to get the domestic IT set-up running smoothly again.

So a typically boring tale - but with some lessons informing my future purchasing.

1. Customer service, not just price or speed, should be a major factor when choosing a supplier.

2. I want to be able to speak to my supplier, night and day - and get a clear response. In future I will test companies' call centres before I sign up.

3. I will be wary if a supplier is taken over by another firm. "Hosting is no longer a core part of Monteverdi's offering," was what one person at the firm told me. In other words we may have taken your supplier but don't expect us to care about all that tedious stuff you bought from them years ago.

4. Shouting about bad customer service can work. I was lucky this time - my ravings were spotted by a PR person who recognised my name. All anyone can do is make as much noise as possible.

5. Err, I'm sure you too have a long tale to tell about your domestic IT nightmare - but can it wait a few days? I'm still getting over mine.


UPDATE

Finally, at 2200 on Monday evening, with the park bench beckoning, I got the domain transferred and my wife's email working again after ten days in limbo. It only took another half dozen phone-calls, and five emails. And we move to our new ISP on Thursday. Now if I can only fix the flickering light in the porch.....

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    Having followed the whole thing on your Twitter feed, I can only sympathize. I sometimes wonder how the lay person can every get anything even slightly complicated done via the mass-market ISPs' customer support services.

    Your conclusion is good - be an 'expert customer'. Think about how likely you are to need support, and see if the organisation you're considering provides the level of support you're likely to need.

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  • Comment number 2.

    You should have waited for your IT Director to get back. He'd have known that you could have solved your email problems in an instant, by logging into your domain name control panel and redirecting incoming mail to something like hotmail or gmail. That's the big benefit of having your own domain name. It's a shame that you didn't realise it.

    Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)

  • Comment number 3.

    Rory

    I have very much the same problems in the past with large ISP’s and Telco’s and I can appreciate how frustrating it is to be without internet access. (It can also be liberating too!) I’ve now learned that forget how cheap the package may be, the customer service and reliability of the service is paramount. I pay £20 a month for just broadband, which in these days of integrated telephone, broadband and TV packages might seem a little bit steep, but I’ve never had a single problem with the (ultra quick) connection, all questions about web hosting are answered immediately by a friendly voice in England, and they provide tech support for any equipment that you are using to connect, not just the modem’s/routers on their ‘preferred list.’

    So it puts a dent in my wallet, but after spending nine days being bounced around BT and Orange’s various departments with no solution in sight, I know which option I prefer.

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  • Comment number 4.

    Your first two points are the main ones (in addition to lack of traffic shaping) that led me to choose my current provider. They offer UK-based support staff who actually know what they are talking about, and don't just read off a script.

    Worth it? I do pay nearly twice as much as many others do for ostensibly the same service, but on the evidence of their performance in customer satisfaction surveys and my dealings with them so far, I'm confident I would not have the same type of issues as your wife experienced.

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  • Comment number 5.

    Rory,

    Sorry to hear about your woes. I have been though similar troubled waters but now have most things where I want them to be.

    Hosting - Intrahost if you want a VPS - they are superb and excellent value, and based in East Yorkshire. Superb customer support.

    Domains - Domain Monster - UK support, UK company and again, customer service that makes me smile!

    ISP - this is where it all goes horribly wrong. Being in Hull, I am stuck with Karoo. Grrrrr. Overpriced. And I mean WELL overpriced. try £30 for an "8mb" line (that is never 8mb).

    Please can some ISP come to Hull and take Karoo's business? We are dying for a choice and decent speed / price!

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  • Comment number 6.

    HelenHighwater(comment 2).
    Oh, if it were only that simple.

    Due to what the ISP describes as "a temporary technical issue" we are unable even to get access to the domain name control panel - or to speak to anyone who could explain the issue. So not able to redirect the email.

    Complain about this comment (Comment number 6)

  • Comment number 7.

    I'm with a small ISP and I pay £28 a month for just broadband.

    I must be mad paying that much when I can get Tiscali (or whatever) 8mb for £6.95, right?

    Wrong, because...

    a) Broadband has never gone down
    b) I have an 8mb line, and my download speeds are 800 - 950 kb/sec, as they should be.
    c) When I call them they answer the phone

    Get on forums, find a small ISP that comes recommended and pay the extra few quid to save you having to write ranting blog posts like this one.

    Complain about this comment (Comment number 7)

  • Comment number 8.

    Well, welcome to the 21st Century, Rory!

    I learnt this lesson a while back, and Tiscali are still threatening legal action against me for a service that they were unable to provide. I look forward to the court appearance where I have enough evidence to embarrass the company to high heaven!

    So, like everything in life, you get what you pay for!

    Complain about this comment (Comment number 8)

  • Comment number 9.

    See, this is why I typicaly ensure that the company I use as a web host ISN'T the same company I use as an ISP. By keeping the two seperate, I very rarely have issues that last longer than one very quick phone call.

    Personaly I've had my net con with Telewest/Virgin Media pretty much since Telewest started Blueyonder and can say without a doubt that I have never had, nor seen, a better internet service. I know plenty of people have moaned and groaned about Virgin Media (specificaly NTL customers) but in a good 6 or 7 years of service, I've only ever lost my connection maybe 3 or 4 times and only 1 of those times did it last longer than a couple of minutes ... and considering my blueyonder account has been regularly upgraded to the company's fastest speeds, which from the looks of it will be done again this time next year to 50mbs, certainly happy there.

    As for web hosting, Freeola. Always found them cheap, reliable and good customer service.

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  • Comment number 10.

    Hard luck Rory and family.

    HelenHighwater (post2): that's a great thought for emergencies although it does rather let the provider off the hook.

    Anyone know a provider that actually thinks customers are essential? Mine is hopeless and I'm looking for one that believes web sites should stay up and email should stay delivered, fast. Those 'sorry for any inconvenience' notes jsut add to the hell.

    Complain about this comment (Comment number 10)

  • Comment number 11.

    The root cause is that none of us are paying enough for our net connections.

    It's not our fault that the major ISPs recklessly engaged in a damaging price war that their business models couldn't support.

    Consequently they are looking to shave costs everywhere, including subscriber traffic management, telephone support and network upgrades, while trying to develop new income streams, Phorm etc., and attacking net neutrality.

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  • Comment number 12.

    Just use Gmail or Yahoo mail or (dare I say it) hotmail.

    There's absolutely no reason to use an ISP email address nowadays.

    Complain about this comment (Comment number 12)

  • Comment number 13.

    In reply to charlieperry, i must disagree that one of the free email addresses is the way to go, you hand over so much of your details in return for what? the convenience of being able to get at your email from any PC, don't think so.

    I do have an account with each of the free providers but I also have two domains that I have registered and each has a fully functioning email system. Neither domain is registered or hosted by my ISP so Yes I may be paying more but each supplier only has one thing to deal with

    If I am just registering on a site for a download or similar then i will use one of the free accounts, but if it is for a professional type forum then i will use a more professional looking address.

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  • Comment number 14.

    I run a small, UK-based hosting company, Eco Web Hosting, and am far too familiar with the actions of companies like TunnelVision. These companies are often cheap, and the sales department are easy enough to get hold of, but when it comes to day-to-day support, or, God forbid, wanting to leave, it can take days to get a response.

    The smaller companies often offer a better and more flexible service. Go for a host that's been recommended by a friend, not the one which appears first in Google.

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  • Comment number 15.

    I my self run a small hosting company just a 2 man band not nearly as huge as some of these other companies but even we have a response time of less than an hour and we work our hearts out to make sure our customers get the best service we can provide.

    Now explain to me why when we are so small (always looking for new customers) we work so hard (24/7 support!) but when they are so big they dont seem to care! Just doesnt seem fair.

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  • Comment number 16.

    Clickem is 100% right on this issue!!
    I used to work for a "european" ISP and after working out that I (and about 3 other people) were the tech support and customer service for a business broadband package (webhosting, connection etc etc).
    I was unsuprised to have to outsource my own job, to a couple of (very very competent) indian guys working in bangalore.
    The company simply could not afford to pay for me or anyone else (1 other full time guy and 2 workign 50% of their time on the same team) and it was MUCH cheaper to outsource to india!
    I was unsuprised by this as they were only charging £30 a month for the top end package AND trying to drop that price to compete with other companys.
    Cheaper price meant less service.

    The moral of the story is :
    You get what you pay for.

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