The exact same issues returned... including the terrible customer service!
February the 20th
On the 20th of February the issues with the internet disconnecting / speed fluctuations returned, I was extremely busy and on the wrong time zone (working nights) to chase NOW to get it resolved so I was hoping it would fix itself but it didn't.
March the 10th
The previous 3 days we had 8 disconnections each day with massive speed fluctuations, where the internet kept going to dial up speeds.
I contacted NowTV on social media & via email because I had COVID and was coughing constantly so couldn't speak to a representative on the phone. Social media clearly didn't read because they told me to DM them and they assumed the issue was with wifi even though I told them and provided logs that the router was disconnecting from their network.
March the 13th
Their email support again tried the same ridiculousness suggesting that there were no line issues and that the likely issue was that I had 16 devices connected. The lady decided to suggest that the router divides the 36mbps equally between all of the 16 devices connected to the router which is just incorrect.
She... again assumed that the issue was on Wifi even with me providing router logs showing that the router was disconnecting from their network.
She also suggested that given the amount of devices connected that I should maybe consider upgrading to the super fibre package which first of all would not solve the issue, but she clearly didn't look into my line because I had already downgraded from their bigger package to this package because my line is only capable of 38Mbit, so it's utterly pointless to be on their bigger package.
I replied breaking down our devices (7 lights, 3 alexas for example are 10 of the 16 devices and they do not use hardly any bandwidth).
March the 14th
No reply, so I chased to get a reply.
March the 15th
She ran more line tests, which again showed no issues with the line. She passed the case over to the back office network team to run more tests and informed me that it could take 72 hours for a response.
March the 18th
I had to chase again because there was no reply...
March the 19th
She replied telling me that the team investigated, didn't find any issues on the line and that the "issues may line within your home setup". She asked for pictures of the house setup even though I had already referred her to use the previous complaint ticket as all of the images existed within that ticket and a bunch of more useful information
My Reply: I replied saying how ridiculous it is that the team ran the test and didn't follow it up with the customer, I shouldn't be the one chasing.
I also told her that we're not going through this same bs again with them claiming nothing is wrong over and over when there clearly is an issue. We'd already been through this between October to December of which Openreach disagreed with everything NOW had told me and that NOW were wrong.
I asked her to raise this with someone who knows what they're doing and to reference everything in my other ticket because it contains pictures of the setup, tests, and what has been tried to solve the issue.
March the 23rd
I chased the case because I had no reply...
March the 25th
I chased the case again, because still no reply.
Her Reply: A new supervisor replied the same day because apparently the previous representative had to take time off due to COVID.
This supervisor said she'd read through the case and account history and could see I was having issues with Wifi... That she checked the line and there were no issues and claimed that the network team suggest the issue is wireless.
She then claimed that because I have 16 devices connected that is why I am having speed connection issues...
Claimed there was nothing that they could do to solve the issue and suggested she can wave the early termination charges, to find a different provider to suit my needs and as a gesture of goodwill she would refund one months bill which is an absolute cop out response!
My Reply: I clarified again that I never ever mentioned there was an issue with wifi, rather the issue is affecting both wired and wireless because the router is losing connection and it's external to my property.
I reiterated again that it has nothing to do with the amount of devices connected so that is just straight up wrong.
Her Reply: She came back with a reply that really ###### me off, the attitude I was getting was so dismissive and essentially saying that I was wrong.
> Thanks for the reply. Like I've mention previously I have read over all your notes and am well up to date with what you think the issue is.
>
> Unfortunately we have different views of what is going on and like I said I don't want to bore you going over the same instructions.
>
> The only issue we are picking up is the many devices you have connected.
That's a snippet of the email reply, I didn't bother replying instead I called up as I felt much better from COVID and was no longer coughing
March the 25th - Phone calls
I called up, explained the issue and the lady replied with a questioned, I answered it and she said "Can you hear me?" and then put the phone down.
I called up again, instantly the phone was put down... I assume either NOW or EE (my mobile provider) were having phone issues.
I called up again, explained the issue again and this lady asked if she could call me back because the line was bad. She called back and we went through the same dance of her continiously suggesting/assuming that the problem was with wifi, she ran line tests and said that the line was throwing no faults but she could raise it with the networking team (again) but needed pictures of the home setup. I told her to use the complaint ticket for a copy of the setup to which she went alone the lines of "I need new pictures of the home setup, otherwise I can't raise it with the networking team"
I took some for her even though it's ridiculous that they won't accept the previously submitted images even though I had already told her NOTHING has changed and no one has been near the router since BT Openreach last touched it in December.
She raised it with the networking team and told me that she would call back on Monday if networking team had ran the tests, otherwise she would call me back on Wednesday
March the 30th - Wednesday...
Guess what... no phone call.
March the 31st - Finally a perfect representative!
I called up again, explained that I spoke to someone last week and that I was told that she would call on Wednesday. This lady perfectly said "I assume they didn't call?". She apologised and asked for some more information.
It didn't take me long at all to realise that I'd finally got through to a representative that was competent, a breath of fresh air! She ran a line test and this time the line test did throw one issue up and that was that we were only getting 4Mbit down, however the 2nd time she ran the test it had gone back to normal.
She read the account notes and noticed that NOW had sent out the wrong engineer to me a few times, which I thanked her for noticing!
I told her that if I was an undercover boss (like the TV show) I would be firing a decent chunk of the other representatives that I had spoken to and that it was nice to have someone know what they're doing for once!
I didn't say this to her, but if I was an undercover boss I would be giving her a promotion and a raise, to get her to supervise/train other representatives because she was a perfect example of a good representative.
She tried to book an engineer however it was having issues, so she spoke to a supervisor and they managed to create a booking with a broadband engineer (correct one for once!)
April the 1st - Openreach Engineer!
The engineer came in the sleet/snow this morning and started investigating the issue...
After less than 5 minutes he told me that I was right to keep trying to get an engineer booked because there is an issue on the line and it looks like it's about 16 meters outside of the house so NOW claiming it was amount of devices, bandwidth being used up... etc is wrong.
He filled out some paperwork and is sending it off to hopefully get them to accept that the fault is within OpenReache's network and get a team to come out to dig up the path and lay new ducting and cables as he suspects that should fix the issue for myself and neighbours who will likely have the same issue.
As per usual this BT Openreach engineer was lovely, helpful, understanding and is genuinely trying to fix the issues with my line!
