Whirlpool

warning to others thinking about netspace.

"You are about to speak to a netspace team member" One of the first of many lies told to me by netspace.

I have used quite a few isps over the past 10 years(Telstra, Ozemail, IInet, Optus, Letsgo, couple local ones and a couple wireless services) but none of them have ever caused me to write a general warning to other potential users to stay away.

Not for a minute are any of those isp perfect and some had some pretty serious issues. Letsgo DSL2 speeds were totally unacceptable but too their credit allowed me out of my contract without a huge fuss when it was clear to all the problems were unacceptable.

Last friday I emailed netpace explaining I was often losing sync on netspaces dsl2 service. I then called on the saturday and after approx 2 hours on hold waiting we then went over all the normal tech support procedures. I had already tried another known working modem, phone cable, line filter disconnected my phone so I was quite sure it was a line problem. I was also getting bad static on the line when making voice calls so after some time I was read the disclaimer and told a line fault would be logged with optus. By now I wasnt getting sync at any time of the day and was totally without internet access and there was bad static on the line.

I called on the tuesday to get an update and check if they had done what they had told me. The bright chap on the other end was very excited to tell me that speed profile had been reduced and I should be now connected. Ofcourse I didnt have sync and I wasn;t connected at all. I was then told I would have to restart my modem and it would then work. Restarted the modem and no result. I also asked how reducing my speed profile would fix the static on my line. The chap naturally had no answer. I asked if a line fault had been logged with optus and was told it wasnt. I asked for a manager to call me back and this requested was logged in their system. I was promised a call back that day. Naturally no call was received.

Its now wednesday and I try and call netspace again. By this stage Ive been on hold with the company for approx 5 hours. I couldnt even get to the support line. I can only imagine the system was overloaded with other unhappy clients. Then I try again and find that my phone is completely dead. It remains dead for two hours. I email netspace from a blackberry and inform them of the problem. Ive never had a reply to any email sent to netspace.
Later that day my phone works again and I spend another hour waiting for netspace technical support. I get another bright chap that tells me that my speed profile has been reduced again and that they have a nation wide outtage for auth. I explain for the third or forth time that the speed profile changes have done nothing and they would know if I had sync for goodness sake. That I cannot get sync so its got nothing to do with their auth issues. I also asked again how speed changes were going to help with the problems on my voice line. I was also told that they hadnt acted on the static on the line because they didnt want to "complicate" the matter and confuse things. I was then told the 12th of march was when optus would look at my fault. What a joke.

At this stage I explained I had requested a number of times to speak to a manager or someone in charge. While they all thought there was such a person they couldnt name this person and no I couldnt speak to them at all. They would call me back tommorow. Wednesday night I got a morehelp person call me again and go over everything from the start once again and told he would do what he could to get things fixed quicker than the 12th because the problems with my phone were a priority. I was read the disclaimer about been charged if my kit was at fault. Yes, the same disclaimer I was read on the saturday 5 days earlier.

Needless to say there is no way in the world this is "world class customer service"
and no aspect of their service with fit into "more than a great isp"

The staff are not technically sound. Do not do what they say they are going to do. Their managers are elusive and from my point of view one could ask if they do infact exist?

Hi,

Hopefully Mark from Netspace that pops in here might be able to follow it through for you properly.

My pet hate also with Netspace was "they never do, what they say they are going to do"

I can highly reccommend my new ISP of 6 months or more...check my profile, as I'm sure you'll have trouble washing the bad taste from your mouth with your current experiences.

Good luck,
Lester

RealEstateAgent writes...

Then I try again and find that my phone is completely dead.

At any stage did you call Optus to enquire if it was a problem with them ??

RealEstateAgent,

Assuming I'm looking at the correct fault ticket, I believe one of the Customer Service Voice team have been in contact with you this morning with the latest update on your existing fault.

If you have not been contacted then I may be referring to the incorrect fault case if so can you please post a Netspace ticket # (these are e-mailed to your primary Netspace e-mail address when you contact the Technical Support team) so that I can identify your account and further follow-up on this for you.

Regards,

Mark
Netspace Online Systems

Thanks for the reply Mark.

No one with the authority to deal with my request called me back until Friday afternoon and that was only after a very big nudge from myself and another 20 +minutes calling Netspace from my mobile. Neither the phone or dsl2 is working and the 12th remains my best bet for fault resolution with optus. My points of difference have now been resolved with Netspace and hopefully I will have no further need to comment.

Regards,

The 12th has come and surprise surprise no working internet from Netspace.

I called on monday to let them know the phone fault had been fixed and that the dsl service was still not working.

When I called wednesday afternoon (only a 20 min wait this time)the techie said he thought everything was fixed. They really should change this world class customer service nonsense.

Once again Netspace has dropped the ball.

I'm again waiting for netspace to "escalate" my problem. Note I first logged my faulty dsl service on the 19th of last month and as of today the 12th of march I have no service.

Regards,

That sounds like a complete mess here bud, i'm sure you probably already gave this a shot but when your experiencing problems with noise on the phone line it is usually directly attributed to a problem with the filter/splitter.

If thats not the case then it could also be the capacity on the phone line itself, as most phone lines can only have at max 2-3 devices plugged in at once(eg. 2 phones and a fax) if your in a similar boat to this it might be worth trying to disconnect one of those devices and seeing if it makes any difference).

Also if you could post up some information from your modem like db loss which can sometimes identify your problem(if you have >56db theres some serious problems). This may not apply though if you can't get sync in the first place.

Thanks for your suggestions Alizee. I have tried everything my end including your suggestions all without success. You are correct I cannot get sync.

Regards,

Netspace,

If I have no service at all for a whole month will I still be charged?

Regards,

I have had the same issue. Numerous calls. Being told a supervisor will call back within 48 hours. i requested this on 3 seperate occasions.

Was treated like a moron by a member of staff named Kim.

Constantly told the service was working and it was my phone provider that was the issue.

And now i have been told after all of this that i can not get a service at my address, even though every single person i spoke to said there was no issues setting it up. AND i can still put my number in to check if the service is available to me and i get the message that ADSL is connected at my address. Though it is not.

And to top it all off, though Netspace can not provide a service i requested i was told that my contract will not be terminated and i must pay for 17 months for a service that is not being provided to me.

Might be better to start your own thread, so it doesn't get buried with this one.
The more the better, to wake these people up.

Congratulations, you are not the first and certainly won't be the last to experience the crap service that Netspace lie and scam about to stay in business.
They fabricate stories about their service on their website and do not in any way stand up to the full suite of empty promises on their website.
I took about 12 months to get out of a contract with them and it was very hard work.
Don't waste your time with the ombudsman, they are very weak and no one I got for a case manager seamed to understand ADSL or what my problem really was.
I had pings of 150+ to local servers so playing over Bass Strait was a total joke.

I ended up arguing the point with Netspace for the 20th or so time and finally refused to go away until they made me an offer to get out of my contract.
It took some very heavy handedness and a very upset lady on the phone before I was finally offered an out 12 months after my troubles began.

I used the argument that the website says they are "Lightning Fast" and "Excellent for gaming"
These two statements I proved to be wrong as they could not even provide decent gaming on the Netspace servers, mainly due to them never being poulated, I wonder why!!
Anyway good luck and if you need help email me on wayneshephard@iinet.net.au as I hate to see people ripped off with this type of service.

Another day has past and still no information from Netspace at all.

I have received a few returned phone calls but they contained no info. Just someone telling me they had no idea what was going on but someone would call shortly. Guess what no call back. Wonderful stuff

Someone at netspace needs to talk some serious actions before its all too late for the whole show if this type of service is the normal. From all reports here and elsewhere it is the norm as well.

Regards

edit: got a call back with some news atlast. A techie is on the way

Out of the blue I get sync once again. Only at 1500k at first but after another 20 mins on hold I had the dsl2 speed profile restored and I have action again. what an ordeal!@

Quick update. While I have sync most of the time I have had continuous problems with the service losing sync of various times. I logged a fault and was told a tech from optus would come to my house. I received a call from a confused techie a few days later trying to find my street somewhere in brisbane. I live in north queensland... I havent heard anything for a couple of weeks now. Why havent I called them again for an update? I dont have the time to spend waiting an hour to speak to someone that doesnt do what they say.

Since then I haven't heard a peep from netspace. It became such an issue that I purchased a nextg usb wireless. I was very very surprised when this connection proved to be more realiable than a netapce dsl2 service.

Stay clear of netspace...

EDIT:quick update - Netspace did call me last night several times (based on this the post to WP I can only assume) but I was not home and couldnt talk. Ive had a quite a few drop syncs since yesterday. I can only guess when I might have a stable connection.

No reply from Netspace but the real world answer is yes you can be without internet for 24 odd days and still be charged full price.

Hi everyone,
After reading all your posts, I have decided against signing up with Netspace. They really do look quite good on their website, but as I am after relatively hassle-free internt access for my elderly parents who live an hour away, it seems Netspace would be more trouble then it's worth.
Thanks for posting your experiences - you have saved me from making what would have been a grave mistake!

wayneshephard writes...

experience the crap service that Netspace lie and scam about to stay in business.

isnt there laws against businesses that lie and scam ??? and if so who and how do you proceed ?

RealEstateAgent,
Very sorry to read about the difficulties you have been experiencing with NETSPACE. As you have no doubt realised there are numerous threads listing similiar problems as yourself.

In all fairness, as most people realise circumstances arise that are beyond the control of the I.S.P. (faulty lines,exchange faults etc.) but this in no way obsolves the I.S.P. from their DUTY to honour their committments to the consumer i.e. return calls, reply to e-mails in a timely manner and generally keep us INFORMED.

"world class customer service" << Something to aspire too certainly but unfortunately NETSPACE has a long way to go before they achieve this.

On the positive side, since getting ADSL2+ my connection has been very reliable and generally good speeds.
Mike

mya writes...

After reading all your posts, I have decided against signing up with Netspace.

The posts here on Whirlpool are only a tiny insignificant fraction of the Netspace userbase. It's a bit misguided to avoid an ISP solely on the basis of posts made in these forums. Sure their are problems with Netspace (I've had a few) but overall they are pretty decent.

I absolutely agree with you. I too have had my issues with TPG/iinet etc, but I at least I have an idea already of the run around they will give me :-) (having previously used them at the location I am wanting access for (parent's house). The above experiences with Netspace are just a little too much for what I am after as I would most likely need to deal with any issues that arise from my own home over an hour away, and I just dont need it. But I appreciate having everyone's posts.

One should probably point out that as many of these types of problems are caused by fauly lines, issues at the exchange, etc, these same issues would have been encountered no matter which isp was used. Unless the isp has their own hardware/copper installed they are at the mercy of whom ever owns the hardware/copper, & can only pass on what crap information they are given from said providers (optus/telstra). Having said that, it that doesn't excuse bad basic customer service, a phonecall/email is always nice.

Understood that its an optus dslam and some telstra copper that could be a large part of the problem but at the end of the day my "service" is with netspace.

Still no call back from netspace...

RealEstateAgent writes...

Still no call back from netspace...

RealEstateAgent,

Can you please send an e-mail to techsupport@netspace.net.au including your Netspace username, and preferred contact phone number(s). The ticket I've identified which I believe is in relation to you has comments that we've been unable to contact you via our recorded contact details on several occasions.

Once you've e-mailed these details please post the ticket # you receive in return so I can follow-up on this a.s.a.p.

Regards,

Mark
Netspace Online Systems

RealEstateAgent writes...

answer is yes you can be without internet for 24 odd days and still be charged full price.

OK your obviously not the brightest fellow around if you thought that magically you would not get charged if your service is down.
But from my experiences once the issue is fixed, and the problem was not due to your own fault or equipment, then you usually get the amount of days you were offline added back free of charge.
eg, if you were without internet for 24 days the next month you would get your usual 31 days + 24 days extra. Again this is from my experience and it only happened once the fault was fixed. Ask them nextime your in contact.

Me Wise Magic writes...

But from my experiences once the issue is fixed, and the problem was not due to your own fault or equipment, then you usually get the amount of days you were offline added back free of charge.
eg, if you were without internet for 24 days the next month you would get your usual 31 days + 24 days extra

Not my experience. I was offline for two weeks and it ended up costing me about $20 extra because I was using the regular phone (I am with Netspace for phone too) instead of VOIP and I was making lots of phone calls in the form of dial-up Internet calls. No refund on my broadband. I wasn't expecting it based on my knowledge of how these things usually work, but I certanily think I should have got a refund.

Me Wise Magic writes...

OK your obviously not the brightest fellow around if you thought that magically you would not get charged if your service is down.

Some people jump to incorrect conclusions very quickly don't they.

I had serveral calls logged with netspace accounts regarding this issue. There was no need for any magic at all.

Mark.

Yes you are correct netspace called me a number of times _one_ night when I was very busy. Try again and you will get me. Ive spent 15+ hours on hold to netspace during this time and dont have the time to be calling you repeatedly

Regards,

RealEstateAgent writes...

Yes you are correct netspace called me a number of times _one_ night when I was very busy. Try again and you will get me. Ive spent 15+ hours on hold to netspace during this time and dont have the time to be calling you repeatedly

did you whim mark ? and update your details ? hopefully you won't be busy next time they call

keep us updated and hopefully these issues are resolved soon for you, we are keenly watching this thread for resolution

Kjaere writes...

did you whim mark ? and update your details ? hopefully you won't be busy next time they call

My details are correct it was just on one occasion I was unable to take a call during this saga. I havent had a drop for a while now and Ive purchased a backup next g wireless as well so its not as an important issue to me as it was. Its just interesting to see an tech from brissy trying to find my house when I live in NQ and then here nothing from the company at all till I post on this forum.

Thanks

RealEstateAgent writes...

My details are correct

RealEstateAgent,

A rep. will be attempting to contact you in regards to this fault today.

Regards,

Mark
Netspace Online Systems

RealEstateAgent writes...

Thanks

np , mark from netspace has responded hopefully the issue can now be sorted out soon... woohoo proactive action is now happening good luck Real Estate Agent..

keep us posted as to resolution

Mark (NS Support) writes...

RealEstateAgent,

A rep. will be attempting to contact you in regards to this fault today.

Thanks mark. Indeed a friendly rep did call me today. Other than a recap of the issues we didnt solve any problems however. Not surprising as netspace determined weeks ago they needed to send a tech to my house in order to go forward.

P.S I am posting via next g wireless as the dsl2 connection dropped this afternoon and hasnt got sync since.

Regards

edit: dsl back up on hour or two later. Netspace promise to look into things and get them fixed again :) The guy is a very friendly chap and doesn't say really silly things like some of the other staff so I have renewed hope for a stable connection in the short term.

RealEstateAgent writes...

P.S I am posting via next g wireless as the dsl2 connection dropped this afternoon and hasnt got sync since.

ouch sounds like a tech needs to visit and have a look at the modem logs and confer back to Netspace logs to figure out whats going on :(

hopefully mark can organize that for you

John Carson writes...

No refund on my broadband.

I never said refund.

Agent - I said after the fault is fixed, don't count on anything before the tech determines what the fault is, as the fault could still be at your end and therefore responsibility would be with the premises owner.

Me Wise Magic writes...

Agent - I said after the fault is fixed, don't count on anything before the tech determines what the fault is, as the fault could still be at your end and therefore

If you read the whole thread you would have realised that netspace have already "fixed" the phone and internet after the 20 odd days I was referring too and have since had to re log a new fault. my request for some type of credit was after they had "fixed" it.

RealEstateAgent writes...

netspace have already "fixed" the phone and internet

OK...
um so I hope they fix your second sync issue as well...
I won't offer anymore advice, seems you don't need it.

Me Wise Magic writes...

I won't offer anymore advice, seems you don't need it.

thanks. Ive covered all my end and its just a matter of netspace coming to the party.

A little while after netspace told me optus would be rebuilding my port at the exchange a tech shows up at my door unannounced wanting to check my connection. around about the circus we go...

RealEstateAgent writes...

my request for some type of credit was after they had "fixed" it.

any luck in that department ??

No response from netspace from my multiple requests for credit

RealEstateAgent writes...

No response from netspace from my multiple requests for credit

so what now, give up or continue sending requests or any alternatives?

as far as I know unless there has been bi-directional correspondence between user and isp there is probably little the TIO can do. since there has to be some effort in resolution on both parties

They might be able to terminate the contract though, because of the lack of service.

Lester Burnham writes...

They might be able to terminate the contract though, because of the lack of service.

true but compensation was desired not termination of service, but that is an alternative the OP could take if nothing else forthcoming was available

Kjaere writes...

so what now, give up or continue sending requests or any alternatives?

I seem to have got a decent sort of chap from netspace on the job. I was told a few days ago that would be rebuilding my port at the exchange in a couple weeks. I'm going to wait and see the results of that before anything else.

Personally its not worth my time to worry about the TIO. I would hope that after all this netspace will come to the party and do the right thing.

thanks

Saving on wasting your own time, is probably worth more than the likely compensation you'll get. As long as you go close to receiving all your payments back as well.

Lester Burnham writes...

As long as you go close to receiving all your payments back as well.

Not one step closer than I was months ago :)

RealEstateAgent writes...

Not one step closer than I was months ago :)

hmmm... doesnt look good :( i guess just continue requesting from netspace is all you can do, but you can only do that for so long

Down all morning once again. No signs of any credits from netspace. The saga continues.

Update. Phone dead now as well.

I've got of the mobile phone of a friend who works for a local newspaper. They were already doing a story on sub standard regional telecommunications and are happy to feature my netspace saga. Its action time.

edit: Has anyone been to netspace HQ? Do they wear big floppy shoes and large red noes to go with the clown show they are running?

edit again: back up and running with better sync speeds than ever better so lets hope its fixed once and for all.

While "fixing" my dsl line which involved 6 hours unannounced downtime the bright chaps decided to changed my home phone number. So anyone who has been calling me for the past several days has been told my phone is disconnected.

How many screw ups can one company have in a row?

World class incompetence!

I've asked a senior company rep to call me. Will be interesting to see if it happens. I wonder if the directors of this company know how badly the company is to deal with in reality.

edit:

back online with my correct phone number. Someone did try and call me as well but I wasnt able to take the call at the time.

Update:

Netspace have been trying to contact me for alittle while now and today I was informed they would give to two months service free of charge. I was happy with this result and haven't lost sync for quite sometime now.

Thanks

RealEstateAgent writes...

y I was informed they would give to two months service free of charge.

WHAT? Why can't we get that :(

You lucky person!

RealEstateAgent writes...

I was informed they would give to two months service free of charge.

<Raises an eye-brow>

RealEstateAgent writes...

warning to others thinking about netspace.

I just changed from Internode (never any issues) to NetSpace on the 19/05/2008 and its the worst decision I have ever made. I have had the most unstable slowest connection I have ever had and in the last 6 weeks NetSpace have not resolved it. In fact they have just stopped communicating to me hoping I will just go away. I have had to contact the Telecommunication ombudsman to get some sort of resolution.
At times I have line sync but no internet access, other times I can connect at reasonable speeds and at exact times like eg "4.30pm (24/06/2008)" I get disconnected and then reconnects at extremely slow speeds. It can be stable for a few days but within a week will ALWAYS drop out and reconnect at extremely slow speeds.
I have bought all new hardware, performed all isolation tests etc since the day I went live, and the problem still remains. After midnight I can re-boot my router and achieve faster rates but cannot last a full week before it automatically drops and reconnects at extremely slow speeds.
It is regularly irregular.
Log extract:
Jun 20 18:20:51 home.gateway:ppp:none: Channel Id(0) disconnected after (101 hr 24 min 44 sec)
Jun 20 18:20:51 home.gateway:im_backend:none: Changed ipwan IP address to 0.0.0.0
Jun 20 18:21:44 home.gateway:ppp:none: Channel Id(0) connected
Jun 20 18:21:44 home.gateway:im_backend:none: Changed ipwan IP address to 220.253.22.16
Jun 21 08:58:48 home.gateway:ppp:none: Channel Id(0) disconnected after (14 hr 37 min 10 sec)
Jun 21 08:58:48 home.gateway:im_backend:none: Changed ipwan IP address to 0.0.0.0
Jun 21 09:06:46 home.gateway:ppp:none: Channel Id(0) connected
Jun 21 09:06:46 home.gateway:im_backend:none: Changed ipwan IP address to 220.253.22.142

Upstream Downstream
772000 1832500
310200 1932200
801300 1969500
806000 2036600
798700 2055300
797400 1995600
328000 2021700
298800 1969500
797400 2047800
813200 2059000
317900 1954600
314100 2014200
789700 4536800

No CRC errors

Line Attenuation 41.0 dB

^^ Copy Paste ftw..

Anyhow, I have found Netspace to be fine. I previously had been sync'd for 32 days straight until a blackout hit the area and powered off the router.

The only major issue I have had is DNS which i rectified by using Optus and iiNet DNS.

TheVman writes...

In fact they have just stopped communicating

TheVman,

Could you please post a Netspace ticket reference number and I will have someone contact you to follow-up on your issues (reference numbers are e-mailed to your Primary Netspace e-mail account).

Regards,

Mark
Netspace Online Systems

Mark (NS Support) writes...

I will have someone contact you to follow-up on your issues

Mark,

Sounds like the same hollow sounds from NetSpace I have heard for the last 7 weeks. EVERY time I email NetSpace over the SAME issue I am given a different support number and the reply is never to the original email so there is a thread of the correspondence.

thebauers -
[netspace.net.au #2663865] FW: #2657642

RE – Tom
Netspace Online Systems

PLEASE prove me wrong.

Graph of NetSpace Service -
http://members.iinet.net.au/~bestpracticesoftware/images/NetSpaceService_20080625.jpg

TheVman writes...

reply

A rep. will be replying to you via e-mail shortly.

Regards,

Mark
Netspace Online Systems

risbo writes...

Anyhow, I have found Netspace to be fine. I previously had been sync'd for 32 days straight until a blackout hit the area and powered off the router.

Ironically, Shortly after posting this, I dropped out 5 times.

Mark (NS Support) writes...

A rep. will be replying to you via e-mail shortly

Yes, Tom emailed me last night. What a surprise, HE was the person I was dealing with who has not contacted me for weeks.

With all the issues and correspondence for the last 7 weeks, you would have thought he would remember me and my account details.

Mark,

You have proved me correct. This is my 4th time I have performed isolation tests and I have all new hardware and reformatted my computer.

This issue has been going on since the 9/5/2008. My first contact with the TIO was on the 27/05/2008. It is now the 4/7/2008 and all I have been getting from you and them is lip service. I WANT ACTION. The previous attached documents sent to you yell volumes to the up and down speeds and lengthy period this has been going for, that this service is BAD/FAULTY.

My service is WORSE since capping my speed back.

On 02/07/2008 my modem log shows NetSpace changing my IPWAN address:
220.253.25.65
220.253.6.235
220.253.26.87
220.253.0.141
220.253.18.202
220.253.26.113
220.253.26.113
220.253.18.92

System Up time – 3 days, 10 Hrs
Connection Time so far – 2 Days, 2 Hours

Line Attenuation 46.5 dB
CRC Errors – 5423 – Downstream
CRC Errors – 2 – Upstream

Upstream Speed – 384000
Downstream speed – 1920000

TheVman writes...

that this service is BAD/FAULTY.

TheVman,

On Wednesday I advised you to monitor the service for 24hours and let me know if it is still unusable. If you are confirming for me now publicly that it is indeed unusable then I will proceed with the next course of action as outlined in previous correspondence to you.

Regards,

Tom
Netspace Online Systems

Tom,

Check your email. As you have not provided me with any direct contact details the email has gone to helpdesk@netspace.net.au.

This issue has been going on since the 9/5/2008 and this post of yours was the fasted response I have ever got from NetSpace. It looks like I get better support and quicker answers if I use Whirlpool for NetSpace support.

If what it takes is to expose the REAL level of service and support NetSpace provide, then so be it.

You have not provided me with any information, documentation or logs to correlate against my documentation and logs to come to any logical answer for this pathetic service.

The way you’re going, you are going to slow me down to the point I will be slower and flakier than the stable service I churned away from.

What date would you like to give that NetSpace will have this issue RESOLVED.

You have had 8 weeks, how much longer do you feel is resonable?

I now own 3 phones, 3 adsl2 filters, 1 adsl2 central filter and a number of Telstra cables and a freshly formatted computer.
How much more hardware do you want me to purchase to prove it’s NOT at my end?

With only 1 ADSL modem point and 1 phone outlet, may I suggest a place to put the extra hardware, that NetSpace advised and required me to get to trouble shoot before they would proceed any further.

I've been having the same problem ever since I switched to ADSL2+.

It's not between my PC and the modem.

Here is an excerpt of my router/modem's log:

05:20:33 – LCP down.
Wed, 2008-07-02 05:21:00 – Initialize LCP.
Wed, 2008-07-02 05:21:00 – LCP is allowed to come up.
Wed, 2008-07-02 05:21:33 – LCP down.
Wed, 2008-07-02 05:22:01 – Initialize LCP.
Wed, 2008-07-02 05:22:01 – LCP is allowed to come up.
Wed, 2008-07-02 05:22:34 – LCP down.
Wed, 2008-07-02 05:23:02 – Initialize LCP.
Wed, 2008-07-02 05:23:02 – LCP is allowed to come up.
Wed, 2008-07-02 05:23:35 – LCP down.
[etc.]

I'm located in North Canberra.

P.S. I haven't logged this as a job because, frankly, it sounds like a lot of trouble for no result.

P.P.S. Apologies if double-posting is evil – this seemed like the more appropriate thread for the posting I originally made at /forum-replies.cfm?t=998915&p=2#r30.

Hi irrevenant...

The first thing to do is log it as a job. They can’t fix something that they don’t know about.
My gripe is I contacted them immediately on going live that the service was drastically suspect, and 8 weeks later I’m still getting lip service. On contacting their support all you will get is: it’s your modem, it’s your filters, it’s your phone, it’s your cables, it’s your computer…etc .. But it’s a path you will need to travel to ensure they have NO excuses to continually blame the customer and actually make an effort to look into the matter.

TheVman writes...

Check your email.

Dear TheVman,

You should have received a response to your email ticket this afternoon in regards to your ongoing issue. At this stage, your service now appears stable with the latest profile change and is currently meeting the outlined service levels.

Regards,
Katy
Netspace Online Systems

Vman,

Are your connections actually dropping or is the modem just being over vigilant? I will assume you have done all the regular tests at home, didn't read all your posts, have you had a technician come out to test to your premises yet?

Hi Me Wise Magic...

They were dropping out, I have performed isolation tests about 5 times now and have purchased all new hardware and reformatted my pc.

Do you feel a tech can fix it?

Vman, if you have tested everything from your side, I would get Netspace to send a field tech to check the connection from the Pitt or local exchange. As alot of the time it can be issues with jumpering at the exchange, or corrosion with wiring(although it can also be corrosion with wiring at the premises aswell).

Now as far as I can remember last time I had a tech go out it was from whatever upstream provider Netspace uses, and there can be a fee, so I would enquire about it. :)

I have just completed what has to be a marathon of bad issues with netspace and their staff.
The issue of 'netspace not doing what they said they will do' seems to be a common re occurence which I can completley understand. Over a period of 5 and a half weeks I went through hoops to upgrade my plan to adsl 2. The staff constantly told me different problems, different time frames and they rang me a total of 5 times asking for my birthdate.
Towards the end I just decided to cancel the proceddure and cut my losses and go to a new provider. the young gentleman in the end convinced me that it would be on within 5 days and I would be compensated ( I had being paying for internet the entire 5 ½ weeks). Upon finally getting the internet up and going I was compensated $40. After paying $120 in fees for internet I was not recieving. I also in this time recieved my $150 cancellation fee from optus for cancelling my account, something the lovley gents at Netspace neglected to inform me about.
I had the internet for 2 weeks upon which it went down again and I now have had no internet for a week, have been on hold for aprox 12 hours with netspace over the last 2 months, with staff that seem to be more annoyed at me for calling than I am about the problems. I still have no internet and no time as to when it will be fixed. I tried to cancel my account but unfortunatley 'down' time with your connection doesnt qualify for termination (6 ½ weeks of down time now). Its now just a matter of having to get the termination fee of over $500 together to start anew elsewhere.

tynan writes...

I have just completed what has to be a marathon of bad issues with netspace and their staff.

First stop...Netspace complaints form (if you can get to it), then TIO if you want to try and get some of your money back. It has to be done in this order AFAIK.

Agreed, you stand the best chance if you follow Netspace's official complaints process/policy/form.

Having said that, it's all fun and games. When I went through their complaints process, none of their timelines were met. When I pursued it via the email address in the policy, I got ticket numbers but no response. In a subsequent phonecall with them, apparently they don't use that email address anymore, uh-huh, g-r-e-a-t ... world class service indeed. More hoops to jump through, but you kinda need to do it.

Hi tynan,

Thanks for your post.

I've sent you a Whim with an email address to contact me on.

Can you please provide me with your account details in an email so that I am able to investigate this for you?

Thank you,
Catherine
Customer Care

Thanks for the suggestions, I sent another complaint through netspace through the offical complaint chanel and I also emailed Catherine at customer care (allthough the address provided was just netspace@netspace.net.au ....). I am extremley dubious that anything will come out of it but at least I hopefully have swayed some people thinking about netspace to go with just about anyone else, ever (let me believe that..)

my internet is still down

Hi,

Thanks for that tynan, I'm looking into this now for you.

Kind Regards,
Catherine

Well I have been unable to complete an ADSL2+ upgrade line check for a week now, and 2 further emails to Netspace asking why I can't check and if they can check for me get NO REPLY excpet the automated garbage robot 'we care' response.

They really seem to be sucking hard at having ANY idea of how to handle cusomters in a timely and satisfactory manner. I think cattle get treated better than this.....nice way to tick off a 10+ year customer Netspace. Nospace?

Hi Investigations,

I've sent you a whim.

Kind Regards

Kelly

I agree. I finally got my internet back up and going but that cannot be counted as a plus becuase Netspace exist to provide internet, so of course they should get it back up and going. What is my problem, and from what I can gather, is the majority of Netspace customer's problems, comes from terrible customer service. At least pretend to care. Surley it doesnt take much to follow up calls, call when you say you will and generally remember that these are the people who pay your wages? I was told someone was calling me back within 24 hours to 'repair my relationship with Netspace'. No one did, which I 100% expected. Unfortunatley I have dug my own hole as I have complained so many times that once my file comes up – it must have so many bad comments about myself that everything I say from then on is treated in a completley different manner, which is fine and understandable but unfortunate for me. I still plan on changing my provider soon as I find time to reasearch the best deal being currently offered.
And yes, Im sure Cattle get treated better.

RealEstateAgent writes...

I was happy with this result and haven't lost sync for quite sometime now.

Looks like I spoke too soon. Once again my connection drops sync and cannot get sync again. Sometimes for hours sometimes for minutes. I asked Netspace to call me as I lost the direct number they gave me but that was too much of an ask for Catherine.

After wasting many many hours on hold to netspace I think its time to bite the bullet and churn to another provider asap. Netspace have proven to be the most unstable ISP I have ever used and I have been on dsl since it was available. I would urge anyone that considers Netspace to go elsewhere. Its not worth the few extra dollars a month to be with a provider that is in total chaos more often than not.

There are some good people at Netspace but not enough to make any difference to the this third rate operation.

I got fed up with the amount of dropouts i was getting with NS, so i churned to BigPond ADSL2+.
For about the last 6 months with Netspace i was getting multiple dropouts a day and browsing speeds at night were quite poor.
I am now enjoying an 18Mbps connection with not one dropout so far. Hope it stays that way.
NS also never called me back as they said they would on several occasions.

Good luck RealEstateAgent, hope your net gets fixed real soon.

what do you think goes on in these call centers. Its not like they employ 1 customer service and 1 tech support and 1 supervisor/manager person for every customer they have. Just be thankful their call center is not in india.

Also, dont people realise that if you get abusive towards someone, they generally don't want to help you and actually resent you. I understand that these people are paid to do a job, but how would you like it if you had hundreds of customers ringing you abusing you because you didn't read the instructions, are too stupid to be using a computer or just too impatient.

Dont you think they would be trying to solve the problems so they don't have abusive customers ringing them. It is not good business sense to have unhappy customers as they quickly wouldn't have any customers. Sh*t happens. Get over it. Get a life and stop whingeing.

Im currently a bigpond user and I can tell you, having telstra as your provider does not make problem resolution any quicker. In fact, i have found telstra to be more annoying. Initially I couldn't get my adsl service connected at my house as I was on a pair gain system. They tried to palm me onto a bloody 3g wireless plan, advising that there was no way I could get ADSL. That would be great if i could get mobile reception on my property. From what I can tell, the property I live on is a dead zone for my Telstra Mobile. Full reception on the street and in the neighbours properties, but not mine. I am in Camberwell, Victoria.

I found out that for other internet service providers they can try and find an alternative path. I requested this with telstra and they advised me they couldn't do this.

I continued to push my argument to at least attempt to find an alternate path. Low and behold, I have adsl2+ with them. Biggest problem is I should have shopped around first. Bigpond would have to be the biggest rip off I can imagine. I pay $99 a month for 25gb on a liberty plan (no excess usage charges).

As soon as im out of contract with Bigpond, Ill be moving to another provider. The customer service at Netspace cannot be any worse than the hour long waits with I have with Telstra.

As far as I see it, you want it fixed, learn to be patient no matter which company it is.

I agree Kewer.

Telstra does not really look for other paths when it comes to trying to get the internet in your area. I love Telstra as a phone service, and for my mobile (the many times I still have a signal and my friends on 3 or Vodaphone don't are countless) – but as a customer service for what the people want, deals and all they are not very good.

As for the internet, I despise Optus and Telstra, pretty much because their deals are complete rip offs – the only way you can benefit is if you have your phone, internet and cable all together as some of my friends do.

But I believe in going to companies that mainly provide Internet Service. My parents had telstra for a long time, we were only on dial up back in those days but had no real problem with them at all. Since then we upgraded and went to Unwired for their wireless service. We thought this would be good for if we decided to move we had no contract bound to one place, but I realised for the amount we paid for the download usage, it was just too much compared to others with broadband. Plus from time to time their customer service wasn't completely helpful, but most of the time they were pretty good.

So I changed to Netspace. I got Nestpace first with my parents who had to wait a while to get it all set up, but that was understandable as I was not their to help them, and they are not that computer savvy with setting things up.

When it came for me to get it here in Sydney, the modem I got would drop out a lot. All of a sudden the internet would just kick me off, and it would take many times for the modem turning on and off to get any connection, and sometimes not at all.

During this time it took me a while to get onto Netspace, but each time I got onto someone, they tried different ways with the computer software before determining the modem was faulty (which I had pretty much guessed). Any problems or queries I have had have always been dealt with either as soon as I get them on the phone, or not long after.

Sure sometimes it takes half an hour til someone answers the phone, but when they do it is always someone friendly and quite ready to help. Then again that might be because I myself like to deal in a friendly manner. The call staff are there to help – they are not the cause of the problem.

There have been a few bad dealings with Netspace on these forums, but the majority of people I have come across have called a few times but gave up when no one would answer (they can't answer everyone and fix everyone's problems within 5 minutes!) , have gotten angry and stubborn and so have caused problems with the staff being able to actually help, or have just been a bit dimwitted with getting the problem fixed.

IPerhaps next time if no one answers you could try going to a library or internet cafe and email them the issue. Or call Optus to have your phone line checked.

Don't always expect the ISPs to be at fault. Most times when my internet was down it was due to a storm, phone line damage, or the telephone exchange has had something happened.

Just try to remain positive and they will fix it in due time. And as someone said earlier, Netspace will refund you back the days you have not been able to use your service and will be added as free.

The only issue I have with Netspace now is that they keep their gaming servers more up to date and fix their latency (like TF2) so I can get back into some serious gaming ^^

kewlausgirl writes...

IPerhaps next time if no one answers you could try going to a library or internet cafe and email them the issue. Or call Optus to have your phone line checked.

If I was paying the library to look after my internet service, then yes, a trip to the library would be advisable for internet advice. Or if I rented my phone directly from Optus then yes, call Optus. The point of customer service is to service the customers, I pay netspace for a service. If there are problems with the service I am paying them to provide then of course I should be able to contact them quickly and accurately provide them with the problem. Same goes for any company.

To start defeding Netspace you really have to look at how many people have had similar complaints, I know that every provider is always going to have some issues but the majority of complaints provided are human errors, terrible response times, woeful phone manners, and more similar issues

but the majority of people I have come across have called a few times but gave up when no one would answer (they can't answer everyone and fix everyone's problems within 5 minutes!) , have gotten angry and stubborn and so have caused problems with the staff being able to actually help, or have just been a bit dimwitted with getting the problem fixed.

This forum exists to discuss netspace, to start getting angry towards the people who have had negative problems is completely off the whole point. I have had negative problems with netspace but of course it doesn't mean I should start calling the people who choose to stay with them dim witted. Incidentally a large amount of the comments on this forum are about waiting and talking to netspace, meaning they have waited for the answer and have given them more than 5 minutes resulting in, more often that not, disappointing results Unfortunately I have gotten angry at netspace on the phone before and I do regret it but at the end of the day if you cant fix the problem then don't be on the 'problem fixing' line! OR at least call back when you say you will. OR.... oh the list goes on and on and on and on

kewlausgirl writes...

I love Telstra as a phone service, and for my mobile (the many times I still have a signal and my friends on 3 or Vodaphone don't are countless)

Not quite true, when 3 use Tel$tras' network when roaming. So they can still make calls and use 3 lite for web.

tynan writes...

To start defeding Netspace you really have to look at how many people have had similar complaints, I know that every provider is always going to have some issues but the majority of complaints provided are human errors, terrible response times, woeful phone manners, and more similar issues

I don't know how many customers Netspace have, but the fact there are only a handful of current or former customers on this forum whingeing, I would say that the significant majority of their customers are happy. Of course things don't always go to plan, what do you expect? computer error, human error... sh*t happens.

Netspace's customer service department actually has to deal with a very broad range of topics. More so than the technical department. What does a techie have to do? go through a few isolation tests or explain how to put a CD in a drive. Customer service has to deal with customers ranging from billing through to explaining relocations through to cancellations through to voice faults. They have much more to deal with. Im sure telstra would have departments for each of those things. Manning phone centers with staff costs a lot of money, not just the wages of each staff member per year. Training new staff alone costs a small fortune, and a lot of new staff to call center work leave straight after the training because they find out how rude some customers are. No one should have to put up with some of the threats or abuse I have heard. I just find it amazing how most people believe they are better than the next. Unless your a saint (ie, have performed 3 miracles or whatever), your no better than anyone else.

I can only imagine they have a lot of customers ringing to change payment details and pay outstanding bills over the phone which the customers could do through a secure part of the website. Im sure if those customers used the secure part of the website, it would free the customer service staff to actually answer calls for issues that can't be solved over the internet.

at the end of the day if you cant fix the problem then don't be on the 'problem fixing' line! OR at least call back when you say you will. OR.... oh the list goes on and on and on and on

By the sounds of things, if you had just given them some time to get the problem resolved, you wouldn't be whingeing so hard. They can't just click their fingers and it will work again. There are obviously procedures that have to be followed.