UTV not increasing caps

Stark

Got this announcement from the u.support newsgroup.

Patrick, UTV Support wrote:

As of today 04/04/05 utv along with other ISP's are increasing the speeds of
their BB products as follows:

Clicksilver was 512k now 1024K
Clicksilver Plus was 1024k now 2048K

Caps remain the same at 8Gb and 16Gb respectively

There is no need for any customers to do anything
Nor is there a need to sign new contracts
Pricing is as before €29.99 and €39.99 respectively

regards
Patrick

They're still advertising "Twice the download capacity of Eircom" on their website though.

Ffs :mad:

damien

Advertising Standards

Repli

which providers actually increased the cap?

Stark

Sent in a complaint.

I know it's hot news, that they haven't had time to update their website yet. But then again, **** them

I can imagine them silently removing any talk of a cap from their website. I hope other providers clearly promote that "we have no caps/generous caps, unlike SOME".

PiE

Take screenshots of the page with a date somewhere :]

Stark

Repli wrote:

which providers actually increased the cap?

Eircom quadrupled their cap meaning that UTV now has half the download capacity of Eircom, not twice.

As far as I know, IOL aren't increasing their caps either. But IOL have never been as tight about enforcing their caps as UTV (I've run over the cap with UTV more than once, and have been completely cut off).

Every other provider on the market either has a generous cap (over 30GB) or no caps.

Repli

So you're saying the 2 eircom home products are now 16gb and 32gb?
(Originally they were 4gb and 8gb)

Dinner

Eircon website says home starter is 8GB. So I guess they're the same as UTV now.

newgrange

Do we have any proof this 'patrick' is actually a UTV employee?
He has never posted on the group before.

Repli

Eircon website says home starter is 8GB. So I guess they're the same as UTV now.

Yes, not 'quadruple' UTVs.. dunno what that guy is on

Stark

His e-mail address is patrick@u.tv

As far as I know, only UTV staff members have @u.tv addresses, everyone else has @utvinternet.ie addresses.

PiE

NG emails can be spoofed, but I doubt anyone would go to the bother.

Repli

I mean 'not quadruple their old caps'

Stark

Repli wrote:

Yes, not 'quadruple' UTVs.. dunno what that guy is on

Something nice, you needn't worry.

I never said "quadruple UTV's", I said quadruple of Eircom's previous cap.

Eircom were guilty of fudging the facts a bit as well, they said the new download allowance was 16GB. I forgot to read between the lines and realise they were referring to their plus service.

newgrange

I can set OE up to give me any address I want.
I just wonder that given the climate on that group, such a badly written message was presented.
Perhaps I'm wrong.
newgrange@u.tv

Stark

UTV support have never been that great with wording their messages.

Maybe I'm wrong too, but my intuition tells me it's authentic. I was quite surprised when UTV increased the speeds without tying people into a new contract. I'm not surprised that they were too mean to increase their caps.

newgrange

Just rang support to find out.
He is, apparently genuine. I gave the poor support guy an earful as to what a stupid stupid decision this was, and what the reaction was on boards, and what they meant by 'double the Eircom cap' etc.. I am waiting for 'patrick' to ring me back.

God be with the days when they were DNA - the hippies would never have let this happen.

Dinner

If 'Patrick' ever rings you back, give 'em hell. He deserves it. (Well UTV deserve it, he just got in the way)

h0stn0tf0und

Well if its genuine then its bye bye to utv for me. My contract ends in a few weeks so they have till then but going on their efforts of late I wont be getting my hopes up.

We done UTV! I'll not be staying in the gutter with you.

damien

Arabel wrote:

If 'Patrick' ever rings you back, give 'em hell. He deserves it.

Nah, ask for his boss. Patrick isn't payed enough to take sh*t from a tonne of boards.ie folks

Who's the boss of U.TV again ? Email him.

Stark

martin@u.tv wasn't it?

Sully

Firstly; the price indicated on the first post is incorrect. It should read:

Patrick on UTV Newsgroup wrote:

As of today 04/04/05 utv along with other ISP's are increasing the speeds of
their BB products as follows:

Clicksilver was 512k now 1024K
Clicksilver Plus was 1024k now 2048K

Caps remain the same at 8Gb and 16Gb respectively

There is no need for any customers to do anything
Nor is there a need to sign new contracts
Pricing is as before ?29.99 and ?45 respectively

regards
Patrick

Also, Patrick is genuine and is part of the management. He deals with all the complaints, and is current in charge of staff (training I believe) and also is in charge of a number of other items.

UTV have had time to change the statement on there website, Carl was notified ages ago.

- Sully

Sully

Still no change of the "DOUBLE that of Eircom Home Starter Package" on the UTV site. UTV where told a few days ago, and today im sure, about this. No change. They deserve the complaints.

Stark

I sent in a complaint to http://www.asai.ie/ as damien.m mentioned. They've a handy and short online form so it's really convenient. Unfortunately I misquoted Eircom's product so it would be cool if someone else sent in a complaint with accurate details so I don't just look like a random loon.

Shred

Stark wrote:

I sent in a complaint to http://www.asai.ie/ as damien.m mentioned. They've a handy and short online form so it's really convenient. Unfortunately I misquoted Eircom's product so it would be cool if someone else sent in a complaint with accurate details so I don't just look like a random loon.

I've just sent a complaint into the ASAI also

Sully

Shred wrote:

I've just sent a complaint into the ASAI also

Same.

Dinner

Maybe I'm being too nice to UTV but it seems a bit to hasty to start complaining to advertising standards a day or 2 after the lines get upgraded. Surely this will do nothing but piss them off and make them not even listen to all the pleas.

flop71

to be fair, they've been acting like a real "fly by night" with regard to this DSL upgrade. I'm sick to the teeth with UTV and am planning to move to another provider at the end of april.

Flop

Boston

Since when has utv plus been 1mb? I was under the impression that instead of increasing speed all those months back they just lowered the contention. A 2mb conection at 48:1 sounds allot less value then a 2mb at 25:1. I'm pretty sure this would also be a change in service and a nice opt out from this reacent contract.

Sully

Arabel wrote:

Maybe I'm being too nice to UTV but it seems a bit to hasty to start complaining to advertising standards a day or 2 after the lines get upgraded. Surely this will do nothing but piss them off and make them not even listen to all the pleas.

They where informed by users on the newsgroup before the upgrades. Carl was told that Eircom increased the cap and theres false advertisment on the UTV website. She acknowledged but it was never changed. Still isnt.

Its false advertisement. Simple. They didnt offer anything new to customers, just followed suite (had no choice really) with the speed upgrades. And they wouldnt even tell us what the plan was with UTV at all untill a few days AFTER the upgrade. All other ISPS told BEFORE the upgrade.

Not fair, they deserve it.

Dinner

Ah right, I didnt know that it was said on the news group. Complain away so.

Stark

Got a letter in the post from the ASAI today.

It reads:

The function of the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland is to promote the highest standards of advertising and to enforce the Codes of Advertising Standards and of Sales Promotion Practice. We are prepared to investigate complaints about advertising that may be considered to be in breach of the Codes.

The Code of Advertising Standards applies to advertisements which are defined as paid for commerical communications and it is a characteristic of an advertisement that the advertiser pays of rewards a thrid party to communicate his message. In these circumstances it is not considered that the Code covers web site content as such but merely advertisements in paid for space within web sites. In general, other matters posted on a company's own web site are not covered by the Code.

In these circumstances it is not considered that there are grounds for a formal investigation under our Code of Advertising Standards.

Yours sincerely,

Orla Twomey,
ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE".

Surely this can't mean companies are given free reign to put whatever false information they like on their websites? Is there another law that company websites are covered under?

julius

Stark wrote:

Got a letter in the post from the ASAI today.

It reads:



Surely this can't mean companies are given free reign to put whatever false information they like on their websites? Is there another law that company websites are covered under?

Whats holding UTV back from saying they are 40 times faster than Eircom now????

If pressed on the matter by the ASAi they can just say they were referring to eircoms "Dial-Up" service and of course not their broadband.

Is there any regulator with teeth in Ireland or have they all been castrated by the government in favour of big business??!!??!!??

Valentia

Sully04 wrote:

She acknowledged

Carl is a "he".

Sully04 wrote:

And they wouldnt even tell us what the plan was with UTV at all untill a few days AFTER the upgrade. All other ISPS told BEFORE the upgrade. .

They announced it on 4th April, the official date of the upgrade.

BTW the "double caps" is gone off the site now.

Patrick, on the newsgroup, has asked for suggestions on tweaking their product. Perhaps reasoned responses to his request would be more productive.

Has anybody noticed that with all the customers that UTV have it's the same few who jump in complaining.....again and again and again.............

beer enigma

Are they gradually rolling out the speed increase ? - mine seems slower than ever !!! :mad:

I've spoken with Patrick before - he's actually a nice guy, but I guess just has to tow the company line.

geecee

I'm with UTV on the Beggars Bush exchange.

I'm one of the silent majority who are not happy with UTV but seldom complain...
My connection has been soooooo sloooooooow since the "upgrade" on Monday

UTV speedtest tells me i'm connecting at 33 kbits/sec
Thanks UTV for a great service as usual!

At least my contract is up!
As soon as I return from my hols i'll be sending that cancellation notice, unless UTV supstantially improve the caps

Dinner

Did you try switch to PPOA as opposed to PPOE. Thats work for alot of people including myself.

Sully

Valentia wrote:

Carl is a "he".



They announced it on 4th April, the official date of the upgrade.

BTW the "double caps" is gone off the site now.

Patrick, on the newsgroup, has asked for suggestions on tweaking their product. Perhaps reasoned responses to his request would be more productive.

Has anybody noticed that with all the customers that UTV have it's the same few who jump in complaining.....again and again and again.............

Yes im aware that Carl is a he, it was a slip of the "keyboard" as such, only noticed I refered to him as a she now. Was already told I got the name wrong :P Which I keep doing.

The announcment was made after the upgrade, they wouldnt say what they where doing like other ISPS before the upgrade.

Also; its a lot more then a "few" complaining.

_Kaiser_

They (UTV) do seem to have implemented single billing tho - finally!

I got my final eircom bill online yesterday:

You are in credit by €-11.18

That must be a first! How would I claim that back?

AdMMM

Can I just intrude on you UTV users for a moment?

I've made the observation that the majority of you seem to have a major disliking towards UTV. Can I just remind you that UTV are the RyanAir of Irish ISPS complete with long delays to be connected and to have gain sufficent technical support to satisfy any query that you may have. Now I'm guessing that the majority of you guys chose UTV for their low price and inviting telephone service. What else should you expect from UTV though when you (UTV Customers) are paying lower prices than other BB customer on a different ISP in Ireland?

If you feel that UTV aren't offering you sufficent service, then you should seriously start considering leaving an extra €10 part from your wallet every month and move to another ISP because quiet frankly you're all getting what you're paying for!

[/rant]

_Kaiser_

|.Murderer.| wrote:

Can I just intrude on you UTV users for a moment?

I've made the observation that the majority of you seem to have a major disliking towards UTV. Can I just remind you that UTV are the RyanAir of Irish ISPS complete with long delays to be connected and to have gain sufficent technical support to satisfy any query that you may have. Now I'm guessing that the majority of you guys chose UTV for their low price and inviting telephone service. What else should you expect from UTV though when you (UTV Customers) are paying lower prices than other BB customer on a different ISP in Ireland?

If you feel that UTV aren't offering you sufficent service, then you should seriously start considering leaving an extra €10 part from your wallet every month and move to another ISP because quiet frankly you're all getting what you're paying for!

[/rant]

I disagree.. while I understand the point you're making, UTV entered the market and set prices that would (presumably) allow them to compete effectively, cover their costs - INCLUDING support - and make a profit as well.

"Just cause it's cheap" is no excuse for poor service though. Or would you prefer that we continue to pay inflated prices and further prove that this is indeed "Rip-Off Ireland"???

Subc

|.Murderer.| wrote:

Can I just intrude on you UTV users for a moment?

I've made the observation that the majority of you seem to have a major disliking towards UTV. Can I just remind you that UTV are the RyanAir of Irish ISPS complete with long delays to be connected and to have gain sufficent technical support to satisfy any query that you may have. Now I'm guessing that the majority of you guys chose UTV for their low price and inviting telephone service. What else should you expect from UTV though when you (UTV Customers) are paying lower prices than other BB customer on a different ISP in Ireland?

If you feel that UTV aren't offering you sufficent service, then you should seriously start considering leaving an extra €10 part from your wallet every month and move to another ISP because quiet frankly you're all getting what you're paying for!

[/rant]

yes and lets start paying 50euros a month for 56k + 10mb cap after all its what were paying for lol

please man either you release a product for 50euros and it works or you release a 40 euro product thats slower but works. Not a 40 euro product thats the same as the 50 but since u pay less it doesnt always work.

AdMMM

They would have set their prices to have operated on a small profit margin. One of the first things that is cut-down is technical support.

I'm merely saying that you can't keep comparing UTV to Eircom/IOL/<any other BB provider> simply because of the price you are presently paying.

It's like trying to compare PoundShop Pens to Bic pens. You can go on and on about how your poundshop pen barely ever works but at the end of the day, you get what to pay for.

Lets not blame UTV for Ripoff Ireland... UTV have to pay Eircom the wholesale cost for every connection.

Boston

Lets not pretend its the low cost ryan air equivalent. It isn't, they just had a different business package to others, Esat are actually cheaper by 5 euro a month for a similiar offer(though I can't find info on caps).

dub45

Boston wrote:

Lets not pretend its the low cost ryan air equivalent. It isn't, they just had a different business package to others, Esat are actually cheaper by 5 euro a month for a similiar offer(though I can't find info on caps).

Indeed! Ryan air make a virtue of their no frills approach. UTV have never adopted a no frills approach in their advertising. In fact until recently (unless I am very much mistaken) they made a claim on their website about their unprecedented technical support. Murder refers to UTV's low margin but neglects their low cost base which allows them to be quite profitable as their 2003 annual report states:

Internet operating margins rose to 22% from 15% in 2002

and

New Media operating profits trebled to almost £0.9m (2002: £0.3m)

The full 2004 report is not available yet but the interim statement says:

New Media
Revenues in this division grew by an impressive 56% in the 6 months under review, with much of that growth driven by an increase in broadband customers. As I have previously stated, greater broadband penetration is our key objective but customer acquisition costs do reduce margins in the early stages. Despite these costs and a one-off credit of £0.14m in the comparative figure new media operating profits were maintained at the same level as last year.

Murderer states

It's like trying to compare PoundShop Pens to Bic pens. You can go on and on about how your poundshop pen barely ever works but at the end of the day, you get what to pay for

Yes but the poundshop presumably is not reselling Bic Pens at a cheaper price. UTV are selling exactly the same product as Iol or Eircom. UTV do not state a lesser level of technical support is the 'cost' to the customer of a lower monthly subscription. In fact a lot of customer loyalty that exists for UTV was generated by customer contact in the good old days. And in fairness when the support group is attended to on a regular basis it would be very hard to match that level anywhere.

BY the logic of murderer's argument Smart first 100.000 customers should expect very little indeed and definitely wont have any basis for complaints.

litirspam

Just out of interest. How much would it cost to cancel subscription with UTV if I was to move to another provider?

Stark

At least my contract is up!
As soon as I return from my hols i'll be sending that cancellation notice, unless UTV supstantially improve the caps

Remember you need to give them a month's notice of cancellation or they automatically enter you into another 12 month contract.

PcP

You sure about that? I was under the impression it went into a monthly rolling contract once the 12 months is up..

dub45

Stark wrote:

Remember you need to give them a month's notice of cancellation or they automatically enter you into another 12 month contract.

No thats not the case AFAIK. Once you complete the first 12 month contract you are on a rolling month's contract.(Although after several looks I cannot find this in the Terms and Conditions)

iano

dub45 wrote:

No thats not the case AFAIK. Once you complete the first 12 month contract you are on a rolling month's contract.(Although after several looks I cannot find this in the Terms and Conditions)

From Clicksilver T&Cs
16. TERM AND TERMINATION
16.1 This Agreement may be terminated as follows ... :
16.1.1 by either of us on 28 days notice, ... ;
...
16.1.3 If you give notice of termination of this Agreement ... during the Minimum Period and the Service has been made available for you to use, you must pay all Charges payable during the Minimum Period.

dub45

iano wrote:

From Clicksilver T&Cs
16. TERM AND TERMINATION
16.1 This Agreement may be terminated as follows ... :
16.1.1 by either of us on 28 days notice, ... ;
...
16.1.3 If you give notice of termination of this Agreement ... during the Minimum Period and the Service has been made available for you to use, you must pay all Charges payable during the Minimum Period.

Well spotted:)