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Insufficient bandwidth - so why did they say I could have TTV?
boxoctosis
06-03-2008
Just had the installation engineer round only to find that my downstream bandwidth is only 2.3 meg. He tells me that they usually need about 3.5.

Prior to signing up for the service, I asked Tiscali on a number of occasions whether my line would support TTV and the answer (both verbally and via e-mail) was "no problem". Having checked these forums, I've also seen suggestions that 2.5 meg may be sufficient.

He's left the gear at our place because they may be able to do something to tweak the line but, even if they can, it seems to be a borderline case.

It's a shame to have hopes raised and to get so many conflicting statements. I hope that Tiscali sales people aren't using TTV as a carrot to snag customers at any price.

Shame, I was quite looking forward to the SkyArts channel.
masai
06-03-2008
Not a good start for you...AFAIK the TV service requires around 3.5meg and whatever is left over is for your internet.

Fingers crossed they can sort it out.
MK_Brett
07-03-2008
Hi,
Sorry to hear about this.
We have to rely on the line checker from BT to determine whether or not you can get the service. Unfortunately this information can be err, umm, well, a little inaccurate. There are times when it indicates that the service should work, but it's not until the engineer is on site and the equipment is set up that we can verify this.
boxoctosis
13-03-2008
OK, so I was told by the engineer that they should be able to do something with my line but he couldn't do it while on site because his colleague told him that "there is a problem with the customer's account". Nobody would tell me what that problem was. Anyway, he said that they would sort the problem out and he or another engineer would call back by the end of next week (which is now this week).

Yesterday, I received a letter to tell me that Tiscali wouldn't be able to fulfil my installation appointment. That is, the appointment that had already happened some days earlier! The letter included a phone number to call and discuss the matter (presumably to re-arrange) - 0871 2223311. I believe this to be their standard (and costly) customer support number.

I rang this number to find out what was going on. However, I found that none of the options offered by the automated call handler was anything like relevant. I tried a few options only for the line to go dead. Eventually, I found a route that ended up with speaking to a human - and a British one at that. I told him why I was ringing and explained that I would like to know when the engineer would be returning to finish the job. He made a few confused comments and asked if he could put me on hold. Two minutes later, he explained that he couldn't understand how I'd had the original engineer appointment because his records suggested that it shouldn't have happened. He then said that Tiscali would be getting back to me. As a parting shot, I asked him why I have never had any replies to any e-mails I sent but he couldn't offer an explanation.

So, by this time, I'd spent godknowswhat on phone calls and got nowhere. A day later, I've had no explanation from Tiscali and have little hope of getting my installation resolved by the end of the week.

One of the most annoying things throughout this is the complete absence of replies to any e-mails I've sent to Tiscali support. Oh, one exception; they were quite happy to reply when I was still a prospective customer.

As a member of the Consumers' Association (Which?), I'll be putting the matter into the hands of their legal services team before too much longer. I'm in no mood to let this drag on.
madnes
13-03-2008
Find an alternative number using www.saynoto0870.com
The site will either list free phone numbers or alternative local rate numbers, I have not rang a 0870/0845 number for ages since finding this site.
boxoctosis
17-03-2008
Good point. I've read about that but never thought to try it out. Thanks for the reminder.

Still no reaction from Tiscali. Useless buggers.
boxoctosis
17-03-2008
I appreciate your concern. While I accept that you may have got dodgy feedback from BT, would I be right in thinking that the subsequent lack of feedback from Tiscali is, well, Tiscali's fault?

I say this while watching BBC's Watchdog programme & it's giving me ideas.

Originally Posted by MK_Brett:
“Hi,
Sorry to hear about this.
We have to rely on the line checker from BT to determine whether or not you can get the service. Unfortunately this information can be err, umm, well, a little inaccurate. There are times when it indicates that the service should work, but it's not until the engineer is on site and the equipment is set up that we can verify this.”

boxoctosis
17-03-2008
Just been trying to log onto the Tiscali forums to raise this issue. However, it keeps asking me to login. When I do so, it proceeds to ask me to login. When I do this...

No sign of an error message or anything like that. All part of the service, I guess. Is Tiscali a company set up as some kind of sixth-form business studies project?

To be fair, the phone service and the broadband provision have been very good so far but it would be nice to sort out the third part of the service - i.e. the bit that hooked me in in the first place.
boxoctosis
17-03-2008
OK, I've now found a separate registration page for the forums. Done that. Now, I've logged in to reply to somebody's posting only to get a "you ar not currently logged in" message. At the top of this screen, it clearly says, "you are logged in". It also says "welcome boxoctosis"

Laugh? Cry? Sign up to BT broadband?
boxoctosis
18-03-2008
To add to the confusion, I now read the following on the official Tiscali forums:

Posted by judim:
I had Tiscali Tv installed just over a week ago and it hasn't actually worked yet, today i have conducted a bandwith test and find that my speed is around 2.35mbps going down to 1.83mbps

Reply by MK_Brett:
Hi, There is nothing wrong with the bandwidth. There is pleanty for the TV to work fine. HAve you called Tech Support about the box yet?

... which suggests that my bandwidth was adequate all along? Does anyone really know what the necessary technical requirements are?

In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king
Peter We
18-03-2008
The video streams use 1-1.5Mb but may peak higher.
MK_Brett
18-03-2008
Originally Posted by boxoctosis:
“To add to the confusion, I now read the following on the official Tiscali forums:

Posted by judim:
I had Tiscali Tv installed just over a week ago and it hasn't actually worked yet, today i have conducted a bandwith test and find that my speed is around 2.35mbps going down to 1.83mbps

Reply by MK_Brett:
Hi, There is nothing wrong with the bandwidth. There is pleanty for the TV to work fine. HAve you called Tech Support about the box yet?

... which suggests that my bandwidth was adequate all along? Does anyone really know what the necessary technical requirements are?

In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king”

Hi,
Sorry, you are taking that quote out of context. I checked his bandwidth at the exchange and was confirming he had enough available.
As for the forum login, I know it can be problematic at times and we are addressing this. Can you email forumsupport@uk.tiscali.com with your forum login details and I'll have a look at them. I'll need your Tiscali email address and your forum user name.
boxoctosis
20-03-2008
Originally Posted by MK_Brett:
“Hi,
Sorry, you are taking that quote out of context. I checked his bandwidth at the exchange and was confirming he had enough available.”

Am I to assume that his bandwidth was increased subsequent to his speed test, as per the speed upgrade his original posting mentions? Even so, looks as though folk such as Peter We believe 1-1.5m is sufficient, so there are a range of opinions out there.

Originally Posted by MK_Brett:
“As for the forum login, I know it can be problematic at times and we are addressing this...”

I've just received an "account validated" e-mail, so I'm guessing I'll now be fully enabled.
Peter We
20-03-2008
Originally Posted by boxoctosis:
“Even so, looks as though folk such as Peter We believe 1-1.5m is sufficient, so there are a range of opinions out there.
”

I simply check my download speed with and without TV working and a figure near 1.2 Mb seems average.
QQuaver
20-03-2008
Originally Posted by Peter We:
“I simply check my download speed with and without TV working and a figure near 1.2 Mb seems average.”

What's your bandwidth (excluding TV)
boxoctosis
26-03-2008
I've checked it a few times and it tends to hover around the 1950 mark.

Originally Posted by QQuaver:
“What's your bandwidth (excluding TV)”

boxoctosis
26-03-2008
Right. Last Tuesday (18th March), I rang Tiscali to get an update. The guy I spoke to seemed genuinely to be trying to help but had to resort to putting me on hold on a couple of occasions to get advice.

The upshot seemed to be that my "job" had been closed, presumably because somebody at Tiscali had deemed it to have been completed. It seems that one part of Tiscali hasn't registered that I originally ordered the TV service and seems to think that I only wanted BB and phone.

So, the support guy said that he would start a new job for me and did so while I was on the line. He told me that it would take 2-5 days to process. I suggested to him that my job should be expedited due to my having already waited a couple of weeks but he said he couldn't do so.

Bearing in mind the Easter break, we're now on day five. Still no response. I only hope I'm not paying for the TV service that I haven't yet received.
boxoctosis
26-03-2008
Just rang them again. Again, they tried to be helpful.

The latest is that the problem is so profound that it has gone beyond 2nd line support and has now been escalated to the "offshore team". I have been asked to give them another "day or so".

I asked whether there was any hint of the nature of the problem but was told there was not. However, he suggested that problems that get escalated "offshore" are usually to do with the line.

No indication as to why the original job was closed, of course.

Hope springs eternal.
boxoctosis
26-03-2008
I was given an e-mail address to use in order to get progress updates: cservices@uk.tiscali.com. So, I thought I'd use it to make it clear to them that I wanted feedback within a day or two.

Sent the e-mail & swiftly got a "Mail delivery failed" in response. So, tiscali's mail server doesn't recognise the address!

Tried to ring them on the 0871 number to complain... went through the menus... got put into a queue... heard the ring tone for a couple of seconds... and then the line was disconnected.

WTF!
boxoctosis
01-04-2008
No further progress. I refuse to chase them any more.

Lets see how long they take.

Am I wrong to think that regular updates from Tiscali would represent acceptable customer service? It would certainly go a long way towards keeping me happy.
MK_Brett
01-04-2008
Did you post this in our forum?
I've looked out for your user name, but not see you yet.
boxoctosis
05-04-2008
Originally Posted by MK_Brett:
“Did you post this in our forum?
I've looked out for your user name, but not see you yet.”

No, I didn't. I invested my energies in e-mailing and phoning your support people, which I misguidedly thought would be the more appropriate approach to take.

Update
Just got an e-mail from Tiscali to say that an engineer will be coming out next Tuesday evening.

A prediction: he'll conclude that our bandwidth or line quality won't support the service and will remove the equipment. He will also criticise BT and/or tiscali sales people for ever suggesting we could have got the service.

Further prediction: when I get my phone bill, I'll foolishly try to claim back some or all of the costs expended on pursuing this installation. I will fail.
boxoctosis
08-04-2008
The engineer came tonight. He hadn't been appraised of the events of the last few weeks. Same old problems with TTV. His colleagues now want 10 days to sort the line out with BT - we're apparenyl on the wrong circuit. My understanding was that BT had already been pursued when they said they were escalating the problem to "offshore".

What's the betting that 10 days turns into a month? No doubt any delay will be blamed on BT.

I've now moved this thread onto the official Tiscali forum, as requested by MK_Brett:

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=146470
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