I wish..........

Hoo bloody rah...

My broadband/internet connection has just been restored!!!....

25 Days...

...since I lost my broadband/internet.
Last Friday I was told that Pipex engineers were still trying to fix the problem. They hoped it would be sorted within 24 to 48 hours. I asked did they mean it would be after the weekend it would be fixed and when told it would decided enough was enough.
I called the cancellations department for a migration code but they tried to assure me they were doing all they could to fix the problem.
I have decided to move - I'll wait to see if they do fix my service by tomorrow (Tuesday) as promised but they have lost a customer. I have already contacted BT regarding moving my phone and line rental back to them and as I now have the MAC number as soon as my broadband is back up and running I'm moving.
Over three weeks is an unacceptable time to not have a service that is being paid for. Now to see if I can get that 'technical refund'.

I'm not completely happy with the result, as BT still has left the 'door' open regarding the PHORM Webwise snooping software partnership, but having dabbled with ISPs which have to rely on the one company (BT) which controls the infrastructure of the phone/internet system I have had enough of call centres in countries where the staff have 'westernised' names to help the customer understand them.

You know what I mean...

Spread the news...

For a few years now I have been partial to a certain butter and buy it on a regular basis.
The butter is Bridel Brittany Butter with Sea Salt Crystals. My local Waitrose stocked it and recently I noted that alongside the Bridel butter was what appeared to be Waitrose's own version.

I muttered something along the lines of "I bet they stop stocking the Bridel..." and sure enough last week I noticed that the shelf label for the Bridel had been taken off.

I asked one of the staff if they were discontinuing this line but he stated after asking a 'manager' that it was a supply problem, and they had taken the label down to prevent confusion. (Yeah...)

Normally they leave the label up with a "Currently not available" sticker over it. No confusion there normally...

I have yet to check other Waitrose branches but this isn't the first time they have removed items from their shelves which I have developed a taste for...

Two weeks broadbandless...

21 August 2009 - 4 September 2009

So today is the two week 'anniversary' of not having any broadband connection.
Two weeks ago the DSL light on my router went out and it is still out.
Several calls to Pipex/Tiscali/TalkTalk/whoever and two visits from BT engineers and a Tiscali Broadband engineer have not solved the issue.

My equipment is not to blame. Rebooting/reseting the router made no difference. Swapping to a spare router made no change. Changing the micro-filter made no difference. Pipex tested the line with a '680 error' reported (that's no dial tone to save you Googling it).
BT arrived eventually but could not help as the line was fine and he was told it was a line fault then departed after trying to confuse me with a shitload of acronyms/abbreviations (he succeeded).
Tiscali Broadband engineer arrived about 10 days later and said it wasn't my equipment (surprise) as his router failed to illuminate the DSL light, and went within ten minutes. Couple of days later another BT engineer arrived to fix a line fault but not a BB fault!

What? Wait, it was reported as a line fault NOT a broadband fault? I sense I'm getting stuck in a loop here....

He did go to the exchange and checked the "mapping" (OK) and the line (OK) and swapped out the BT socket (just in case) and now, today, I have been sitting around since 8am waiting for the broadband guy to arrive. Appointment was set for between 8am and 1pm and it is now 1215pm.
Wonder if he'll turn up at 1259pm?

Wonder if he'll get me back online?

Wonder if I'll still be relying on a 3G modem on my Macbook in an area where there is no 3G coverage.

Wonder where I will take my business to, once that little green light on my router starts to flicker and pulse again?....

Facebook - the truth hurts?

Found this article in the Wall Street Journal which rings true for me -
http://bit.ly/iuTRk

Some of the commenters are obviously hardcore MyFacing Twattering saddos......