# Fed up with Phone



## dcat (May 11, 2008)

I currently have a landline and ADSL broadband with Orange. They are impossible when it comes to resolving a problem with the ADSL. I've had service with Telefonica in the past (I know, all the lines are owned by Telefonica), and I've also used TalkTalk. I wasn't happy with the last two which is why I recently changed to Orange. I don't think I'm that difficult to please! I think its the lousy service I had with all three.
So now I'm looking for a new company. Someone told me about BT Spain. But looking on the internet there seem to be problems with BT Spain. Anyone know about this or have any other suggestion? I don't care about calls to England. I'm not English! But it would be nice to have the technical support available in English.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Telefonica/Movistar/Imagen have done us proud and we are in the remotest part of Spain. I cannot fault the T.V., Telephone, or internet system installed. 

Yes things have gone wrong in the past, but the engineer arrives usually within a couple of hours and quickly sorts the problem.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

dcat said:


> I currently have a landline and ADSL broadband with Orange. They are impossible when it comes to resolving a problem with the ADSL. I've had service with Telefonica in the past (I know, all the lines are owned by Telefonica), and I've also used TalkTalk. I wasn't happy with the last two which is why I recently changed to Orange. I don't think I'm that difficult to please! I think its the lousy service I had with all three.
> So now I'm looking for a new company. Someone told me about BT Spain. But looking on the internet there seem to be problems with BT Spain. Anyone know about this or have any other suggestion? I don't care about calls to England. I'm not English! But it would be nice to have the technical support available in English.


When we used Telefonica the sales staff spoke English but not the technical support. We had no end of technical problems until we switched to Jazztel nearly three years ago, and touch wood, haven't had any problems since!


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2012)

I am back online again after 12 hours of no Internet connection. I am with BT/Arrakis and I have had nothing but trouble with them since I joined 3 years ago. It took them 66 days to connect me after having told Telefonica who I was previously with that I wished to leave. Telefonica cut me off in an hour and as I have said it took BT/Arrakis 66 days to get me connected. BT/Arrakis promise 365 days a year support, in English - forget it - all you get is an answerphone that no-one replies to. The BT side of it consists of 3 people. Amanda, the manager, a guy who I think is called Steve and a Spanish lady whose name I forget - all of whom are a complete waste of time, energy and oxygen. Now that I am back online I am actively searching for an alternative supplier of both telephone and ADSL services. A friend of mine in the village has Telefonica supply her ADSL, 'phone and a 22 channel television service, all of which comes in at a cheaper rate then I am paying BT/Arrakis. Might give them another chance.


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## dcat (May 11, 2008)

Jazztel. Thanks. That's what I'm afraid of with Telefonica. They signed me up when I used them in Catalan but then provided no technical support in Catalan, nor, as I recall, in English. But I was trying so hard to use Catalan for everything that I'm not sure I even asked for help in English!!



Alcalaina said:


> When we used Telefonica the sales staff spoke English but not the technical support. We had no end of technical problems until we switched to Jazztel nearly three years ago, and touch wood, haven't had any problems since!


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## dcat (May 11, 2008)

I forgot to ask. You say you've had no problems since you switched to Jazztel. But my question has to do with technical support. Someday there will be a problem. Do they supply technical support in English? I think perhaps Telefonica does but I'm not sure. I think they have an English-speaking agent call you back. I'll have to ask around because if you ask the company they will tell you anything to make the sale.



Alcalaina said:


> When we used Telefonica the sales staff spoke English but not the technical support. We had no end of technical problems until we switched to Jazztel nearly three years ago, and touch wood, haven't had any problems since!


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## dcat (May 11, 2008)

Thanks 4tunate. I hope your luck changes when you change companies. Are you planning to change to Telefonica? I have read bad things about BT on the internet so I was hesitant about using them.



4tunate said:


> I am back online again after 12 hours of no Internet connection. I am with BT/Arrakis and I have had nothing but trouble with them since I joined 3 years ago. It took them 66 days to connect me after having told Telefonica who I was previously with that I wished to leave. Telefonica cut me off in an hour and as I have said it took BT/Arrakis 66 days to get me connected. BT/Arrakis promise 365 days a year support, in English - forget it - all you get is an answerphone that no-one replies to. The BT side of it consists of 3 people. Amanda, the manager, a guy who I think is called Steve and a Spanish lady whose name I forget - all of whom are a complete waste of time, energy and oxygen. Now that I am back online I am actively searching for an alternative supplier of both telephone and ADSL services. A friend of mine in the village has Telefonica supply her ADSL, 'phone and a 22 channel television service, all of which comes in at a cheaper rate then I am paying BT/Arrakis. Might give them another chance.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

dcat said:


> I currently have a landline and ADSL broadband with Orange. They are impossible when it comes to resolving a problem with the ADSL. I've had service with Telefonica in the past (I know, all the lines are owned by Telefonica), and I've also used TalkTalk. I wasn't happy with the last two which is why I recently changed to Orange.


You don't mention what problems you've had but if three different companies have had problems with your line then it's not too much of a leap to believe the problem is the line itself. 

In other words switching isn't likely to help.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

dcat said:


> I forgot to ask. You say you've had no problems since you switched to Jazztel. But my question has to do with technical support. Someday there will be a problem. Do they supply technical support in English? I think perhaps Telefonica does but I'm not sure. I think they have an English-speaking agent call you back. I'll have to ask around because if you ask the company they will tell you anything to make the sale.


as far as I know Movistar/Telefónica doesn't have technical support in English

there might sometimes be someone handy who speaks a bit of English - but that's it


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2012)

NickZ said:


> You don't mention what problems you've had but if three different companies have had problems with your line then it's not too much of a leap to believe the problem is the line itself.
> 
> In other words switching isn't likely to help.


Only two companies - Telefonica and BT/Arrakis. There were no technical difficulties with Telefonica - only their extortionate charges, which led me to leave and join BT/Arrakis on the promise of much less expenditure. I suppose that you could riposte with something like 'you get what you pay for' but at the time I was seduced by the false promises and had no idea that it would be the wrong decision. Like many people I believed that by their using the 'BT' logo that I would have some recourse with British Telecom should things go wrong. Then BT - GB - confirmed that they had no financial or commercial interest in BT/Arrakis, they had just 'sold' the logo. You live and learn!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

dcat said:


> I forgot to ask. You say you've had no problems since you switched to Jazztel. But my question has to do with technical support. Someday there will be a problem. Do they supply technical support in English? I think perhaps Telefonica does but I'm not sure. I think they have an English-speaking agent call you back. I'll have to ask around because if you ask the company they will tell you anything to make the sale.


I'm afraid I don't know, as we have never had to call them!

But most companies these days will have an English speaker call you back if you can't manage the Spanish.


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## dcat (May 11, 2008)

I thought I stated my problem at the beginning. I contracted for service with Orange in Catalan. I don't speak Castilian. Now when I need tecnical help because the internet isn't working properly, I can only get the help in Castilian and I don't speak it well enough nor understand it well enough to make it effective. They told me a week ago Sunday that an English-speaking technician would call me, but none ever has.

I recently moved. My problems with Telefonica and with TalkTalk had nothing to do with the quality of the internet connection. Telefonica also sold me their service in Catalan and then told me to go out into the street and find someone who could speak Spanish so they could analyze my problem. TalkTalk told (in English) to call Telefonica when I had a problem although I was their client and not Telefonica's so that Telefonica would not help me. 

It's a miracle if you can get good quaiity telephone/internet service and mainly, useable technical support.



NickZ said:


> You don't mention what problems you've had but if three different companies have had problems with your line then it's not too much of a leap to believe the problem is the line itself.
> 
> In other words switching isn't likely to help.


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## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

I expect that BB is no different in Spain than anywhere else, i.e. luck of the draw.

Both in UK and here in France for every glowing recommendation there is usually an equal and opposite condemnation so ultimately 'you pays yer money and takes choice' !


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

we recently changed from using an orange dongle to 2 way sat( several bonuses to this.Telefrustration/Muckupstar are not involved at any level, the ISP is based in the UK,for technical support, you call the installer,who will then reroute your call tothe isp in the UK)


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## codex70 (Jun 24, 2012)

Dunmovin, how are you getting on with the satellite broadband? In particular have you tried using voip phone services such as skype? I've heard varying reports about how usable it is, if you're just surfing the net it should be fine, even streaming movies and music should be OK, but for 2 way communication does it actually work?


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## dcat (May 11, 2008)

Ooooo. Sounds like an expensive option. I don't live out in the campo. I'm in a city so I have many options for wired service. I haven't even put up a satellite for TV. I was told when I moved in that there were some troublesome neighbors in the building, so I didn't want to invest in satellite and have it stolen or messed with. So I've been using the internet to watch some of the television I can't get locally. 

Anyway, now I'm just looking for someone who can provide reasonable technical support. Orange seems to have fixed my line without telling me! It took a week, but better late than never, and I suppose it could have been worse.



dunmovin said:


> we recently changed from using an orange dongle to 2 way sat( several bonuses to this.Telefrustration/Muckupstar are not involved at any level, the ISP is based in the UK,for technical support, you call the installer,who will then reroute your call tothe isp in the UK)


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

codex70 said:


> Dunmovin, how are you getting on with the satellite broadband? In particular have you tried using voip phone services such as skype? I've heard varying reports about how usable it is, if you're just surfing the net it should be fine, even streaming movies and music should be OK, but for 2 way communication does it actually work?


works perfectly with skype. However with the package we have (2gb uploading/8gb download), a lot of Skype use could quickly eat up that upload quota, then the speed would drop from 3mbs to 128kbps.


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## codex70 (Jun 24, 2012)

Thanks, that would be an issue, especially as I have to work via the internet as well. Will have to take a look at the options...


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## ezza (Apr 13, 2009)

I was with Arrakis for 3 years, wouldn't recommend them to anyone, their English helpline doesn't exist they promise to ring back and don't. 
When I left them they continued billing me so I was being charged for the same calls by Arrakis and Telefonica, I stopped the direct debit then started receiving solicitors letters from Arrakis, absolute nightmare. I finished up paying for the calls twice just to get away from them. 
Don't touch them with a barge pole!


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## dcat (May 11, 2008)

Someone told me that there are problems with all the phone suppliers so you just have to choose one and hope you don't have connection problems and don't need their technical support. He said a few people he knew just signed up with BT Spain. But from everything I've seen, of all the poor choices, BT seems to be the worst! And that's quite a feat!! Thanks for your comment.



ezza said:


> I was with Arrakis for 3 years, wouldn't recommend them to anyone, their English helpline doesn't exist they promise to ring back and don't.
> When I left them they continued billing me so I was being charged for the same calls by Arrakis and Telefonica, I stopped the direct debit then started receiving solicitors letters from Arrakis, absolute nightmare. I finished up paying for the calls twice just to get away from them.
> Don't touch them with a barge pole!


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