"life is short, its upto us to make the most of it, which is why i choose not to follow a career path that takes me away from the family and friends around me, money may pay bills, but for the most part money means nothing, its people that count!"
Or perhaps this is because either:-
1. You never had enough ambition to follow a career. 2. You lack the appropriate skills to follow a career. 3. You were too lazy.
Fair comment?
worked in retail jobs for 17 years Tim, the last 7 years for one national car accessory company. worked my way up to supervisor and fitting out superstores (one of a team of three people) but didnt apply for management as it would have meant standing on colleagues id worked alongside for years, great people, couldnt do that. working on the road and in superstores across the country, but found i was working to pay off various bills etc.
as the 7 years went by, my wage got less and less in real terms, as the bills grew faster, for £850 a month, was a struggle to get by with a partner and a child. we both worked full time, my better half was working shifts.
we saw less of each other as the years passed, we socialised occasionally but always with our own friends, once the sprog was 16 and started goin his way, we both realised that hed always been there but now he was ugly enuff to make his own way, we didnt really know each other at all.
i sat down one day and talked to her about it.... she felt exactly the same way. we would either stay together forever or split up. i had been looking for plumbing courses for more than 3 years (to complete alongside work) so i gave two weeks notice, said if things didnt change in the workplace, then i was leaving. nothing changed, i left and spent thousands of my own brass, and driving across the country everyday training to be a plumber.
when i finally got the pass certificates, i discovered there was an overflow of plumbers in my area, after 3 months of job centre hunting, i started casual work for myself. i also built a ten foot double extention around our home alongside the builder and saved my partner over £40,000 (which was nice ) the only people making money were plumbers who charged £40 an £50 to pensioners for changing a tap etc. sorry but i couldnt do this... i find it immoral.
so i shut down all the bills etc, and started looking for part time work, with the focus on having more time available to spend with the family and around the home. id always wanted to teach, but that option i was told would take 7 years part time or 3 years full time, of course fitting this around working would be difficult if not near impossible.
i scoured the county website for jobs, applying for a few part time ones helping out in schools in the county. nothing doing. until i got a phone call for a job id applied for 3 months earlier, would i still like to do it and would i go for an interview.
it was for one hour a day, 5 days a week, and luckily for me, other applicants didnt like the post! also by luck, the head teacher of the school, was not only amazed that i was a man (trust me) and i was willing to work one hour per day for 5 days per week. Hardly bank busting stuff. i explained that its not about the money, i was more than willing to train and put the effort in, etc.
low and behold i got the job! it was conditional on being term to term basis to make sure i was suitable, but it was a start. another stroke of luck fell my way, my headteacher was also a late starter within schools, and could understand the benefits i might bring to the job.
after 3 months of waiting for a CRB clearance, the job was kept open for me and i started work. it costs me almost as much in petrol to get there an back than i get paid, but i dont care.... its a job that is both interesting and benefits someone. its not a "mainstream" school - its a short stay school.
i couldnt have believed how mentally tiring just doing an hour a day would be, all i have to do is to supervise them whilst they eat dinner and then occupy them in the yard. im willing to bet that the staff at the school thought i am a bit unusual as a grown man wants to work for one hour per day in a school??? (i can understand that)
anyhow, i made many mistakes,but tried always to be open to ideas and suggestions, was willing to learn, etc, and the headteacher kept faith in me (godknows why because i cause more hassle than i sort out hehe) and i got kept on for another term. then one day back in october, i was asked if i could help out in the classroom for a couple of hours. i jumped at the chance to help out.
the headteacher asked me again and again, and i was sent on training courses to give me the tools to help the children even more. i am now able to work part time and fit my other little jobs that need doing around the house in with this whilst the better half works full time. the staff and teachers there are diamonds, they put up with me as im sure i annoy them with my constant questions.... but the real bonus for me, is the children!
sounds corny but when you see one of the children complete some work, or when they draw a picture for me to put on my fridge, or when i see them doing a new skill in sport that weve been practising, etc, its priceless!
there are main differences now from when i worked in retail: first up - i set up and run penny pinchers (shameless plug sorry) where i have time now to help other people - be it a neighbour whos had her phone cut off because of a billing error or help an elderly friend have a parking ticket waived because it was wrong, etc. - i can do small plumbing jobs for friends and relatives who are unemployed or elderly - charging only for the parts i use and nothing for call out or hourly rates - i can take my old van out and move things for friends/relatives etc - airport runs for the people close to me so they save £30 a time you get the idea.
secondly - i get to see my better half (we are now married) - i get to do jobs around the house that benefit us rather than paying out more money for someone else to do it - we all eat better as i now have time to source local produce (saving over £70 per week just by changing habits) - i have FUN now, i see my local area much more, i do gardening, have a network of local friends who i can call on for other services and things if i need to, in return i help them out when they ring up (as they often do) - ive started cooking, baking etc. more healthy eating more benefits for my family - i have time to learn website programming and coding (although you wouldnt think so looking at this website!)
thirdly- and most importantly i am not dictated to by money anymore, its not the source of worry or arguments, i dont work all month just to pay off interest or charges etc, i can start the week with £5 in my pocket and still have £3 at the end of the week! i havent claimed a single benefit in over £20 years, im happy with my friends and family and if i havent got any money.... so what, im lucky to have a quality of life that few people i know have.
so to finally answer your question Tim, yes it is a fair comment, ive tried to explain why it doesnt always apply in my case???
i dont know how i got here, or where im going to, but i feel a hell of a lot better for having my family and friends around me.. if that makes sense?
with todays sad news about david cameron's young son, it brings home to us here at "hoover towers" just how important family life is.
for the second time in a day or so, ive heard a person say outright that they will always take time off for their family whenever possible.
the family for us is everything. there when you walk through the door, no matter how many times things dont goto plan, the family is the one constant. its easy to take it for granted, forgotten how important family life is, as none of us know when our time is up.
life is short, its upto us to make the most of it, which is why i choose not to follow a career path that takes me away from the family and friends around me, money may pay bills, but for the most part money means nothing, its people that count!
Denz on 02.26.09 @ 01:09 AM CST [link]
Tuesday, February 24th
tax revenue investigation
Penny pinchers is today calling for an official investigation into the link between government revenue and the artificially high prices of essential bills!
i spent 3 hours last night finding basic car insurance - only to find that it today costs the same amount of money to insure a new driver on a basic 1.1 engine car, as it did 3 months ago to insure the same driver on a 1.6 bog standard engine car. searched over 40 companies, some of which quoted over £2400 for standard cover without legal protection, etc. the government tax on insurance was charged at 10%
gas bills continue to sting every household in the country, despite the price of oil dropping dramatically the government levy a tax on this
electricity bills also continue to be sky high, despite being linked to the cost of oil we are told. the government levy a tax on this
petrol - the price has just gone up by more than 4p a litre in my area... why? no one knows! the government generate revenue from petrol and diesel sales
why are essential bills for the people continuing to run at almost record levels (despite in some cases being told to reduce them)?
everything that brings in revenue for the government remains at prices that people cannot afford but have to buy to heat their homes/get to work etc. why?
Denz on 02.24.09 @ 10:47 AM CST [link]
following on from today's joke article by one gordon brown (regarding banking), Chris Mullin (labour mp) serialises his new book in the papers (released in march 2009)
its a brief diary of his time in government and a fascinating insight into how this government goes about its business. already, it comes across as not only funny, but apt. i like Chris Mullin, labour mp he maybe, but with conviction, he earns respect. if you want a giggle, then its worth a read.
Denz on 02.22.09 @ 01:34 PM CST [link]
the bloke is a complete carrot..... he does not have a clue what he is doing..... before he does anymore damage... GET HIM OUT!!!!
Denz on 02.22.09 @ 12:26 AM CST [link]
Saturday, February 21st
Pushing sales...
twice in the last 12 hours, retailers have revealed themselves as completely missing the point when it comes to the way they treat their prospective customers!
example 1: a washing machine advertised via a national paper from a well known national electrical retailer.
was £399 now (for a limited time only) £100 off... just £299!
unfortunately for them, we bought one of these exact same washing machines in early december 2008. back then i shopped around and their price for the same machine was £344 (including taking away old machine) we even visited one of their superstores, but the staff were so pushy, we left soon after without making a purchase or looking at anything else. we bought one that was priced £20 higher from an online competitor... why? because i know they have a mark up of between 40% - 60% on their prices. this makes a mockery of their BARGAIN price!
example 2: last october we bought a used car from a dealership.
through the post this morning was a flyer from the dealership stating we could swap our car for a brand new model which was now at a "low price" as many of their new models were now "significantly lower in price"
the new price listed for one such car was now £13,999 unfortunately last october when we bought our used car, the same brand new model was £10,995
the new low price is £3000 higher than it was not 3 months before... RIP OFF!
people are wise to the retailers, why dont they drop their prices for real? we saw with woolies that what they say is a bargain.. is often not a bargain at all... even when they are closing down sales, the prices dont reflect the climate we are in.
if retailers would reduce their prices genuinely, then people would still buy, the problem is that what they tell us is good value, isnt good value at all and we know this!
Denz on 02.21.09 @ 12:19 PM CST [link]
self sufficient?
like the good life (tv series in the 1970s) the sprog asked if it would be possible for our house to be totally self sufficient in everyday life?
my answer? yes, almost... i think....
a good friend once told me "pay your rent/mortgage first, then no matter what happens you will have a roof over your head!" (excellent advice i think)
can we live without everything else? certainly!
as i told the sprog... if we have no furniture, gas, electric, water, etc, at least we have a roof over our heads!
but is it really possible to exist like this?
gas and electric - we can always light candles, and cook on our barbeque, wash clothes in the bath by boiling water in pans etc. (could you live without your gas supply?) we could always fit small windturbines to the annex or house roof to charge batteries to power the house in the evening (uk power system is ac/dc which means as well as use power you can also put it back onto the power grid using a 3 pin plug - something the government isnt keen on us knowing about) effectively we could simply cut our current supply off and manage.
water - this would be difficult, but its not impossible. we live close to a shallow river, we could collect rainwater in old oil drums or even wheelybins if necessary, if we are desperate, an old bath can be fitted to the annex roof with piping and tap fitted to gain access to it.
food - hardest part this would be i think... the front and back gardens could be dug over and used for vegetables, some fruits, etc. but wed have to make room for some chickens, so we could breed them and eat them as well as the eggs wed get. as long as they bred, wed have a constant supply.
other things to consider - what about theft? surely with everyone "in the same boat" theft would rise dramatically? cuttings would be more popular though, raspberry and blackberry picking would return as a common activity, as would cockling winkles and mushroom picking.
id probably start up a franchise on our street, especially with the older people, say get 7 or 8 homes involved where we plant spuds in one garden, carrots in the next, etc. in return for doing the manual work, we would then be able to swap produce with each other so we all get a mixed bag of veg and fruit for most of the year.
fishing to eat would return, maybe we would see the return of the double yolker? (currently banned from sale by the european union!) and people would have to learn to cook!
it would be an interesting world to live in again, instead of the dreary work to survive, not much time off, crappy world we now have.
why did this question come up? because we were discussing the depression and trying to fathom out what (if anything) can be done to avoid it???
Denz on 02.21.09 @ 03:23 AM CST [link]
Wednesday, February 18th
Ian Hamilton - a fighter worth supporting!
i like old people, they are made of sterner stuff. they stand up for themselves and others, they are wise, they use their experience for the benefit of all around them. they have manners, personal standards, etc.
i detest the way in which britain treats its older generations. they are mugged in the street or in their homes, they are outcasts living in a "young people" world. they lose savings, property etc, often built up for decades, thats set aside for their family when they depart, to pay for the here and now like basic care or treatments. if i was in charge, the elderly/retired would be made bastions of our communities, a central role and their state led bills would be removed. they would be actively encouraged to pass on knowledge, use finance for their families and friends, etc, and would not be penalised when families help them out also.
ian hamilton - this is an 83 year old man with more balls than most! he is an ex judge, who has just launched a court action against RBS!
last year when he was invited to buy shares in the royal bank of scotland, he purchased them on behalf of his wife for £2 per share, his argument? he states that the rbs were already insolvent when they offered the shares those shares are now worth just 20p despite receiving billions of pounds from the british taxpayer!
to simplify the rules, if any financial company wish to trade, they do so only on provision that they have a credit license. the criteria for owning such a license are quite strict (as youd expect) they must be solvent, they must have adequate safeguards and capital in place to protect their customers etc.
many banks are being shown to not meet this criteria, which begs the question: why have they been allowed to continue trading? shouldnt they have their licenses taken away? couldnt the FSA have removed their license until they met the criteria to hold one? (stopping them from trading until they got their books in order)
when will the FSA be answerable to the british public?
today: at his press conference, gordon brown answered a question put to him about banker's bonus'
".... and we must ensure that the regulator (the FSA) has the right to stop a bank from overstretching and recapitalise itself before further borrowing is allowed!"
exactly what has the FSA been doing for the past decade?
its crass and stupid to suggest after 11 years that the FSA should be allowed to do the job it was originally set up to do, and what gordon brown himself, told us it was doing!
gordon brown also launched yet another "new plan" in the form of a document stating that the world needs to work together, quoting as he did, that "....every country in the world is stimulating their economies" and "is in the same position as the UK" this is a lie! in october when the government threw billions of taxpayers money at the banking system, it was, brown told us, "..... to get the flow of lending going again between banks" the problem is, it wasnt true, the money was used to stop the banks from collapse, they had debts of billions, as the bank of england told us later in late november, "the banking industry was less than 2 weeks from total collapse"
yes, countries around the world are stimulating their economies, but not after billions of taxpayers money have propped up their own banks from collapse, their billions of stimulus are stimulating, not bailing them out.
and finally..... gordon brown quotes that "an early warning system around the world needs setting up!"
so why wont gordon brown answer the following question:
the british government knew that icelandic banks were going to collapse in early 2008, so why did they spend another 6 months advising councils, charities, public bodies, private investors, etc, via their rating scheme, that it was a grade A investment and perfectly safe?
the fact is, that we already have an early warning system in place - the problem is that gordon brown and the labour government, for 6 months, COMPLETELY IGNORED IT! they ignored every single critic and warning they were given for years about a crash coming, dismissed every report and study that didnt support their own view.
do we really want anymore of gordon brown's mismanagement?
Denz on 02.18.09 @ 01:39 PM CST [link]
Tuesday, February 10th
banks - the plot thickens!
after sir james crosby revelations at today's treasury select committee questioning, it would appear a few others are starting to see what some of us have been saying for months???
if a normal like me can spot this.... why is it taking so long for others to realise?
Denz on 02.10.09 @ 07:45 PM CST [link]
Monday, February 9th
who is to blame this week?
ridiculous blame throwing comments from the government of the UK, who know exactly whats gone on with regard to "the credit crunch" continue to stir up trouble for everything and everyone connected with the whole financial mess.
FACT: from day one of labour rule in 1997, gordon brown took control of banking regulation away from the bank of england, then made it "independant" the FSA (financial service authority) were given control of regulating banks and ensuring that they didnt overstretch under the old rules - if the regulator went into a bank and looked at its books, finding it to be over borrwing, then the regulator had the power to stop the banks borrowing anymore until it refinanced itself to protect itself from collapse - this system worked well for years, until gordon brown removed this power from the bank of england and gave it to a "new" regulatory body - the FSA
this week, the latest group of people in the firing line, are bankers who receive bonus' brown is more than happy for finger pointing and mocking as long as it doesnt point at him or his party!
imagine that you are offered a job at a bank and if you reach a target you will be given a £1 million pound bonus - would you take it??? i doubt i could find a single person who would turn it down!
the banks can only operate within the regulator's instructions. that regulator was set up and run by one gordon brown... it failed miserably.
* the "crash" might have started in america, but whom allowed the british banking industry to follow america's model for banking? (just because other countries were following it, didnt make it right did it gordon?) * bankers lost huge amounts of money and took huge risks that went pear shaped, but who left them to their own devices unregulated, at the same time as telling the british people they were being protected by the strict regulator?
someone once told me: the labour party operate on the politics of envy, they put one group of haves against another group of have-nots, then light the touch paper!
never has this been more accurate in the last 10 years of a labour government. when will the media and the people start asking questions of the regulator and those that put it in place? i wonder how much money those who regulated the industry and failed, got paid??? as usual, brown and his party wont tell us....
i have now spent 10 hours 20 minutes going from one department to another to have a service window that redirects my browser to bt.com's website, removed.
* i have double paid the bill (even though they owe me money) * in 16 calls to them, they have disconnected me 12 times * bt staff tell me that "immeadiate" doesnt mean immeadiate when they take money off you! * ive had bt technical and bt billing arguing in a conference call that i am correct and the "wait 24 hours approach" is wrong * apparently bt broadband have "robots" that work for them
as regards the bill outstanding they have told me in no uncertain terms: * yes we have cleared your bill manually you should be back online in 30 minutes (it wasnt they couldnt understand why!) * the payment is showing on your account (3 times) * the payment is not showing on your account (5 times) * try paying your bill again (twice) * i know it says immeadiate reconnection of service, but that means 24 hours waiting (twice)
and to top it all off ive been on the phone from 11am to 17.00pm and got precisely nowhere at all. they have reset my browser security back to factory settings for no good reason then hung up they have taken more than £78 extra from me for no good reason they have promised 12 call backs, i have received not a single one they havent even acknowledged that anything is wrong on two occasions.
the timescale for the system to be sorted out has been quoted to me as: 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours (all from different advisors)
ive even had an advisor tell me "im sick of this sir, i get these calls by the dozen everyday im in work, i need to know whats going on with our systems and if they dont tell me, how am i supposed to sort anything out!"
ive had a senior manager at billing try to transfer me to technical and hes been cut off twice whilst trying to get through!
all in all ive had a thoroughly crap weekend in which bt created their own billing error, and they have been unable to resolve the issue in any way shape or form.... take my advice... they dont know their arse from their elbow, they dont even know how to operate their own phone systems... what chance has the public got???
Denz on 02.08.09 @ 05:10 PM CST [link]
Saturday, February 7th
bt - complete farse!
as ive already posted, my internet service from bt broadband is complete crap. over the last month or so its been getting worse - what was only 1.3 meg download, is now regularly falling to 0.5 meg download speed.. not bad for a premium service!
... anyways, they installed a test line into our house, to try and rectify the fault... it failed, they were instructed by the chairmans office and three engineers to fit a new line but they even managed to cock that up, and left me with 2 faulty lines!
and for the past ten months ive been requesting in writing that they turn this test line off, as they are billing me twice each time for both the line and broadband service neither of which are used or work. they keep telling me this has been done until the next bill comes in reveals that it hasnt and the advisors and departments at bt broadband are telling lies.
today they out did themselves, the following is an actual acount of THE most farsical series of events that i have ever come across:
- a letter arrives this morning saying i owe bt broadband almost £80 from the last bill, i have 7 days to pay it, if i dont then the service will be restricted - by teatime, an automated bt window displays on my browser when i log online, saying service restricted - i ring billing explain everything in detail and they pass me onto 3 departments where i explain again about the 7 emails sent throughout january regarding the billing problem have gone unanswered or acknowledged, they promise that the service will be back on in 20 minutes and assure me they will call back to confirm - i wait an hour, service still off no call back - so i ring them back... itll take 2 hours to come back on, well ring you by 8pm sir... but you close at 8pm? its ok we are here til 9pm ill call you back - 8pm comes no service no phone call - i explain again to 4 departments the whole problem, thankfully a senior manager finally finds the missing credit which shows that BT owe me money! he then gives me a reference number to quote and tries to connect me to bt broadband technical to have the restriction removed, posting on the account that there has been a billing error... he gets cut off twice, complains that they are useless and states it is no wonder bt are losing so many customers. finally i get through to technical and the advisor reads back the notes to me, then proceeds to cut me off! - its now 845pm - i ring billing again, a lady gives me technical number again, states that its a billing error and posts to my notes that the service is to be reconnected immeadiately. i ring the number and they state its billing dept that reconnect the service, and they are now closed until tomorrow! - i ring again after testing, still no service, they instruct me to ring a customer helpdesk number... dont worry sir they are open until 10pm everyday.... they transfer me, guess what.... they close at 8pm! - i ring technical back again... i inform them that i cannot log into bt.com with username and password they provided us with, as these are for a bt.yahoo.com website that i cannot visit until service restriction is lifted, and as such i cannot even pay the money they are demanding and claim it back! they reply that its a billing issue.... there then follows a 40 minute argument that i only want to log into the bt.com website.. technical state they can help with emails and passwords on the site... im told the only thing they can do is reset my browser to its factory settings and try logging in again... i do this nojoy, the browser now has all the settings lost and i have to set it all up again... still no log in to bt.com to pay and claim back later to remove the restriction. the bloke goes silent then hangs up!
- i ring back yet again.. by now its 915pm still no service or solution - i cant even log into bt.com's website! the technical advisor (i use this term loosely) could not login to the site using the username and password he had set up for us... he couldnt explain why and stated it was a billing issue! informed that he was technical and responsible for email password and username set up.. he continuously referred to a billing issue, even the staff around him didnt know why it wouldnt work... he hung up!
after just short of 5 hours on the phone - numerous phone calls to different departments - endless failed promises of solutions - not a single call back out of 12 promised - no resolution of service - no correction of their own billing error - i am left with no service, on a billing account on which they OWE MEMONEY and have to wait 24 hours to even speak to anyone about it
a total and utter disgraceful way to treat a customer... absolutely shocking!!!!
a letter bringing great news in our house this week, has caused some frank discussions this week.
the letter states that our previous 3 year fixed rate mortgage deal, is to end, and we will now fall onto the tracker rate of 1% above the bank of england's rate. this almost halves our current monthly interest rate from 5.1% fixed to 2.5% on the new tracker, saving us well over £100 per month.
all very good for us? maybe....
in the short term the attraction of a reduced interest rate looks good,but it could easily have a sting in the tail! looking beyond the next 6 months, there are dangerous times ahead! * the current fixed deal the bank is offering is 5.44% (0.3% higher than our old one, yet the bank of england rate is less than half of what it was when we took our old one out!) - this shows that the banks know that the Bof E rate will rise by a large amount
* the economy is due to have much more money injected into it - the clause to be able to print more money has been included in the recent finance bill, which has been passed through parliament (they say it wont be used, so if this is the case then why include it and why rename the process of printing more money?) with more money in the economy, the main tool for tackling inflation (which is caused by people spending more andmore money being around) is raising the BofE interest rate
* with all the bail outs and extra borrowing (more than the 2nd world war) the country is loading onto its books, the government need to get as much money as possible back into the country's coffers. (as we are seeing with household energy and telephone bills being kept high - brings in revenue for the government through vat) one of the best ways to get mortgages moving is to improve the safeguards for home owners in a recession, then tackle high inflation with higher interest rates. - the government need all themoney coming in that they can get
* the banks owe vast sums of money to the public purse - banks only operate within the criteria that government allows, i dont see one shred of evidence that the banks are being forced to safeguard the individual with any new or existing regulations, which leaves each mortgage holder open to larger fixed rate deals and increases in the BofE interest rate
* once inflation takes hold it will rocket - the 2% target for the BofE to meet is not really relevant anymore, as this was one of the "golden rules" that have been destroyed with recent borrowing splurges - the main way to tackle inflation (which takes money out of the economy) is by raising interest rates.
so far from putting more than £100 per month back into our home budget, i will be looking at removing an extra £27 a month so we can lock ourselves into a 3 year fixed rate to stave off the increases in interest rates that may or may not be on the way within the next 6 months of 2009.
by june 2010, an election must be called.... whoever gets in will have to repair the country's books and that can only mean bringing in more revenue, my opinion is clear:
the current BofE interest rate (1.5%) is the lowest in history, and will not stay this low for long, it will either disappear (which will cause banks to collapse -not an option for the government) or it will rise dramatically to combat inflation
i think in the next couple of months, getting a cheap fixed rate deal will be of prime importance to all current mortgage holders!
Denz on 02.04.09 @ 11:42 PM CST [link]
Tuesday, February 3rd
snow!
ooooo we have a little bit of time off work due to snow and business is moaning and quoting figures to the news programs, that are ludicrous! "the bad weather has cost british business in excess of £3.5 billion!"
total and utter tosh... are these the same forecasters that told us how much the banks had lost? they had that evidence written down in front of them on a piece of paper and still got it spectacularly wrong!
so what if staff cant get in and enjoy a little personal time?
dont we do enough for business already? is it because when it snows and we cant get into work, business have no grounds for attacking our lack of ambition of work ethic? or perhaps its business sour grapes because they cannot control every bit of our lives?
whatever the reason, leave the ordinary worker alone to actually enjoy life for a brief moment, we work way too hard in the uk as it is. if business dont like it, they can shove it, shut their holes and stop moaning, deal with it, i hope we get lots more snow and more bonus days off.... we all need a break from the boring live to work lifestyle we are brow beaten into, its time that people changed their priorities and put family and friends first!
Denz on 02.03.09 @ 11:20 PM CST [link]
Sunday, February 1st
BT broadband is rubbish!
ive had an ongoing fault with my bt broadband service for over 3 years.
used to have their fixed (i say fixed, they sold me the service as a "speed will increase as line improves - which was a blatent lie) speed product of 2meg (averaged at 1.8meg download speed) for ages, until it broke. dont worry they told me, its because theres a problem with copper wiring etc. switch over to our adsl max product for a more reliable and increased download speed!
utter nonsense, anyways for the last 30 days ive been running speedtests on the line:
- all bt engineers and sales people say i should easily get speeds of between 4.5 to 5.5 meg download, (because of my distance from the exchange) - bt wholesale state that the designated fault level for the line is 3.2 meg download speed (anything below this is classed as a fault)
the best ive ever had in the past 3 years from this line is a download speed of 2.8megand it kept cutting off and resetting itself.
heres the test results for various days in january 2009: 9.06am - independant test - 1.8meg download speed 10.17am - independant test - 2.2meg download speed 17.17pm - ind test - 1.3meg download speed 21.01pm - ind test - 0.4meg download speed (after repairing internet connection manually) 21.30pm - ind retest - 0.6meg download speed 16.16pm - ind test - 1.2meg download speed 19.49pm - ind test - 1.2meg download speed 20.00pm - BT test - 2.8meg download speed 20.02pm - ind retest - 1.4meg download speed (half of what BT's own test result) 16.29pm - ind test - 0.5meg download speed 16.32pm - BT test (retest)- 1.8meg download speed (more than three times the speed found on the independant test) 16.35pm ind test (2nd retest) - 0.7meg download speed
I tested with the top five independant websites for broadband speed testing straight away: all 5 resulted in less than 1.1meg download speed, yet the BT speedtester resulted in speeds of over 1.8meg download speed???
for a service that was fixed at 2meg download speed, their high speed adsl max product cannot even average over 50% of BT's own designated fault speed (in three years of tests!)
throughout january 2009 ive been emailing them a fault issue, (6 times) its been over 30 days now and they have not recognised the fault once! they have failed to reply to my fault request 2/6 times they have failed to receive a complete fault report 4/6 times i now have 12 different reference numbers for each help case ive requested (over the last 30 days), yet not one mention of when the fault will be fixed, not one mention of a refund for totally crap service and failing product, they havent even acknowledged that there is a fault!
do you really want to do business with a company who treat their customers like this???
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