ADSL Price increase

[Martin963]

Just after the first anniversary of my abonnement to Club Internet ADSL + Telephone Illimité non degroupée they've contacted me telling me - not for the first time - how their commercial tie-up with Neuf is going to benefit me,  and by the way they're putting up the monthly tariff from €31.90 to €34.90 from June,   ie just about a 10% increase.   No change to my services of course,  even though the words "a votre profit,  vous allez profiter" appear again and again.    I should add that I did not "renew" or agree to another fixed period contract so I assume I am now free to leave when I want to.

As their service has been pretty lamentable over the last year,   and as contacting them is only possible via an extortionately-expensive premium rate number,  I shall probably pull the plug at the end of the summer;  but before I do it would be interesting to know whether any other operators are planning similar price hikes....

[Clair]

Ah Martin, I see you survived your HP/HC changeover last night [:D]

If you read French, this article might be of help re ADSL.

[Danny]

Martin,

From your various posts on your experiences with adsl here, I get the feeling that some of the problems you have had might well be due to your location along the telephone line.  If this is the case, you could well continue to have an intermittent serice with any service provider. As I have said before, at least with Alice, it is free to call up the tech help or customer services.

Regarding the price increase, I think that this is accounted for by the Neuf price including the modem and the CI price excluding the modem rental at 3 euros a month if I remember rightly. That means that with Neuf you would still be paying the same - ie 34.90 pm.

Have a read at this page for more info concerning the changeover from CI to Neuf. It says that you have four months to refuse the new terms if you want without penalty but if you don't do anything you will be deemed to have accepted them. So if you want to change, do it soonish as you will be charged a cancellation fee of 45 euros after this period.

I imagine that the email from Neuf says this but it is probably well hidden under all the apparent benefits which by the way don

As far as I know most of the operaters are all charging just under 35 euros for the service in a zone non-degroupée - except Orange which is more expensive for the same set up - voip calls included etc and there is no reason on the horizon for that to change .

By the way this page suggests that Alice are offering 2 months free even in non degroupée zones at the moment but I would check with Alice to make sure that it is available if you are interested.

good luck and let us know how it goes

Danny

[Danny]

PS whoever you decide to go with check out all the details.... for example if you want to keep the FT line, you don't normally get the International VOIP calls with Neuf(Just in France)

Little details which one might not expect and only find out after subscribing...

Danny

[Martin963]

Thanks both -  yes our switch-over occured without incident last night - in fact I summoned Wendy to come and witness it as it happened and there was a small round of applause!    If I'd known that my wellbeing and safety were being so closely monitored I'd have invited you too Clair and we could have opened a bottle.   When we come over to photograph digital preparation at La Bastide Haut Mont I'll bring a bottle and let you know!

What exciting and fulfilled lives we lead.   After the "spectacle" I then went for a jog.   Earlier we had taken the cats for a walk (honest - they like to come with us!)

As to ADSL,  I'm sure that our village does have a less reliable service and up until yesterday it had actually been rather better than usual since we arrived in early April.   I will try and find out if the €34.90 applies to me,  as I own my own CI box so it may well be that it's a general announcement emailed to everyone and that they take no account of rental/ownership of the box.

And now the bl**dy washing machine has just packed up,   leaving us with a pile of clean but sodden washing.   Still that's done at least 14 years as it came with the house.

And the alternator on the car had to be replaced on Wednesday although Peugeot in Perigueux were absolutely brilliant,   AND carried out a safety mod for nothing,   AND lent us a car for nothing,  including 30 kms worth of diesel.   It does never cease to amaze me how kind people in France are.

[Danny]

Martin,

Is there anything left to go pear shaped!???

Danny

[Clair]

[quote user="Martinwatkins"]Thanks both -  yes our switch-over occured without incident last night - in fact I summoned Wendy to come and witness it as it happened and there was a small round of applause!    If I'd known that my wellbeing and safety were being so closely monitored I'd have invited you too Clair and we could have opened a bottle.   When we come over to photograph digital preparation at La Bastide Haut Mont I'll bring a bottle and let you know!

What exciting and fulfilled lives we lead. [/quote]

After reading your post, I think I'll offer you a drink instead! It sounds like you need one [:D]

Re ADSL, I pay €34.90 a month with Neuf for a non-dégroupé supply, including tel calls. The box is on loan with no monthly fee.

[Martin963]

Thanks for the sympathy!!

So,  if I've read what you wrote correctly Danny,   if I don't do a resiliation I will be committed to a whole year from the date of the new contract name,  even though at this precise moment I'm free of "engagement" having completed my inital year with CI.   If that's the case it seems absolutely scandalous that by changing the name and possibly by putting up the tariff they can re-ensnare me for another year.

I've rechecked the email they sent me and it seems to say that my equipment is "personnel" but still it says €34.90 (see below) which suggests that the email is "personalised".   Maybe Clair's idea is right that they loan you a box free now and I'm being further penalised for having bought my own box which now counts for nothing.

If so it's a bit of an escroquerie in my view.

Voici un récapitulatif de votre profil :

	Nom de votre nouvelle offre : 100% Neufbox non dégroupé

	Prix de l'offre :34,9€/mois

	Votre matériel :Personnel

	Prix total : 34,9€/mois

	Votre Adresse email : martin.watkins@xxxxxxxxx.fr

	Votre nom d’utilisateur :xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

	Votre mot de passe : xxxxxxxxxxxx

	Votre N° de téléphone : 0553

Services principaux :

I'll try and work out how to email them with a list of queries,  otherwise it's going to be a €10 call for the pleasure of getting it sorted out.

Makes one want to found one's own "honest,  straight forward" internet service provider

Personal details deleted by a moderator.

[Martin963]

Whoops,  thanks for taking out my details,  I carefully removed the phone number and missed the rest!!!   Shows how cross I am!!

[Danny]

That's how I read it anyway Martin. The modem is included in the rental costs with Neuf and with Alice and others but still optional with Orange. So it sounds like you are right about being penalised for having bought your own modem. They would probably argue that was your choice/risk to buy it.

If you want to stay with Neuf (this goes for alice too) there is a call me back facility on their website to save you calling them up. You put your tel number in and a conseiller calls you back. You could try to argue the toss with them and ask for a discount for your inconvenience but I imagine that it won't get you anywhere. Out of interest, if anyone wants to sign up for Neuf via their website you can put code dma29 into the special offer code promo box to get two months free...it still seems to be valid. I am sure they won't tell you that over the phone.

As for honest ISP .... at least Alice does certain "engagements" now so there should be compensation in case of poor service. Much better not to have problems with ADSL though as the article Clair posted suggested.

At least the sun is shining today...

Danny

 

 

 

[Danny]

Martin,

Another PS

email alert with your details on also now deleted ! open a chilled bottle.

Danny

[Martin963]

Thanks Danny.  

As I'm not at my most observant today,  could you please perhaps guide me to the NEUF call me back facility you mention - presumably I can use it as they're nearly one company now.....?

Thanks

[Danny]

Ok 

Go to http://offres.neuf.fr/adsl/ and click on the

Une question ?

Parlez à un conseiller

link on the right. when the pop up comes up, select the Obtenir des renseignements sur une offre option and put in your details and when you would like to be called. Try to stay rational when they call you back!

Danny

[Martin963]

Thanks Danny

For the moment I've sent them an email asking them if this €34.90 applies to me.

I must say Alice make it jolly easy to change to them (including the automatic resiliation letter at resiliation.com) and the fact they say they will get you back on line in 24 hours.

However,  I'm asking myself if it's really worth it.   Same (increased) price.   Hassle if something goes wrong.   But nice to be able to ring them (Alice) for nothing.   I'll probably book a call with Alice next week and see what they say.

It's the fact that Club-Internet can bounce me into a new one year contract that really REALLY annoys me.   The price increase is a bore but I'd accept that,  if it wasn't for the fact they are making a mug of me into the bargain.   The words vache-au-lait come to mind,  and I'll probably change just to punish them.

As you say I think a beer will be called for later. 

Thanks again.

[Martin963]

The washing machine - I'm delighted to report - just needs a new belt which should not present too many problems.

That's thanks to another kind French person - our now-retired plumber - who has never been able to do enough for us since I showed him the basics of computing nearly ten years ago, AND he's a brilliant chef!

[Martin963]

Quick update - my email to Club Internet asking whether the new price of €34.90 applied to me (as owner of my own box) remaining unanswered after more than 72 hours,   I rang to start the resiliation process.

At which point - oh surprise surprise - they tell me that I will only be expected to pay €31.90.   So why couldn't they tell me this in the email they sent announcing the new contract?   Oh,  we can't personalise our emails to all our customers to take account of the 5% who own their own boxes.

Oh joy!

So I've resilié even though I'll end up paying the higher sum to Alice.   At least I won't be paying €0.34 per minute for the dubious pleasure of taking to CI/Neuf.

And their parting shot?    Neuf (who have acquired Club Internet,  they've now dropped the pretence of calling it a merger) are (so they say) in talks to acquire Alice,   so I'll be in the same boat when I move.

Further joy!

[Danny]

Martin,

This saga might run and run...If you do speak to Alice, try to ask for the two months free. If they will do it, it might be a slight compensation for your woes.

At least the call is free!

Danny