How do I speak to someone about my complaint - I keep being told someone will call but not happening

[AngryViking]

The joining process to ordinary Superfast broadband was a mess. I eventually got connected but there were a load of issues which weren't being solved. I raised a complaint.

The first agent who took it on was very helpful and identified that there was indeed a problem. It wasn't getting fixed so I asked for it to be escalated. Since then nothing - I was told I had to do three speed tests (it wasn't the correct issue) and the email response was there wasn't a fault and so there was nothing to fix. 

I have tried the call centre - both chat and phone (hours wasted) but the problem (already acknowledged) is far beyond their understanding and it seems there is no way to talk to the person handling the case.

It's dreadful, I just need to speak to someone - I really want it resolved.... HOW???

[Jayach]

Interesting, if speedtest.net is saying you have 70+Mbs, you have a near perfect connection. The max possible on FTTC is 80Mbs, but that is sync speed and throughput will always be about 90-95% of that.

How are you measuring your "connection through the internet"?

What do other speed test sites say? such as:

BTW Performance Tester (btwholesale.com)

Internet Speed Test | Fast.com

[AngryViking]

The BT engineer and I spent some time getting a good copper pair to the cabinet!

Speedof.me (data on CDN) - results to same server at same time of day using VPN is 68.....

Have similar results with other test sites but SoM is relatively unmassaged data

[Jayach]

I've not used speedof.me before, but it gave constantly lower download speeds than I know my line is running. (from other speed tests and from torrenting, which is the truest test of line speeds IMHO)

So are you saying that you get higher speeds over VPN than you do without the VPN?

[AngryViking]

As I said 22Mbps without 68Mbps with VPN and remember that includes the overhead. 
But that isn't the subject of this post. I'm stuck with VF not wanting to do anything about it 

[Jayach]

You're certainly not the first person on here to complain of slow speeds to certain sites, which can be reached faster when connected over VPN. Sometimes that is just one of the vagaries of internet routing.

Do you get the same difference when you use the other test sites I suggested? 22Mbs instead of 68 is a remarkable difference.

Have you tried getting a few different IP addresses, and seeing if the routing changes?

Also recently people have had lots of problems with latency, which seems to be cured when they get a static IP. perhaps ask for one of those.

Sorry if I seem to be trying to fix the problem, but wouldn't that be better than going the ADR route, which will probably involve much hassle.

[AngryViking]

I can't fix the problem - it's inside Vodafone. I can recreate the problem on other speedtest sites although I don't see any advantage. Latency isn't an issue. Not surprisingly, the VPN is longer as there more hops but the throughout is the telling part. Trace route is not really helpful if you don't know what the hops represent and anyway the dynamic loading of things like CDN make it sort of meaningless. 

[Jayach]

I know latency isn't your problem, but when those people get a static IP it seems to come from a different pool to the normal dynamic addresses. It may move your routing from whatever may be causing your problem. 

Still whatever you do, do let us know how it goes. Your experiences will add to our collective knowledge of how Vodafone works. (or doesn't)

[AngryViking]

@Jayach @Amanda 

Thanks both for your input. 
It seems VF have slammed the door in my face and I will never get anyone to look at what, I am convinced, was a problem in transferring a live connection to a new contract. 
Looks like I have to waste CISAS time. Appalling...

[Jayach]

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@AngryViking wrote:

 I am convinced, was a problem in transferring a live connection to a new contract. 
Looks like I have to waste CISAS time. Appalling...

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When you start a new contract with a different ISP, nothing is transferred over. Everything starts again.

The only common thing is the copper line between you and the local cabinet.

[AngryViking]

Not in this case. 
I was with SSE who used VF as provider. 
By changing my contract to VF, the line was already on their system. The original order was messed up and showed as rejected. After a week of waiting around on hold, one person spotted the issue and corrected the status. However, I believe that 'bandwidth management' (which of course doesn't exist) was left with the original setup. 
Your idea for fixed IP appeals. Some legal letters first, I think...