11851 Better the devil you know!

I allowed myself to be talked into swapping Telecom for Infostrada, there were mitigating factors. I was quite happy with Telecom, adsl was fast enough, international calls cheap, it all worked well for me. Infostrada had called me many times to no avail, then one morning after a very late night, I was caught at a disadvantage and agreed that to not pay Telecom the canone would be a good thing.
Oh dear. Infostrada promise the Earth but deliver a tiny weed strewn vegetable garden. Their "service" works. Adsl is an issue. The word speed is not relevent to a connection that is regularly slower than dial up. Their assistance is in the first instance online. At first sight they give loads of info, all the techno stuff with no need to speak to a human being so much that it dazzles. The last resort is the telephone helpline where if you are the sort of person who'd win a lottery, you might get to speak to one of, if not THE operator. Then you'll be told that the lines are busy, the system is overloaded, adsl is temporarily off the rails, you should be connected by ethernet cable NOT wireless to get any kind of speed! I had to pay Telecom e40 to escape from their contract. How I wish I hadn't.
Infostrada are uncontactable. If I don't pay their bill on time, a robot phones me to remind me. There is no recourse for a complaint! STICK TO TELECOM unless it does not work for you. When I manage to find my contract I'll be changing back A.S.A.P. ie when I don't have to pay a penalty to Wind Infostrada.
Telecom take me back! I'm soooooo sorry.......

Category
Cost of living - Utility Services

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 16:41

Moved to [url=http://www.italiauncovered.co.uk]Italia Uncovered[/url]

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 22:40

I completey agree with you DavidUno. Stick with Telecom Italia (the alternatives are worse in my too long history of being shafted by the likes of Infostrada, or suffering - second hand - the apalling line quality of Tele2!)

I use a variation (in Italian) of my mother in law's 'b*gger off' line. When a brush salesman appeared at her door she would immediately say "my husband's in that line" and they'd go away quickly. My response to calls from alternative telecom suppliers here is "sono un dipendenti del Telecom Italia". This causes them to hang up quick!

But - if your Italian isn't up to scratch, you should be aware of the ruses which the likes of Infostrada employ. They ask you, on their cold call, if you are the person responsible for paying the Telecom Italia account. Now, hearing this question without immaculate understanding, you believe it is Telecom Italia calling. It isn't. It's an alternative operator.

They lie a lot, big time. I hate them all! I hate Telecom Italia too, but it is the least bad of a horrible choice in my opinion.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/09/2009 - 05:18

Exactly right Charles.

I'm no schmuck (not inviting views), but was somehow hoodwincked by Infostrada - actually I never signed up for anything, they just falsified an application.

Took ages and lots of sweat to get untangled from the lying so and so's.

And now, 3 years on I've also mamaged to give Telecom Italia the boot in favour of a very reasonably priced local wireless broadband supplier with VOIP from EuteliaVoip as part of the package.

And the Telecoms regulator is where exactly?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/09/2009 - 06:07

On the phone I just say (Scusa, sono impegnata..) and put the phone down, whoever it is. Cold callers at the door I just say 'i'm not interested' in English, with a smile and close the door. Saves time for both...

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/09/2009 - 06:17

FWIW I worked for BT for 21 years and when the opportunity arose to change line providers in the UK I [U][I]always[/I][/U] refused. I did the same as far as my gas and electricity suppliers went too.

I ALWAYS did, and will continue to remain with the original provider. There's a simple reason for that. If things DO go wrong, they have the permanent well tried infrastructure to solve the problems quickly.

But 'secondary' telecom companies (I [U]KNOW[/U]) have to wait for BT to find a free moment to deal with their problems. I assume that it is the same for the other privatised utilities!

Stick with the man who's got the biggest toolbox!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/09/2009 - 06:20

Having been caught in a vicious spiral between BT and Orange in the UK (only solved by my hijacking a passing BT van), I fully agree with Carole. Mind you, having moved out of the stix I'm now cabled with Virgin. So far so good.......

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/09/2009 - 06:55

I've just set in motion the machinery to remove me from the clutches of Infostrada. Telecom say that I'll have to change my no. because infostrada now own it. They have to send out a technician and reckon that in 10 days I'll be back with higher phone bill BUT reliable fast adsl. Hooray. return to youtube! They also reckon that the speed will be fast enough for me to have telly. Not interested in that though, that is partly what the Bar is for.
I'll bore you all silly with the progress and pit falls along the way.
I totally agree with the idea of staying with the main supplier. Why o why did I answer the phone that particular morning?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/09/2009 - 07:22

I was Telecom - then Parla.it (lets not even grace it with free publicity) and now Fastweb - and its great. People who pick up the phone on the first ring - answer all my idiotic questions, and apparently have English speakers if necessary. I baulked at buying into the Rupert Murdoch empire, but given than the alternative is Berlusoni, its better the devil you know. They even came 2 weeks EARLY to put in the nice new adsl cable (actually it was Telecom but fastweb paid) The only drawback is they give you only 3 IP addresses so you cant run more than 3 devices wirelessly - so my apple airport lies unused and I remain with cabled printers... but otherwise no complaints.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 05:42

[quote=Charles Phillips;113074]

I use a variation (in Italian) of my mother in law's 'b*gger off' line. When a brush salesman appeared at her door she would immediately say "my husband's in that line" and they'd go away quickly. My response to calls from alternative telecom suppliers here is "sono un dipendenti del Telecom Italia". This causes them to hang up quick![/quote]

Inspired! I can't wait for them to ring now to try that one out :laughs::laughs:
Except I might just tell them I'm a dirigente, just for fun. :-)