If I had the chance to respond to that, it'd go a little like this...
Q. What's the most common question customers ask about the KC service?
Is it something along the lines of, why does my internet cut out several times a day?
Martin Duff - Tech Support Manager
A. Always speed! Speed is a massive issue for customers,
I know Martin. Cheeky buggers aren't they? Speed, speed! it's all they want. You give 'em dial-up they want ISDN, give 'em ISDN and they want ADSL. Never happy those pesky customers. Bloody good job you don't have any competitors then
mainly due to the confusion surrounding 'up to 8Mbps broadband'. ISPs all over the UK have learnt a huge lesson about this and we're one of them.
We don't want to hide away from the fact that many customers believe they are paying for a service they're not getting.
Nice of you to be honest, but wouldn't you be better off just delivering the service they want rather than spending all day writing adverts for the Hull Daily Mail?
But, the truth is 'up to' really does mean 'up to'. Only a very small proportion of broadband users in the UK will ever get the maximum 8Mbps. And the further they live from the exchange, the less likely they are to achieve 8Mbps.
Well I'm not arguing there Martin, physics is physics, but do be a love and stop throttling the bandwith too. It don't half slow down my internet on an evening guv...
I'm assuming you must be throttling rather than moving the exchange further away? Wait a minute, you're not moving buildings in the night are you?
We're working to improve the information we provide about the factors that affect broadband speed, and we've made a lot of progress over the last six months.
It shouldn't take you six months to figure out what effects broadband speed mate. You are an internet engineer. If you're taking on staff, I'm open to offers, I've got a pretty good idea what the problem is.
In particular, customers can now wee a full explanation about the 'up to 8Mbps' service and all the things that affect the speed you recieve via the broaband pages on
www.karoo.co.uk.
We've also included out 'Top Tips' for improving line speed in our Karoo User Guide.
Q. Why does KC stop other broadband providers coming into Hull?
Erm because we make more money being the only one here you daft bugger... Oh, wait a minute, is this recording?...
Anita Pace - Marketing Director
A. It is a myth that KC is preventing competition coming to area
No, King Arthur and Merlin are myths, the concept that KC prevents competition is a widely held belief. That said, a definition of myth is "built on facts or on a substratum of fact". I suppose I could concede it to you.
- this isn't true at all. There is nothing to stop any other ISP coming into the Hull area to offer broadband services and we charge no more than BT for any ISP to come into the area and use our network to provide services here.
We would in fact welcome competition in the area, because we would much rather our customers chose to use our services than be forced to.
I'm glad you brought that one up Anita love. Just getting me pen.... "KC customers are forced to use the service". Ta.
We are local to our customers,
So were Tubbs and Edward but it didn't do their customers much good!
we care about our customers, we listen to what our customers say and we always try to give them the best possible service.
Q. Is there such a thing as free broadband?
Jake Ingleby - Market and Competitor Analyst at Kingston Communications
Pardon? You analyse Kingston Communications competitors? What, in Hull? Ahem.... If you leave your job Jake mate, and if Anita Pace and I can overlook this whole karooforums.net thing, do you reckon I could get in with a chance at your job?
A. On the internet and on adverts you see on TV, it always looks like things are either free or much cheaper,
Whoa, whoa whoa... You're going too fast for me! Internet, TV?
but these so called 'deals' are usually covered by lots of terms and conditions, or long contracts, premium rates for technical support, or even hidden charges - you never get anything for free!
Usually, they involve customers have to sign up for a paid-for product before getting anything for free.
What, like Sky telly or a mobile phone? I see where you're coming from bud, but a lot of people in Hull already have that stuff and so are entitled to some 'free' (imaging me doing the quotes with my fingers if you like) stuff.
Our products are all pretty simple.
Yeah we have noticed mate. That's kinda one of the reasons we're 'aving a bit of a whinge to be fair.
We don't use the terms FREE with any of our packages
Or the words 'WORKS MOST OF THE TIME' or 'FAST', but then there is that trade descriptions act whassit....
and we always make our terms and conditions readily available to customers. We also post a price manual on our website which publishes all of our prices, so customers know exactly what they are paying for.
The fact is it is not commercially sustainable for us to provide you with so called 'free' internet (but then as you know, there is no such thing as 'free') but we are planning new, lower-cost options from April.
Well that's really depressed me that has! I was really hoping that KC would start providing totally free services! I'm gutted. Go and have another look mate. Surely there must be a way for you to make this commercially sustainable.... What a daft comment....
If you are reading this KC. Sorry, I'm only having a bit of fun with you and I still love you really. But please, spend more money on improving your backhaul to the 'net so you can stop shaping as badly, and stop doing these silly advertisements.
Love Dyls
xxxxx
