Karoo - Which? say "Don't Buy"

[The Snowman]

I had to laugh today when I heard an ad on KC sponsored KCFM that Karoo had won some award, then I read Which? Magazine has awarded Karoo broadband as a "Don't Buy".

[stormy]

"don't buy" hehehe I wouldn't if I had a choice!

[dylan]

"don't buy" hehehe I wouldn't if I had a choice!

 

[The Snowman]

This is the write up from 'Which?'

Ease of set up 3/5
Value for money 1/5
Reliability of connection 2/5
Speed 2/5

Karoo Internet is a Which? Don’t Buy.

Karoo Internet is the only broadband option for people living in the area served by Kingston Communications (East Yorkshire) and with a Kingston Communications telephone line, so it's disappointing that it’s a Which? Don’t Buy, with a score of just 33%. Its value for money score is particularly low. Not enough people had used its online help for us to rate this aspect of its service.

Karoo's cheapest package is only available on an 18 month contract, but its mid-range and premium services are available on 12 or 1 month contracts.

This package offers a capped, high-speed service.

Capped services place a fixed limit on the amount you can down and up-load each month, but are often cheaper than uncapped services with equivalent speeds.

If you opt for a service with a fairly low cap (say 5GB or less), keep an eye on your usage if you download lots of big attachments or watch online TV – for example using the BBC’s Iplayer. Costs for exceeding your limit can be high.

Even if you go for an unlimited service, look out for ‘fair usage limits’, which may put restrictions in place if your ISP thinks your usage is excessive. Fair usage limits are only likely to have an impact on very heavy internet users.

[personfrombeverley]

how can they give a 2/5 for reliability when they have only had  1 major outage in the last 12 months ( aug ) ...?
and ease of setup 3/5 ..

you ring up, they connect you , you connect your router ?!??!?!?! its not rocket science...

value for moneys way to low as well its the exact same prices / packages as many other uk isps

and speeds bs as well as its fine most of the time just slow in peak

this looks like it was wrote by some tosser with a chip on his shouder

[Fastethernet]

Hi personfrombeverley,

Don't forget they were also down last weekend. Some ISP's provide pre-configured routers therefore making the set up easier, do KCOM provide pre-configured routers? I think the article is clear they are bashing KCOM for pricing since they cap the bandwidth on their products and force the lowest package subscribers into an 18 month contract when it might very well be those people who need to save money and drop the internet connection from time to time.

Internet speed, we all want it, KCOM don't have it. You are right download speeds are good out of peak times for obvious reasons. However I don't want to stay up all night just to get the service I pay for all month! The bandwidth throttling is necessary because KCOM internet pipe is not capable of supporting their customers at peak times, 1- 2 Gb/s for the whole city. It's simply not enough!

Just because you tolerate the service and haven't experienced problems it does not mean other people haven't had issues and aren't annoyed at the lack lustre service. I would implore you read some of the comments on the forum then see if you still think this is one bloke with a chip on his shoulder.

Just though that Which? mission statement would be useful;

"Which? does more than just test washing machines. We campaign to get a fairer deal for all consumers and publish expert, unbiased information to help you make the right choice, whatever you're buying."

[richardmyers]

We had January/February 2008, August 2008 and 1st January 2009. 3 Wide outages in the space of less than a year. Each time the usual drivel from Krapoo, the usual apologies and promises it won't happen again. HA!

[The Snowman]

Hope you're not implying that I've got a chip on my shoulder!