Probably off as well unlelss..

I would like Zen to either:
1. Reduce top up costs for over quota, �5 per 5GB is crazy
2. Increase the Monthly quota on Zen 8000 Active to something that meets me half-way, 30/35GB.

I've already checked out Be unlimited (�18 / Unlimited / 24MB), and just a glance at the page is enough to make me realise that such great support and connection isn't worth what I pay, when others are offering such a competetive rate.

Shame because Zen are fantasic, but with the current economic problems, it's just a few quid too far for me. I do hope Zen acknowledge that soon, very soon, they are going to have to offer something more than just 'quality support' to keep customers who are checking every possible avenue to save a few quid.

I agree. Unfortunately I like many recently are in a sort of credit crunch situation and I'm looking carefully at my outgoings. I do find Zen to have the best support I've ever had anywhere, but when the connection is so flawless 99.99999999999999999999999999999% of the time, I never need to ring them!

Also looking at Be* by the way.

Hello

I did the same 2 years ago to try and save cash with a baby on the way. I had a flawless ZEN internet connection, I never really appreciated the support because nothing was ever wrong with it.

I first switched to BE, they messed up my order and I was left without an internet connection for weeks. I switched to TALK TALK which to be fair over 18 months I have only had problems once... but when I did have problems it was ridiculous! The support was a complete and utter nightmare. Also during busy times you could really tell, sometimes it could be so slow.

18 months have just come up on TALK TALK I'm currently mid process of switching back to ZEN, not an easy task had to first switch back to BT with no broadband and then wait 10 days to get Broadband back on. But it will be well worth it!

If you really can do without a broadband connection and don't mind talking to people on the phone for ages going through ridiculous tests of your router until they finallly acknowledge there is a problem and put you hold then go for it.

Sometimes that bit extra cash is money well spent.

Jono

i switched from a flawless 1mbit zen connection @ approx �30 to a flawless 4mbit connection with sky for �10, i haven't regretted it once. the superior CS isn't worth the premium IMHO

The same happened to me luckily I didn't have to wait too long to get back to Zen, if you're thinking of switching check out the other isp's forums, there are a lot of problems around

Same here - went from Zen 8000 Pro with a line rate of 2500kbps, to Sky Max which syncs up to 4500kbps, with no horrible line profiles, and no watching of bandwidth meters, because Sky Max is truly unlimited !

I saved myself nearly �300 last year, and the only time I've had to phone Sky CS was when my very old Sky+ box died, and I had to pair the cards on the new box. Zen is an excellent ISP, but �300 a year extra for a capped service is far too much, sorry.

wow - didn't realise you had so many posts. Legend soon you know

I've already left Zen for Be Pro. Went from Zen's legacy 512Kb/unlimited to 12.5Mb down/1.2Mb up. In terms of actual throughput I've never had more than 1MB/s, 250KB/s is readily achievable (I suspect the bottlenecks is usually the remote end, but sometimes also Be).

Disconnects are a lot more frequent. Unsurprisingly I almost never disconnected on 512Kb fixed. Now I'm getting 1-4 disconnects a day. Haven't tried fiddling with my router and the line profiles yet. It's not really a problem, though.

My usage profile hasn't really changed at all, although I'm actually able to use Youtube without it stuttering now! Remote desktop is vastly faster, too.

Be's Internet signup pages are absolutely [censored], but the actual ticket based support is good.

I miss the 8 static IPs built into Zen, but static NAT is mostly fixing that issue. I just don't see any new and exciting products from Zen, and the allowance isn't even sufficient to handle constant streamed Internet radio, should I wish to do that.

Well my ISP history:
SAQ Net > Nildram > BT Openworld (only because Nildram didn't have the 2MB offer) > Zen

So I do prefer quality, in gaming terms, meaning consistent connection, and low latency for CS etc.
I am loathe to move to BE or SKY purely because as somebody said above, the hassle you get isn't worth the trade off, just for a few quid more.
The problem for me is that I feel Zen are an immovable object, as if offering good support is somehow a reason to not look at their packages and tune them a bit more, make some offers that would keep me with them. They seem very inflexible right now.

I guess I am disappointed that with ISPs throwing uncapped, 24MB packages around, at much cheaper prices, Zen seem to be standing still, possibly to become another company supported only by diligent Zen fans (of which I am one I hasten to add)

The irony is that in the time I have had Zen, I have never once gone over quota, but when I did, and it was my own fault for not checking my Wireless access on a router reset, I ended up paying an extra �10 for this month, and was 1gb short of having to add another 5GB, that�s �35/40 for a months internet access, and you forget how much 'data' is included in your quota, just a few radio streams, windows updates, browsing and some online gaming, sucks up 5GB in days.

I just wish they would lower the costs of going over quota, or increased it, just to give a little more room to manoeuvre when needed. �24 for 8MB and 25GB quota is simply just to much to 'justify', even with great support, with so many other options available.


Zen 8000 Active

Edited by Bamster (Mon 01-Dec-08 18:44:03)

In reply to:

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I am loathe to move to BE or SKY purely because as somebody said above, the hassle you get isn't worth the trade off, just for a few quid more.

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In my experience both directly and from trusted friends who have tried all of the others between them, Be and Sky are both fine - in the case of Sky all is well as long as you're on Sky's LLU, but I hear very few people complain. As for Be, well I like those guys, and my experience is despite having an outsourced CS they're very helpful, and if you ask for something quite technical it is LESS hassle than getting Zen to do it (maybe an advantage of not having to run to BTW?)

In reply to:

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The problem for me is that I feel Zen are an immovable object, as if offering good support is somehow a reason to not look at their packages and tune them a bit more, make some offers that would keep me with them. They seem very inflexible right now.

In reply to:

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Quite. I've been banging this drum for quite a while - and I've made it clear to people at Zen but they seem to ignore me (to be honest in many ways I no longer feel a valued customer, but maybe that's because my spend has dropped to 25% of what it was since they continue to be inflexible) and until such time as they realise that good support is worth a premium, but it's value is becoming erroded as others are stepping up to the bar.

I *want* to give Zen money, but they don't want to offer products that meet evolving demands. They seem to have gotten comfortable where they were, but haven't noticed that the world has changed. What happened to that ISP that was frequently doing the things nobody else dared or doing the same thing so much better.

It is still true that some ISPs are not able to meet Zen on overall reliability, but the truth is that there are quite a few that can, and pick wisely, and you can get just as good a standard of service now elsewhere. It is also true that one of the issues I have with Zen is that it's not possible to get what you want, even if you want to throw more money at them - it's just "no, no and no".