upc cablecom review: cheating 3

I wrote this to an ex-employee of some seniority who has helped in the past, but he has evidently left the company:-
I sincerely apologise for bothering you again with a customer problem, but I feel bound to point out certain glaring errors to you.
It was extremely easy and fast to order the new Horizon box and top package on the phone in october. The kind gentleman confirmed that it would be easy to install after the old digital media box, that indeed (as I asked specifically) I could simply unplug the old box and router and plug in the new units with the same connections.
This was not the case when the new equipment arrived. The instructions were very unclear and the batteries in the new remote control were dead, so ‘twinning’ the remote with the new box was not possible.
It was necessary therefore to call Rochat Tv in our village, Cossonay, because they are supposedly (according to your literature) the local agents for UPC Cablecom. We paid nearly CHF200 for them to come and install the Horizon box, not an easy task even for them. They told us they had similar new equipment from UPC for the Cossonay Fair and it had taken them 4 hours to set it up! Apparently this is normal for Horizon boxes. As you have no real competition in Switzerland, apart from Swisscom, who are generally known as incompetent ( a friend had 5 boxes changed in a short time before one worked properly)and use telephone cables anyway, we seem to have little real choice about this.
Eventually the box was working, but 2 weeks later there were ‘changes’ and we lost some channels because the box was no longer connected. We have had to use both of the two UPC sockets in our flat, and the cable we had been using was not correct; it had to be changed to the ‘new’ one in spite of the original advice when we ordered the kit.
After a second (paid) visit by Rochat to pass the new cable through a wall, the box is working, and it works very well, basically an impressive offer I must admit. Your very patient technician Imad gave wise advice on the phone about the cable problem.
But now we have a serious problem with the internet speed. Before Horizon we had very fast wifi speeds, but with us permanently now at home and the possibility of several people using computers, iPhones and iPads simultaneously, we have requested the top speed 250Mb/sec. In fact there is no increase in the speed at all, and sometimes it crawls at 3 or 5, testing with any speed checker.
I rang UPC today and spoke to a lady who promptly asked me what speed checker I was using. I really don’t need a speed checker to tell me that our speed was vastly reduced, but I had used a popular well known checker online as usual. She insisted on my consulting the UPC speed checker. She further insisted I use an ethernet cable to connect to the router to check my speed. I began to get hot under the collar, trying in vain to explain that nothing had changed here but the obvious lack of speed (checked or not with whatever device), we do not possess an ethernet cable, we have always used wifi, but she kept quoting the UPC bible at me as if I were an idiot. All I wanted was for her to check at her end if the signal was being sent out OK as nothing has changed here since ages. Already the menu system for contacting UPC is massively confusing as any complaint or query can relate to almost any department quoted when we have packages. If the telephonists are stubborn and do not listen, what can we do? Having checked with my speed check and yours, we are getting download speeds around 3 to 5 Mb/sec.
What the lady seemed unable or unwilling to understand was that the difference between 250 and 4 Mb could never be explained by using wifi instead of hooking up an ethernet cable. I was expecting lightning speeds from this package and we are recently getting a miserable dribble, slower by far than the original offer we had.
Frankly speaking, the customer experience with UPC cablecom is very disappointing indeed, and I am sorry to have to come whining to you again like this now we are retired and back at home, and least have no more accounting problems as before!
Thank you for any help you can offer. I really wanted in all honesty to inform you about the misery of the customer experience by telephone, you ought to know.
best wishes
Kingsley Flint
ch du Bicentenaire 5
1304
Cossonay
VD
[protected]
home number
[protected]

I agree. UPC cablecom has not one English speaking customer care person.

They promise Internet 250 and charge CHF 89, - which is untrue! You will not get the speed of 250 Mbit/s or 125 Mbit/s as if you DO NOT have a supporting Gigabit Ethernet Network card. Even if you have it will not work and they will charge for the package you have signed for.

Please if you all have the same problem complain to OFCOM get your money back of the whole years of the services you have paid for and send it to http://www.20min.ch/ro/

I agree. UPC cablecom has not one English speaking customer care person.
ridiculous standards.