Subscribers

Here is the ‘before’ and I look forward to seeing the after

I’ve always been happy with Pipex but we’re going to switch away from them; and we’re still happy.

The trouble is this thing called LLU. LLU is where an internet company buys the ‘last mile’ to your landline by putting some equipment into BT’s local exchange. With it our internet can go from 2Mb/s down and 0.25 Mb/s up to 24Mb/s down and 1.25Mb/s up (theoretically). The trouble is that Pipex can’t give us a speed increase without cancelling us and rejoining. They know that, I know that and the guy on the phone was very understanding and quick to help me get everything I needed to leave.

After emailing them to see what I needed to do I received this

A request for a migration code can only be initiated over the telephone. This enables us to perform the necessary security checks to ensure all requests originate from the account holder. It also gives us the opportunity to discuss your reasons for migrating.

After a short wait you will be asked several security questions to confirm your identity. You will then be transferred to a further Pipex agent who will process your migration request. The agent will question you on your decision to migrate away from Pipex and possibly remedy any problems you have with the service we provide.

Please be open and honest with our agents as to why you are leaving. This will provide Pipex with a greater opportunity to resolve the contributing problems that have caused you to migrate and hopefully retain your valued custom.

To me that sounds like AOL, the don’t-let-you-hang-up-until-you-agree-not-to-quit attitude. But nothing like that here. Superb.

We should be moving onto Be internet, owned by O2, which have some excellent reviews from people in the know. But mainly it’s the fact that they have invested equipment into our local exchange so for 1p more we get a static IP and more speed.  I have a few things here that really work well with a better upload speed, I’m looking forward to trying them out. All we need now is to see how many dark internet-free nights we have during the switch.

I wanted to have a moan about this website – http://daringfireball.net/2007/10/milhouse – and more specifically this quote

Consider this: Do you know of anyone — anyone at all — talking today about switching from the Mac to Windows? I don’t. Not even Dvorak/Enderle-style muckraking Apple-tweaking pundits are claiming that anyone is switching from the Mac to Windows, because it’s just so preposterous.

The answer is yes, loads of them. The only thing is that Apple have now been clever enough to allow their hardware to run Windows. So what you actually have is a massive percentage of Mac users who have swapped over to windows as well as the mac. Do you really think that every ‘switcher’ to the mac doesn’t also have a windows pc somewhere in their house or work to do all the things that Macs can’t do? It just happens to be that with every Mac bought you put a 1 in the ‘switched’ column and for every Mac user using boot camp you have a 1 in the ‘Give Microsoft £100 but pretend that they are still a mac user because they bought the hardware’.

Lots of people buy Macs around here. Without trying to offend too many people, the mac users in our place try and convert people more than Jehovah Witnesses. And then they come and ask me how they can get all their software working. Even the stuff that is out on the Mac, you should see their face when they’re told they have to re-buy it.