Switch ISP! HEXUS teams up with Zen

[DR]

Am I missing something here? This just seems to be Hexus "ramping" a partnership.

Don't get me wrong, Zen seem to have a pretty good reputation - unlike Pipex! - but having looked at their website their prices seem VERY high and their download limits VERY restrictive.

I've just switched to O2. Their Customer Support ranks as highly as Zen's (just do a compare on Thinkbroadband) and I have a 8Mb unrestricted line for £12.50 - i.e. a better line at a fraction of the cost of Zen. Oh, and if you have an O2 mobile contract, it's just £7.50 (!) for the broadband.

Like I say, Zen may be good, but O2 seem to rate just as highly and are much cheaper and no where near as restrictive.

Just my two cents.

EDIT: And the Zen site talks about a "one off activation fee of £40"!!!!! And O2/Be is ADSL2+, so for those people close to their exchange, you'd be seeing speeds twice as fast as Zen's packages, for LESS cost. The more I look at Zen, the less impressed I am, TBH.

Nomadd.

We have all had good and bad experiences of ISPs, we wanted to have one which we could work with and recommend.

Most ISPs are great until something goes wrong - or you need help/support.

When you have an issue with O2 I hope you can get through quickly and get it resolved - I really do!

I want you all to be online with super fast connectivity!

[Andaho]

Zen could never be right for me... £18 and only 2GB allowance! On the other end of the scale, £35 for a 50GB allowance... I pay £11.50 for 4Mb cable with no download limits - had it for 8 years; first it was eurobell, then telewest, then ntl telewest, and now virgin media - the speed and reliability of the service has been top notch all these years - The connection is always 100% and never dips in speed - Here's results of a speed test I just did:



I can remember only a few times in these 8 years when the connection went down - it was only ever for a few hours maximum, and it was always documented on their service status page, and I think they were all in the middle of the night. My modem once developed a fault a few years ago (when it was telewest); rather than just send me a new one, an engineer came round within a few days to check the cable and the signal and then replace the modem - all free of charge.

I don't think it's a static IP, but the connection hasn't dropped in so many years that I've always had the same IP!

If you can get cable, you should

I don't know why people rate customer service so important these days... I generally accept that all customer service is crap and I never ring an 0870 number, I use SAYNOTO0870.COM so I can always call any customer service free of charge on their geographical number. I can't comment on Virgin Media customer service, cause I've never had to ring it. With the best services, you never have the need to call customer service, because you never get any problems!

[Moby-Dick]

Search for my username and the word Zen - I've been pimping them for 5+ years their customer service is undoubtedly the best I've come accross with an ISP - I used to manage 50+ dsl lines with them and it was faultless.

[peterb]

As they say "Past performance is no gurantee of future" but Zen's service - both delivery and CS - has been consistently good - certainly for the last 5 years.

They do sell themselves primarily as a business orientated ISP - and their home products are not at the budget end of the ISP market - however, if you add in what they offer as a package (8 static Ip addresses if you need them) - and the mailboxes - then add those into the basic costs of a budget provider (if they offer them) and the price differential isn't so great. Of course if you don't need those facilities, you can go elsewhere and save money. But no traffic shaping, throttling or other stealth restrictions - its not bad.

[Blitzen]

Customer Service may be good but the speed vs price is a bit poor tbh.

[p4ul]

Ive just migrated away from zen after being with them for quite a few years. I didnt really want to leave, as they give a very good service but in the end it became too expensive at £34.99 for 2meg with 100gb d/l cap per month. Upgrading to MAX adsl with zen would have ended up at the same price but with only a 50gb cap, very restrictive for me.

They do give you rather a good news server though, and they dont cap the speed on it either. It only has 1 week retention, but the service is included with the price so thats good. Also they dont throttle peer to peer or anything else afaik.

But now with BT im able to get adsl max (im getting around 5meg atm) and unlimited downloads for £24.99 (thats £10 less per month than i was paying at zen for 2meg with 100gb cap)

[Andaho]

so someone tell me... you're all raving about their customer service being top-notch; why is after sales customer support so important to you all?

[nichomach]

'Cause domestic ADSL service is as stable as a slightly melty blancmange on the San Andreas Fault, and it's useful to know that if it all goes titsup that the person that you ring actually has a Scooby and might even be able to fix it?

[Zenops]

so someone tell me... you're all raving about their customer service being top-notch; why is after sales customer support so important to you all?

It's not in theory, as we like to think you'll never have a fault but in reality we know (especially with BB) that there may come a time when it is required. That's when you'll see the differences between £15.00 a month and £35 ;-)

Regards
Gary

[Nomadd]

We have all had good and bad experiences of ISPs, we wanted to have one which we could work with and recommend.

Most ISPs are great until something goes wrong - or you need help/support.

When you have an issue with O2 I hope you can get through quickly and get it resolved - I really do!

I want you all to be online with super fast connectivity!

I've phoned O2's customer support twice. First time the phone was picked up in less than 30 seconds; second time the phone was picked up in less than 5 rings. On both occasions, the support offered was exceptional. Also, O2 retain an independent QA company to phone customers who have rung their Customer Support line to gauge how satisfied they were with the support provided. Now that's quality support. Like I said, go and compare O2's Customer Support rating with Zen's on Thinkbroadband, it's just as good.

You say, "I want you all to be online with super fast connectivity!" Fine. But O2 offer a much faster ADSL2+ line, with no punishing download limits, and at a much cheaper cost. Oh, and with class-leading Customer Support.

Nomadd

Ps. No, I don't work for O2!

[Nomadd]

so someone tell me... you're all raving about their customer service being top-notch; why is after sales customer support so important to you all?

If that's a serious question, then I'd say go and sign up with Pipex for a while. Then you'll realise why Customer Support is so important. Take a trip to Thinkbroadband and flick through the last 5,000 posts in the Pipex forum - see if you can spot ONE happy customer!

Nomadd

[Nick]

Gotta love Pipex and their recorded message when you ring up for tech support.

"Why not visit pipex. com for technical support...." DUH! If I could get the hell online I WOULDN'T be calling you!

My only quibble with Zen is I'm paying for an up to 8 meg line but the distance from the exchange means I only get 2 meg... wish someone would do a price plan based on your average BB speed... now THAT'D get the customers rolling in.

Though it has to be said, during a very crappy line training period Zen were always top notch, patient and helpful... even if the obvious questions such as "Are you plugged into the main BT socket?" were asked every time I rang...

[BUFF]

Zen are obviously excellent but perhaps the differences aren't quite as great as the intial compare link choices would have you believe ...
thinkbroadband :: Compare broadband service providers

[Andaho]

It's not in theory, as we like to think you'll never have a fault but in reality we know (especially with BB) that there may come a time when it is required. That's when you'll see the differences between £15.00 a month and £35 ;-)

Regards
Gary

Ok, thats the best answer ... but £20 a month for customer service!?!?! (or as someone said to think of it as an insurance) - I'd rather pay £15 a month and have 1-2 problems a year and then have to call an 090 number and be on hold for 30 mins - that would work out waaaay cheaper

But of course what I'm saying is... If a company has a great reputation with customer service, why are so many people finding out that their customer service is great?... I want a service that works all the time so I never have to ever ring customer service!

[usxhe190]

im hoping there is a swing away from 50p a month (or whatever) services and more people choosing isp's based on service rather than price... but you know the general public - not going to happen

actually, i don't think people go on price and not service, people go on price AND service. i see lots of people getting very angry when they get poor service even for low price ISP.

[TiG]

Zen on a business account was cheaper than most of the equivalents. Most of our engineers get 8meg max for 24.99 a month. (thats without the bulk discount)

TiG