We have tried a different router, plugged in and in plugged a mirriad of cables and still no joy. Either France telecom have changed something or there is suddenly it’s of extra users using Netflix!
Unfortunately, I think the only answer is to lose our phone number and Internet phone and install a fixed line. This will not negate the speed issues with the Internet but at least we will be able to speak to people. Skype is now non existant so I fear our bills are going to rise. Is this the 21st century we live in or the dark ages!
Can you try a different router? We had similar issues and many debates with Orange who insisted that our Livebox (seven years old) was man enough for the job. Talking to our IT friends it appears not. We have bought a new router and will be installing it today. Will let you know the outcome.
Unfortunately, seems to be standard practice. I too had a contract with them for 4-5 years, no problems, then all the same problems as you have noted above. In the end we had to move to Orange as we were getting no where with SFR. The problem with the change over was we could not keep the number, without an outage.
SFR are the most unhelpful bunch of t*******ers I know, my husband and his mother have had nothing but trouble with their customer services line.
Although one can never tell from area to area in my village the sfr connection is rubbish but FREE is a very high connection and we have just been given the option to degroupe for VDSL to double the connection too. 3 years with them and never had a problem - infact when we phoned customer services about how to add the tv box they guy actually took 5 mins out to go over the options on the contract and delete the extras we didn't need (calls to magreb etc) and reduced our bill by 5€
Hi Allison. Your problem is not uncommon, I have a Hotel/Restaurant in the Aveyron and pay Orange.fr for a professional internet supply. Do I get a good service??? Welcome to the third world, The problem is that it doesn’t matter which ISP you go with as everything runs through Orange telephone lines as they have the monopoly. Trust me, Orange are the most incompetent and disinterested organisation that you will ever deal with. Everything about them is what you’ll find in BAD France. Sorry to be negative but with Orange there is no up side.
I disagree. I’ve had nothing but good service and expect that it will become even better once the high speed internet connection arrives in the near future.
Before this week I was paying SFR 40€pm for my mobile, 15€pm for Mrs M’s mobile and 45€pm for neuf box.
SFR (who rent the line from France Telecom) have denied that there has been a problem with internet in our village despite FT stating that there was a problem and since June have be "trying their [French] hardest to rectify the problem.
Only Bouygues has 4G in our area; no SFR, Free, or Orange. I have changed both mobiles to Bouygues saving 25€per month, bought a 4G box, unlocked, got a data contract with Bouygues at 21.99€ pm and voila! I now have phone reception ad 80Go of internet per month. Previously SFR internet was as slow as dial up, now I am super fast, no stress and saving 40€ per month.
Bye bye SFR!
PS check all the coverage maps for your area; originally I went Free but nothing worked as there is no Free in our area!
Lucky you, we have no 4G reception at all.
We are looking at 3G for improvement .
It has got much worse since the introduction of Netflix and everybody watching films.
We are promised haut debit but probably not for another five years.
we were on free and sfr in 2 homes, both were blaming our amount of computers connected on crap speeds. i turned everything off but the hardwired pc and ran a speed test and said explain to me then how only 1 device is connected but i still have a crap service. both homes are now on orange and the limited 2 meg we were supposed to have is now between 6 and 10. our neighbours who are still on sfr (they are nearer the box too) have under 1 meg upload and they dont have anything but a laptop and 2 mobiles. Dont know if SOSH is available in your area, (its orange) but that also is a good service and the english helpline I have always found extremely helpful if your gentle when speaking with them. as i say, better the devil that works.
strange free and sfr operate on the same network and share towers, they all piggy back orange for the most part too where there is no reception. where is it your at may I ask
I think most of us have had problems with telecom suppliers (as in the UK). Anyway I was keen to try the Bouygues 4G box as my SFR box was playing up and the 12mb at best was often somewhat below that. emphasized text
I tried to order online but lack of a French mobile meant that I couldn’t do that. I decided to go to the shop in Cluses (30 minutes away) to order it but when I got there it was closed (every Monday!). Back at home I tried the online chat and this triggered someone to ring me to take and then I was asked for €5.70 for delivery from my credit card. The system would not accept English credit cards (despite me using them without issue on other sites), so I had to take delivery in the nearest town Cluses. A few hours after the order was placed I received an email asking me for €5.70 for delivery to complete the order. This time the card worked. The next day I received 2 emails saying my boxes were due to be dispatched. This is when the nightmare started. I couldn’t phone customer services as they required a mobile number (despite my earlier giving my fixed line)
So I was unable to cancel one of the boxes despite attempting for 2 days to contact someone. The online chat is purely sales. Bouygues do not provide an email service to contact customer service. I speak adequate French but my strong advice is don’t order anything from anyone unless they offer either chat or email to contact customer service. This awful customer service caused me to cancel everying with them. However the nightmare continues with Bouygues who took money from my account despite it being a free for 30 days etc and despite me refusing delivery.
We are asked to register our full names … and I suspect that yours is Nigel Birkett (?).
If you would like to confirm this… I can amend your Registration page
Reference your problem: 2 boxes for the same address … ?
I found that a letter, sent by the postal method where you get written/signed confirmation of receipt at its destination…worked a charm… when emails/phone calls had had no effect.
Mind you, the fact that I was asking the Supplier why they were stealing from me may have got someone’s attention !!
It took me almost 12 months to sort, during which time the Supplier took 2 lots of charges from my bank account every month…
As I pointed out to them…same name, address, etc etc… fairly obvious it was an error… (any fool could see that … but I didn’t actually call them a fool) and I told them to check. They would find out that only one of the connections was being used/had ever been used…
I used clear, calm, language in short sentences (as my French in those days was a little lacking)…
Phew… also…I threatened to write to the Head Man… (I had found his name, but forget it now)…and tell him about these “thieves” who were taking advantage of an innocent mistake.
Bouygues only need a fixed line number or an address to test your eligibility for their 4G box. As far as the actual online order is concerned - they do need a mobile number to keep you updated by text [edited]
Not true Simon - yes you can test eligibility but it has to be a mobile number to order - try it yourself. The prompt is Entrez votre numéro de téléphone mobile and then turns red when you enter a valid fixed number (message being Saisir un N° de téléphone mobile) . The agent who placed the order on the phone frigged it with 0600000000. I will try your email address for support but will be very surprised if it works or that I get a response. There are many sites where it states there is no email contact email for customer services. Their own site under ‘Nous Contacter’ has 1:Par Chat (only sales), 2:Par Telephone (only works with a mobile number) ,3: En Boutique (I went in to the shop in Cluses and they were not interested - they said it was a different organisation for the 4G box or 4: RDV en Club which I know nothing about.
Stella - yes that is my name. Thanks for the advice, I suspect this problem will run and run. I managed to get my bank to reverse the Bouygues ‘theft’ and very quickly got an email from Bouygues demanding I now pay that by carte bancaire. It is amazing how good they are at chasing money and bad at apologising for incorrectly ordering 2 boxes (one to be delivered to my home and one to the nearest town) instead of one.
Nigel firstly my apologies - you do indeed need a mobile number for your order - I’ve edited my original reply accordingly. It’s simply so they can keep you updated on the status of your order.
As for an email address - I didn’t provide one so not sure what you mean. As I’m already a client of theirs I contact them via their app - really easy.
Sounds like you’ve had a hard time with what should be really simple - such a shame because it’s a brilliant system - had it since March last year shortly after it’s launch.
Best of luck sorting out your probs - and no, I don’t work for them!
Thanks for the response - yes I suspect I may be cutting my nose off to spite my face, but got so exasperated trying to contact them in the perfect Catch 22 situation that I wanted them to burn in hell (so to speak!).
may have got someone’s attention !!