Rants about Deutsche Telekom incompetence

So I got a Deutsche Telekom line installed in my new house. The process seemed quick and they didn't even have to come round, unlike my last 2 apartments. But the number they gave us was wrong! It didn't work and the number that we were dialling out with was different.

So my Girlfriend called them, told them they were stupid and told them to change the number on our account to the correct one with no charge. But they of course charged us for a new installation, so we were charged twice!

Then we go away for a bit and come back and the line is not working. When you dial out it starts to dial and then a message is heard saying basically to call them and quoting our phone number as a reference, and when you dial in it is engaged.

So my Girlfriend called them again, but of course they "don't understand the problem" (my girlfriend is German, so language is not a problem). But they say they need to send somebody out but they don't know if they need to come to the house or to their exchange. Anyway, 1 week later and no progress she calls them again. This time they do some tests on the line, 1 is ok 1 fails so they said they will send somebody out and we arrange it for the next day.

So an engineer turns up but she doesn't want to come through the gate in case there is a dog (there isn't), and if you don't come in the gate you can't get to the front door, and if you can't get to the front door you can't ring the bell and come in. She also even doesn't call out and my girlfriends father is in the garage with the door open less then 3 metres away (and expecting her). So she leaves a note!

Luckily, another enginner comes back a little later. He looks around tries and tests a few things and then changes something in our cellar and then it is working again and says that somebody done something to the cables in our cellar (it is a semi-detached house). But when we left on the 31st July it worked, and when we come back 4 weeks later it doesn't and nobody has been in the house! Yet they were seen doing things in our of their boxes in the street before hand. Seems suspicious to me!

Anyway, DTAG show yet again their quality of service is second to none!

Related topic: Rants about Deutsche Telekom, part I

sounds like your NTBA is defect ( you have only one line by the way)

ISDN = 2 lines, 3 numbers

ISDN =1 line
split through NTBA with 3 numbers

source I am a telephone engineer

Then you should know that ISDN = 2 Lines, With 3 Numbers (Up to 10 numbers can be requested)

Zwei Leitungen - Drei Rufnummern ... source: my T-Home bill

Getting back to the original rant, before you all started to prove how much smarter you are than each other , I heard on the radio yesterday that Computer Bild magazine did a survey of the various internet providers helpline services. Deutsche telekom came out best. Quicker to get through too and usually competant with their solutions to the problems. I've never had anything but good service from T-Kom.

Really? I've had nothing but incompetence. Incompetence they charge you for!

In layman’s terms just for you Miwild
The technician would have tested the ONE copper line which enters the building “The UK 1� this then enters a NTBA which converts it into a ISDN 64kb protocol making it a 4 wire ISDN circuit with 3 MSN numbers the 4 wire ISDN line can be attached to a small telephone system splitting it into 3 or 4 analogue lines or it can be attached to a router performing the same act but also able to transmit the DSL protocol if the subscriber has this ,
@ DJ
when the technician said that one of the lines was faulty what he meant was that LAYER TWO of the isdn protocol was faulty therefore he changed the NTBA .layers one and two of the ISDN enabling simultaneous telephony. the first fault you described was defiantly the NTBA they are very sensitive to surge ( lightning )
If they have been playing with the wires outside check that the little green light is lit on the NTBA

from a telephone technician of 22 years

Another satisfied Deutsche Telekom customer.

Who comes first in the shitty customer service award, DB or DT?

A problem is they have a monopoly. I'm an Arcor customer which in some cases can be worse, not because of Arcor, but because Arcor have to go to DT if there is a problem with the hardware. DT are far from co-operative as you aren't a direct customer of theirs and you certainly get the point that you are not. The system sucks and needs to be addressed, like it or not privatised companies are more customer focused, they have to be.

You tell people in the UK that a lot of German customer service is appalling and they are shocked to hear it.

They own the majority of the network and and if you have a problem and are not a direct customer of theirs, you don't get priority! That's why they are quicker in most cases, especially hardware problems. They have a somewhat competative edge and the use of it's foul play.

IT TOTALLY SUCKS.

Would you expect them to react in any other way ?

Of course not, I'm just stating the facts, speaking from experience and out of principal, I won't be bullied into being a customer of theirs for the said reasons.

In a 'fair' world an entirely separate company(ies) would own the network(s) and treat all related problems with a combination of first come first serve or priority depending on the problem. There is a huge conflict of interest with DT that only the state can remedy and at a guess no doubt many politicians will be on the board of DT as with some of the high charging and low investing energy companies.

And we live in a far from fair world anyway.

Looks like you wasted at least 21 of those years.
It's a copper wire pair which enters the building, the same as for all other telephone lines, which emanates from a circuit-switched telephone network. The NTBA is simply a Network Terminator on the Basis Rate Interface (BRI, or BRA in Europe) interpreting TWO "B channels" on the U-Interface, each with bandwidth of 64 kbit/s, and one D channel with a bandwidth of 16 kbit/s onto the internal S0 (4-wire) network bus (or S/T interface) for the connection of ISDN devices or Terminal Adapters (TA). The number of MSNs available on the BRI is not fixed, but is set at 3 in the UK and 10 in Germany (althouth Deutsche Telekom only issues 3 at the outset - 7 more can be ordered). Layer 1 is the physical protocol, Layer 2 is the signalling protocol (LAP-D) and Layer 3 is the network protocol. Protocols, by their very nature cannot be "faulty", and it would be most unusual for a single "line" (channel really) to not work. The reason Telekom (for example) use the phrase "2 lines, 10 numbers" is that this is easier for the layman to understand, but while you can have 10 numbers, the word "lines" is a bit of a misnomer - "channels" would be a better word. An NTBA is not "sensitive to surge", but is specifically designed as a surge protector to protect devices on the downstream S0 bus. It is intended to fail when there is a spike on the line as this is cheaper to replace than an expensive ISDN device.

Many people think "ISDN" means "Integrated Services Digital Network". Although this is now the accepted interpretation it originally meant "Integriertes Sprach- und Datennetz", having been originally conceived in Germany.

did I not say "Laymens " mr look it up

YL6 knows his telekoms stuff, be assured!

lmao ooo all very pally here arn't we

I have to Agree with OG...

YL6 Knows his stuff..

21 years is a lot of time to waste!

Have spent three days talking to these muppets. We arranged for a technician to come to our apartment on Wednesday. He did not show between hours appointed. We telephoned, they told us they had no explanation, but he would telephone us to tell us when he would come that day. He did not telephone. I rang the shop again. No answer. We tried again the next day, I was on hold for ages and ages to various people. Result, he would come to us the next day.

We had spent 8 hours waiting in for him the first day. He did not arrive on time the next day either. So I rang after a half an hour, it's enough to spend ages waiting for somone the first day. He did not show today either. I was on to five or six different people who could not or would not help me. Ended up walking t town to visit the shop where i had arranged the line. Finally got somehwere. Deutsch Telecom make our Irish Eircom look like they deserve an award for the Communications Company of the Decade...which just isn't true Not once did anyone apologise for the awful service. ]]\\

If ever there was a reson for EU Competition Policy, Deutsch Telecom is it!

I DT at the moment, they cut me off for one day and gave me 20 euros compo.

Lots and lots of threads on DT here btw, use search.

I have been fighting to get a basic DSL service for 18 months at my workplace. Telekom say not possible. Turns out my neighbour has it fitted. How? Well apparently LEGALLY they must now offer a DSL service so he got his lawyers to write them a letter threatening action - so they fitted a line.

Nice. Really Nice.

I guess if you can't beat them, join them, so a German bloodsucking legal leach will be seeing a few of my not-hard-earnt €uros shortly.

Whats annoying is .. and its not any ones-----( ive been so long here in germany i forgotten to spell... is the "ANY" and the "ONES" joined up or are they separate ...my god i have to stop drinking that "ginsing" tea ) ---- fault .. people are just trying to help and the forum is really a great source of information ..( so is google) SO HERE IS THE ULTIMATE QUESTION::::???
Who is the best...? i supposse it depends on a million things... so lets have a vote on it ... instead of babbling on for days months simply say what your favourite is >>>>> example>>>>>>>>> DEUTSCHE TELEKOM <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>>>>> another example >>>> ALICE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

There is no "best". Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

...and the beholder sees TELEKOM! That's it. Done.

Good old Telekom. All booked for tomorrow, paid extra for the engineer etc. They just emailed to says "ooooops" actually we cannot fit your 2Mb ADSL 'cos we have run out of phone lines.

My neighbour on 1 side has ANOTHER company round tomorrow morning to fit his new 16Mb system, but I reckon they also need to go via a Telekom line so it should be interesting. We told Telekom this, and they said "impossible - it won't work" so could be fun. I reckon it won't work.

Telekom already assured the local Gemeinde in writing that we would 100% all have glass fibre connected in December, but I can't see them sticking to that on the current score.

And my neighbour on the OTHER side instructed lawyers to go legal on Telekom for not providing ADSL (apparently there is some law on the issue) and so they fitted a line for him.

So sounds like I may have to do things "German Style" and instruct lawyers - then I will magically get a line fitted. Nice. Oh - and this is an INDUSTRIAL ESTATE. Ho ho ho.

My fault for living in the 3rd world part of a 3rd world country I guess.

Spoke to my neighbour today. Engineer came to fit his "16Mb" line and said "Oh dear, better not switch you on 'cos we can't get better than 200kbps on the line". All good fun.

Suggest they install 80 such lines and use channel bundling...