I have read with interest the posts relating to Telefonica and especially Iberbanda, which incidentally is part of the Telefonica group. I have lived in Spain for 40 years and Telefonica has always been the subject of extremely bad service. Not only the ex pats suffer, but a quick search in Google for “Problems with Telefonica or Iberbanda” , in Spanish of course, will show how big the problem really is. What I don’t understand is how they keep getting away with this great rip off.
When I moved to my present finca in Alhaurin el Grande, Malaga I had no option other than go with Iberbanda. For three years I have suffered. I wrote to them about a month or so ago detailing my case. I have never had any response to this letter certificada. I have since sent a copy of it to the Ministerio de Industria in Madrid and to date have had no reply. This is the content of the letter sent.
Iberbanda,
Julian Camarillo 29B
28037 Madrid.
16/03/2009
Dear Sir?s,
Since I contracted for an Internet connection in September 05 I have had nothing but problems with Iberbanda. You are unable to maintain a guaranteed connection. Regularly your speed is well below that guaranteed by your guarantee of 10% of the contracted speed. At least once or twice a week I lose the connection completely for short periods- or even days.
I have had to ring the tecnicos hundreds of times, at my cost, and have spoken regularly with Attention al Cliente. I have sent hundreds of emails complaining of the problems and have copies of all of them stored on my computer. Unfortunately, although I have submitted the same amounts of screen shots of my speed tests, nobody really cares, and I personally think that there is nothing that can be done until Iberbanda improves their installations. Meanwhile I continue to pay ?uros 49,00 + IVA a month for a non-existent service. Many times I have been promised a free period or discount to compensate me for the breakdown of your service but this never happens.
To try and speak with the tecnicos is nearly impossible as no doubt they are busy attending to the numerous other calls from other dissatisfied customers. When one is lucky enough to speak with anyone from the technical department or Attention al Cliente the way that they talk to their customers is totally unacceptable. The majority are blatantly rude and unhelpful.
I would like to confirm that on a couple occasions when I have spoken to the tecnicos, I have been fortunate enough to find an honest employee who has admitted, that currently nothing can be done to improve the service I receive, as there are serious problems with the Iberbanda installations in my area. I believe I am currently receiving my signals from Pizarra. Some months ago I received a visit from an Iberbanda engineer, who was instructed by your Technical department, to visit a hundred or so Iberbanda customers in this area and try to obtain better reception by reorienting the parabolica. In my case he gave up after a couple of hours and said nothing could be done.
As I need an Internet connection to assist me with my work, I have lost a considerable amount of revenue due to not being able to send emails or files, due to poor speeds or a complete breakdown in the system. I have also purchased various online courses but again lost out financially as I was unable to download them due to speed problems. As I write this letter I have no connection and have had serious problems for the past week. I have again reported the fault and currently there is an n? de incidencia 1-1VXRBM pending.
Like all other complaints I have made during the past three years nothing will be done. I am given a reference number and that is it. When I contact the tecnicos or Attention al Cliente a few days later to inquire what is being done, nobody is prepared to comment and my reference number is meaningless.
Finally, if Iberbanda is unable to maintain a service as offered as per the contract it should not be permitted to charge the inflated monthly fee. Basically what you are doing is misleading your clients and obtaining money under false pretenses. I am sure that every regulation under EU rules is being broken. I recently was amazed to do a quick Google search on the problems with Iberbanda. It appears that the majority of your customers have problems related to many issues.
I look forward to receiving your comments as soon as possible and confirm that should Iberbanda chose once again to ignore my complaints all correspondence will be forwarded to the Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio for them to investigate. In the event that this Government body chose to do nothing I will then request immediate assistance from the governing body at the EU.
Kind regards,
Stated earlier in this post I have received no answer form Iberbanda or the Ministerio de Industria. The only recent change to my service is that my monthly quotas have gone up.
A word of warning. My partner a couple of years ago moved out of her house, and canceled her internet connection with Telefonica. She followed their instructions to the “T”. She even sent them a fax confirming the cancellation. Six months or so later she sold the property. Being a non resident she had ?9000:00 deducted by the notary for the Hacienda retention. After another traumatic battle to get this amount paid back she was more than surprised to receive the ?9000:00 back less a claim from Telefonica for a period of internet connection that was after the date of cancellation. Despite more telephone calls and letters trying to get a refund she in the end gave up. So it appears that Telefonica has even the powers to make other illegal claims.
I am well aware that there will be members from all over Spain who use Telefonica/Iberbanda with no problems at all. Think yourselves lucky. You are in the minority. I would appreciate hearing from any one who has successfully made a claim against Telefonica or Iberbanda and won.
