walker - 13 September 2007 01:49 PM
hi, just wanted to post my experience and see if any others have the same problem and maybe a solution
I have been using Iberbanda for over two years and have to say that I have had problems all the time. Like yourself my first surprise was to be told that they only guarantee 10% of the contracted speed. In my case I signed up for 512 kbps and regularly received a speed of well below the minimum. For this basic service I paid around ?80:00 pm and continued to protest about the service for over a year.
By chance I found out that Iberbanda had offered a deal which consisted of 512 kbps and free telephone calls throughout Spain for around ?45:00 pm. When I contacted them to enquire why I had not been offered this deal I was told because I had not asked for it. After a load of hassle I eventually had my contract changed to the new one but they would not consider refunding the amount I had paid above this rate for a considerable time. In my opinion this was just robbery.
Even with the new deal I found that my speed was always extremely low or non existent. I decided to start a campaign against Iberbanda and sent them a screen shot of the speed test every time it was below the minimum. I also complained on a daily basis to everyone I could contact by telephone. I even wrote on more than one occasion to the President of iberbanda and can confirm that I received a reply apologizing for the problems and received a free months rental. During the two years with this outfit I have been offered compensation many times as a result of bad service but have discovered that when my bill arrives it has been forgotten.
I have also made denuncias against Iberbanda via the Oficina de Consumadores. It was here that I learnt that Iberbanda had many denuncias against them pending especially from the Spanish. A quick Google search in Spanish shows the extent of the problem. As Iberbanda is part of Telefonica there is no rush whatsoever to offer a connection via a land line as long as they receive these exaggerated quotas for such a pathetic service.
On a possitive note, as a result of my constant complaining I had a telephone call some months ago from one of their tecnicos who said would personally look at my problem and hopefully maintain a better speed. Soon afterwards I noticed that the speed was being maintained daily and can confirm that it averages around 460 kbps. The only criticism I have currently is that Iberbanda claim that with symmetric communication of AVI you can send and receive at at the same speed. This is never the case as the receive speed is always down.
The only real advice I can give you is keep hammering away at them until they give in. They will eventually. It is also imperative to communicate with them in Spanish so if you don’t speak it get someone to do the dirty work for you.
I hope this has helped a little but please remember that all ISP’s here in Spain, unfortunately operate mas o menos in this manner!
