Not bad! (Freeserve Tariffs)

Member Name: lunyeung

Product:	Freeserve Tariffs
Date:	17/05/02 (201 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to setup, Fast internet access

Disadvantages: Not the cheapest, automated email response for technical support, telephone support at 50p a min

I've had the Broadband service for a few months now and overall I think it's not bad. I brought the Alcatel modem for £99, which looks very eyecatching in turquoise and shaped like a stingray. The setup process is simple enough too.

When I was living in Toronto a couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to experience the broadband service there. And I must say that it was slightly cheaper at about £20 a month and faster at 1MBps (1000k). The Freeserve price isn't the cheapest but I am getting speeds in the region of the 512k which is maximum speed of the service.

One of my biggest gripes with Freeserve is their customer service. It leaves very little to be desired. I tried to email their technical support on one occasion and all I got was an automated response! Not very reassuring when the only alternative is to call a premium rate helpline at 50p a minute!!! Maybe I got too used to the free technical support numbers they have in North America.

Even so, competitors like Pipex have undercut Freeserve's monthly charge for Broadband and as a former user of Pipex's dial up service a number of years ago I have to say their support is very good. I have to admit that it was a number of years ago when I was using Pipex (remember when internet access was priced by the hour in addition to your telephone charges?) but I am very tempted to switch to their Broadband service as I save a few quid a month and they are much more accessible for support and they have a national rate number for this, unlike Freeserve's 50p a minute rip-off support.

You know what, after writing this review, I think I will switch to Pipex after all.

Summary: