Who is my ISP?

A few months ago I was having a few problems with my Internet connection and popped off a text to Andrew who runs the service. Normally, I’d get a text or call back immediately to let me know what the issue was, what was being done and when it he reckoned it would be fixed. But this time the text read I’m away. Call their support on 08x-xxxxxxx.

I assumed this meant call the company who provide the backhaul. It wasn’t. I got through to a west Brit accent who gave his name as Robert. Nothing else. No surname. No company name. Just Robert. He did however tell me my ISP had been taken over by the outfit he worked for and they were trying to integrate the two services but were having difficulties.

Over the following weeks, from another couple of calls to Robert and a lot of detective work I discovered the main difficulty: Andrew had had a business partner who somehow owned a greater share despite investing less capital. This partner had sold the business out from under him. (I can’t say much more as I just learned a court case is in the works. I really wish I could, and I will as soon as I can, because it will shock you. Trust me. I’ll be able to use the real names for individuals and companies then too). I also learned Robert’s second name and the name of the new company. Well part of it.

I couldn’t find a website and searching the Companies Registration Office website yielded little as I had only part of the name. No ISP with a similar name was listed on the Kildare.ie Network, on the Government broadband site or on any of the private listing-sites. My IP was still showing as Andrew’s company, however his website had been closed down and displayed only the Apache welcome page. This bit bugged me as I could no longer access my account info or log a support ticket. Plus I had been using Andrew’s SMTP server for outgoing mail and this was now unreliable.

Robert no longer took calls or answered texts. The money was coming out of my account each month but service was, to put it bluntly, as reliable as a baby’s arse. I had no-one and no where to complain to.

Before you ask the obvious, no, I couldn’t switch to a different provider. It isn’t possible. The local exchange was broadband enabled a while back but I am too far from it. Satellite is not within my budget and anyway it is, to use the technical term, total crap. Wireless was the only option and Andrew’s transceiver was the only one within reach. Kudos to the man, he didn’t charge a premium knowing this.

Yesterday I ran my checks again. My IP was registered to Robert’s company. Easy to find a website then. My joy was short lived. A 2 page site showing a welcome message, a coverage map and an email address. But at least I now have an email address and know the name of the company I’m dealing with. Better still, I have an address and landline number for the guy who registered the website, so if Robert still refuses to respond to calls, he is going to get calls from me, and I don’t care what time of the day or night that will be. I will be asking/demanding three things: invoices for what I paid since they took down Andrew’s site and disabled online billing; the return of stable service and tech support; a rebate for the months of suffering the equivalent of dialup speeds.

This has to be strangest situation I have ever been in. Not knowing who was providing my service. No-one willing to offer information, no even names - Andrew because of a policy of non-cooperation and Robert for reasons unknown.