Would you trust this ISP?

Sorry this is going to be a long one.

OK here is the scenario. To access my mail I log into my ISP and click on a link which is placed on my home page. So this morning - like any other day - I did just that.
Wham!! Big warning from my antivirus software (Kaspersky). Telling me that the file I was trying to open contained a trojan. Remember all I have done so far is click on the link - I have not yet even go to the screen containing my mail. Clicking on deny access I am informed that if I think that there is something wrong I should contact the ISP.
I made a note of the URL given by Kaspersky and sure enough it was the URL for my ISP's mail server. Ok I thought they have a problem (Note I say they not me). I rang them up and was politely told that their mail serve does not have a virus. So I asked the rep to link to my pc so he could see for himself what my antivirus was telling me. Oh - I also informed him at this point that I was running Windows 7 with Kaspersky as my antivirus.
He agreed - took a look at the message and agreed it did look as if it was on their server however it was likely to be an email I was trying to open. (Remember what I said earlier - I havent got that far yet!!).
Anyway he told me he would ask one of the technicians to contact me. However he did tlell me that there would be little they could do for me as I was not running the antivirus software provided by them (more on this later).
Now comes the next major issue. He asked me to click on the allow button to see what happens!! DOH!!!! I do so and then imeadiatlely inform him that if I now have a virus on my pc I will be one VERY ANGRY person. I will wait for his technician to contact me and in the mean time I would now HAVE to run a full virus scan to make sure I was clear.
20 minutes later the techie contacts me. I talk him through the same scenario and get him to link back to my pc so he can also see what the message tells me. When he does so I say "oh look my antivirus has just completed a full scan - NO VIRUS on my pc!! He asks me why I am not running the antivirus supplied by them. I tell him simple. I am running Windows 7 and ther antivirus is not yet compatible with it so I am running Kaspersky. He informs me that it now is compatible and that I should uninstall Kaspersky and install theirs (McAffee) and he will ring me back tomorrow moring to check back. Ok I said
I uninstalled and then went to their website and attempted to download their software. Nice big message - Sorry our software is not compatible with your OS. (nothing new there).
And now comes the clincher.
I rang them back to tell them I could not follow their instructions due to it not working with Win 7. Where upon I was told I should uninstall Win 7 - and install either XP or Vista so that I could install their software so that they could help me find the virus on MY PC. At this point I told them I did not want to do that. By the way - were they aware that in a few days time Windows 7 will be going live? A lot of their customers will be wanting to buy it and install it. Oh there is just one problem though they WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE YOUR SOFTWARE BECAUSE IT IS NOT COMPATIBLE. ARE YOU GOING TO TELL THEM THAT THEY TOO MUST REINSTALL XP OR VISTA TO USE YOUR SOFTWARE?
I didnt wait for the reply.
Should I name and shame? Well it has to be of course I do - BT.

Oh to top it - I come home this evening and click on the link for my mail to see what happens. Kaspersky (which I have reinstalled) tells me the the virus is still at the same URL and now Kaspersky has barred me from accessing the mail altogether. At leas t I know Kaspersky is doing its job.

hiya Antony well sorry to laugh but i have had the same experience with bt. My internet hub went down to cut a long story short they too blamed windows 7 and insisted that they could not help so i told them that i had four pc's all with different operating systems on and it still didnt work so after 3 and a half hours of me gritting my teeth and being polite they decided to send me a new hub,lol. That is not why i decided to write this message i just wanted to ask why you dont install a client such as outlook or outlook express that way you can recieve your email and still be safe as kapersky (great antivirus i must add) will stop any vicious files getting on your pc.

Thanks folk. BT should be ringing me back early this morning to discuss the results after having installed their software. That should be interesting :)
Will I ditch them? After this well I am seriously considering doing so. I also have to consider that one of my mobiles is with them and the contract is due up in November (thats already going because of other problems). So I may ditch the lot all at the same time. Any recommendations? With my daughter moving home at the moment I shall have to wait until I have a little more time to myself to think more on the subject.
Why dont I use Outlook? The simple answer is laziness. And of course BT store all my mail on their server saving me space :) I do however have access to my mail through a different route - MS Live.
Im also considering putting the fiasco in the hands of BT's bosses seeing what excuse they come up with.

Hi there -
I've suffered too with BT when I'm in the UK.

I'm amazed that in countries such as Iceland and Finland the whole mobile phone and Internet service seems to be on a totally different magnitude compared with BT in the UK who must be :

1) one of the most frustrating companies on the planet to deal with - when you can EVEN find a phone number it's over again to some really low level "support center" in India or elsewhere. - These guys used to be good but now it's TERRIBLE even if you can understand their English. - We all knew this would happen -- why should decently intelligent well educated Indian graduates (who usually are pretty good) work in some "sweatbox" of a call center when they can get decent well paying jobs almost anywhere - so we are back to the "Monkeys and Peanuts" -- no racial / other disrepect here but if you pay very low wages don't expect the quality of the staff to be able to handle complex technical questions).

2) Speed of service is appalling -- for a major country the UK's Broadband Infrastructure is in even worse a state than Icelandic Banks if that's possible -- definitely not fit for purpose in 21st century. Upload speeds are DISMAL (around 256 kb/s if you are lucky -- often more like 128 kb/s) and if you want 20 MB download - forget it -- You are lucky outside London if you can get as much as 8MB/s).

In the UK a "passable deal" is to use SKY - you can get phone, internet AND TV for a passable price depending on the TV package and you can keep your same phone number(s).

Often in the UK an "inclusive" deal is better than buying these services individually - also SKY have UK call centres (so long as you can understand Scottish accents) and in spite of people having a go at "Murdoch" I've always found them to be OK when I've got queries etc.

(In the UK you just have to get used to people sniping at anybody who is moderately successful -- seems to be a particularly British trait -- I remember the Beijing Olympics when their cycling teams seemed to be almost ashamed to walk off with most of the Gold medals -- totally different from the USA or Nordic countries who would have given their eyeteeth to grab these medals).

Anyway back to BT.

I'll nominate BT for the (image uploaded) "Bovine Scatology" award for 2009.

Any seconders.


Cheers
jimbo

LoL thats a fair comment about outlook i received a phone call the other day from bt department completely different to customer services but they rung me because i had rung 150 seventeen times in one day, maybe try that they are nice and will bend over backwards to help you out with whatever problem you have they also give you their direct free phone number. As you are thinking of changing your isp provider please give it some long hard thinking hunny as before i was with bt i was with a couple of providers such as Virgin Media - they cut speed down to 56k modem speed from 8mb connection just because i am on the internet all day and your not allowed to be. AOL - They are ok but you need to have a Bt telephone number. Talk Talk are part of bt and they are worse then bt to be honest i decided to leave because as a customer my query's were not being answered. Sky but you have to be in the right area to get their full connection you also have to have a bt phone line with them too.
Tscarli - they give you a modem dongle which tends to get blocked at times. just to give you a few to think about, the problems i have spoke about are from personal experiences and dont wish to cause an argument with anyone