Would you trust this ISP?

[Antony]

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.

 

[Tews]

First rule of call desk support ... blame the software... :roflmao:

 

[Antony]

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.

 

[tidgeypudd]

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.

 

[Barman58]

Should I name and shame? Well it has to be of course I do - BT.

BT

Bad Tech Support or Barely Tolerable or Bl**dy Terrible


I feel your pain

 

[GatoSoft]

It's a shame that you're not in Argentina... you should give a try to Arnet and following that you should understand that BT is just god.

 

[Lordbob75]

Interesting story.

Complete bull**** from the ISP.
Ditch them.

~Lordbob

EDIT: Does not look as good starred out.

 

[Antony]

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.

 

[jimbo45]

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

 

[tidgeypudd]

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

 

[CPC464]

Hiya there,

just a thought but Anti Virus's can give out false alerts on certain files and web sites, maybe Kaspersky is doing the same with your ISP. I know if I use Mcaffee and try to log into BT\YAHOO I get a Unsercure page and cant access it.........

All I had to do is go into my AV and tell it that the page was secure and hey all working....

As I said just a thought but worth a try.

CPC464

 

[Antony]

CPC464 - Ive been using Kaspersky for a few weeks now without problem - Im not convinced its at fault but I wont dismiss it.

 

[Snufffed]

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.

Well I for one, would remove Kaspersky... there are many AV program on the WWW. I also would recommend that you install and test the RECOMMENDED AV by your ISP. (I also think your Question if "Would you trust this ISP?" ) is a reflection on you more than the ISP. You ask them for service. If you do not TRUST. THEN STOP. Instantly. Get a NEW ONE.
END OF CONVERSATION>. Sort of Yuk this Beer taste like like Pi**, should i drink it or try another brand...
Come on. Ask your self.

 

[Antony]

Well I for one, would remove Kaspersky... there are many AV program on the WWW. I also would recommend that you install and test the RECOMMENDED AV by your ISP. (I also think your Question if "Would you trust this ISP?" ) is a reflection on you more than the ISP. You ask them for service. If you do not TRUST. THEN STOP. Instantly. Get a NEW ONE.
END OF CONVERSATION>. Sort of Yuk this Beer taste like like Pi**, should i drink it or try another brand...
Come on. Ask your self.

To answer you. First off if you had read all of what I have said you would have seen that the AV provided by BT is NOT - I repeat NOT compatible with windows 7. I cant even download it - their system wont allow me to. BT told me yesterday that they had no details available as to when a Win 7 version will be available - which is not what I was told the day before. So look at the scenario that will start happening from 22nd of this month when Win 7 goes live. BT Will have customers who will buy 7 install it and then find they also cannot use BT's software. How is BT going to deal with that? By telling hundreds of customers the same as they have told me? Go and uninstall it and put XP or Vista back on so you can use our software? I dont think customers will take that very politely.
Also yesterday they acknowledged that with all the evidence I have supplied them that indeed it all pointed to the problem being at their end - however despite this they would not take the investigation further as I was not using their software and because their server cant possibly be at fault. The attitude is one of having their head stuck in the sand. Its one stupid circle.
As to whether I should look at myself concerning the title of this thread. It was aimed at getting people to read the thread - nothing more. My decision as to whether I dump BT has already been mentioned. Oh and I am no new comer to computers. Unlike many of the people who work in call centres (and Im not knocking everyone of them - Ive worked in them to so I know there are many good people there) - I do have some experience with computers. 28 years using them - teaching people how to use them and yes I have a degree in them too. And no Im NOT infallible I CAN and do make mistakes - which is why I am checking other options - like whether Kapersky is at fault. I have sent them a stream of data for them to review and I am waiting on their response.

My apologies if I sound negative but I have spent the last 2 days moving my daughter into her new home. When I come home I expect to be able to log on to my ISP and read my mail. Not get a message that the file I am trying to view has a virus in it - BT is supposed to deal with that before it gets to the customers (baring file attachments of course). And it hasnt been helped by the catalogue of errors and bad advise given by BT.
On the whole I have had - (usually) fairly good service from BT. But this year they have messed me about on several occasions. I think Im entitled to have a moan at them.

 

[Snufffed]

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.

1. Kaspersky is NOT DOING ITS JOB. If it was it would find. and clean the infected email.
2. you should be able to move into user (default place for your emails>)
and check by date. then locate the inquestion email... by date. Delete it. and continue.)
3. I suggest you uninstall McAfee, and All currently installed AV's. reboot.
4. open and let Windefender run a FULL Scan on your system.
5. You can use ESET SS or NOD32 scanner FREE for 30 days. make sure it set it to check emails. and REAL TIME FILE protection.

 

[Antony]

1. Kaspersky is NOT DOING ITS JOB. If it was it would find. and clean the infected email.
2. you should be able to move into user (default place for your emails>)
and check by date. then locate the inquestion email... by date. Delete it. and continue.)
3. I suggest you uninstall McAfee, and All currently installed AV's. reboot.
4. open and let Windefender run a FULL Scan on your system.
5. You can use ESET SS or NOD32 scanner FREE for 30 days. make sure it set it to check emails. and REAL TIME FILE protection.

1. Kaspersky is NOT DOING ITS JOB. If it was it would find. and clean the infected email.
2. you should be able to move into user (default place for your emails>)
and check by date. then locate the inquestion email... by date. Delete it. and continue.)
3. I suggest you uninstall McAfee, and All currently installed AV's. reboot.
4. open and let Windefender run a FULL Scan on your system.
5. You can use ESET SS or NOD32 scanner FREE for 30 days. make sure it set it to check emails. and REAL TIME FILE protection.

Let me repeat this just one more time. I do not get as far as accessing my emails. I am clicking the link that takes me to the mail server. How am I supposed to delete an offending email if I havent even got that far into the mail server? To detect a virus in an email I must first be granted access to the mail server. I am getting the virus warning BEFORE then and being DENIED access to the mail server.
I also repeat I am not using McAfee as BTs supplied version is NOT compatable with Win 7.
And just as an update. I have again spoken with BT again tonight. This time someone more senior. He is attempting to persuade BT's data management team to talk to me directly. The main issue is no longer whether I can access the mail server but that BT is NOT ready for Windows 7. The technical department are now very much aware that they only have 18 days to have an antivirus product in place to be ready for the launch. From what I currently understand that is not going to happen. This person I have spoken with today has asked me to write direct to the management team - which I have done so, to - and I quote from him "to complain directly to the management team about the lack of preparedness of BT in being able to support Windows 7" end quote.
Finally I get someone to listen to me.
I have also sent in a report to Kapersky with information regarding both the virus (whether genuine or not) and the update that picked it up. like I said before I am open to suggestions and I am attempting to look at all possibilities but at the end of the day - so far - BT has failed to support its customer and will have a growing problem from the 22nd onwards unless they can implement a compatable version of their antivirus software.

 

[Barman58]

One interesting point with this whole Ready for windows 7 or not issue is ...

Is the software BT choose to provide not ready or is it just that their website OS check code is not ready?

I thought that Macaffe AV actually worked with Windows 7 now

 

[Cyberwolf]

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.

Most ISP's will NOT support software until it does go live. Thats what YOU get for running software that isn't supported by anyone. Beta, RC, or RTM from TechNet/MSDN or from a torrent = Test software.

I find your rant a little ignorant. It's almost as silly as running to Toyota asking how to fix your Ford 2010 F-150 stereo system.

Obviously you have never worked in the tech industry...Most third party providers (like ISPs since they dont develop the OS...) dont provide support for new OS's for months after its official release.

Reason? Microsoft hasn't really released any KB documents on what problems are occurring and what can be done to fix it.

 

[Adrian]

False Positive????

1. Kaspersky is NOT DOING ITS JOB. If it was it would find. and clean the

Let me repeat this just one more time. I do not get as far as accessing my emails. I am clicking the link that takes me to the mail server. How am I supposed to delete an offending email if I havent even got that far into the mail server? To detect a virus in an email I must first be granted access to the mail server. I am getting the virus warning BEFORE then and being DENIED access to the mail server.
.

Antony, from your comments I'm assuming you are in the British Isles?
I suggest you may be getting a false positive from your AV.
May I suggest downloading Microsoft's "Security Essentials" which is being released Gratis for Windows 7 and removing the installed AV you have now and see if this resolves the issue.

I'm quoting from the Info Security EU:
News


CA and Kaspersky security software suffering false positives

18 August 2009
Reports are emerging that IT security software from Computer Associates and Kaspersky Lab have registered false positives on legitimate files and websites.

An update to CA's eTrust anti-virus software started registering alerts for genuine files on a number of applications, including its own programme code.
Kaspersky Lab's Internet Security application, meanwhile, falsely flagged up HSBC's online banking portal as infecting users with a copy of the HTLM-Agent-CE Trojan.
According to Techworld UK, CA's software misbehaved after update number 33.3.7051 was downloaded by the eTrust application and a further update - 34.0.0.6674 - has now been released.
Affected users are also being offered a download tool that 'de-quarantines' the false positive files on any system affected by the problem.
Computer Associates has apologised to its software users and is referring them to the following site for further information.

Kaspersky Lab, meanwhile, had a bad Monday on the support side of things, after its Internet Security software falsely alerted users that HSBC's personal internet banking site had been infected with malware over the weekend.
Veteran information security company Kaspersky reportedly moved swiftly to rectify the problem with its software as soon as problem was discovered.
The solution appears to have centered on a forced update to the software, Infosecurity notes.



This article is featured in:
Application Security • Internet and Network Security • Malware and Hardware Security

 

[Antony]

Most ISP's will NOT support software until it does go live. Thats what YOU get for running software that isn't supported by anyone. Beta, RC, or RTM from TechNet/MSDN or from a torrent = Test software.

I find your rant a little ignorant. It's almost as silly as running to Toyota asking how to fix your Ford 2010 F-150 stereo system.

Obviously you have never worked in the tech industry...Most third party providers (like ISPs since they dont develop the OS...) dont provide support for new OS's for months after its official release.

Reason? Microsoft hasn't really released any KB documents on what problems are occurring and what can be done to fix it.

I am well aware that most ISP do not support software until it goes live. I have worked for one ISP and done testing for another. In BTs case there is far to much confusion as to what is actually know by their support staff. From not having even heard of Windows 7 to stating it already works with it when it clearly doesnt. My point has been with BT that no one there has any clue how to advise customers correctly on this issue. Bad advise is bad advise. Telling someone to uninstall their OS just to recieve support is unhelpful. It would have been far better to have their staff inform customers that they do not currently support it but it is under development/review and release date will be given as soon as possible.
Had I been asking for this information 6 - 12 months ago I would have understood the responses but not this close to release.