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2007 Freedom2Support User Survey Results

  
phpESP, v1.6.1
1. What is your age?
0-16 (0)
17-25   7.6% (9)
26-35   20.2% (24)
36-45   25.2% (30)
46-55   20.2% (24)
56-65   17.6% (21)
Over 65   7.6% (9)
TOTAL   98.3% 119
2. Are you male or Female?
Male   95.0% (113)
Female   4.2% (5)
TOTAL   99.2% 119
3. How Often do you visit Freedom2Support?
Multiple Times Per Day   5.0% (6)
Once Per Day   9.2% (11)
Few Times Per Week   23.5% (28)
Once a Week   7.6% (9)
Less than once per week   42.9% (51)
Only during major service outages   11.8% (14)
TOTAL   100.0% 119
4. How long have you been using Freedom2Support?
Over 5 Years   10.1% (12)
3-4 Years   28.6% (34)
2-3 Years   43.7% (52)
1-2 Years   16.0% (19)
6-12 Months   1.7% (2)
3-6 Months (0)
1-3 Months (0)
Less than a month (0)
TOTAL   100.0% 119
5. Where did you first hear about Freedom2Support from?
ThinkBroadband (Formely ADSLGuide)   25.2% (30)
Usenet Newsgroup   2.5% (3)
Freedom2Surf Staff   16.0% (19)
ISP Review   5.9% (7)
Net4Now   0.8% (1)
Google   26.1% (31)
Other Search Engine   3.4% (4)
Friend/Colleague   9.2% (11)
Other: .net Magazine   0.8% (1)
Other: can't remember   1.7% (2)
Other: Can't remember   0.8% (1)
Other: Can't remember - probably friend or search engine   0.8% (1)
Other: can't remember/from the site   0.8% (1)
Other: cix   0.8% (1)
Other: don't remember   0.8% (1)
Other: f2s home page   0.8% (1)
Other: So long ago, my memory fails me, please refer to age group!   0.8% (1)
Other: users.f2s.net   0.8% (1)
TOTAL   98.3% 119
6. How do you rate the design of the Freedom2Support Website?
Excellent   30.3% (36)
Good   47.9% (57)
Ok   19.3% (23)
Poor   2.5% (3)
Very Poor (0)
TOTAL   100.0% 119
7. Did Freedom2Support play a part in you joining freedom2surf or deciding to stay with freedom2surf for your internet needs?
Yes   49.6% (59)
No   50.4% (60)
TOTAL   100.0% 119

8. If you are a member of the Freedom2Support Forums, how do you rate them?
Excellent   29.4% (35)
Good   45.4% (54)
Average   10.9% (13)
Poor (0)
Awful (0)
TOTAL   85.7% 119
9. How Helpful do you feel the Freedom2Support Team are?
Very Helpful   64.7% (77)
Somewhat Helpful   31.1% (37)
Not very Helpful   0.8% (1)
Not helpful at all. (0)
TOTAL   96.6% 119
10. How big a part does the fact that freedom2surf staff post in our forums play in your decision to use them?
Very Big   27.7% (33)
Big   45.4% (54)
Little   19.3% (23)
Very Little   2.5% (3)
None at All   2.5% (3)
TOTAL   97.5% 119
11. Do you subscribe to the Freedom2Support Mailing List?
Yes   71.4% (85)
No   27.7% (33)
TOTAL   99.2% 119
12. If not, why not?
Would rather read news in forums   17.6% (21)
Volume of Mailings   4.2% (5)
Did not know about it   8.4% (10)
Too hard to sign up (0)
Delay on News being sent out (0)
Other: Not interested enough!   0.8% (1)
Other: Not interested in f2s   0.8% (1)
Other: x   0.8% (1)
TOTAL   32.8% 119
13. How Useful do you find the Freedom2Support Server Status Feature?
Very Useful   40.3% (48)
Somewhat Useful   46.2% (55)
Not Useful at All   10.9% (13)
TOTAL   97.5% 119
14. Are you aware of the Freedom2Support Mobile service?
Yes   22.7% (27)
No   76.5% (91)
TOTAL   99.2% 119
15. If so, how do you rate it?
Excellent   0.8% (1)
Good   4.2% (5)
Ok   13.4% (16)
Poor (0)
Awful (0)
TOTAL   18.5% 119

16. If you have freedom2surf ADSL, what speed is it at?
512K   3.4% (4)
1MB   2.5% (3)
2MB   10.1% (12)
2-4MB   12.6% (15)
4-8MB   61.3% (73)
TOTAL   89.9% 119
17. If you are a freedom2surf ADSL User, and you migrated in, where did you migrate from?
Tiscali   5.9% (7)
Orange   1.7% (2)
AOL   0.8% (1)
Plusnet   1.7% (2)
Pipex Retail   3.4% (4)
Nildram (0)
BT Yahoo / BT Broadband   3.4% (4)
Eclipse   0.8% (1)
Zen   0.8% (1)
Other   16.0% (19)
TOTAL   34.5% 119
18. If you are on a speed higher than 2MB, Do you get somewhere near the advertised speed of your product most of the time? If you are on 2MB and below please leave this question blank.
Yes   35.3% (42)
No   38.7% (46)
TOTAL   73.9% 119
19. Which of Following freedom2surf services do you use? (check all that apply)
Pay as you go Dialup   7.6% (9)
Anytime 56K Dialup (0)
Domain Name Registration   21.8% (26)
Domain Name Email Hosting   10.9% (13)
Linux Domain Name Web Hosting   5.9% (7)
ASP Domain Name Web Hosting   2.5% (3)
Wireless Hotspot Vouchers   1.7% (2)
Virtual Vault   15.1% (18)
Freedom2Talk   12.6% (15)
20. How do you rate the following services from Freedom2surf On a scale of 1-5 with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent?

If you do not use a particular service please leave the entry blank.
Average rank
1 2 3 4 5
ADSL Broadband   (3.7)
LLU ADSL Broadband  (3.5)
Dialup  (3.7)
Email  (3.3)
Webspace  (3.6)
Wifi Hotspots  (3.2)
Virtual Vault  (3.6)
Freedom2Talk  (3.4)

21. How do you rate freedom2surf's Pricing for the following, with 1 being very expensive, and 5 being very cheap.
Average rank
1 2 3 4 5
Cascade Start ADSL Broadband  (3.1)
Cascade Lite ADSL Broadband  (3.3)
Cascade Home ADSL Broadband  (3.2)
Cascade Plus ADSL Broadband  (3.0)
Broadband 4 Gamers  (2.6)
Linux Web Hosting  (2.9)
ASP Web Hosting  (2.7)
Email Hosting  (2.8)
Domain Name Registration  (2.7)
Wifi Hotspots  (2.6)
Security Software  (2.3)
Technical Support Line  (2.1)

22. How do you rate the freedom2surf web site?
Excellent   4.2% (5)
Good   28.6% (34)
Ok   51.3% (61)
Poor   12.6% (15)
Awful   3.4% (4)
TOTAL   100.0% 119
23. Do you think the f2s website contains enough support resources?
Yes   33.6% (40)
No   64.7% (77)
TOTAL   98.3% 119
24. How do you rate the Freedom2Surf Members Area
Very Good   13.4% (16)
Good   41.2% (49)
Okay   37.0% (44)
Poor   5.9% (7)
Very Poor   0.8% (1)
TOTAL   98.3% 119
25. Would you recommend freedom2surf to a friend?
Yes   57.1% (68)
No   41.2% (49)
TOTAL   98.3% 119
26. How well do you feel freedom2surf communicates with it's customers?
Very Well   4.2% (5)
Well   16.0% (19)
Ok   42.0% (50)
Poorly   25.2% (30)
Very Poorly   12.6% (15)
TOTAL   100.0% 119
27. In what ways do you feel freedom2surf can improve?
#Response
11. Better email servers/system. Its old and slow. 2. Update the support content on the f2s website. 3. Less complex peering/routing .18 hops to telehouse is ridiculous.
11. only occasinal e-mails detailing service changes 2. recent virtual vault e-mail sent even though I have *never* used the service
124mb speeds
18MB Max ADSL should achieve higher speeds on a regular basis - very slow evenings & weekends.
1Apart from giving us somewhere near advertised speeds, then improving customer communications. It takes too long to resolve problems.
1As a commercial organisation stick to core offerings only. Don't offer products that are not core VOiP as this irritates customers who use the service only to have it discontinued. Long term committment is required - Virtual Vault is, I suspect, another short term service offering.
1be clear about company direction including the existence of the ISP as a whole and individual services, not to leave customers in the dark. Be honest, patient and helpful at all times. Site needs improving - make it easier to find detailed FAQs and helpful information, currently it is difficult to find some information only pointing and clicking and requires the search field to be used instead to find a main adsl FAQ. http://194.106.56.5/adsl/adslfaq.php the adsl faq at the customer support page links to a seperate smaller adsl faq, this and the main adsl faq should be merged. http://194.106.56.5/help/?is=m1ts Improve system monitoring, keeping status pages up to date, monitor systems to identify problems immediately. Out of hours/overnight/weekend monitoring needs to exist/be improved. Some problems remain overnight/all weekend - extremely frustrating for customers - especially those who do not understand why a problem exists. Using mass e-mail should not be ruled out to notify customers of severe problems - also localized emails can be sent which only affects a specific group of customers. Customer privacy to be maintained and respected at all times. Customers should not be asked for sensitive information such as passwords - especially to be sent over unsafe methods. F2S staff should achieve special access to accounts to identify problems without the need to ask for passwords. Make customer support helpline cheaper if possible and possibly introduce some form of weekend support to continue the flow of support and avoid backlogs - especially tickets.
1BETER CUSTOMER SEVICE
1Better comms. More stable speeds. Not being part of Tiscali.
1Better communication and much better support.
1Better communication, eg about outages etc. Their site often shows no problem even when there plainly is. Also, there has been no indication of the practical effects of the Tiscali takeover, eg whether users who choose to stay will have to move onto different packages. Having been with Tiscali before, I see no prospect of better communication once their influence is brought to bear
1Better connection speeds, less drop-outs, less delays in mail delivery. Free broadband offers are increasingly tempting - fts will need to stay competitive by lowering its basic proce rather than adding more features.
1Better domain name pricing
1Bring prices down a little Up to date information on the website as soon as there is a problem
1By retaining a skilled, UK - based support team and ensuring that pricing remains competitive. By minimising the use of traffic shaping, and by absolutely refusing to block any services.
1By taking over Tiscali and offering the service that F2S used to offer.
1communicate more, more info on website, update the service checker, make it look nicer, service is good, i get about 5mb not 8mb, remove the size limit for email attachments.
1continue to remove users who "hog" resources unfairly.
1deliver emails faster; offer cheaper adsl; increase speeds closer to advertised speed
1Dissociate itself from Tiscali and Pipex.
1Divorcing itself from Tiscali!
1drop prices
1Drop the 0870 numbers
1Dump 0870; Answer questions actually asked rather than those they would prefer to hear.
1email probs too frequent Only communication seems to be the twice my credit card has been hijacked and the tone is not good. Worries about recent acquisition by Tiscali more than Pipex as I left Tiscali a few years back. Like many others I will be monitoring standard of service.
1Faster Speeds
1filter spam better Otherwise it provides what I want at a good price
1Get rid of Tiscali and go small independent again
1Get themselves unsold from Tiscali/Pipex...
1Hmmm.... unknown... Ask DavE.
1Improve ADSL speeds. No/much less bandwidth throttling
1It can't now. It should have remained f2s. Not Pipex not Tisacalli
1Keep talking to your customers and look after them. Not talking or hiding and appearing to ignore your customers pi**es them off and they leave - changing broadband providers is relatively easy these days.....
1Keep the information (services / packages) flow simple
1Keeping its customers informed (e.g. the likely impact of the takeover by Tiscali, etc.)
1LLU in my area - allow higher speeds
1Maybe too late but Tiscali it is a bad bad news
1More communication regarding future direction of the company. Feedback on technical problems that occur.
1more communication when things aren't working properly and when they will be fixed
1Open support lines on weekends and outside working hours - when I get a problem with my ADSL I shouldn't have to wait two days to get it resolved. Also, there doesn't seem to be any customer tracking. I had the same problem many times and each time customer support went through all the basic steps that I knew were not causing any issues.
1Promise it will not get as bad as Tiscali who I left as they are a dreadful company to deal with
1Publicise features more efficiently - for example: I was told a while ago that I couldn't link my domain name to the free webspace that came with my ADSL package, however I find that someone on the forums has now been able to do this.
1Quicker response times to issues. Better communication when there are problems. Don't close out service tickets unless you hear from the customer who had the issue.
1Quicker response when you phone. More people who know what they are doing and ready to give right answers. More reliable service with faster notification times when things fail. People who repair things at the weekend when in all probability it fails.
1Replying to service query e-mails - I have two outstanding tags several months old Download statistics - very variable service and everything disappears at the end of the month until the system gets some usage on the line
1Sadly there isn't much that can be done - it's all now part of a much larger conglomerate which isn't likely to listen to the likes of us...
1Sort speed problems out properly
1Spam filters
1Stay around. Don't let the Tiscali thing ruin a good brand. Constantly improve and maintain reliability.
1stayed independent
1Stop being a part of Pipex and other major ISPs and concentrate on being an INDEPENDANT ISP who does not rise prices at their whim and without warning.
1Stop the internet drops we keep getting
1Stupid thing to say I know - but go back to being an independent. The sale to the dreadful Pipex was disastrous and now we've gone to the utterly abysmal Tiscali. Talk about "out of the frying pan, into the fire"!
1Tell us about Tiscali - we all want to know what is likely to change. Update the web hosting database amounts - should be Gbs not 200Mb space and 10Mb datbase - the database amount is particularly poor.
1The changes of ownership have created a lot of uncertainty about products and pricing
1The Lite cap of 5GB is now becoming small compared with other ISPs. Plus others give better unlimited off peak hours during the day & all day weekend.

28. If you have sent an email to Support, how long does it normally take you to receive a reply?
A Few Hours   5.9% (7)
A Day   24.4% (29)
2-4 Days   20.2% (24)
4-7 Daus   8.4% (10)
1-2 Weeks   1.7% (2)
Over 2 weeks   5.0% (6)
I never recieved a reply   11.8% (14)
TOTAL   77.3% 119
29. If you have contacted freedom2surf technical support by email and received a response how satisfied have you been with it?
Very Satisfied   9.2% (11)
Satisfied   32.8% (39)
Dissatisfied   16.0% (19)
Very Dissatisfied   7.6% (9)
TOTAL   65.5% 119
30. If you have called freedom2surf technical support, how long on average does it take for you to get through to someone?
0-10 Mins   16.0% (19)
10-20 Mins   13.4% (16)
20-40 Mins   11.8% (14)
40-60 Mins   7.6% (9)
1-2 Hours   1.7% (2)
2-4 Hours   1.7% (2)
Over 4 Hours (0)
TOTAL   52.1% 119
31. If you have contacted freedom2surf technical support by phone, how satisfied have you been with the response?
Very Satisfied   12.6% (15)
Satisfied   26.9% (32)
Dissatisfied   11.8% (14)
Very Dissatisfied   1.7% (2)
TOTAL   52.9% 119
32. Do you feel freedom2surf's opening hours for technical support are long enough?
Yes   26.9% (32)
No   47.1% (56)
TOTAL   73.9% 119
33. Have you ever had a problem with billing on your freedom2surf account?
Yes   24.4% (29)
No   74.8% (89)
TOTAL   99.2% 119
34. How helpful do you find the following departments within Freedom2Surf on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being very helpful and 1 being not helpful at all.

If you have had no experience with a department please leave it's entry blank.
Average rank
1 2 3 4 5
Billing and Accounts  (3.5)
Broadband Administration  (3.7)
Domain Name Administration  (3.5)
Sales and Pre-Sales  (3.7)
Major Accounts & Reseller Sales  (3.1)


35. Were you surprised when Tiscali bought out Pipex which has led to Freedom2Surf becoming part of Tiscali?
Yes   72.3% (86)
No   26.1% (31)
TOTAL   98.3% 119
36. Do you feel that freedom2surf will improve or decline following the transfer to Tiscali?
Improve Greatly   0.8% (1)
Improve somewhat (0)
Stay the same   13.4% (16)
Decline somewhat   43.7% (52)
Decline greatly   40.3% (48)
TOTAL   98.3% 119
37. How will the change over to Tiscali effect your plans to stay with Freedom2Surf?
I have already left   10.1% (12)
I am in the process of leaving   7.6% (9)
I want to wait to see what effect it has   76.5% (91)
I am unlikely to leave   5.9% (7)
I will never leave (0)
TOTAL   100.0% 119
38. If you have migrated to another ISP as a result of the Tiscali Takeover which one is it?
BT Broadband / BT Yahoo   0.8% (1)
TalkTalk/AOL (0)
Orange/Wanadoo (0)
Plusnet   0.8% (1)
Zen   3.4% (4)
ADSL24   8.4% (10)
IDNET (0)
Newnet (0)
Be Unlimited   3.4% (4)
Virgin Media (0)
Sky Broadband   2.5% (3)
Other: eclipse   0.8% (1)
Other: O2   0.8% (1)
Other: O2 Broadband   0.8% (1)
Other: ukonline   0.8% (1)
TOTAL   22.7% 119
39. What are your feelings on the possible chance of tech support moving to off-shore call centers?
It would not bother me   15.1% (18)
It would make me leave   67.2% (80)
I do not need support   15.1% (18)
TOTAL   97.5% 119
40. Do you feel that freedom2surf will, in the future vanish as a name altogether and come under the Tiscali name?
Yes   82.4% (98)
No   15.1% (18)
TOTAL   97.5% 119
41. If you have any questions in relation to the takeover by Tiscali, please enter them here, we'll send the best ones on to Tiscali to attempt to get answers.
#Response
11. Will I keep my static IP adddress. 2. Will all internet protocols remain open and unblocked? 3. Will DNS management remain available?
1Are you going to look after me as a customer and provide a reliable, keenly priced and improving service?
1As Tiscali do not offer Domain registration on consumer packages, what will happen with domains registered through f2s? How will they handle support?
1Can I retain my e-mail address if the freedom 2 surf vanishes
1Do Tiscali not owe more money than they are worth .
1Do you expect ADSL prices and limitations (fair use, etc) to change under Tiscali's control?
1Do you plan to abandon the Freedom2Surf brand and merge F2S customers with Tiscali? If Freedom2Surf customers are to be merged with Tiscali, will this happen before or after the move to the Tiscali network? If Freedom2Surf customers are merged with Tiscali, will all current F2S web domains then forward a user to the Tiscali site, and the current F2S site content shut down? Are there plans to shut down current Freedom2Surf support services in future and transfer them off uk shores because of cheaper running costs? Are there any major changes to be made to pricing and features of Freedom2Surf broadband packages in the future? if yes, any details that can be disclosed? Are there any plans for Freedom2Surf to receive major cosmetic changes such as a change in logo and/or complete site redesign?
1freedom2surf generally works well. Don't fix and change things that don't need fixing and changing - If you get it wrong your new customers will quickly leave.
1Generally F2S have offered a great service, particularly when I have needed help or advice. I hope that the takeover by Tiscali won't degrade this level of service.
1Having had experience in trying to help a friend obtain support unsuccessfully from Orange's overseas help desk, I persuaded them to migrate to F2s. They were very pleased with the support they got from F2s at that time (over 12 months ago). If I ever needed support and I found that Tiscali's help-desk proved to be as bad as Orange's was, I would DEFINITELY migrate.
1How much notice will F2S users be given of fundamental changes to the operation of their accounts (e.g. moving to Tiscali infrastructure, Tiscali billing etc.)?
1I have already answered this earlier
1I want my F2S email address to remain for years!
1If Tiscali is so great, why is my f2s line 2mb faster than my neighbours Tiscali one (both LLU max)? Why does my neighbour suffer constant disconnections from Tiscali DNS, when my f2s DNS stays up for months at a time? What is Tiscali going to "improve" at freedom2surf?
1Is Freedom2 Surf going to stay as it is or be incorporated into Tiscali?
1It's simple: If you want to keep customers, give them better value.
1No Questions.. just one statement... Do a good job!
1Not a question, merely a comment. Only a gentleman's agreement on contract length and terms keeps me around till January. After that I have wings.
1Not exactly a question. But it is a great shame that another company like f2s has been bought out by the big tme players
1One thing that does bother me is the assimilation of the freedom2surf name into tiscali. Leading to a number of questions: * Will this mean that we will lose our "whoever@f2s.com" email addresses (to become "whoever@tiscali.com"). My whoever@f2s.com email addresss is used at a number of websites and I have no wish to have to change this to whoever@tiscali.com in all cases. If I have to do this, I may as well leave. * Will the www.freedom2surf.net pages disappear so we would need to manage our accounts at www.tiscali.com? * What sort of web hosting/database services will be provided? Will these be on Linux/Windows? Will we get a choice? * How much web hosting/database space will be provided? * Will php be supported? What version? * Will MySQL be supported? What version? * What will be the FUP? How will this differ from that currently in force by F2S/Pipex? * Will Tiscali support VPN? This is vital for my work.
1Really do need to get more technical knowlegable staff intead of just providing stock answers and staff that are pro-active and willing to put matters right.
1This came totally out of the blue, I have used a Tiscali reseller in the past (homecall) and its a experience I try to forget.
1Tiscali took over Lineone and lots of false promises followed so i left and joined F2S, F2S was great while it lasted now they will be swallowed by the big great white shark.