I demand free WiFi!




  • Because I travel around a bit, i often use Regus serviced offices in the UK.  These are buildings with offices that people rent inside, they also have a business lounge, where people can hot desk.  So I was travelling on the motorway and i got a call that my meeting was cancelled, so i search and go into the nearest Regus office, got into the lounge and setup with my Laptop chipping away at some emails and documents.

    There is an open wifi (unsecured) for anyone to use, so i log on with that and use a VPN tunnel.  After an hour the wifi dies, so i just revert to using my 3G data dongle instead and carry on working.

    Half an hour later a lady storms out of an office into the lounge area and demands to me "Does wifi work for you?".  I mentioned I had some issues so it was easier to use mobile data - we are near a town so speeds are good.

    "Well" came the reply "This is clearly unacceptable, how can anyone run a business with such poor service, I will speak to the building manager."

     

    .... the building reception is below the business lounge and I can hear the woman screaming, I have a look down the stairs and she is screaming at a poor receptionist lady  .....

     

    Now I would like to note that if you have an office in this building you are supposed to also get the internet package which provides the office with a wired connection of higher standard, since obviously not everyone would want unsecured wireless as a basis for their network infrastructure.

    The gem of the incident is in the woman ranting to the reception "WE DEVELOP WEB SITES AS A BUSINESS, THIS MEANS WE NEED THE WIFI ALL THE TIME!"



  • +1 if the lady's company is hosting their sites in that same laptop using that same free WiFi



  • @ubersoldat said:

    +1 if the lady's company is hosting their sites in that same laptop using that same free WiFi

    Via Excel.



  • I know there have been mentions in the past about replacing Community Server. Why don't we just get it out of the way and build an Excel-driven web stack for TDWTF?



  • One time at a Regus location the wifi was not working (typical), but when I complained to the reception lady she said it was working fine on her iPad and that I should go to BestBuy to have them fix my laptop. I told her she probably had a SIM card in her iPad and was accessing internet on her faberge-eggs-priced data plan, but she said there was no such thing on her iPad. I had to show her.

    She opened a ticket with the offshore IT team. Turns out the wifi access point had been unplugged when she crammed unused furniture in the "data center", all she had to do was plug it back.

    Here is the funny part: I was invoiced $200 for "network engineering services" following this incident as I apparently requested advanced technical assistance. That's typical with Regus.



  • @Ronald said:

    One time at a Regus location the wifi was not working (typical), but when I complained to the reception lady she said it was working fine on her iPad and that I should go to BestBuy to have them fix my laptop. I told her she probably had a SIM card in her iPad and was accessing internet on her faberge-eggs-priced data plan, but she said there was no such thing on her iPad. I had to show her.

    She opened a ticket with the offshore IT team. Turns out the wifi access point had been unplugged when she crammed unused furniture in the "data center", all she had to do was plug it back.

    Here is the funny part: I was invoiced $200 for "network engineering services" following this incident as I apparently requested advanced technical assistance. That's typical with Regus.

    And did you pay them? I wouldn't let them touch my account/credit card from a KM away if this happened to me.



  • @mott555 said:

    I know there have been mentions in the past about replacing Community Server. Why don't we just get it out of the way and build an Excel-driven web stack for TDWTF?

    This might just be the best idea I've heard to date in regard to this issue.



  • @ubersoldat said:

    @Ronald said:

    One time at a Regus location the wifi was not working (typical), but when I complained to the reception lady she said it was working fine on her iPad and that I should go to BestBuy to have them fix my laptop. I told her she probably had a SIM card in her iPad and was accessing internet on her faberge-eggs-priced data plan, but she said there was no such thing on her iPad. I had to show her.

    She opened a ticket with the offshore IT team. Turns out the wifi access point had been unplugged when she crammed unused furniture in the "data center", all she had to do was plug it back.

    Here is the funny part: I was invoiced $200 for "network engineering services" following this incident as I apparently requested advanced technical assistance. That's typical with Regus.

    And did you pay them? I wouldn't let them touch my account/credit card from a KM away if this happened to me.

    They automatically charged my credit card. I requested a refund because I found the situation insulting but they are doing their best to drag their feet with this shit. It's tricky because if I file a complaint with my CC provider I know Regus will tie my security deposit (which they call "a retainer") until it's settled. Since I recently moved out that retainer is a bit of an hostage.

    Regus has terrible business tactics. They bundle all kinds of shit in the invoice; they charge a fee per square foot you rent for "disaster recovery"; they charge $30 a month for the (non-optional) access to the kitchen; they charge a fee for "office furniture maintenance". Plus all the "extras" like internet, or stuff that you may not need and are not aware your are paying for (like reception service, mail handling or having your name in the building address book). They get you to prepay every month for the regular rent and then catch up the following month for extras, so it becomes very confusing when you try to figure out the invoice since they don't really itemize things.

    In some locations the offices are pretty nice, in other they are terrible. But overall it's not a provider one should use if one cares about money; it's like an expensive lawyer that bills you $10 for every page their paralegal print for them, it won't go well if you challenge them on the number of pages. I think Regus is used to corporate accounts where nobody pays attention to details.

    I was paying them more than 25k a year for an office and various stuff but I'm not using them anymore; and I know that two of my clients have cancelled their account after I showed them a printout of a long email thread between me and a Regus branch manager (which I won't share here). So I figure that even if they cheated me out of a few dollars in the end their crooked ways have impacted their bottom line. I usually don't care much about details and I won't fight small invoicing matters but Regus went too far too often so I walked away and I will gladly share my opinion of them with anyone who will listen.



  • @Ronald said:

    One time at a Regus location the wifi was not working (typical), but when I complained to the reception lady she said it was working fine on her iPad and that I should go to BestBuy to have them fix my laptop. I told her she probably had a SIM card in her iPad and was accessing internet on her faberge-eggs-priced data plan, but she said there was no such thing on her iPad. I had to show her.

    She opened a ticket with the offshore IT team. Turns out the wifi access point had been unplugged when she crammed unused furniture in the "data center", all she had to do was plug it back.

    Here is the funny part: I was invoiced $200 for "network engineering services" following this incident as I apparently requested advanced technical assistance. That's typical with Regus.

    I hope you at least remembered to charge them your $500 IT consulting fee for telling them that their WiFi wasn't working.


  • @Helix said:

    .... the building reception is below the business lounge and I can hear the woman screaming, I have a look down the stairs and she is screaming at a poor receptionist lady  .....

    That's like going into the car dealership and yelling at the receptionist there about the parts of your car that aren't working right.



  • ... and if she's worth shit she says, "One moment, sir, while I put you through to the correct department," while picking up the phone and dialling the number of the service department.



  • @Helix said:

    not everyone would want unsecured wireless as a basis for their network infrastructure.
    My wife is the office manager for an orthodontist who has two offices. The orthodontist only uses the second office once a week and the rest of the time it is used by a dentist. Even though the two offices are only a short distance apart, the second office is technically in another county. Apparently this has some sort of benefit when dealing with the insurance companies.

    One day my wife calls me from the second office and wants help figuring out a problem with their Internet connection. She is using gotomypc.com to connect to a computer back at the primary office to access patient records. After trying to diagnose the problem I eventually figure out that the office has no Internet connection and they are trying to use the free WiFi from the coffee shop down the street.



  • @Matt Westwood said:

    ... and if she's worth shit she says, "One moment, sir, while I put you through to the correct department," while picking up the phone and dialling the number of the service department.has big boobs and makes sure the donuts tray is never empty

    FTFY.



  • @Ronald said:

    @Matt Westwood said:
    ... and if she's worth shit she says, "One moment, sir, while I put you through to the correct department," while picking up the phone and dialling the number of the service department.has big boobs and makes sure the donuts tray is never empty

    FTFY.

    Well . . DUH! you shouldn't do business with any company that doesn't have donuts and a receptionist with big boobs.

     



  • @El_Heffe said:

    @Helix said:

    not everyone would want unsecured wireless as a basis for their network infrastructure.
    My wife is the office manager for an orthodontist who has two offices. The orthodontist only uses the second office once a week and the rest of the time it is used by a dentist. Even though the two offices are only a short distance apart, the second office is technically in another county. Apparently this has some sort of benefit when dealing with the insurance companies.

    One day my wife calls me from the second office and wants help figuring out a problem with their Internet connection. She is using gotomypc.com to connect to a computer back at the primary office to access patient records. After trying to diagnose the problem I eventually figure out that the office has no Internet connection and they are trying to use the free WiFi from the coffee shop down the street.


    Well, at least it's encrypted.

    One hopes.



  • @Ben L. said:

    @El_Heffe said:

    @Helix said:

    not everyone would want unsecured wireless as a basis for their network infrastructure.
    My wife is the office manager for an orthodontist who has two offices. The orthodontist only uses the second office once a week and the rest of the time it is used by a dentist. Even though the two offices are only a short distance apart, the second office is technically in another county. Apparently this has some sort of benefit when dealing with the insurance companies.

    One day my wife calls me from the second office and wants help figuring out a problem with their Internet connection. She is using gotomypc.com to connect to a computer back at the primary office to access patient records. After trying to diagnose the problem I eventually figure out that the office has no Internet connection and they are trying to use the free WiFi from the coffee shop down the street.


    Well, at least it's encrypted.

    One hopes.

    Why would it be encrypted? What are the odds that someone else is using the wifi from a public coffee shop?



  • @Ronald said:

    Why would it be encrypted? What are the odds that someone else is using the wifi from a public coffee shop?
     

    <font size="5">WHAT ARE THE ODDS!!</font>
    <font size="5">             \</font>



  • @Ronald said:

    @Ben L. said:
    @El_Heffe said:

    @Helix said:

    not everyone would want unsecured wireless as a basis for their network infrastructure.
    My wife is the office manager for an orthodontist who has two offices. The orthodontist only uses the second office once a week and the rest of the time it is used by a dentist. Even though the two offices are only a short distance apart, the second office is technically in another county. Apparently this has some sort of benefit when dealing with the insurance companies.

    One day my wife calls me from the second office and wants help figuring out a problem with their Internet connection. She is using gotomypc.com to connect to a computer back at the primary office to access patient records. After trying to diagnose the problem I eventually figure out that the office has no Internet connection and they are trying to use the free WiFi from the coffee shop down the street.

    Well, at least it's encrypted.

    One hopes.

    Why would it be encrypted? What are the odds that someone else is using the wifi from a public coffee shop?

     

    I assumed he was referring to the gotomypc service

     



  • @Helix said:

    Now I would like to note that if you have an office in this building you are supposed to also get the internet package which provides the office with a wired connection of higher standard, since obviously not everyone would want unsecured wireless as a basis for their network infrastructure.

    The gem of the incident is in the woman ranting to the reception "WE DEVELOP WEB SITES AS A BUSINESS, THIS MEANS WE NEED THE WIFI ALL THE TIME!"


    Maybe they are developing mobile sites? Not that it excuses lacking a router of their own.


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @Ronald said:

    has big boobs and makes sure the donuts tray is never empty
     

    ... I did not know boobs made donuts.



  • @El_Heffe said:

    @Helix said:

    not everyone would want unsecured wireless as a basis for their network infrastructure.
    My wife is the office manager for an orthodontist who has two offices. The orthodontist only uses the second office once a week and the rest of the time it is used by a dentist. Even though the two offices are only a short distance apart, the second office is technically in another county. Apparently this has some sort of benefit when dealing with the insurance companies.

    One day my wife calls me from the second office and wants help figuring out a problem with their Internet connection. She is using gotomypc.com to connect to a computer back at the primary office to access patient records. After trying to diagnose the problem I eventually figure out that the office has no Internet connection and they are trying to use the free WiFi from the coffee shop down the street.



    Wait, did it NEVER have an internet connection, and they've just been sponging off the coffee shop forever, or the the network go down one day and they were too lazy to bother getting someone to fix it?

     



  • @Snooder said:

    Wait, did it NEVER have an internet connection, and they've just been sponging off the coffee shop forever, or the the network go down one day and they were too lazy to bother getting someone to fix it?
    The way I understand it, they never had an Internet connection. They just used the free WiFi from the coffee shop and then one day the coffee shiop changed something, or their Internet connection went down. I don't know all the exact details and I'm pretty sure I really don't want to know. The only thing I know for sure is than dentists and orthodontists are cheap motherfuckers who constantly try to screw their patients and employees in order to make more money to pay for their big expensive house, 5 kids who all go to private school and a wife who doesn't work and does nothing all day but shop and drink**

     

     

     

    **Not that there's anything wrong with that..



  • I don’t really see the original WTF. Rent space, use WiFi, it doesn’t work, complain. So what if the WiFi was unsecured and anyone could use it? If it doesn’t work, then why can’t the people who paid to lease space be the first to complain?



  • @El_Heffe said:

    @Snooder said:

    Wait, did it NEVER have an internet connection, and they've just been sponging off the coffee shop forever, or the the network go down one day and they were too lazy to bother getting someone to fix it?
    The way I understand it, they never had an Internet connection. They just used the free WiFi from the coffee shop and then one day the coffee shiop changed something, or their Internet connection went down. I don't know all the exact details and I'm pretty sure I really don't want to know. The only thing I know for sure is than dentists and orthodontists are cheap motherfuckers who constantly try to screw their patients and employees in order to make more money to pay for their big expensive house, 5 kids who all go to private school and a wife who doesn't work and does nothing all day but shop and drink**

    **Not that there's anything wrong with that..



    Heh. I remember when I thought about going to dental school(still may end up doing that if this programming thing doesn't work out). Easier than being a doctor and pays better if you know how to sell. You just have to put up with all your doctor buddies sneering at you.

     


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @El_Heffe said:

    The only thing I know for sure is than dentists and orthodontists are cheap motherfuckers who constantly try to screw their patients and employees in order to make more money to pay for their big expensive house, 5 kids who all go to private school and a wife who doesn't work and does nothing all day but shop and drin
     

    That is totally unfair. They also have to pay for a mistress. And their wife's boyfriends. And possibly hush money to "friends" of their kids.



  • @Lorne Kates said:

    @El_Heffe said:

    The only thing I know for sure is than dentists and orthodontists are cheap motherfuckers who constantly try to screw their patients and employees in order to make more money to pay for their big expensive house, 5 kids who all go to private school and a wife who doesn't work and does nothing all day but shop and drin
     

    That is totally unfair. They also have to pay for a mistress. And their wife's boyfriends. And possibly hush money to "friends" of their kids.

    No, those are paid for by the prescription pads they sell on eBay.


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