Ripped Off by TOT Staff?

[Calvin]

I recently had a telephone & internet connection installed by TOT. The official charge was 3950 THB. I know this, since this is all TOT would put on the official receipt.

The TOT van came to the house and the English-speaking engineer informed me that I would need 100m of cable @770 THB, 1000 THB for setting up the router and some other ancillary sum which brought the total cost to 5800 ish.

I was surprised at this sum. I told him I could set up the router myself (which had already been setup and working fine at my previous address. All I needed was the Login name and password but he waffled so much I gave in.

Anyway, I think that if I pay TOT for an internet connection, they should set up the router as a matter of course and that this team just took the opportunity to add a little party money.

The 100m of cable? No sign of a new cable anywhere. The house previously had a phone line installed, so why do they need new cable?

And surely that's part of normal fee anyway? When I twice asked for a proper receipt, I got two bits of paper, neither of which had TOT on them. When I went into TOT and complained they said take it up with the engineer and would only give me a receipt for the 3850THB.

Am I wrong? If not, can I do anything about it?

[Wanderlust]

While it does sound a bit like a scam, it is entirely possible that the house needed new cable to replace what was already there (Thailand has notoriously bad cabling to many houses, particularly older ones); however if you are sure that none was installed (did you watch them work?) then you should take it up with someone at TOT. As for the charge for setting up the router then yes, that sounds like the engineer trying to make some extra. Whether you complain or not really depends on whether it is worth it for the undoubted hassle it will be - it is normally better to deal with this type of thing at the moment it occurs, but I can understand how and why it wasn't. Having a Thai speaker around whenever you have someone coming to do something at your house is normally a good idea in case someone tries something on.

[margaretcarnes]

With previous service to the house yes, the cabling should already have been in place. So in practice there should have been no need for the engineers to actually go to the house at all. You buy a router, maybe need to get a phone or 2, ADSL connectors, and arrange reconnection. Bingo. Job done. All TOT should need to do is issue you with phone number and broadband user passwords, which can be done by post.
At least it is in the real world!
But 'This Is Thailand'. Were the extra charges for telephone instruments and ADSL? or did the engineers have to turn out anyway to link up connection again at a pillar? I don't know if the exchange equipment in HH has been updated.
I take your point about expecting router setup included in the fee. Here in England BT will do that, but only if you buy the router from them. If you have your own router they charge extra.
But the bill problem is a concern. Even if TOT are subcontracting I would still expect a proper bill from them. Hopefully others (Buksi?) can throw more light on this, as I'm sure it will be of interest to new house buyers in HH.

[buksida]

The cable is less than 10 baht a meter so they have charged you for almost a kilometers worth - you must have a massive house!

Setting up a router takes 3 minutes so they're working at a rate of 20 grand an hour - pretty good for telecoms technicians eh!

Also don't be fooled by TOT/TT&T charges for wi-fi setups, it costs the same as ADSL, all you need is a different router which costs about 1,500 baht.

[hhfarang]

While it does sound a bit like a scam, it is entirely possible that the house needed new cable to replace what was already there (Thailand has notoriously bad cabling to many houses, particularly older ones);

Yes, that's right, builders cut corners anywhere they can to save costs. That's why you have to watch them like a hawk. My house was built just a little over two years ago by a foreign builder and I didn't see what kind of lines were installed (underground) for all the utilities. Before two years use the tiny cheap wires that were used started to degrade and I've had to replace both the phone/internet line from the pole out on the road to the house and the cable TV line as well... several thousand baht each time as I wouldn't let them run an unsightly line along the wall and drill holes in the side of my house!

It's amazing to me that a builder would do this to save a few thousand baht knowing that the homeowner will have to dig up and replace the wires in a couple of years. I would have gladly paid the extra few thousand for good wire/cable at the time rather than having to replace it all a couple of years later!

[Spitfire]

Well, I might be missing something but I got TT&T to 'hook me up' and all they charged me for was a deposit(1500 baht) for the connection boxes for the computer etc to go in the room. They(workmen/installers) came round and did all the connection stuff outside and inside for free, then disappeared.

I get my deposit back when I finish the contract and give them the connection equipment back. This, however, is not in HH.

[buksida]

This, however, is not in HH.

That is probably why. I have heard of people getting quotes of upto 10k from TOT/TT&T to install a line and wifi setup here in HH.

Elsewhere the installation is free, the monthly fees are less than half, and the connection is three times faster!

[poosmate]

The charge of 770 baht for 100meters of cable is less than 8 baht per metre is it not?
If a telephone number is allocated to another customer and this uses all the available lines then it is nessasary to run another line back to the main junction . This may not be noticable as the cable to the house will remain.
In my experience TOT charges for every metre of cable and per socket in the house whereas TT&T gives if I remember correctly the first 400 metres of cable included in their internet package ( just paid 935 Baht for one month internet and connection including router and setup). A neighbour in the same street paid TOT around 6000 baht for the same set up ( except the TT&T does not have a telephone number it is internet only)and the TOT internet is only half the advertised speed of TT&T.
Why do people presume they are being ripped of everytime they get charged for something in Thailand - Even the Electricity company will only issue a receipt for the meter deposit and not for the cable and connection.
I know this may seem alien to good tax paying expats but this is Thailand and many large companys are reluctant to provide an official receipt.

[buksida]

The charge of 770 baht for 100meters of cable is less than 8 baht per metre is it not?

My mistake, lost a zero.

Still doesn't explain or justify charging a grand for plugging in a router and typing a password into the admin panel.