Sipgate support response

Is anyone having a problem getting a response from Sipgate UK support? They seem to completely ignoring me at the moment! I email them, get an auto-response and then.... nothing.

As there is only an email address to contact, it kind of leaves me powerless in an attempt to get a problem resolved.

Welcome to voipuser!

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Is anyone having a problem getting a response from Sipgate UK support? They seem to completely ignoring me at the moment! I email them, get an auto-response and then.... nothing.

This seems to be the normal response from most voip providers. Customer service is expensive and hard to support. What is the problem that you are having?

Thanks for the welcome!

Basically, the time on my Grandstream BT101 phone was intermittently resetting itself to an hour slow. This was during the 'daylight saving' period. I tried both sipgate's and a public domain ntp server and same on both. I checked my router logs and saw the time on the ntp sync was correct. I checked the time rules on the BT101 and they were correct (as default). There seemed to be no pattern as to when the time was going wrong but it would occur at least once in a 24 hour period. I'd reboot the phone and the time would correct itself.

I'd been in contact with sipgate to resolve this but they had no idea. So they asked me to return it. They now have the phone and they say there's no problem - but it's not daylight saving now, which is probably relevant here. BUT they will neither refund me nor replace the phone nor even return the phone to me! Since then, nothing! All of my emails to them have been ignored.

I don't know the specific device well but I can explain the logic of what is going wrong.

As a part of the setup of the phone you are able to enter the IP address of a 'time server' this will provide the device with constantly updated time of day information. There are many of these on the internet. (Google search will bring up a list)

If you choose to use one that is based in let's say Germany whilst you are in the UK then there will be an hours difference, you will either need to research and put in the IP address of a time server that fits your timezone OR you may indeed find that there is a further setting for offset (probably the next entry to the time server IP address) '-1' as an entry or whatever is pertinent to your location will adjust the time to your local time and the clock will display correctly.

This is just a settings issue and not a hardware fault - it will certainly be covered in the manual.

Thanks for the response gray.

I'm based in France and used a French ntp server - ntp2.curie.fr

At first, I figured the problem was like you describe - i.e. sipgate's uk ntp server and me being in France... so I switched to the .fr but the phone was still being reset.

yello :

Thanks for the response gray. I'm based in France and used a French ntp server - ntp2.curie.fr At first, I figured the problem was like you describe - i.e. sipgate's uk ntp server and me being in France... so I switched to the .fr but the phone was still being reset.

I think most NTP servers use universal time. This means that it does not much matter where it is. I could not set our time correctly on the Grandstream because there was no -3.5 h offset for Newfoundland time. If you had the phone you could try chronos.cru.fr or the one I use time.nrc.ca. Both should give the same result.

From memory...
I don't think the Grandstream auto sets the summer time. The one that I had did not so it had to be done manually using the item for that in the menu for that (not the offset). So, if you corrected the time manually (without setting Daylight Saving) then the next tme the ntp server was called it would get reset to standard time. That is 1 hour out. See

http://www.grandstream.com/user_manuals ... one100.pdf

on page 26.

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Thanks for the replies guys. To be honest, I'm not so worried about the time issue; it's the fact that Sipgate are now ignoring me! I can neither get my money nor my phone back! Before I started writing to MDs and/or trading standards, I wondered if anyone else had bad experiences trying to deal with them.

If what I have suggested is correct the phone was not faulty so they will expect you to pay the return postage or a restocking fee. It still does not explain why they do not reply. I dont suppose the reply went into "Junk" mail.

Sipgate support do see this site, lets see what happens

yello :

If what I have suggested is correct the phone was not faulty so they will expect you to pay the return postage or a restocking fee. It still does not explain why they do not reply. I dont suppose the reply went into "Junk" mail.

I didn't say that!

As THEY asked ME to return the phone for refund, I'd be very surprised if they charged me anything! Keep in my mind that their support people couldn't resolve the problem either; be it a fault or otherwise. My own feeling is there is a fault because the problem occurred intermittently & a reboot resolved it; I didn't do a manual reset of the time.

The BT-101 has a 'daylight saver' algorithm (I think the BT-100 doesn't) but there was nothing complex about it and, according to the manual (yes, I did read it! ), it was correct.

If sipgate do keep a eye on this forum, I'd be really chuffed if it did motivate them to respond. Because as it stands I have no idea what they are doing, or plan to do, about this. Whatever the rights and wrongs of it, not replying to me is just straight out unprofessional.

The phone that I have (or had) is on loan to a friend. It appears to have had no problems. We followed the US change of date for summer time. On the whole (for the price) I would rate it as quite a good phone. I hope they get back to you soon.

They finally responded. 2 emails in one day last week that only showed that their internal systems are a mess. I responded (politely!) but since then.... nothing.

I have sent 15 emails to them since they received the phone! I have had 2 responses - neither telling me what they are going to do.

Is it so difficult for Sipgate to tell me what they intend to do? It's easy - refund or return the phone... or propose something else. Instead, they choose to ignore me.

Set aside common decency, I'm stunned by the sheer unprofessionalism of it.

I have finally got the refund.

Sadly, it took a letter to the MD. I really really hate having to do that but there were few other options. So, I guess, credit to him for getting it sorted... nobody else was listening!

I am glad you got the refund but what a long time it took. It would have been so easy for the problem to have been sorted out months ago.