getting an answer out of O2.

Be, however, mentioned on their forums this wasnt taking off and was a trial product. Knowing them it probably wasnt made entirely clear to the relevant customers.

Seems quite expensive for what the complaining customer is using it for - for less than the initial £150 he could've got something that does the same and doesn't require a £5/month fee.

So it's probably in his interest - he could probably re-use his existing equipment and have something similar sorted out.

http://www.digidave.co.uk/jshop/product.php?xProd=340&ref=froogle

It's a pan and tilt IP camera- so he should have similar door-checking functionality (except the keyfob, but he must have had security before Be rolled this out not too long ago)

Hope you get some sort of answer (and refund- £150 plus monthly subscriptions for _less than a year's service_ ) out of them, Lee!

To the chap in the article... assuming you have *ANY* broadband connection and the original equipment such as network attached camera, then you simply don't need BE in the process.

In fact i am willing to put my money where my mouth is and offer to help you get up and running with something else.

...community spirited IT is not dead in the UK.

If it isn't commercially viable because not enough people have bought it then they can't continue to provide it as a loss making service or their shareholders will revolt.

If it is, I suspect they wouldn't have pulled it.

Not great for the people who really need it, but this is where public services come in (or not, as the case me be).

Does this mean the punters get their 150 quid back?

couldn't thisguy just buy another IP camera ? I have a dlink one here that just needs ethernet and power, easy enough for an electrician to fit. The article mentiones that he uses it to see who is at the door, not for the proximity alarm functions.

My oldsters have a camera pointing out from their front door that plugs in to their TV via the composite video in - even simpler (and probably cheaper) than an IP camera.

It is not CCTV, as it is not contained within a private network, therefore not closed circuit, and it's not TV. The closest you could get would be IPV.

I suspect that what you're really paying for with the £5 per month is the MMS updates to your mobile phone, and that will also have counted for part of the £150 they charged for the package.

If Lee was not a reader here I would have suspected he was unware of IP cameras, such as the one Adam Foxton gave details for.

Hopefully Be or the 3rd party provider will not take away the hardware so Lee will still be able to look at visitors from his PC.

Been with Be since pre-launch, and the only customer services they have in the UK are a few operators and network operations. Initially the vast majority of tech support where in India, and now they are all in Bulgaria - I prefer the Bulgarian support lines over Indian - just seems clearer..

Normally they are offer a pretty good service, but its been a bit flakey over the last week - no routing to large chunks of the interweb most of Saturday, and my line was down almost all of Monday (I was working from home that day - yay!). Ringing the phone lines on Monday morning just led to me being hung up on by an automated voice saying "Welcome to Be customer serv.." (always hung up at the same point). I raised a ticket on Monday about both issues, and by Wednesday someone had responded to say that it would be looked at soon....

Seems like O2 is starting to merge properly with Be...

so... the question begs, who is BE's backend partner who provides the service ?

BE's Supports line numbers have always been freephone numbers.

I too have recently signed up to O2 broadband and have found them to be reliable, fast and customer service is the BEST I've ever come across. After BT screwed up our line (They were doing a number transfer from Virgin and got completely screwed about by BT including them managing to connect the OLD line to the O2 exchange, by their admission) I had a good chat with the guy there who was actually an interesting nice chap to talk to. Things got sorted quickly and I was online within 48 hours (Though the guy said that this would "probably" be the case he couldn't guarantee that it would be).

So glad I've left Virgin sodding media.

I mean, the world is full of 'who's ringing my doorbell' solutions.

Doorbell/video intercom devices - both wired and wireless.

CCTV devices, both wired and wireless.

Wired and wireless IP cameras.

WHY get involved with this ISP provided 'solution' in the first place?

Seems to me someone bought a product without researching the field. It's a pity, but it's what happens when you do that.

Hopefully someone in this unfortunate's locality will assist, or at least put him in touch with someone who'll assist.

Your basing your opinion of O2/Be broadband on what Cellnet were like 10 years ago? They are now nothing to do with any of that, now they are pat of Telefonica.

So you think your opinion of them is worth a toss? Ummm, OK.......

I've always found Be's Bulgarian tech support/customer service people excellent. Far better than any english CSRs for any company. With the exceptiion of Entanet.

A) The whole "Oh, someone in a wheechair is losing service" doesn't do it for me. It's not a wheelchair lift or something being shut down -- the one customer being in a wheelchair is 100% irrelevant.

B) As several have said, he's watching a camera outside his own house from inside his house -- just hook a cam up to the computer!

C) Other than possibly having to refund for the cameras, I don't think Be owes a thing. How tied into the service are the cameras? If it can be used as a normal camera, *shrug*, use it as a normal camera.

Hi there,

We just wanted to let you know more about the withdrawal of the Be Home Monitor service.

Unfortunately, the contract with our supplier has ended and we are now looking into alternatives and the best possible next steps for the service.

We are working to get as much information as possible together on the next steps for all of our members that use the Home Monitor service. We will be able to provide you with a further update on the situation on Wednesday 20 August after we have communicated with members.

In the meantime, if you have any queries please email Louise Norman at Louise.Norman@bethere.co.uk. For all media enquiries, please contact Ben Matthews (Hotwire PR) at Ben.Matthews@hotwirepr.com.

We will continue to provide a premium broadband experience to our members, as this core service will not be affected by this issue.

Many thanks for your understanding in this matter and we will resolve any issues as soon as possible.

Best Wishes,

The Be Team

If they come for the equipment, just do not answer the door.."'cause it do'nt work, ya know", unless they have check in hand (do you trust them to have the money?). otherwise, it is your equipment now.

Get someone to help hook it up with another service, or maybe without another service!!!(I realize you are in a wheelchair, and that makes life tough..., and just doing everyday things real hard, but several have stated they will help rig the system to work for you,so give it a try), and good luck.

It is time for a "customers bill of rights" >sounds American< to protect the public's "investment" in these big companies ideas, so THEY take the risk, NOT the everyday hard working Joe...who just gets a letter saying that their "investment" just went "tits up", and it being liquidated by going to some "BigWigs" Severance Bonus.