Perpignan: internet connexion

Apparently people from previous semesters have had no problem in hiring private internet providers on campus. However, my experience this semester has been very frustrating, so I thought I should warn newcomers. There are several companies that provide internet services, such as Neuf, Alice, Darty. I shopped around in the beginning of the semester and found Neuf Cegetel to offer the best deal. But maybe the amount of money saved was not worth the stress caused by their extremely poor service.

Regardless the fees, they all need the same time to be installed (about 2-3 weeks) because you need a phone line to be installed by France Telecom first. In fact, my experience with Neuf has been frustrating from the very as it took them nearly a month and a half (and several phone calls) to finally install it. They told me they would refund me for this time, but the refund never came. Apart from all the stress generated by not having internet for such a long time, whenever you call the Service Clientèle (which costs a small fortune per minute), they are extremely unhelpful -- not to mention rude. Each conseiller gives you a different piece of information and when you enquire conseiller B about what conseiller A said, s/he says it's wrong and there's nothing s/he can do. Period.

I have heard that people who used Alice and Darty also had problems, but I don't know details. And unfortunately I don't believe there are many other options for internet companies. In any case, this is just to warn students coming to Perpignan to beware and really harass them to get things done (installation, refunds etc).

At the end of last semester, the accommodation Secrétariat announced there would be internet connexion available for all rooms. But at the beginning of this semester it was "postponed to a later date", so let's hope they arrange it soon. Good luck!