How should i react at this

[Jensxo]

Im australian - I live with my 2 brothers and my mum and dad at home.
Our internet was constantly turning off every day - we would be getting capped and having slow speeds for 15 days on average.

I bought a 2nd internet line to be installed in the house which would be my own internet essentially.
I've had my own internet for 8 months - never turned off - never got capped - fast speed - life was good. The other internet however (brothers/parents internet) has still been experiencing issues (hence the reason i bought my own internet)

One day my brother tries to install some Splitter where all our cables are - not near the modem - where the actual wire's are under the house - where everything gets connected to essentially.

He had no idea what he was doing (he's 22 btw, im 20) He cut some wire's and it fixed their internet

The problem is - My internet is now experiencing issues - the same issues that my brothers/parents internet was experiencing.
I pay 90 dollars a month for my internet - i paid 500 dollars for installation - I'm locked into a 2 year contract with telstra (isp).

So now my internet is no longer working because of my brother's stupidity. I got very angry at my brother - Extremely angry actually - we had a big fight - I suddenly need to pay for a technician to come over for 192 dollars. So essentially I'm paying for my brother's stupidity. The Technician come's over and says he cannot fix the issue because my brother has cut certain wire's that connect my line to the internet.

What would you guy's do in this situation? Would you ask my brother to pay me the remaining money left on the contract (roughly 1400 dollars) or would you just live with the fact that you had very good internet once and now your paying 90 dollars a month still because your brother has completely and utterly screwed your internet that YOU paid for .

Oh and also - Because of the way i reacted - My dad tells me to get counselling for Internet addiction.

What's everyone think?

- - - Updated - - -

I can also use my brother's internet - Which still doesn't give me good internet because they get capped still and they still torrent when im playing games.
So pretty much - I went from 155 ms constantly in WoW to constant 300 ms.
I can no longer do arena - I can no longer watch youtube video's because it buffers too much.
I can no longer download at 900kb/s I download at 200kb/s now.

What would you guys do.

[Arkenaw]

Move out. Can't really sympathize with you.

[Jensxo]

If i were to move out - I would probably never speak to my family again.
They don't seem to understand the fact that i have been completely and utterly screwed over because of my brothers gigantic lack of knowledge on how to deal with Internet issues.

[Deleted]

I don't think you can force your brother to pay, especially since this was clearly an accident, and your brother, whether stupidly or not, was trying to fix a problem, not deliberately trying to make a problem for you. Potentially, if you try to force this issue, you are going to damage your relationship with all of your family and making living there extremely difficult. I think you should sit the family down and explain it fully, your costs, what has happened, what you would like to happen, and then see what they have to say... but ultimately, I think maybe you want to think about moving out.

If you're still paying 90$ a month, there MUST be something they can do to fix it. Internet gets broken or damaged all the time, accidents happen, some wires got damaged by accident, there must be a fix or a way to reinstall it. Talk to someone higher up in the company as well.

[Zogarth]

Where the hell do you live with so slow connections and caps? Seriously is this 2005? I don't think it's possible to order any internet with cap in my country except for mobile internet...

But yeah, move out. Or make your brother pay. If he does not give a shit and wont pay then fuck him, and move out.

[Blueobelisk]

There's really nothing you can do. It sucks, you should be able to pay a fee and cancel your contract early. Or ask them to refix it.

Btw $90 a month seems like a lot, but maybe I don't know wtf I'm talking about.

[Jensxo]

I completely understand that he didn't do it on purpose but think of it like this.

If i go and accidently break my brothers brand new car - I still have to face the consequences?
If i go and accidently run over someone and they die - I still have to face the consequences?

Btw damaged wire's can be fixed - Im not sure if you can actually fix wire's that have been COMPLETELY cut off like GONE - You'd have to like re do all the wire's in the house like in the walls n stuff?

- - - Updated - - -

90 dollars a month is alot but it's because where i live.
I was getting 0.70 upload
and like 7mb download.

Aussie internet FTW.

[slime]

In my country tapping into an internet connection is against the law. Jail makes for an excellent teacher of reality.

[Jensxo]

So either way this is going to end up in me moving out essentially.

[Deleted]

I completely understand that he didn't do it on purpose but think of it like this.

If i go and accidently break my brothers brand new car - I still have to face the consequences?
If i go and accidently run over someone and they die - I still have to face the consequences?

Btw damaged wire's can be fixed - Im not sure if you can actually fix wire's that have been COMPLETELY cut off like GONE - You'd have to like re do all the wire's in the house like in the walls n stuff?

You can repair a wire that has been cut in half. A technican should be able to restore it. If they cannot fix the damage I do not see how they can legally make you pay $90 a month for a service that you can not receive. Kick up a fuss and ask to speak to someone higher up. You will have to pay the technician and a repair charge but that's better than paying for the rest of your contract for nothing.

Yes, your brother should have to face the consequences but losing your temper, yelling or getting angry is not the way to deal with it maturely. You need to write everything down, include all receipts, sit your parents and your brother down and explain how much this has cost you and what you would like done about it. If your brother doesn't have a job, perhaps you could ask him to pay you back in a small amount, even if it is just $10 a month, to show that he is trying to help.

[zoomgpally]

Where the hell do you live with so slow connections and caps? Seriously is this 2005? I don't think it's possible to order any internet with cap in my country except for mobile internet...

But yeah, move out. Or make your brother pay. If he does not give a shit and wont pay then fuck him, and move out.

Because it seems like every country outside of norway/denmark/sweden got a cap on internet

[Statix]

Moving out wouldn't really solve the problem, since he still has to pay that remaining $1400 for the internet.

You should really talk to your parents about this. Your brother fixed something, but broke something else in the process. Accident or not, he's responsible. He had no idea what he was doing and he broke something. In my family, that means you fix it or you pay someone else to fix it. It's complete bullshit if he gets a pass because it was an accident. This is exactly why you let people who trained for this solve the problem.

What I don't understand though, $90 a month and you can only download at 900 kb/s? I pay €50 (roughly $68 US) and I can download with 18 mb/s (18000 kb/s). I pay less, but I can download 20 times faster than you.
Your 155 ms was already bad. For $90, your internet is epic bad.

I wouldn't be able to deal with your 'good' internet. In my book, the internet speed you had before your brother screwed everything up, is of below average quality. So kudos for being able to work with that, I certainly wouldn't be.

[Deleted]

I don't think you can force your brother to pay, especially since this was clearly an accident, and your brother, whether stupidly or not, was trying to fix a problem, not deliberately trying to make a problem for you. Potentially, if you try to force this issue, you are going to damage your relationship with all of your family and making living there extremely difficult. I think you should sit the family down and explain it fully, your costs, what has happened, what you would like to happen, and then see what they have to say... but ultimately, I think maybe you want to think about moving out.

If you're still paying 90$ a month, there MUST be something they can do to fix it. Internet gets broken or damaged all the time, accidents happen, some wires got damaged by accident, there must be a fix or a way to reinstall it. Talk to someone higher up in the company as well.

So, what you are saying is that stupidity, is the same as an accident due to clueless knowledge about it, and doing something without knowing what the hell he is doing, and its all fine and shouldnt pay for it? Are you the brother or something?

He made a mistake, he gets the consequence of it. Let him pay for it to get fixed. No matter the price. End of stsory. He made the shit, he eats the shit.
Lets look at it in a professional PoW. Now i build houses, if i make a mistake, i pay for it. Not the owners who pay me for doing it. There is a reason theu hire a professionel to do it right?

Alot of gramma issues here i know Im danish

[Tonk]

get the ISP to fix it using whatever standard services they offer. get your brother to pay the bill. if he refuses, then take hi to court.

the line was either your property (do as above) or the telcos property. if the latter they should fix it, and probably bill you anyway.

[Derajal]

That's a expensive repair guy, I paid only $50 for a guy to dig a hole, fill said whole with a metal pole and concrete and then put a satellite on it and aim it, run some cable and make sure it works.

I'm American and live in the deep woods, city internet is even cheaper than this, you're getting screwed so badly. No wonder Australians are so pissed.

You Father is a smart ass, like mine I guess and you're brother sucks, make him pay for it or move the hell out.

[zoomgpally]

90 dollars a month is alot but it's because where i live.
I was getting 0.70 upload
and like 7mb download.

Aussie internet FTW.

90 AUD for 7/0.7? I really hope that is BEFORE it gets capped....

Here in Norway you can get 60/60 for 550NOK(about 100AUD)

[Statix]

If i go and accidently break my brothers brand new car - I still have to face the consequences?

Imagine what would happen if you said you could make his car perform better and you would succeed, only now he sucks 10 times more gasoline. You bet your ass your brother would demand you either fix it, pay for the repair or pay for the extra gasoline.

This is also your best argument; describe situations to illustrate how stupid it is that your brother gets away with it because it was an accident.

[zoomgpally]

I don't think you can force your brother to pay, especially since this was clearly an accident, and your brother, whether stupidly or not, was trying to fix a problem, not deliberately trying to make a problem for you. Potentially, if you try to force this issue, you are going to damage your relationship with all of your family and making living there extremely difficult. I think you should sit the family down and explain it fully, your costs, what has happened, what you would like to happen, and then see what they have to say... but ultimately, I think maybe you want to think about moving out.

If you're still paying 90$ a month, there MUST be something they can do to fix it. Internet gets broken or damaged all the time, accidents happen, some wires got damaged by accident, there must be a fix or a way to reinstall it. Talk to someone higher up in the company as well.

Damaging somebody else's property...

If somebody crashed into your car, would they get away by saying it was an accident?

[Deleted]

Oh and also - Because of the way i reacted - My dad tells me to get counselling for Internet addiction.

Maybe you chose wrong words explaining your issue?
Some people do not/can not understand the value of fast Internet over slow (say, the only use it for IM/emails for example), some others do not care for Internet at all. If your family can not understand those issues, try to concentrate on the financial side - explain that this is not about internet at all, or not as much that, as it is about the fact that you are now, due to their actions, paying quite a large sum of money for service you effectively do not receive. In fact, not only do you not receive it, but they receive it instead of you and refuse to take a share in payments. This is kind of stealing tbh, but I would not use such words while explaining - if you want to keep good relations with them that is. Keep it calm, find your receipts, try to show your costs - the sum sounds large enough to be a valid concern.

Also, your ISP - how come they can't fix it? Keep annoying them, write tickets, make calls. In case they refuse to take any action - attempt to terminate your contract due to the fact they are not providing the service up to the specifications you paid for. Find your contract, there normally are download/upload speed estimates in it that can be used as reference.

If you want to involve a lawyer/spoil the family relations you can as well, I would think, hold your family/brother liable for using your paid services without your consent - make them pay repairs or transfer the contract to their name. This, of course, would mess up the family relations. I would also assume lawyer could nudge the ISP in the right direction as well - repair or refund, that is.

[Emeraldon]

What the hell is going on in Australia? You pay 90 dollars per month, and the speed you're happy with is giving you a whopping 900KB/S and 155+ ms in WoW? O_O Also, 500 dollars for installation. Dear god. I think I had a small seizure.

Also, I'd make my brother pay for it. He might've done it by accident, but it's his own fault he tried doing something he knows nothing about.