Fast4.net cancellation procedure

Eliza252 · 20 June 2005 at 11:02PM

This has really annoyed me - I know there internet charges are low, but this is just silly - nb. I did have to write to AOL to get them to cancel my account, but they did so instantly on reciept of my letter. These guys have taken a week to reply and it has required me sending two letters! - overall it has taken about 3 weeks for them to acknowledge I want to cancel my account -and the 28 days cancellation time period follows this acknowledgement - in the meantime I will have been billed twice.
grrr.. in addition I have just realised that their letter with the cancellation slip is dated the 20th of May and I definately didnt recieve it before the 7th of June! Am not impressed!

Copy of my letter of complaint

Fast4.net
Customer Services
Complaints Dept.

20.06.2005

Dear Sir/Madam,

I find your process of account cancellation unnecessarily lengthy and frustrating.

I find it quite irritating that I can only cancel my account by writing to you or phoning your premium rate customer services line, my email account requires a secure passwork login – why is this not a sufficient way of contacting your cancellations department? Possibly because it is free and instant? I find it extremely annoying that once I have written to you to cancel my account you then send me a letter asking me to sign a slip stating I wish to cancel my account. Despite the fact that my original letter included all of the relevant details and my signature. This has entailed approximately a two week delay on the cancellation of my account, during which time I have been billed for your services. I have used various internet service providers and none have such a lengthy cancellation process.

alared · 21 June 2005 at 6:48AM

I cancelled my F4 account last December by logging in to the members area and sending a secure message telling them I wanted to cancel.
It was done without any problem whatsoever.
This method can still be used,in fact "cancelling your account" is one of the topics listed in the "contact us" secure message area.
Furthermore F4 is one of the few ISP`s that ENCOURAGE you to pay by DD,so if they ignor your request to cancel all you have to do is withdraw your DD.
I had two free months with AOL and without hesitation signed straight back up with F4 whom I`m still with and have been for two years apart from the 2 month stint with AOL.
For £6-99 a month "unlimited" I can`t see how F4 can be beaten,it would cost you more for the weekend papers!!!!

mike_paterson · 21 June 2005 at 7:54AM

alared wrote:

I cancelled my F4 account last December by logging in to the members area and sending a secure message telling them I wanted to cancel.
It was done without any problem whatsoever.

I had the same experience as alared when I cancelled fast4 10 months ago with no problem whatsoever.
Worth mentioning that an 0870 number called for 2 minutes is cheaper than the cost of a stamp and far faster. 0870 is not always all bad - you have to consider the alternatives too.

Rgds
Mike

Eliza252 · 21 June 2005 at 10:37AM

Hi - This is the message that the webpage shows if you click 'cancel your account' link:

Cancellation of your account can be achieved by providing 28 days written notice to be sent by post of fax to our customer service centre. Full details can be found on our home page or by telephoning us on 0870 225 1055*. Please note that our support staff are unable to accept cancellation requests by telephone. When writing to us please include your customer ID (130172) or username as this will assist in confirming your identity.

* Calls are charged at standard National Rate. Using BT a typical daytime national call costs less than 8 pence per minute.
Customer Services operate during normal business hours only - Monday to Friday, 9AM to 5PM, excluding Public Holidays.

I received to no reply from Fast4.net on the two occasions that I tried to email them.
The phone line is 8p a minute from a BT landline and I work all day - so I would have to call them from my mobile phone - on the few occasions I tried to call them I gave up after ten minutes on hold.

I know they are a no frills service - so I dont expect 5* - but I thought that asking me to confirm that I want to cancel twice and involving a delay of two weeks in posting the letter asking me to confirm was an unecessary delay - it will have taken me nearly two months to cancel my service.

salsamak · 30 June 2005 at 11:15PM

I have been with fast4 for two years ok,around the 6th 6 05 my account was comeing to an endas I pay myself yearly ok i think,now its time to get broadband,scout around,only to get an email from fast4 thank you for renewing your account,so they have stolen my cash without my permission
as with others here have to go through emails + fax they can take your money on line very easy, but find it very hard to cancell your account

I was going to recommend this lot to some friends but now :money: willl keep you up to date

salsamak

alared · 1 July 2005 at 9:45AM

You knew the date when your years contract was up so why did`nt you cancel if you did`nt want to stay with them.
If at the end of your contract Fast4 had simply cut you off for not renewing you would be moaning about being cut off!
I think you`ll find that they have`nt "stole your money without permission",somewhere in the T&C you have agreed to a continuous debit of your subscription unless YOU notify them otherwise.

theloft · 1 July 2005 at 9:45PM

alared wrote:

I cancelled my F4 account last December by logging in to the members area and sending a secure message telling them I wanted to cancel.
It was done without any problem whatsoever.
This method can still be used,in fact "cancelling your account" is one of the topics listed in the "contact us" secure message area.
Furthermore F4 is one of the few ISP`s that ENCOURAGE you to pay by DD,so if they ignor your request to cancel all you have to do is withdraw your DD.
I had two free months with AOL and without hesitation signed straight back up with F4 whom I`m still with and have been for two years apart from the 2 month stint with AOL.
For £6-99 a month "unlimited" I can`t see how F4 can be beaten,it would cost you more for the weekend papers!!!!

Hi Alared! I have just checked on the secure area and Eliza 252 is correct, you have to send them 28 days notice by post! I think this is a bit much if they then send you back a slip after 2 weeks, asking you to sign a confirmation, as this then gives them one further months payment. I am on DD with them but by credit card, how can one stop a DD on a credit card ? Interesting that you managed to cancel before by sending them a members secure message. They have obviously closed this loophole and like other ISPs, make it difficult for people to cancel.

alared · 2 July 2005 at 9:07AM

Theloft

Looks like you and Eliza are correct and they must have closed the loophole since last Dec when I had my two month free stint with AOL.

If you go to the members area and click "change billing" this gives you the opportunity to set up a direct debit with your bank.

Best to do this a couple of days after your lastest payment has been taken so it gives plenty of time for the DD to be set up.

When the sad day arrives when you want to quit Fast4 send a secure message to them under "I have a question about my payments" and tell them you`re cancelling.
Then simply contact your bank and cancel the DD.
When they don`t get the payment they`ll soon cut you off!
In fact they always send me an email telling me when they are going to take the payment and "to make sure I have enough funds available in my account".

Leedor · 5 July 2005 at 9:01AM

Hi All,

I've already posted a couple of times about my experience with Fast4, without doubt the most difficult company I have ever had to deal with. When I originally signed with them I thought it was a 1 month contract and cancellation was by phone. I didn't like the inability to get online most evenings so when I rang to cancel they said call back in 2 months when the contract is up. I called back in two months and now it had to be done by pots. I sent the letter and they 'never received it'. I faxed them another letter (they're faq now shows this an an option, didn't at the time) and someone in customer support confirmed she had received it. Now 2 weeks later they've emailed to say they're just about to take another payment.

I looked on this forum to see what I could do and found cancelling direct debit was an option but until I saw this post, I thought it was impossible since mine wasn't listed as a direct debit at my bank (have to change my billing with fast4). Soooo, finally it looks like I will have to take another payment hit and cancel once this payment has been taken (can't change to DD within a week of payment).

My question is:

Can cancelling a direct debit affect my credit rating if they complain that payment has failed?

If that doens't work, I'm at my wits end, I have never been so frustrated by a company. What can I do??

Cheers,

Lee

alared · 5 July 2005 at 10:45AM

"When you want to quit Fast4 send a secure message to them under "I have a question about my payments" and tell them you`re cancelling.
Then simply contact your bank and cancel the DD.
When they don`t get the payment they`ll soon cut you off!
In fact they always send me an email telling me when they are going to take the payment and "to make sure I have enough funds available in my account".

Lee
I can only advise you what I would do if I was quitting F4.
Can`t see how cancelling a DD after you`ve already told them would affect your credit rating.
The only other thing is to set up an auto dialing and run it continueously and apparently F4 will disconnect you for "overuse"
Must add it seems the Theloft and myself are the only ones reasonably "happy" with F4.
Can`t think why!!!!!!!!!

Leedor · 6 July 2005 at 12:10AM

Thanks Alared, I guess when i get home I'll try to setup that auto-dialing as a backup plan.

Fast4.net cancellation procedure

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free