Madasafish / NTL learn from my mistake and save money!

Annando

I signed up for broadband with Madasafish 8MB @10.99 a month for the first 6 months over their website on sunday, up to now I had an NTL broadband account. I got the confirmation email from Madasafish straught away giving me an installation date etc...

I only had time to call NTL today, explained the situation and asked them to cancel my broadband with them at the end of the month. They passed me on to the cancellation department who offered me 10MB @ 9.99 for as long as I was with them! No minimum contract required as I had already been with them for more than 12 months, no need to take their phone or TV package!

Called Madasafish...can't cancel now because they have already passed the request on to BT who have given them a confirmation date etc...otherwise would have to pay a cancelation fee of £80 as per their T&Cs.

Check with your current provider what they are able / willing to offer before switching! I wish I had!!!

Dodgybloke

I wouldn't give up quite yet. Due to Madasafish broadband being on a 12 month contract, you can cancel up to 14 days after first signing up. Speak to Consumer Advice on 08454 04 05 06.

Over a year ago, NTL installed hardware in my house. But I got frustrated at it never working. I was still in my 14 day cooling off period and cancelled successfully.

Annando

Thanks Dodgybloke, I'll try that. Although when I called Madasafish they said that according to their T&Cs, to which I had to agree, once they set a confirmation date and email you, you wave your right to the cooling off period...which sounds a bit dodgy to me! What bothers me is that they sent me 2 emails in quick succesion, within 24 hours of each other the second one giving me the confirmation date. Basically had I wanted to change my mind I would have only had 24 hours!

Annando

This is what I found in their T&Cs and the amount they charge is £55 and not £80 as their customer services mentioned. (GRRRRR!)

10. Termination and Suspension

10.1 This Agreement may be terminated without penalty at any time prior to our confirmation of the Commencement Date. If we have supplied you with any hardware, you must return it to us and (if applicable) we will refund you for any payment received from you for such hardware. Any hardware returned for a refund must be received in pristine and resalable condition, including all packaging, manuals, software and cables, as appropriate.

10.2 After we have confirmed the Commencement Date this Agreement may be terminated in accordance with the terms set out in this Agreement and the cancellation provisions of the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (the "Distance Selling Regulations") will not apply to the Service.

Annando

Have sent them 2 emails, no reply... They should really improve their customer services!!!!

Madasafish_Customer_Care

Guys,

Just to clarify the costs. When a customer registers for the Madasafish broadband service, we automatically submit the order to BT to activate the broadband service.

Up until we receive the service activation date (which we e-mail immediately to customers), you have the option to cancel your order. However, after this point Madasafish will incur an activation fee from BT. Therefore if a customer cancels after they have received the service activation date (within the first 12 months), we simply request that you reimburse us this cost. This is known as the early termination fee.

If your service is a new installation this cost is £55 inc VAT

If your service is a migration from another service provider this cost is £25 inc VAT

(plus any free hardware we have issued). For full details please visit:
http://www.madasafish.com/termsandconditions/broadband.asp

I hope this helps clarify the situation.

Best regards

Liam
Madasafish Customer Care

This also might be of interest: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=1733015#post1733015

wonderfullife_2

Annando wrote:

Have sent them 2 emails, no reply... They should really improve their customer services!!!!

To
Madasafish Customer Care - A few general questions

There is nothing more annoying, than emailing an isp and getting no response, what do Madasafish Customer Care who seem to be on here a lot, have to say on this matter.

I even considered going over to you, but your 20mb download limit, put me off, not enough for me, and don't you think £2 per extra gb is far to dear, Zen actually do it for £1 per gb and yes I know Zen are dearer than you, but probably the best internet provider at this moment in time.
Have Madasafish ever considered free offpeak downloads, as f2s and nidram do.

Just general questions, in case I ever want to move isps in the future.

Madasafish_Customer_Care

wonderfullife wrote:

To
Madasafish Customer Care - A few general questions

There is nothing more annoying, than emailing an isp and getting no response, what do Madasafish Customer Care who seem to be on here a lot, have to say on this matter.

I even considered going over to you, but your 20mb download limit, put me off, not enough for me, and don't you think £2 per extra gb is far to dear, Zen actually do it for £1 per gb and yes I know Zen are dearer than you, but probably the best internet provider at this moment in time.
Have Madasafish ever considered free offpeak downloads, as f2s and nidram do.

Just general questions, in case I ever want to move isps in the future.

You're quite right that is very annoying. Fortunately this is something that very few Madasafish customers should ever experience.

We also appreciate how important it is to provide accurate, relevant and swift responses to e-mail queries. We aim to respond to 100% of e-mails received and we are currently working towards making the response time even quicker than it is currently (there is always rooms for improvement).

From your post it appears that your usage requirements are not met by current broadband packages. We haven't yet looked at free off peak downloads, it is a good idea, however don't plan to offer this in the immediate future.

We are constantly looking at our broadband package options and how to attract more and different customers. I'd recommend giving our website a look-in when you are shopping around for a new service provider.

Best regards


Liam
Madasafish Customer Care

djohn2002uk

Liam. I don't think you can write into your T&Cs anything that conflicts with English law.
In law as it stands I believe that any order for goods or services made over the internet or telephone would come under the Distance Selling Act which categorically stipulates a 7day cooling off period. You cannot bypass this simply because you may have outlayed some charges that you may be responsible for to a 3rd party.

Alfie_E

Annando wrote:

…for as long as I was with them!

You probably want to check that. In the past, the discounts offered by ntl’s cancellation department have always been time-limited. Their billing system offers them little flexibility. They can’t change the price of services for individual customers. The system has a few discounts that can be applied to accounts. The discounts that can be chosen from are for a fixed amount per month, for a fixed period of time and are preset by management. The discounts on offer are also periodically reviewed. You may find that the discount is for a long time, maybe twelve months, but will eventually drop off the system.

You can understand why they have done this in the past. The services and price points being offered by them and their competitors is always changing. If, in twelve months time, ntl reduced their 10Mbps service by £10, they’d then be giving you the service for free. The idea is that, at the end of your discount period, you can go back and re-haggle, given the then current state of the competition.

Teak

I phoned up this morning after seeing the madasfish offer. But only offered 10MB @ £17.49 for 6 months. Cancellation department said the only £9.99 offer was for 1MB not 10MB.