Ofcom Opens E7even Investigation

scotty

At long last, OFCOM have reacted to the atrocious state of affairs at E7even:

From http://www.ispr.co.uk/cgi-bin/news/viewnews.cgi?id=EEuVuuZlyFEPCMHomo

"Hallelujah! It may have *only* (sarcasm? us? no..) taken them three months, yet thankfully Ofcom has finally cottoned on to the problems at UK ISP E7even. The regulator has opened an investigation into the providers billing of services that haven't been delivered and its complaints handling procedures.

The full text of the case, which was technically opened on 12th April, is as follows:

Ofcom has opened an investigation to consider whether E7even has contravened General Condition 11.1, which prohibits Communications Providers from billing customers for services that have not been provided.

Ofcom will also investigate whether E7even has contravened General Condition 14.2, which requires Communications Providers to establish and maintain complaints-handling procedures that conform to a Code of Practice.

The opening of this investigation follows a number of consumer complaints that Ofcom has received regarding the provision of broadband services by E7even. If Ofcom's investigation concludes that E7even is not complying with its obligations under the General Conditions, Ofcom will decide what action is appropriate to ensure that consumer interests are protected.

E7even's problems are certainly nothing new to ISPreview's readership, yet it's a sorry state of affairs when it takes this long for the regulator to catch up.

To date they still haven't responded to our prodding for action, although today's news is at least something in the way of progress, which hopefully doesn’t come too late.

It is our hope that Ofcom will also backdate their investigation to the start of this year, although either way we may have to wait a few more weeks/months (no indication of time given) for some sort of result.

Those that have suffered or continue to suffer problems would do well to drop Ofcom a line: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain/internet/ ."

[Deleted User]

Finally this toothless Watchdog is forced to become involved - after months of telling a great many people that they could not for at least 3 months. Well it's actually 4 and a half months since the problems with e7 began.

What IS the point of Ofcom in situations such as e7? Month after month they have been inundated with complaints - surely with so many coming in they could have acted sooner.

scotty

Other links:

OFCOM
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/bulletins/comp_bull_index/comp_bull_ocases/open_all/cw_898/

ADSLguide
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=2637

pricefighter

Another link : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/19/e7even_ofcom/

Ted_Hutchinson

Well I'll be sending them my details for their investigation and hopefully so will others here.

I still haven't had the remainder of my Biennial subscription returned.

I lost my connection on Feb 6th and it wasn't until MAR-24-2006 02:17:23 PM that I got my MAC still waiting for the refund.

Not surprisingly when I entered my new MADASAFISH username and password my router settings worked perfectly so the error which caused my loss of connection was nothing to do with my setup. I think the refusal to E7 to acknowledge that the error was at their end really upset me, esp when I think of how many times I tried various permutations of username, password and settings. The permutations are endless and when you've tried them all, the fact that the fault isn't at your end just makes you despair.

scotty

Ted,

If you look at the OFCOM link above you will see contact details for the person assigned as the case leader. Like you, I think I will send details of my E7 experience.

mschultz

I had similar problems with E7 not providing service and not refunding money (despite promises it would be done).

In the end I made a formal complaint to Mastercard who refunded the remainder of the subscription once I forwarded all the correspondance I had -collated over 3-4 months.

If you don't get the refund from E7 go through the credit card company