The ISP formerly known as Lixxus - what's going on?

Bargain_Rzl

I’ve been a Lixxus customer since 2006, and was always very impressed with both the connection and their customer service. In early June I received two emails stating that they’d been bought out by CFL Data Ltd. The latter email also said they'd be back in touch within a week, but I haven't heard from them since.

Since then I’ve received no monthly invoices and had no direct debits taken – something I hadn’t noticed until yesterday when my broadband connection suddenly stopped working (it hasn’t come up again since).

I don’t know whether the loss of service is due to them failing to bill me, or failing to migrate my account correctly, or whether their network has just fallen over as happens with most ISPs from time to time.

I phoned the number provided by CFL Data Ltd, but gave up after being held in a queue for almost an hour. It’s not a freephone number either. Have fired off a strongly worded email but don’t know what else to do. I need my broadband back.

Does anybody know what on earth is going on with them? Clearly I’m now planning to take my business elsewhere, but how on earth can I when I can’t even get in touch with them for a MAC code?

Any help/advice greatly appreciated!

garetht

They appear to be dead and buried, with nobody answering phones or emails. I never even got the buyout emails, but as a telecomms specialist I tracked down CFL, who claim to have never heard of Lixxus and cannot assist.
CFL's address is 100 Pall Mall, which appears reassuring until you Google how many companies are registered to that address - it's either a Tardis or an accomodation office.
I've now got the same problem of how to transfer a line without a MAC code, and also my static IP addresses are now dead.
Help!

kwikbreaks

Ofcom offer guidance on this...

http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/internet-service/tagremoval

imcmd

I've been trying to get a MAC code out of them for the last two weeks but basically no communication back at all. Can't get through by email or phone.

kwikbreaks

imcmd wrote: »

I've been trying to get a MAC code out of them for the last two weeks but basically no communication back at all. Can't get through by email or phone.

In that case read the Ofcom guidance in the link I posted. It isn't enormously helpful but it does suggest a way forward. This isn't the first ISP to go bust by a long chalk.

JJAM

I'm in the same boat. The service rapidly deteroriated from the point when I received the email re being supposedly bought up; it's resembled a poor dial-up service since then, with major outages. Haven't been unable to connect since yesterday, and emails/phone calls go unanswered, though I did speak to someone at their number 2 weeks ago.

Anyway, my understanding is that they've gone into liquidation.

Bargain_Rzl

Thanks everybody! Glad (well, not glad) it's not just me, anyway. Have already placed an order with O2, who as per the Ofcom guidelines say they should be able to get the tag removed from my line.

geekyone

Information received from ofcom this afternoon... 1. Lixxus have gone into liquidation. 2. Their customer list has been sold to "cfl live data". 3. The internet service provision is/was through an "intermediate provider" called "tempest telecom" who are no longer speaking to cfl. 4. The adsl tags on lines are now "inactive", so shouldn't pose a problem for new orders. The new isp may have to manually push the order, but it's not a big problem.

Fronkle

I spoke to Chris Perkins at Tiscali Wholesale 0871 221 6604. He acknowledged responsibility for Lixxus but stated that as it has now been sold, he cannot provide MAC codes to users directly, only the new owner (administrator? receiver?) can.

Aquiss ISP says that the ADSL tags are still in place, and no note has been placed saying that they will be removed. Therefore, we are still stuck. What source stated that the adsl tags would be removed?

Lostandfound_3

Noticed that this is also being discussed on ISP Review and I am in the same boat as others.

ispreview.co.uk/talk/showthread.php?t=30165

Bargain_Rzl

I've just had a very helpful conversation with a lady at a third party comms company who I was referred to by Tiscali (this being the label on my ADSL tag, apparently) and as a result, may have had a bit of a breakthrough. This company seems to have been stuck in the middle of this debacle for no apparent reason, and are now being flooded with calls from Lixxus customers. When I was put in touch with them by Tiscali, an internal email had just gone round telling them what advice they needed to give to Lixxus customers - and that advice was to call CFL Data (though on a different number, 0845 186 0000, which is answered by a voicemail service).

I explained the issue with CFL Data being uncontactable - which, until that point, they hadn't been aware of - and she has promised to attempt to hunt down a valid and manned contact number for somebody with the authority to issue Lixxus MAC codes by the end of the day (she wouldn't let me give out her details to others). I have also emailed her a link to this thread.

I don't know how successful this lead will be, but watch this space, and if I hear anything further in this regard I will post it here.