Fast4/V21/Biscit (merged threads)

muffinhead

I'm currently having success in using smtp.v21.co.uk as my outgoing mail server!

Has anyone else stayed connected over the usual 2 hour cut off point? The last few days I was being cut off after an hour, but today I stayed on for 2hrs 30mins, which I manually disconnected, so I probably could have stayed on longer!?!

Hana

muffinhead wrote:

I'm currently having success in using smtp.v21.co.uk as my outgoing mail server!

Oh dear, and just to be different, I'm happy as larry just now on smtp/mail.speed-mail.co.uk,:j which definitely wasn't the case a few hours ago. Hence that bit of a rant, which I am kind of regretting now!!:o

Victor_Delta

I still can't get any joy with my speed-mail account - using original password, qazwsx or biscit. Any suggestions please? ADSL connection ok however (and thank goodness I have a gmail account as well).

Also, my news (usernet) service stopped working yesterday. Have others experienced this problem? Again, any suggestions? As a temporary measure, I am currently using the free news server news-read2.maxwell.syr.edu

V

GuessWho_2

exprog wrote:

Probably not much comfort to you but my timescale was that I sent an email on the 23rd and phoned on the 27th. Perhaps they are working through things in the order received?

Thanks for that exprog, but with the types of communications i have sent i should have heard from them by now if they were serious.

For the people that are staying, i'm sure they will sort out the issues eventually

But, in my opinion, biscit should have quickly released those who wanted to leave, not put up obstacles to stop them leaving, as we've seen for the past 2-3 weeks.
I'm only aware of one person who has heard from biscit when trying to cancel.


But yeah, i'm pleased that you and some of the others seem to be getting sorted out

fingers crossed

Nix wrote:

GuessWho - nice one, once it gets going, send the link to H.Patterson, aye?

Excellent idea, Thanks for that, Nix

I'm open to any suggestions that can bring this ridiculous situation to a close

HANA wrote:

Oh dear, and just to be different, I'm happy as larry just now on smtp/mail.speed-mail.co.uk, which definitely wasn't the case a few hours ago. Hence that bit of a rant, which I am kind of regretting now!!

Oh, go on Hana, give us another rant, We luv it

But i hope you weren't too serious about cancelling your card. That wouldn't be a good idea without going through cancelling motions previously (as per your terms)

smtp seems to have been all over the place for everyone today, yet again showing the unreliability of isp-related mail

GuessWho_2

Victor_Delta wrote:

Also, my news (usernet) service stopped working yesterday. Have others experienced this problem? Again, any suggestions? As a temporary measure, I am currently using the free news server news-read2.maxwell.syr.edu

Sorry, i no longer use their mail, but concerning the news server, did you read the thread over at

http://www.v21.co.uk/forum/default.asp

Seems there is a definite problem

Hana

GuessWho wrote:

Oh, go on Hana, give us another rant, We luv it

But i hope you weren't too serious about cancelling your card. That wouldn't be a good idea without going through cancelling motions previously (as per your terms)

Hiya GuessWho

Yeah yeah!! You should've seen it before I got scared I'd be thrown off for having lots of offensive words. Had to take all the 's' and 'f' ones out before I hit submit.

Well, after some of the emails I've sent over the last six weeks, and the messages they've listened too, I suspect they'd just be glad to see the back of me!!!

What're they going to do? Sue me? For a dial-up contract worth a fiver a month? Having seen various examples of their organisation, I suspect I'll have run out of life before they get round to it!!!

I've overpaid by almost 50 quid over the length of my contract (nearly 2 yrs), 40 of which they've returned today. When I don't pay on the 17th, they'll just cut me off. They've got more than a months notice, I'm thinking I'll take my chances. (Actually have a vague hope that they're so disorganised that they might not even notice and I'll have free (albeit cr*p!) email and internet access forever.....!!)

To be serious for a minute though, my terms are month to month access, cancellation effective immediately, via the members area or by ringing 0870 something or other. The card IS cancelled, because after paying on the 18th, twice on the 19th and again on the 20th of last month, I don't trust them not to take another payment before it's due. An email via the members area complies with their terms, and I'll do that on the 17th. I'm paid up 'til then and if they cut my account then, I owe them nowt. Am I being naive?

exprog

HotPotch:

Thanks for the various bits of information.

HotchPotch wrote:

I find it curious that the new fast4 billing system is to quote a post from that thread "slightly diffrent so no bugs or errors".

If it is basically the same software written by the old V21, isn't it strange that they were apparently unable to fix the creeping payment problem and other billing problems in their own billing software for over a year, but it is fixed when they start a new company?

Very Strange!

I’d say it ought to be a fairly simple task. The sort of thing that might be given to a trainee to gain experience with; not something demanding years of experience.

HotchPotch wrote:

I read a post, I think in either V21's forum or the ISPchat forum that there was some sort of "misunderstanding" by the old V21 managment as to who these customers belonged to and they were apparently mistakingly transfered to the new Fast4.

Ah, one of those “misunderstanding” thingies!

HotchPotch wrote:

I have seen a few posts that suggest some V21/fast4 customers login details have either been lost from Biscits systems or possibly messed up in the transfer.

No doubt nothing whatever to do with that “misunderstanding” you mentioned earlier.

HotchPotch wrote:

I don't know, we will have to all draw out own conclusions, it does appear that the sell off my not of been entirely amicable, at one stage Biscit withdrew their offer,

My own suspicion of Biscit has slightly mellowed. :undecided :think:

Aaron

alared wrote:

Surely the big lesson here for everyone is to forget about ISP`s email accounts and switch to Gmail/Hotmail/Yahoo etc.

Only if you want governments to have your email and to pollute the mailboxes of everyone you send to! People have been locked up as a result of using Yahoo, you know? http://irrepressible.info/

There are more responsible email providers who probably don't have government agreements yet - if you're really stuck, at least https://www.ippimail.com makes money for good projects.

GuessWho_2

Hana wrote:

To be serious for a minute though, my terms are month to month access, cancellation effective immediately, via the members area or by ringing 0870 something or other. The card IS cancelled, because after paying on the 18th, twice on the 19th and again on the 20th of last month, I don't trust them not to take another payment before it's due. An email via the members area complies with their terms, and I'll do that on the 17th. I'm paid up 'til then and if they cut my account then, I owe them nowt. Am I being naive?

Hi Hana, No, i don't think you are being naive. If you are looking for ways to cancel, then the options open to you are pretty limited.
Your logic does makes sense, but it will be interesting to see how biscit respond to it (if at all).

It's not for me to persuade anyone to leave, but if you have decided that's what you want, then i hope you have better success than i have had so far

I am not logging into the secure area, because as far as i'm concerned, my account is dead, so that option is no longer open to me.
Very interesting that people are reporting there is no cancel button since the panel was reinstated.

I've never had this problem before, where a company just ignores any requests for cancellation, but just carries on billing, regardless.
Don't think this is a one-off!
I know of no one who has successfully cancelled with this company.
A couple of people on ADSL have paid £30 or so to receive a MAC code, allowing them to migrate. But, boy, they had to fight for it!

But really, people who are staying with this company should be asking themselves this question:

If it is so difficult to cancel and leave at the moment (while clearly in the public spotlight) What's it going to be like to leave in a few months time ?

When Hugh Paterson talks about

superfast broadband company with possibly the lowest churn rate in the industry

i think it's now becoming pretty clear why that may be!

Capt_Slog

If I can get my £5 a month dial up to work then I'll stay, after all, it's not a bad deal!

I just can't understand why they made such a balls-up of the transfer.

All it really needed was a little bit of communication, some announcement somewhere that they were aware of the problem and that they were going to put it right. My 15year old son can write the HTML to run a web page, these people are supposed to be professionals. Why did it take so long to create the "Service update" web page? And when it did come it looked like it HAD been written by a 15 yr old.................??

.................hold on! I'd better go and check what my lads been upto on that PC!!