Zazizam - anyone using?

Geoffo_M

Martin recommends Zazizam for unmetered ISP. Is anyone else subscribing to them. Just recovering from bitter experiences with Fast4/V21/Biscit and don't want to make the same mistake again.

Thanks,
Geoff

HotchPotch_2

Zazizam are a Virtual ISP, one of many companies/affiliates reselling V21's services. V21 has been taken over by Biscit, with the exception of the former v21 owned Fast4 brand which I am lead to believe was retained from sale and is now run by the :eek: same people who previously ran V21 :eek:.

I'm also lead to believe that Biscit are busy sorting out the mess that they have purchased including replacing some antiquated V21 servers and sorting out some V21 billing issues that have affected some customers for over a year, I can't help speculating that the best servers may have been retained for use by Fast4. So now may not be the best of times to join an isp that uses v21 to provide its services. And as for the new Fast4, I would not join them or any ISP that uses them in a million years.


Most V21 resellers redirect you to ispserve.co.uk in the final stages of the registration process, so you can usually identify them from the URL or its reverse dns. As the URL will be hidden check the properties in IE.

I assume Fast4 will use NJPservices for their registration process.

ecogeorge

After problems with fast 4 I signed up with zazizam. Took my money but isp connection does not work.Helpline no. is permanently engaged. Have filed complaint with credit card company claiming non provision of service. Have sent letter revoking subscription from credit card - no reply yet.
AVOID ZAZIZAM-- worse than fast4.

Tony_Jaques

Hello there,
I also made the mistake of signing up with
Zazizam because of its mention in Martin's Money
pages. That was on the 17th of November. You
will not be surprised to learn that I have not
had a single connection, and therefore not a
second of service from this company.
I can just about access their web site using
my existing ISP, but messages to them (of which
I am only allowed two!) are ignored. I can find
no way to cancel my account. And there you may
be able to help:

In the sign up conditions the only acceptable
way to terminate the account was given, and that
was to click on a link. I did actually read the
conditions, but I did not print them out so I do
not now know what that link was. I assumed that
the terms and conditions would be accessible at
any time. But no. Once signed up they can no
longer be found (only the terms of use). I imagine
that that is exactly because they include the
account termination information.
Do you know what that link was? Care to bet on
whether it can still be accessed?

My credit card company (TSB) say that they
can not prevent further payments being taken, so
presumably I will now be paying £8 a month for
ever, for nothing! Amazing. (I have put my
complaint to them in writing, advising them that
I do so in order to be able to later claim if
necessary that I did advise them of a potentially
fraudulent situation.
I have also written to the OFT pointing out
that Zazizam's sign up conditions bypass the
distance selling regulations (as well as the
company's total failure to provide any service
after taking payment). Actually I should have
smelled a bunch of sharks at that stage, but it
is easy to be wise later.
I wonder if a letter to the fraud squad would
do any good?

I must say that as it was Martin's pages that
started this (from my point of view) he is being
rather quiet about it now!

Tony Jaques.

mrJ_5

I have been a member of zazizam for 3 years, and haven't personally experienced any problems (as mentioned above) with them. I was told when I had to update my card details hat they were having problems with tickets getting through. Try emailing them via the contact us pages, I have normally found their replies quite helpful

Most ISPs will make you waiver the DSR if you use the service, afterall, what is to effectively let you use the service for 6 days solid, then cancel on day 7 for a full refund. It doesn't make business sense, as they would be billed by BT to cover your dialup costs.

HotchPotch_2

The only reliable way of cancelling is by letter to V21. Instruct them that as they have not provided the contracted service for which you have been charged you consider the contract void and you require an immediate refund of all payments taken. Give them 7 days to refund your money and keep a copy of the letter to send to the credit card company.

If they are not forthcoming contact your credit card company disputing the payments on the grounds of non provision of service.

Biscit & V21 address

Customer Services

Biscit
Berkeley House
18-24 High Street
Edgware
HA8 7RP


To me there seems nothing to be gained in subscribing to a virtual ISP that is doing little or nothing more than collecting a commission for re-selling another companies service (V21). For all your extra money, you might, if you are luck get a different free email address or a different free webserver address. Really you might just as well subscribe to V21 itself.

It has been mentioned on ispreview that if you want to avoid them you can identify many of the V21 Virtual ISPs using this link

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=site:ispserve.co.uk+&num=100&hl=en&lr=&filter=0

If you look back through the posts in the V21 forum on ispreview for about a year ago there is a thread listing many of the V21 resellers at that time.

Tony_Jaques

Hello again,
Thank you for your comments. I am sorry that it has
taken me so long to let you know the outcome, but I am
not sure of it myself yet!
I do realise that some users have been happy with
Zazizam for years, and I was not making any comment on
past performance. All that matters to me, as a new user,
is the performance as I see it (or rather as I don't see
it!).
Last Saturday I got a letter fom my credit card
company advising me that they would look into the case,
and suspend further payments until they had queried it
with the "retailer".
By an amazing coincidence the connection to Zazizam
worked for the first time on Sunday morning! I would guess
that without my letter to the credit card company I would
have been waiting for a connection forever.
The first thing that I did was to look into the ways
terminate the account. According to them it can be done
from the "My Account" pages. Perhaps so, but it totally
defeated me. A 'phone number was given as an alternative,
but I won't use potentially expensive "funny" 'phone
numbers. So I have written to the head office as Hotchpotch
suggested, with a copy to the card company.
Now I am waiting to see what happens to the credit card
account on the 17th of this month.

I take your point about about virtual ISPs HotchPotch,
but I didn't even know that there was such a thing until
I came across this BB and this thread.

It might be interesting if I also mention that the OFT
is about as useful to "ordinary" people - if there is such
a thing, as any other government department. What the reply
from them amounted to is that they don't do anything about
trading complaints from the public. Any that are received
are merely used to generate statistics for the government
(though they do act in certain big business cases).
I recently learned that they have sent an e-mail to local
authorities instructing that complaints from the general
public should not be passed on to them.
The poor things must be having to spend too much time
generating statistics!


Thanks again,

Tony Jaques.