Pipex Homecall and Talk Talk, DONT USE THEM!

cepheus

I have recently moved over to O2, however canceling the contract with Pipex was a nightmare.

First of all you need to find the cancellation departments number, when you do find it is a foreign call cente in which they keep you waiting on an expensive tariff. Then as soon as you finally get to the point of cancellation they cut you off in my opinion deliberately! Writing to them is useless as they insist on you contacting the cancellation department. They also ignore the 'managed stop' which is also placed by company which you are moving to. This is usually sufficient for other operators to stop billing or at leasst offer you a better deal.

Their own parent company Talk-Talk advised me to cancel my Direct Debit which was the only method left available to me. Unfortunately this didn't stop numerous letters and automated phone calls from Pipex telling me I will be disconnected, and demanding further payment!

I suggested to them the following improvements

· a low cost number to ring, or better still a web form for cancellation which is clearly displayed on the site.
· minimum standards of English for the operators
· minimum standards for the quality of line
· operators instructed to obtain the number first and ring back if the call is cut off
· an investigation into any underhand methods used to avoid customers who are intent to leave
· remove any financial incentives which may encourage the operators to use these methods.

No doubt, they had a good laugh since there is little incentive for to improve a cancellation procedure. It is really the regulators job to make sure they are fined sufficiently to dissuade them

This is by far the worst service I have ever experienced from any company. I experienced similar problems when using the Pipex Internet some years ago, so it appears this company hasn’t improved at all

paddyrg

Sad to see Pipex drawing fire, they were one of the best in their day, and certainly helped create the market we now have.

cepheus

I understand they were indeed a great British company. It is so unfair that anyone can just buy reputation then drive down the costs and service quality until it is trashed.

Even by 2005 when I left their ISP there were major problems (unfortunately they took over my telephone provider around the same time). By 2009 they were the pits, here is another review:

Pipex used to be brilliant, and for this reason I was with them for many years. However since Tiscali took over, things went horribly wrong.

From having the best customer service, they now have customer service that on a good day is just slightly clueless, and on a bad day is downright incompetent and rude, and that somehow qualify costing 10p a minute to talk to.........All in all, steer clear of Pipex or any of the Tiscali companies

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/review/reviews/4469.html

shortchanged_2

This is the problem when cheap, cr&p quality companies take over what were decent companies and brands. TalkTalk are an awful company, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole ever again or any of their subsiduaries.
Another company that has suffered a similar fate to this is Hotpoint, which used to be a good quality, trusted brand, which now has been taken over by Indesit and they just turn out cr&p quality products. It's a shame really and highlights how much of the good of British industry has gone to the dogs.

perryr

tiscali: maddeningly bad.
promised calls back do not materialise, not escalation route, their systems are down for 3 days.....scandalous - but you only get told tahta after waiting 50 mins and repeating the saga 4 or 5 times then put on hold = back in the queue to speak another numbty that ends with @is there anything else I can help you with today?'....well, anything would do.
slim chance.
they are cheap....in every way

cepheus

perryr wrote: »

tiscali: maddeningly bad.
promised calls back do not materialise, not escalation route, their systems are down for 3 days.....scandalous - but you only get told tahta after waiting 50 mins and repeating the saga 4 or 5 times then put on hold = back in the queue to speak another numbty that ends with @is there anything else I can help you with today?'....well, anything would do.
slim chance.
they are cheap....in every way

Strange that tahta thing exactly happened with me. I am tempted to send a complaint to Ofcom anyway, consumers surely must ensure companies this bad are punished? For every complainer I guess 10 can't be bothered and just pay up or stay.

There are better AND cheaper outfits around

cepheus

TalkTalk and Tiscali UK fined £3m by Ofcom for breaching consumer rules


By Daily Mail Reporter

Ofcom has fined TalkTalk and Tiscali UK £3m for billing customers for services they had not received.
The communications watchdog said an investigation into TalkTalk and Tiscali UK in July 2010 found both companies had wrongly issued bills to people, particularly those who had closed their accounts.
Ofcom said it began an investigation into TalkTalk and Tiscali UK last year after receiving more than 1,000 complaints. It found the firms wrongly issued bills in just over 62,000 cases between January 1 and November 2010


Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2027344/TalkTalk-Tiscali-UK-fined-3m-Ofcom-breaching-consumer-rules.html#ixzz1VNE3mCcP