Hit with a £1000 bill from Tiscali broadband

barongreenback

I received a phone call from a debt collection agency today saying I owe Tiscali £1000! Rang them and they said a direct debit bounced in July 2006 and they have not tried to collect since then.

Not one phone call, letter or anything and a constant broadband connection!

What can I do about this? They have referred it to head office.

barongreenback

Al_Mac wrote: »

And you never noticed? Offer to split it with them.

I had a direct debit set up, I presumed it was paid.

No letters or phone calls, nothing. My broadband has been on for two years without any disconnection. Tiscali themselves have said they disconnect if no payment is made after the second month.

PaulK_3

Never presume that any utility company or service provider have billing systems that work 100% properly at all times. The responsibility for ensuring payment is not a one sided thing and the customer should also be checking to make sure that payment went out. Normally the problem would have been seen a lot earlier but with all the changes within the Tisscali setup that have been occuring its quite probable that they have recently run an audit and your account was found.
They can of course chase this debt for a significant length of time so the only sensible thing to do would be to make contact and try to come to some form of payment agreement with them. You could also look to reach an agreement on the total payable since there was also a failure on their part.

Zazen999

That's still quite a lot of money for 2 years of broadband...

barongreenback

PaulK wrote: »

Never presume that any utility company or service provider have billing systems that work 100% properly at all times. The responsibility for ensuring payment is not a one sided thing and the customer should also be checking to make sure that payment went out. Normally the problem would have been seen a lot earlier but with all the changes within the Tisscali setup that have been occuring its quite probable that they have recently run an audit and your account was found.
They can of course chase this debt for a significant length of time so the only sensible thing to do would be to make contact and try to come to some form of payment agreement with them. You could also look to reach an agreement on the total payable since there was also a failure on their part.

Cheers I have made contact just waiting for a reply from head office. I don't doubt I have some responsibility and am willing to pay for some of the error. They will have to accept installments mind!

barongreenback

espresso wrote: »

What do you expect when you choose the most complained about ISP? As for not checking your bank account, more money than sense comes to mind!

Thanks for the advice:whistle:

Buckingham_Bond

Hi,

Please let me know how you get on, I also received a letter with the same thing today - no contact for 2 years, then wham!

My circumstances follow a dispute about some rogue calls (£100 plus worth to Sao Tome) which I never made - Tiscali wouldn't amend the bill, so I cancelled the DD.

Um, can't wait to speake to their call centre again...

Good luck.

barongreenback

Al_Mac wrote: »

There was advice there, no sympathy, which is probably what you are after, as much as anything.

You get me wrong, if I want sympathy I will go on the other forums I am member of. I came here for advice, I appreciate the advice I receive but I do not expect to be spoken to like an idiot for not noticing a direct debit.

Tiscali was not the most complained about ISP when I joined them (freeserve were who I switched from), before now I had thought there service faultless.

Where is the advice?

I understand that established members here will have heard stories such as mine a million times but does that mean you need to be flippant? I have accepted I should have checked all I asked is what I can do from here.

normanmark

barongreenback wrote: »

I do not expect to be spoken to like an idiot for not noticing a direct debit.
.

Not being funny but if you miss the fact that Tiscali haven't been taking money from your account for THREE years - what do you expect people to say? Whilst im sure Tiscali have their faults for not chasing up why they haven't been paid, you as a customer need to have some responsibility to ensure the payment is going as planned.

I agree with Al Mac, offer to pay half & do it in installments. Thats probably your best bet

Plusnet_company_representative

I'd ask them what the £1,000 is actually meant to be for.

Works out as £40 per month over two years which is probably a bit on the steep side for broadband and phone unless you have fairly hefty call charges.

wishing4amoneytree

To be honest, I check my bank statement every month and check what is going in and out. Although I would be likely to spot something going out that shouldnt be, I am less likely to notice something NOT going out? ( unless it was a biggie like the mortgage!)I think its easily done, you grab it look at it to make sure you're not too overdrawn and check for any unrecognised transactions and then get busy doing something else! :rolleyes:

I accept it is our responsibility though, I dont think that was issue here. I agree, I would offer to pay half as you are both equally at fault.:D