Changing ISP ??

carly

I am currently awaiting my MAC number from Pipex and am looking for a new Internet provider. I was very happy with Pipex for years until Tiscali got involved, speeds fell and customer service went out of the window. So who do I go with now?

I am not an excessively heavy user, but would like a reasonable download limit ( 30Gb or more ) to cope with the demands of BBC iplayer etc.

I could go with Sky ( my exchange is LLu for Sky and Talk Talk) and get 40 GB for £5 month which would be ace. However I am nervous about signing a 12 month contract and ending up stuck in a contract that i am unhappy with.
Is there a "cooling off" period or would I be able to cancel the contract if the service is unacceptable or fails to live up to promise ? It's not the actual speed which bothers me so much ( Pipex can only manage 1MB ,so I wouldn't expect too much if I had to stick to a BT line delivery) but I want a stable connection that is not dropping out all the time.
Or would it be safer to go with a one month contract with someone like Plusnet ( but then I'd never know what speed I could get on LLu equipment)

Also, I am happy with my current Netgear wireless router, is it possible to use this for Sky or would they insist I use theirs? Would they be able to tell if I didnt?
Any advice anyone ?? thanks in advance

rmjowen

I have just moved from Virgin adsl to O2 Broadband and couldn't be happier. You will need to find out if your exchange is LLU enabled and if it is, you could get broadband from £7.50 if you are an O2 mobile customer too. If you aren't it's £5 more a month.

They also currently have a 50 day money back guarantee which should be enough time to see if you are happy or not. I gave them a call before I signed up and they advised me of what speed I could expect.

I can't comment on other providers as I have not used them, other than Virgin adsl, which I wouldn't recommend.

PaulK_3

If you are unsure of moving to somewhere like Sky there is a 7 day cooling off period, you could in theory do what we did and take the lowest tier level to see how it runs on your line, if its good you can then upgrade to the higher tier, if its rubbish you need to get out within the cooling off period.

carly

rmjowen wrote: »

I have just moved from Virgin adsl to O2 Broadband and couldn't be happier. You will need to find out if your exchange is LLU enabled and if it is, you could get broadband from £7.50 if you are an O2 mobile customer too. If you aren't it's £5 more a month.

They also currently have a 50 day money back guarantee which should be enough time to see if you are happy or not. I gave them a call before I signed up and they advised me of what speed I could expect.

I can't comment on other providers as I have not used them, other than Virgin adsl, which I wouldn't recommend.

Thanks, I would love to go with o2 as i have an O2 contract but my exchange is not enabled at the moment.

tedsui

I'd be interested to know how long you have been waiting for to receive your MAC code from Pipex. I have been with them for BB and phone calls since February, worse thing I ever did! No customer services to speak of, and I have been challenging my statements for the last month, by e-mail, and getting nowhere! I have gone back to BT today for my phone calls,without reference to Pipex, and am wondering whether to bite the bullet and ask for a cancellation/MAC code also. Does anyone else have any thoughts?

normanmark

It'll take no longer than 5 working days. However don't assume that requesting a MAC means your account will be canceled. Always follow up with a letter of cancellation & a call to customer services advising them as well.

tedsui

One of the problems I have found is that you don't speak to the same person twice! Their e-mail system is like a forum page where someone picks up the thread and answers, I've had 2 replies from different people to most everything I send but never relevant to the original e-mail! Can they hold me to a cancellation charge for the remaining 7 months before they grant my MAC code? Is there any other way of getting a reasonable response from Pipex without paying for the phone call for the priviledge of holding on for 10 minutes before you get to talk to someone?

GoodRiddance

For the price Sky seems the best bet. Otherwise you might be able to get 24mb on Be There https://www.bethere.co.uk/
or try UKFSN who do a 1 month contract http://www.ukfsn.org/home/internet/adsl/maxallowance.html probably the MAX 30 package

normanmark

tedsui wrote: »

One of the problems I have found is that you don't speak to the same person twice! Their e-mail system is like a forum page where someone picks up the thread and answers, I've had 2 replies from different people to most everything I send but never relevant to the original e-mail! Can they hold me to a cancellation charge for the remaining 7 months before they grant my MAC code? Is there any other way of getting a reasonable response from Pipex without paying for the phone call for the priviledge of holding on for 10 minutes before you get to talk to someone?

I'm not on about emailing them. No one should email a provider with the cancellation notice. They should do it by recorded mail.

Yes they can hold you to a cancellation charge if you're cancelling your service before the end of the contract term.

They can grant your MAC at anytime but as above if you cancel before the end of the term then you'll be liable to pay the remaining months off or a cancellation fee.

carly

tedsui wrote: »

I'd be interested to know how long you have been waiting for to receive your MAC code from Pipex. I have been with them for BB and phone calls since February, worse thing I ever did! No customer services to speak of, and I have been challenging my statements for the last month, by e-mail, and getting nowhere! I have gone back to BT today for my phone calls,without reference to Pipex, and am wondering whether to bite the bullet and ask for a cancellation/MAC code also. Does anyone else have any thoughts?

I rang on Thursday and requested MAC. They said they would email it to me. No email was forthcoming. Yesterday (The fifth day ) they telephoned " to ask if i had received it", when I answered "No " they gave it to me over the phone.

I have given up with Pipex customer services since Tiscali took over, they don't know what they are doing and seem to tell lies just to get rid of you.....long story I won't bore you with.
I cant wait to leave.

MrsTinks

The ISP should always be able to give you the MAC over the phone if you request it...
When you call through to speak to customer services make sure you ask for a team leader... Or even better - ask to be put through to their centre in England if you've ended up in India or Manilla
Are Tiscali worse than other ISPs? Not really... I've had rubbish service with Talktalk and Madasafish and Orange so am now moving to Tiscali...