Thanks for the advice. I have done the same as you in sending a copy of the letter to CCS on the advice of the person i spoke to at CCS last week, as you say this person was far more helpful than anyone i have spoken to at Bulldog/Pipex in the last year. It has now been a week since i sent the letter though and surprise surprise i have not heard anything. I will leave it until the start of next week but then i suppose i will have to phone Pipex again, although as you suggest it may be easier to just phone CCS directly.

Thanks

Just a general point really. I believe that pipex require CPA's for their monthly payments, that is payment through a credit card account. I strongly advise no-one to use this method of payment as it cannot be cancelled like a direct debit. So this means if you have a problem with any supplier using this you will keep paying even if you would rather not!

It's time these cheap tricks were banned.

Hi Raptor,

It all seems to be sorted out now for me but I had to go about it a bit of a funny way.

When I sent a copy of my letter to Pipex I also sent a second copy, with covering letter to CCS, asking that they keep the letter on file and provide a copy to their client if necessary.

It turns out that Pipex have proved utterly useless since their latest takeover and CCS seem to be understanding of this. I never seemed to be able to contact the right people at Pipex and no matter what letters were sent to Pipex they were never answered. CCS were obviously in contact with Pipex directly so they took the complaint and passed it along, so ultimatley it was CCS and not Pipex that provided the desired customer service and solved the problem.

The excuse I got for the cancellation not being processed was that the cancellations team had moved offices around March/April and many of the cancellations requiring a manager to authorise just hadn't been done.

From what I have been told by Pipex staff, there is a postal re-direct used for all incoming mail to Pipex which causes a 3-week delay in letters actually being read. Something to do with them being re-directed, scanned and then delt with electronically from that point on. Not sure how this complies with their own policy of acknowledging letters within 2 days, dealing with the complaint within 10!

With any luck CCS will help you get this sorted out. When you call Pipex don't take no for an answer, don't accept a callback request just dig your heels in and speak to the manager - they'll do everything they can to fob you off but eventually they do give in!

Hi Adam,

I read through your post with great interest as i am in a similar situation with Bulldog Pipex. I got a letter notifying me of legal proceedings this week, my full response letter i have just sent to their head office is below. I would be very interested to hear what happens with you and in a way i am glad i am not the only one who this terrible company are messing around! Let me know how you get on.



Letter i sent to Pipex head office:

Yesterday I got a call from my old landlord telling me that I had received a letter at [my old address] notifying me of legal proceedings. Concerned I went round to see him and collect the letter to find that it was from Commercial Credit Services on behalf of Pipex Internet - Bulldog. I also found two other letters addressed to me from yourself dated 10th and 24th April informing me I owed you £183.15. To say I was surprised about this is an understatement seeing as I have not even lived at this address for over a year. Also I have been in contact with your company several times since I moved out, repeatedly explaining I have been billed incorrectly to which you agree and then still keep trying to charge me. The full story dating back to May last year is as follows.

I had been with Bulldog for about two years and as I was moving house at the end of June 2007 I decided to cancel my subscription. After checking the contract to see that I had to give 30 days notice I phoned your customer services department at the end of May 2007, explained the situation and asked to cancel. After being transferred and put on hold for a few minutes I was told that this had been processed and it would be cancelled by the end of June, therefore I thought no more of it. I then moved out of [old address] and in mid July received a standard e-bill when as far as I was concerned I had already paid the last bill and only owed you for June’s phone calls. I phoned your customer services department again and was told that you had no record of my cancellation request and I would have to cancel it again. After being transferred I went through the cancellation process again and was told it would be cancelled in a month’s time and that it could not be done sooner. Therefore, despite me giving the required 30 days notice, I was expected to pay for 1½ month’s subscription when I was not even living in the house I was being billed for. I sent a letter to your head office outlining my unhappiness about the situation to which I received no reply.

Then the following month I was amazed to find another payment had been taken. I called customer services and explained everything again and was told it had been cancelled and there must be an error on the system. I was assured the error would be corrected and no more money would be taken from my account but as I was quite annoyed they suggested that if I wanted to ensure no more money would be taken I should contact my bank. After speaking to my bank they advised me to setup a chargeback to refund the money you were wrongly taking from me. It is also worth noting at this point that when I explained the situation to the person at the bank they asked if this company was Bulldog Broadband by any chance, so I am obviously not the first person to have this happen to them. I have since confirmed this by having a quick look on the internet and finding several stories about Bulldog/Pipex similar to mine. Following this the money was refunded back to me by my bank and you finally stopped taking payments from my account, therefore I thought it was finally over.

However I was wrong because then in November out of the blue you decided to take £183.15 from my account and as the chargeback period had ended this transaction went through. Not only did I find it completely unacceptable that you would just take money from me like this, but I still have absolutely no idea where this figure came from because even if you were charging me for the 3 months you originally billed me in error for it would only come to about £100. I contacted my bank again and this time they advised me to setup the chargeback again as well as change the number of the card so that you could not keep doing this. I also phoned customer services once more and again explained everything, informing the man I spoke to what action I had taken with the bank. He acknowledged this and I was again told it was a mistake with the system and the balance would be cleared.

Next, in March, I got another e-bill informing me that I owed you £183.15. At this point I had lost my patience with your company and simply emailed the customer service department explaining everything that had happened because I was not prepared to phone up again to wait on hold and hear the same thing I had already heard countless times. Within this email I included my email address and mobile phone number for you to get in contact with me if you wanted to sort out the balance, but I did not get a reply or a phone call. Instead you seem to have sent repeated letters to an address that you know I do not live at and have now started legal proceedings without any warning. I have contacted your customer service department again today and have been advised by your representative Jaya to send a letter to your customer relation department.

I hope this detailed explanation of my situation lets you see how angry I am and how completely unacceptable I find this. Please can you explain what is going on and why you are taking legal action against me when you have incorrectly billed me after I cancelled within the terms of the contract back in May last year? Also why, when on several occasions I have phoned up and agreed with your customer service staff that I do not owe you anything, do you continue to try and take money from me? I will be seeking legal advice myself in the next few days as I have all of the paperwork to backup my claims including credit card statements and copies of letters and emails I have sent you.

I have sent this letter via recorded delivery to prove you have received it and have also sent a copy to Commercial Credit Services following their advice when I called them earlier. My current address and telephone number are at the top of the page so there is no reason for you not to be able to get in contact with me.

I await you comments on this matter.

What can I say about Pipex other than that they are quite possiby the worst company I have ever had to deal with. I have no idea how a company can continue to operate the way they do.

I had a contract with Bulldog/Pipex at one address, I changed address and was told by pipex that wouldn't be subject to a new contract period. However when I came to cancel the service I was sent a bill for early cancellation. So after 3 seperate phone calls to Pipex, with all their representatives agreeing I don't owe the money and promising to correct the error I find that Pipex has issued a claim against me at court.

I can't seem to get a written answer out of their Customer Care team as it would appear they don't respond to letters despite their own policy to acknowledge receipt of letters within 2 working days. I'd be very interested to hear from others who may have had similar experiences in the past with this company.

Below is a copy of the latest letter I have sent to Pipex Customer Care (as laid out in their complaints policy) to which I have had no reply.

Dear Sirs,

You have instructed Commercial Credit Services to recover the amount of £189.06 from myself, which represents an early cancellation charge for Bulldog broadband service at [address removed]

It is my belief that I do not owe Pipex/Bulldog this amount.

In August 2006 I subscribed to a 15mb Bulldog broadband service, including line rental at [address1]. In September 2007 I called the Bulldog cancellations team as I wished to cancel the service at this address due to me moving residence. I explained this to your representative and I decided that as I had no issues with Bulldogs service I would continue to have internet provided to me at the new address of [address 2].

While speaking to your representative I asked if the contract would be treated as a rolling period and would I be subject to a new minimum term of service. Your representative informed me that I would not be subject to a minimum term of service as I was an existing customer and I was just being treated as a house move. I was given a new BDOL number and logon details for the connection at [address 2]. When I asked why I had been given a new BDOL number I was informed that this was purely for ‘administrative convenience’ and would not affect my status as an existing customer.

In February 2008 I again moved home to my present address. I called the cancellations team once again and informed them that I was moving home and that I wanted to cancel my subscription to Bulldog broadband services.

I was informed that I was still under contract for the remaining 6 months and that my cancellation would be subject to a cancellation fee. I explained to the representative on the phone that I shouldn’t be under any contract and informed them of the previous conversation (above) that I had had with Bulldog when changing moving into [address 2].

The representative I was speaking to said that she would have to put me through to her supervisor on the cancellations team.

The representative I spoke to introduced himself as Chris and informed me he was supervisor of the cancellations team. I spoke to Chris and related the full story to him. He then agreed that I was not liable for the cancellation fee and informed me that I would not be charged. It was agreed that I would pay for the due monthly fee for March 2008 as it was near to the billing period that I made the cancellation request.

I ended the call to Bulldog/Pipex happy that my query had been resolved. Bulldog would terminate my service at the end of the March billing period and I would not be charged any fee for this.

At the end of March I received an e-bill (a bill/statement sent via email monthly to subscribers informing them of the coming charges for the next month) which was asking for the amount of approx £250. This obviously wasn’t correct to I once again called Bulldog customer services. I spoke to customer services and related to them the full story so far. I was informed that as the cancellation fee was being waived by the cancellations team, I would have to speak to them as it was nothing to do with the customer services team. The representative wasn’t as helpful as you would expect but none the less I redialled and spoke to the cancellations team.

I once again related the full story to date to the representative on the cancellations team, explaining what had happened and asking to speak to Chris if he was available. I was informed that Chris was engaged with another customer. The lady who I spoke to was very helpful and assured me that the e-bill was in error and not to worry as I wouldn’t be billed, Chris would solve the problem once he came off the phone.

As far as I was concerned the problem had finally been solved. I had spoken with the cancellations team and had been assured that no further charge would be made. I was happy with that outcome and thought nothing more of the problem.

In May I received mail forwarded on to me at my new address from the current occupiers of [address 2]., enclosed within this forwarded mail were several letters from Pipex/Bulldog informing me that they had no payment details set for my account. This was interesting as so far as I was aware Pipex had no need for payment details from me. I was no longer a subscriber to their services, I had no debt to the company (as had been agreed twice by their representatives), also my payments were managed by debit card, a card that had not changed and was still valid (still valid to this day in fact). Enclosed with these letters from Pipex I also found a letter from Commercial Credit Services dated 12 May 2008 informing me that they had been instructed by Pipex to recover the debt of £189.06 and threatening court action for non-payment.

I was obviously annoyed at receiving these letters. I had twice called Pipex/Bulldog and been assured no monies were owed by me. Now I am receiving letters threatening legal action for a service long cancelled and a bill twice agreed to be in error.

I once again called Pipex and spoke to the cancellations team. After relating the story once again to the representative I was informed that the cancellations team couldn’t deal with this matter and I would have to speak to customer services. I redialled and spoke to customer services. Again I told the full story to the representative there only to be informed that they couldn’t deal with the problem, only the cancellations team could as it was only that team that could cancel the bill/fee charged. When I informed the representative I had just spoken to the cancellations team and they had told me to call the customer services team I was assured that the cancellations team were in error, only they could help me.

At this point I’m naturally frustrated, no matter what I do to contact Pipex/Bulldog this problem seems to persist with nobody willing to actually sit down and sort the problem. I feel like I’m being constantly passed around by people trying to avoid what is certain to be a difficult job.

So for the third time that day I call Pipex/Bulldog cancellations team. I immediately asked to speak to a supervisor to which I am asked to relate the problem to the representative who will try to help (I was not put through to a supervisor). I again told the now all too familiar story to the representative, who told me I would have to speak to customer services. I told the representative that I had already spoken to customer services and had been assured by them that the problem could only be dealt with by the cancellations team.

After some wrangling I was finally permitted to speak with the supervisor who did genuinely seem helpful, he introduced himself as Steve. After yet again relating the full story to date I was told that the problem could only be dealt with by the customer services team. I told Steve that I was literally ripping my hair out, I’d already spoken with them and they were saying that it was the cancellations team, the cancellation team were telling me the opposite. I just seemed that nobody actually cared about solving the problem, just more about who they could shift my problem on to. Steve apologised but told me that it was the customer services team I needed to speak to. I asked if Steve would speak to them himself and try to get to the bottom of the problem on my behalf. Steve agreed to do this and my call was placed on hold.

After approximately 10mins the female representative I originally spoke to before speaking to Steve came back on the line and informed me that the problem had been sorted out. The bill I had received would indeed be cancelled and I should receive a letter from Pipex confirming this. I thanked the representative and hung up.

I immediately placed a call to Commercial Credit Services and informed them of the conversation that I had just had with Pipex/Bulldog. CCS thanked me for my call and informed me that they had placed a hold on the account for two weeks while they confirmed this with Pipex and awaited new instructions.

At this point I thought that after all the trouble, the phone calls I had made and the assurances that I had from the Pipex representatives that this problem could finally be laid to rest.

After two weeks I received a call from CCS saying that they had not had any contact from Pipex regarding my account. I related the story again to the CCS representative who said that she would email Pipex with a request for clarification. I asked the representative if they could contact me when Pipex had responded. The CCS representative agreed to this.

I was called by CCS again in the evening on 16 June 2008 who informed me that they were in receipt of an email from Pipex stating that there had been no change in my account and that the monies of £189.06 were still owed. I informed CCS that this wasn’t the case and explained that I have contacted Pipex numerous times via telephone about this. I informed CCS that I would write this letter to Pipex and that I would also send a copy to their office.

Obviously I can’t believe that a company can be so inefficient and fail to communicate between departments as much as Pipex seem to be. My cancellation of services seems to have been one error after another, with ultimately me being in the firing line because of a series of errors and miscommunication/no communication between the various teams and levels of your organisation.

I have a few questions that I would like answers to:

Why have I been consistently lied to by your representatives?

All your representatives I have spoken to have promised to solve this problem, they haven’t and I am facing legal action because of this.

Why have I had to make multiple phone calls to Pipex over this issue when surely this should have been sorted out at the first call, at worst the second?

Why were my valid payment details removed from your system and by whom?

It is my suspicion that these were removed by your cancellations team to ensure I didn’t receive the bill for April 2008 when I called the second time to Pipex.

If indeed I was sold a new contract back in September 2007, why was this misrepresented to me by the Pipex representative?

Is it standard practice for your staff to ignore your customers queries, and deliberately fail to resolve them as promised?

Will I be contacted should this matter go to court?

It is my intention to appear in Court to dispute the amount owed and to show the Court that I have made all reasonable attempts to resolve the dispute with Pipex.

Will you remove any negative feedback placed upon my credit report, without penalty or detrimental effect to my ability to gain credit in the future?

I would like to receive written confirmation of receipt of this letter within 7 days. I would like this matter to be resolved within a further period of 14 days. It is my intention after this time to seek legal advice and report my complaint to OFCOM as I feel Pipex have consistently not met reasonable standards for dealing with complaints. I also feel that Pipex representatives have consistently failed to deliver upon their promises, and have at times been untruthful in their representation of the company,

I feel that I have taken every step reasonable to resolve the dispute. I have contacted Pipex at every juncture in which I have received correspondence and have been assured the dispute would be resolved at no cost to me. To say I am disappointed with the attitude and customer service delivered by Pipex would be a gross understatement.

Every time I have had to contact Pipex this has been done at my expense, often spending 30mins plus on the phone/hold to your representatives which is time I could have invested in more gainful manner. I am constantly tired of having to repeat the same story time after time to your people, and believe that your pursuit of the monies you believe I owe is tantamount to harassment given the attempts I have made to resolve the issue.

It is safe to say that I will not be using Pipex/Bulldog services again, nor would I recommend them to anyone.

I eagerly await your reply.