... and now, just for good measure, Pipex has set the debt collectors on to me!

I have been in contact with Pipex who are now Tiscali. Having received various emails forwarded from their customer "care" there is one name that comes up alot. Her name is Alexis Race, im not too sure what she does but she definately works for Pipex Finance.

Ive called the number on the email chain which I dont think was suppoed to be there and left various messages today. Lets see what happens!!Note: This post has been moderated. Please read the moneysupermarket.com Community Standards and Terms of Service. Cheers.

Further to my post in february, i thought that things couldn't get worse with PIPEX. But - you guessed it - my troubles were just beginning.
The stable connection that had taken months of phone calls to Pipex' 'customer services' to achieve only lasted a few weeks. I spent many more hours speaking to technical support to little effect and eventually decided to migrate away. I thought that I would finally be free of the pain and frustration associated with being a PIPEX customer but the nightmare continues....
Issues i have with PIPEX:
1. Due to the disruption with my sevice i was told I would receive 2 months free internet sevice, i only rceived one.
2. On cancelling my service i was charged a cancellation fee being a further 6 months service charge. This is outrageous considering that Pipex were unable to provide the servive (i.e. a stable broadband connection) that i was paying for.
3. Having cancelled my connection and having received a MAC code, i received a letter from PIPEX welcoming me to their service! They continued to bill me until i cancelled my direct debit. I have had an email from customer services saying that the money owed wil be refunded but nothing has happened.
4. I have spent over 150 pounds on the phone to PIpex' customer service in a vain attempt to get my connection working. i have written 3 times to PIPEX (recorded delivery) outlining the issues I have experienced but have never received an apology. i will now be taking up the issue with OTELO.

Postscript:
My new ISP is PLUSNET. They managed to sort out my connection problem within about 2 weeks. In contrast to PIPEX, their communication is superb. You can see (and contribute to) live updates of the progress of the fault if your connection is working. If your DSL is down they give you a free dial up connection while it is being sorted out. They text you with updates and - get this - they even RING YOU ! Calls to their helpline are free, available 24/7 and answered by people in the UK who know what they are doing.
So BEWARE PIPEX!! And BE AWARE that PIPEX = TISCALI = BULLFROG i.e. a company that is large and arrogant enough not to give a toss about the individual customer.

Just a note to all you mugs (yes, I include myself) who have spent fortunes waiting on the Pipex customer "NON" service 0871 telephone line for some totally unhelpful person to take a call.........well, DON'T DO IT ANY MORE!

Despite being told it's the only number you can call on - IT'S A BARE FACED LIE.

In future call on 02033028403 or 02033028404 or 02033028401 or 02033028402 or 020790611000

They'll probably still keep you waiting for ages , but at least you'll not be feeding the Pipex coffers at the rate of 10p per minute while they hold you on the line indefinately.

Finally, PLEASE DOES ANYONE KNOW THE NAME OF THE CURRENT MANAGING DIRECTOR OF PIPEX HOMECALL LTD and PIPEX INTERNET LTD? I get the impression they are changing so fast I can't keep track and Pipex staff will probably tell you they have don't have the slightest idea either.

Sorry, guys, but I don't think that Pipex Internet is a member of OTELO, so you can't take your complaints there. Instead, you have to use CISAS (http://www.cisas.org.uk/). Unfortunately, before you can take your complaint to CISAS, you need to get Pipex to send you a "deadlock letter" (good luck!) or wait until 3 months after you first raised a formal complaint with Pipex. Even then, CISAS is unlikely to award you compensation for the stress, inconvenience and wasted time that Pipex caused you. It may order Pipex to reimburse any losses that you incurred, as long as you submit proof of them. Sadly, it seems that Pipex can treat its customers appallingly and get off more or less scot free. In today's saturated UK market, telecoms companies are very concerned about their "customer advocacy score". In simple terms, this is based on customers' answers to the question: "How likely would you be to recommend XYZ's services to another person?" Word of mouth recommendation is now one of the key ways in which they win business off their competitors. So, make sure that you tell your friends, your colleagues, your family, strangers in the pub, anyone who'll listen what you think of Pipex Internet. If nothing else, it'll make you feel better!

Pipex belongs to tiscali. Their CEO:-- not that you should expect any replies....I have written several times ...nothing!

Mary Turner

Chief Executive Officer

Tiscali UK Ltd

20 Broadwick St

London

W1F 8HT

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What's the upshot? Have you resolved your issues with Pipex yet?

Have I resolved my issues with Pipex? ----- Well what do you expect? So far they have promised to call me back - all lies!! They said I should write to them with my problem and enclose proof of my losses and costs. I did that and absolutely no reply from them. I have phoned and was put through to customer services - no joy. The next time I was told it wasn't possible to be connected with customer services. I think the staff are told to lie to customers and field all complaints, to tell us anything just to get us off the line and otherwise ignore all complaints. I don't expect Pipex to do anything to put matters right, especially since their aquisition by Tiscali - and we all know how bad their reputation is.

So.......BEWARE PIPEX!! If you do contract them to supply any sort of service, don't expect them to fulfil their side of the contract. Even if they make mistakes, expect them to still want paying.

There's a subtle distinction between Pipex's Customer Services and Customer Relations departments. The former seems to be based somewhere like the Philippines, while the latter seems to be in Ireland (judging by the names of the people who work in each).

Contacting the former, by phone (0871 number), email or via the support website is just a total waste of time. Contacting the latter, by email only (customerrelations AT pipex.net NOT customer.relations AT pipex.net) because they don’t speak to customers, can be more fruitful.

I believe that my dispute with Pipex has reached a deadlock, which means that I should now be able to refer it to CISAS (an independent arbitrator) for help in resolving it. Pipex states in its published complaints procedure (www.pipex.co.uk/legal/customer-complaints-code-of-practice.php) that it will always honour the final decision of CISAS (www.cisas.org.uk). However, unless more than 12 weeks has elapsed since a formal complaint was raised, CISAS requires a "deadlock reference number" before it will consider the complaint, and Pipex is refusing to give me one. This means that I may have to wait a further 4 weeks.

Another avenue that I'm about to explore concerns Pipex's (Tiscali's) Consumer Credit Licence and the way in which it pursued me for the alleged outstanding debt (see www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf). I may be able to make a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading about unfair business practices. I'll let you know.

I have been having similar terrible problems with Pipex sending me messages galore that there is a problem with my account. I stopped using their services when I changed providers on 25.6.08. after many emails where I had infomred them that I was no longer with them, they have now also sent me NOTICE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS. and a demand for £128.00. CISAS said I should pay it to avoid further trouble, which I did, and then try to claim back later. I am not optimistic, as deaf ears seems to be Pipex's leaning.

Has Pipex been reported to WatchDog at all. Could Moneysupermaket help us all with that? - there certainly seems to be enough complaints against them!

I have joined up with Which? legal services as advised on this site (or on thinkbroadband) by another thread on Tiscali, the owners of Pipex. I think that is the only way I stand any chance of getting my money back.

All advice gratefully recieved

What was the rationale for the advice to pay up? It sems utterly absurd. You - the small individual - now have the problem of getting money from the large facely corporation. It seems to me they acted utterly in the interests of Pipex.

What was the £128 for? ISTR a long time ago, my isp charged me for the modem/router, but 'deferred payment' so it seemed free when I joined up. Of course, when I left several years later, they wanted the money.

I had similar advice from a legal helpline: pay the debt collectors to get them off your back (but make it clear that you don't actually owe the money), then concentrate on sorting things out with Pipex. I'm game for some sort of "class action" against Pipex with the OFT, CISAS, Ofcom, Watchdog, anyone else who'll do something, etc. Maybe we should combine our efforts?

I would urge anyone who has a genuine complaint against Pipex to register it with Consumer Direct (http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/). You can do this by phone or online. If you choose the latter option, they will call you back. When you speak with the Consumer Direct advisor, ask him/her to forward your complaint to Pipex’s Local Authority Trading Standards Service (use the company’s registered office address at London W1F 8HT). If enough of these complaints are forwarded, the Trading Standards Service will almost certainly be obliged to investigate. In addition, the Consumer Direct advisor will give you lots of useful advice about your rights as a consumer and your options for gaining redress. Do it now. Let’s get this ball rolling!

Thank you for this suupport and the idea of contacintg Consumer Direct - plan to do this as soon as I can.

I hope as many others who have been wronged or fear being wronged will also send a message to Consumer Direct - please lets make it a joint effort to show them they should not mess us about like this any longer!

Here to people power!

Thanks for the advice re Consumer Direct. I rang them streight away this morning, however they say they can't help. Not their thing. I'll try Trading Standards later and will keep everyone up to date.