Hi emohawk69,

Today I received a threatening letter too, I am livid and have winged off the same very rude lettter of complaint to any address I have found on ths forum to executives of PIPEX. I fortunately cancelled my direct debit.We moved to Virgin and inspite of many letters and phonecalls PIPEX keep billing us for line rental. According to VIRGIN the fact that we took our existing number with us means that it is physically impossible for anyone else to provide the line( and bill you for it!) at the same time. I feel sooooo frustrated, noone actually reads my letters they just send a standard automated response. They even cut us off ( exept oh they couldn't because they dont own the line ........... )what a farce but as you say in this day and age you dont want credit agencies black-marking you.

If anyone has had success in getting PIPex to respond having read your letter help please.

Regards

Annie

Knowing the way Tiscali/Pipex works any approach to them only means more expence and heartache, but if you haven't already done so, try giving them a call on 01438 765494. It's supposed to be their High Level Complaints Department.

With my complaints, I even went directly to their Chief executive, Mary Turner, but was totally ignored by her. Obviously we're too low for her to even bother to reply - maybe even to bother to read our letters and emails. In my opinion it shows an uncaring and ignorant attitude to people. She obviously considers herself too good to be bothered by mere paying customers.

Don't give up! Although it took a lot of perseverance, I have at last won my battle with Pipex Internet. After suffering at the hands of Pipex's customer services/relations/care team for more than 3 months, I wrote a letter to Pipex Internet Ltd, The Icon, Lytton Way, Stevenage, Herts, SG1 1AL. I laid out all of my grievances and stated clearly what I wanted Pipex to do to remedy the situation.

A few days later I received a letter from a Richard Hemes, High Level Complaints Executive, apologising for the problems that I'd encountered and agreeing to meet my demands in full. These included refunding the over-payments extracted from me under threat by Pipex's debt collection agency and paying me over £200 in compensation. I received Pipex's cheque for the full amount 28 days later. The letter from Mr Hemes contained the phone number given above together with the fax number 01438 363880.

The compensation that Pipex paid me will cover the cost of my broadband service with my new provider, O2, for the next two and a half years. I call that a good result!

I've have also "persuaded" Pipex's debt collection agency to donate £50 to a charity of my choice as a "gesture of goodwill", after complaining to them about unjustified harassment.

So, fellow Pipex sufferers, it can be done.

Wow! Thank you. My struggle is in its infancy at the moment so I am trying to nip it in the bud before it gets out of control. Good to hear and thanks for the useful numbers and contacts.

Annie :)

Thanks, it does help knowing that you are one of many. Is their High level complaints Department in this country do you know? Their other customer help one isnt....I teach English as a foreign language so am tuned in to all manner of accents, the problem with these centres is their inability to cope when it goes outside their scripted options.....I feel more optimistic now, thanks again

Annie :)

Good useful information above;

A quick update for you all;

Pipex replied to our complaint after 6 weeks, but only by email. They say they will

1) be providing a full breakdown of the £200 supposedly owed - this was in response to our request in the final letter of complaint. They say this may take some time - well there's a surprise !

2) Pipex are not able to provide a written contract. Instead look at their terms and conditions and to look at their

3) The £125 re-connection fee incurred with BT for Pipex physically disconnecting our telephone is being looked into by their billing department - doesnt sound promising.

I'm continuing my complaint with OTELO, also saw a solicitor but he said the letter of complaint if he wrote one would probably dissapear. At least he didnt fleace me for £60 and send one with false promises!

The High Level Complaints Department is in the UK at the Stevenage address posted above. It is actually part of Tiscali UK Ltd, Pipex's parent company. The customer service/relations/care teams seem to be based either in the Philippines (Manila) or in Eire. In my experience, the agents in Eire are especially rude and confrontational, while the ones in the Philippines just don't understand you.

Good luck, and keep fighting!

SUCCESS !!!!!!

Hi I have just come home to an answer machine message, which stated that they were ringing in response to my letter to Mike Read The Chief Executive. They apologised, have assured me that the account will be wiped, a mistake had been made at their end and that my credit rating would not be affected. YAHOO !

I sent a letter, (amongst three others to Managing Directors etc ) to

Mike Read
Chief Executive
Pipex
1 Triangle Business Park
Stoke Mandeville
Buckinghamshire
ENG HP22 5BL

Good luck to anyone else struggling !

Annie

Perhaps they are getting better? Three months ago a debt collection agency-- CCS-- got in touch with me. I told them the story, send them a pile of paperwork. They said they'd speak with Pipex. Three months on no news. You'd think that three months is enough to make a decision? The deb collecters did not seem surprised by their clients failures--neither am I.

I am very glad I have got a real person to approach - thanks! I shall be writing to Mike Read - my Pipex fiasco is below.

I am absolutely incensed at Pipex! I have just come off the phone from them for the third time this year in relation to an overpayment back in June 08 - their mistake, which I am paying for via, my time, money and nerves, is still not resolved, I haven't had my money back and I sit here highly distressed because of their lax and even, I may say, dire so called 'service'.

In June 2008 they took 129.00 pounds from my account instead of what should have been around 26.00 pounds. I have since spoken to three different people at their call centre in Malaysia (in June, August and today again after no response) two of whom told me that I would get my money which they took for a drastically incorrect seemingly concocted bill, plus a credit for the call I was making, back into my account. This still hasn't happened and I have just come of the phone to be told they have 'credited my account with the money' - that is they hadn't paid me my money back into my bank account as they said they would in July and August, but had been taking my bill of monthly - which I requested them not to do, which they said they would not.

Two years ago I was overcharged by 90.00 or so and was credited it back into my bank account - the guy I spoke to was in a call centre in Britain. It seems these call centres and people working there in Malaysia are not competent, promise customers other than they dish out and are, across the board, totally wrong. I even now believe that Pipex have done this on purpose - I am now a jaded customer because twice Pipex have taken large amounts of money from me wrongly: Pipex I do not rate you one bit, you are a letdown.

I am about to write to them in Birmingham. I hope people read this and do not go to Pipex thinking they will be saving money - they will;

end up paying upfront for a year without being asked

have promises made to them by people in call centres in Malaysia who use the word 'escalate' meaning they have prioritised - people who in no way keep to their word or carry out what they say they will.

not be able to complain to anyone British who can understand their frustrations (I am not a racist either - my father was a black immigrant to this country)

and will in general be stitched up by a load of cowboys; that which the company Pipex are - cowboys.

Pipex I hope you someone is reading this because I intend to show you up for the so called 'company' you are.

I was back with Bulldog in March 2006 and on a business connection, all was well until Tiscali took over and they put me on a residential connection and phone package. I left them in September but having gone back over 2 years worth of bills, I had found out they had been over charging me on phone calls and they actually owe me £526.00 which I am chasing them for and have been since September last year. All I can say, I have read most of your posts and can sympathize with most of you.

Sadly I am still fighting them, but reading the posts has given me a few more angles of attack. If they had owed me over £750.00 I would have filed a bankruptcy petition against them even though that costs £615.00 it would have certainly cost them around £30-£50k in legal fee's plus I would have got my money back and more.

Now here is another point to help you out, just because the webpages are no longer up, you can find them at http://www.archive.org the internet way back time machine which has sites cached and you can browse them as if the were online. This is where I finally found all the telephone rates!

On another note, if Pipex do owe someone more than £750.00 and you can prove it beyond doubt. spend that £615.00 on a bankruptcy petition.

My story began in November 2006 and really escalated in May 2008 when they disconnected me for the second time. We were customers for twelve years, but very tired and frustrated by their lack of customer service and no BB for the month we left and joined Zen Internet without the requested MAC code.

I then put a complaint through ISPA online http://www.ispa.org.uk/ and eventually someone from Pipex/Tiscali high level complaints team did get in touch, however the problem wasn't resolved until I had put three complaints through. They agreed I hadn't received the service expected back in May 2008 and would refund nearly £300 . Even then I had to constantly chase them by email through ISPA during the summer, then at the beginning of December the promised cheque arrived which I banked pretty quickly ! My problems were over I thought and I thanked ISPA for their help, but a week later another cheque arrived for the same amount !

Then the letters and phone calls began inviting me to set up a direct debit because according to them we have an outstanding balance of nearly £300 ! To date three letters from John Cox Credit Control and 15 automated text messages to landline from Pipex regarding our homecall service have been received, including Boxing Day at 8.30 a.m, to contact them urgently or they will place a temporary bar on our outgoing call facility ! We have never had homecall only BB ;o)

They were informed by me through ISPA about the second cheque and after all they only need to cancel it, but no they prefer to hound their ex-customers long afterwards. Something needs to be done urgently.

Xepip:

A few days later I received a letter from a High Level Complaints Executive, apologising for the problems that I'd encountered and agreeing to meet my demands in full.

I'm not going to go into my protracted dispute with Pipex except to say that we all seem to be together in the same boat. For that I am grateful - I'm not alone in my struggle.

My latest Pipex correspondence was sent from [] and I need to follow his letter up with a short conversation. However, when I ring 01438765494 I'm asked for an extension number and there's no number on my letter. As I can't enter a number, my call is cut-off. Anyone got a way to circumvent this or maybe an extension number where I can reach him?

Thanks,

Spidey

Jason Lloyd:Curlew Before you send a load of letters off to the head people at PIPEX I'll try and help you out first. If my efforts draw a blank then feel free to send letters to these guys. Send me your email address and I'll liaise with you direct off this Forum - jason.lloyd AT moneysupermarket.com Look forward to hearing from you soon. Kind Regards Jason

sorry jason ,

first of all i really disagree with you ref not going to the top

i had loads of probs with BULLDOG / PIPEX they owed me well over £200 and they kept saying that they sent it out and i had to go to local radio station to warn people out there what s this company was like JUST to get my money back.

from me leaving them to me getting my refund was 5 months

i wish i went to the top but no i name and shame them on the radio and i had the finace director on the phone to me licking my shoes asking me not to go and shame them

but i still did because these companies TAKE your money so easy but when it's there fault and you want your money back they will hold on to it and make you wait and beacuse you don't have the money to take to court they get away with it

any way is pipex still out there because if so i think i need to put a little reviwe in for them - 100 / 10 there that good NOT

FEROUQUE

I've had two letters now from CCS, even though I have three recorded phone calls from Pipex saying that I owe them no money (they tried to charge me a cancellation fee when I didn't even agree to renewing a contract!)

I've written to head office as described here and also to ISPA; as well as the mysterious John Cox, the rude CCS and their 'solicitors'. What a gyp!

Pipex's services are overpriced, their customer service is ineffective and CCS and Pipex clearly do not talk to eachother.

CCS told me in no uncertain terms that they would not contact Pipex without proof that I didn't owe any money. Pipex said I wouldn't be getting a bill because I didn't owe them money and on and on goes the dance.

I've had enough of these rude idiots who can't even provide a basic service. Thanks for posting the advice here.

DO NOT GO WITH PIPEX.