I recently decided to change from BT to O2 broardband. After e-mailing BT requesting the MAC code with no response I rang them up speaking to a guy called Paul. After starting the conversation by requesting how I go about cancelling my BT as I wish to change my ISP I was put on hold. He then come back to the phone stating that my service would terminate in 7 days, at this point I requested to have the MAC code to which his reply is that I “could not have the MAC code as the contract is already cancelled”. In disbelief I questioned why he could not provide the MAC code to which I was told as I had said to cancel before requesting the MAC I was ot entitled to get it.

In my opinion this was a deliberate way of flaunting the guidelines set out by Ofcom to cause customers who wish to leave hassle. The stupid thing is that we currently have our landline from BT and were planning on keeping it…. Not anymore!

Moral of the story I guess is to always ask for the MAC code before you mention any intention to leave.

Not sure if this topic has been covered, but the whole MAC code releasing is set to change within the next year. Similarly to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) bringing guidelines RE: Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) within the financial/insurance sector, there will be new guidelines (heavily re-inforced and re-iterated ones) regarding the treatment of customers for things such like the release of MAC codes within an appropriate time. Watch this space...

I have broadband with BT. On Wed 5th March I was disconnected. I spent ages on the tech support number (not free) and eventually they said my accout was ceased. They could not say why. I had to call their sales number and put through various dept. and eventually they said I was disconnected due to a tech error and it will take 5 working days to reconnect me. I was told to call on Mon 10th March to check the progress. I called and after another long wait was told that Orange Broadband claimed I switched to them and I cannot be connected to BT. I have not switched to Orange - they used to be my provider before Sept 06 and it was hell switching from them to BT. It took 1 month, countless calls, emails (from friend's pc), even crying and screaming, all the time Orange and BT blaming each over and me having no access to internet but paying to both. It left me in a state of deep depression.

As soon as I heard BT mentioning Orange this Monday my heart went cold. I told BT I would not dream of switching to Orange. BT said all I had to do is get MAC code from Orange and they will reconnect me. I called Orange (not free) and eventually they admitted they never cancelled my account, they were still charging me and recently "upgraded" me which caused disconnect from BT. I got MAC code on Wed 12th March (after long calls and threat of legal action) and immediately informed BT. I spoke to several depts again and BT said I would be reconnected by 8pm on Friday 14th March on my old contract and I did not need to do anything else.

I called BT at 8pm on Friday as I was not reconnected and was told to call next day as their system was down. I called today and was told that they cannot reconnect me because Orange has not removed their tag. I called Orange and was told BT should remove the tag by using the MAC code supplied. I said, in view of Orange's record, I do not believe they could not do anything and asked them to remove their own tag. I was told to call on Mon 17th March as their tech dept does not work weekends. I came to my workplace to access internet and check what that tag is. I came accross new MAC code regulation which appears to mean BT should be able to remove the tag by using the provided MAC code.

I called BT and asked the to remove the tag themselves. This time I was told that they cannot use MAC code as it expired. I said I gave it to them straight away and it should last 30 days and also read out parts from the regulations. They seemed displeased that I knew the regulations. They also said it still was Orange's fault as the MAC code expired because Orange has not removed the tag before issuing it! I refused to budge and a supervisor was called. I had to repeat the whole story for the 15-20th time, he put me on hold for half an hour and then told me to call Orange as they gave invalid MAC code and request a valid MAC code. I called Orange and they said BT is stupid and I should change provider, they gave a valid MAC code and there is nothing else they can do. I said I need them to speak to BT direct but both BT and Orange refuse. Eventually Orange said that BT can call them while I am on the line and ask any questions.

I called BT again and explained Orange swears there is nothing they can do and the MAC code is valid. I was put on hold while the tech team spoke to the order management team and eventually they said the code was valid and I needed to call sales team and get reactivated. I called sales team who said they will place me on a new 12 months contract. I said last Wed I was told that I can remain on my old contract (4 months left) as I don't think I would want to renew contract with a provider like that. They said they will connect me within 5 working days and that no order was placed last Wed! I said I need to be connected faster - I was promised 2 days last Wed. Put through back to sales (had to give the MAC code and fukll story for the upteenth time). Then they told me I will be reconnected on 25th March. I said I cannot wait this long and can they put me through to a manager as I was promised last Wed to be connected by Friday. They hang up. I called again and was told they know nothing - on 25th I will get a new hub and broadband will be connected, that's it. By then I gave up.

I can genuinely sympathise .

The stress can be enormous :-(

I eventually got my migration sorted out by telling the Managing Director I would be visiting her home and giving the address to confirm . I had a valid MAC within 4 days (though later they still tried to claim money I didn't owe via an inept credit control system) . Took exactly 2 months to the day to get away from them .

It shouldn't come to that .

Really it shouldn't , but what can one do ?

Ofcom really do not give a toss at all . No help what so ever . Toothless .

Head to head is the only way it seems .

Forget the court system .

Even if you win at the County Court they still don't have to pay up and a windup notice is a bit of a pain to do , and expensive .

Don't try any legal option . Waste of time .

AOL

AMERICA ONLINE

These are the worst customer services I have ever delt with!

I ordered my MAC code on the 15th march and it's the 24th of march today, guess what - no code.

Try giving AOL UK a ring around 8-9am and if you're lucky you'll be put through to the irish call center, they are much more civilized and a nice woman issued my MAC Code over the phone, took around 5 minutes and recieved it 4 days later by email. I must say i was quite ready for a battle over the phone but it was fairly swift and easy. Gave o2 the MAC code straight away to make sure there was no hickups.

Black Cat sounds like a great ordeal you're having there, good luck on the whole thing. Hope everything works out in the end. I don't think i've heard a story which compares to yours yet.

- Anthony.

Further instalment in BT saga.

After the nightmare described couple of posts higher BT told me I would be reconnected by 8pm on 25th March. After 8pm on 25^th March I phoned BT again as I still had no connection. I was put on hold for 10 minutes and then told that the MAC code provided was invalid! I had to explain that they told me that story 10 days ago but then admitted it was a valid code after all. I said Orange would not provide another code and what was I to do? They said they did not know (and clearly did not care). I insisted on them putting me through to the department that claimed the MAC code was invalid. I was put through to 5 different people (total holding time 50 minutes) and had to explain the full story every time – the 5^th person hang up on me. I called again and eventually one lady asked me to repeat the MAC code and promised to get through to the right department herself. She put me on hold and some time later said she could not get through to that department and would email them. She said they would call me back within 48 hours. Right..............

As for AOL i requested a MAC from them, recieved it within 4 days, great, passed it onto my new isp only to be informed next day that the code was rejected by BT. So i phone AOL and explain the situation, only to be told that the code was valid and it was the fault of my new ISP as they did not know what they where doing, (unprofessional or what)? So I said please give me a new code over the phone now, i was told i had to wait until the code expired before they would issue another one, so i mentioned ofcom to them, i was then put on hold for about 3 mins and guess what he came back and said that the code was invalid and had never known this happen, so i got my new code over the phone and im now awaiting for the switchover to be completed, But if i had not stood my ground then i would have waited 20 days plus and that meant more money for AOL im well shot of them as they have become too complacent in a very competitive market

I am having the same problem. Pipex 'lost' my credit card details back in September. Eventually, after threatening to cut me off for non payment, they apologised only to find that it happened again 3 months later. I have been trying to obtain my MAC code since October without success. I have written 4 times, emailed countless times and rung. They charge 10p per minute for calls. I have lodged the complaint with OfCom but they seem unable to help me further. Has anybody any bright ideas? BT suggested putting in a new line! if I stop paying they will cut me off and I could be without broadband for 30 days.

Ofcom are a total waste of time . They just collate complaints but don't actually deal with them .

A phone number you could try is 0800 7817000 and play around with the options (maybe get sales to transfer you) or try the quality manager at adrian.friggens AT pipex.net (sorry Adrian for giving out the address but things don't seem to have improved do they ?) . Of course that could have been a fake name and email address they gave to deal with me . I dunno .

Don't move to Be Unlimited as your ISP . Really dire . Been disconnected 5 times today so far and it's an ongoing thing since early February .

Why are the British taken roughly from behind so often by their , usually foreign owned , supppliers ???????????????

Beggars belief :-)

Thanks Turning! That worked, unbelievable. I was given my MAC code over the phone after a very short wait.Meanwhile by post today I received yet another letter from Pipex, asking me to phone an 0871 number to 'discuss migration' .... I just hope that the MAC code works... the arrangement of letters and digits seemed to match. I shall warn anybody I meet not to join them - I can see that they have been taken over by Tiscali. If I had run into trouble my next port of call was going to be my local MP. Wonder if they have tried taking up the issue?

Don't get too excited about the MAC code , it may not work (though I hope for your peace it does) .

The aforementioned Adrian had to try twice (to my knowledge) before he could get one to work for me and that was with him testing and liasing with my new Isp .

I think trying your MP would be a waste of time as they'll just go the Ofcom route which will delay things even longer (civil service remember , they aren't here for our benefit , but for the benefit of "the system") .

A letter to the MD's home would work better I think . It's only £1 for their address .

My advice would be to stop paying the broadband supplier and let them try to sue you. As they've not supplied your MAC code within the required timescales, you've got a good defence.

Most people are scared of being sued, but the onus is on the complainant to prove they're owed money not on the defendent to prove they're not.

An outline of the legal process is:-

1. Complainant must notify defendent that he wishes to pursue a legal claim citing why he wants to do this and giving at least 14 days for defendent to reply.

2. Complainant then needs to lodge a particulars of claim with the court, citing which law's been broken and how much money is owed.

3. Defendent then has 14 days to say that they wish to defend the claim.

4. Complainant then needs to provide evidence to support their claim.

5. Defendent then gets additional time to present arguments as to why the claim is unsupportable.

6. If at this point, the Court believes there's a case to be heard they'll assign it to a particular track. For a broadband service, it would go to the small claims track. On this track, neither party has to pay the other's legal fees. The defendent also gets to choose in which area a hearing takes place.

7. At this point, a defendent can offer a part settlement. The complainant has to consider the offer.

8. If the case proceeds to a hearing and the complainant wins, the defendent will only have to pay the complainant's court fee (usually less than £150), if the award made against the defendent is higher than what he offered in part settlement.

9. The complainant then needs to enforce the country court judgement (CCJ).

This process is difficult to negotiate and should only be done if you are sure that you're owed money. In general it's best for a complainant to negotiate with a defendent a compromise even if he has concrete grounds for believing he's owed money. The courts take in to account how reasonable the complainant was before proceeding to court. e.g. if he uses threatening behaviour, refuses to negotiate and doesn't give reasonable time for a defendent to respond, this will be taken in to account when deciding the award.

If you let the Isp sue you then you don't get broadband for ages .

The rules over issuing a MAC , even though there is a financial dispute , are ignored by the ISP and Ofcom won't do anything about it . Bin there , done that .

After the credit card details get lost by the isp they HAVE actually provided a service , if only for the 6 days or so before they cut you off and you demand the MAC .

Therefore they will win the court case as you wouldn't have paid for those 6 days and , in the case of Pipex , the 30 days notice required assuming you have finished the initial 12 month contract period .

Being sued is a no win / no win scenario in this case and your good credit rating would be shredded .

turning:

If you let the Isp sue you then you don't get broadband for ages .

The rules over issuing a MAC , even though there is a financial dispute , are ignored by the ISP and Ofcom won't do anything about it . Bin there , done that .

The ISP has a choice of sueing you or handing over the MAC. I feel sure I know which the ISP wil choose.

turning:

After the credit card details get lost by the isp they HAVE actually provided a service , if only for the 6 days or so before they cut you off and you demand the MAC . Therefore they will win the court case as you wouldn't have paid for those 6 days and , in the case of Pipex , the 30 days notice required assuming you have finished the initial 12 month contract period .

Which is why you offer to pay for the service that you've used and any notice periods set out in the contract.

turning:

Being sued is a no win / no win scenario in this case and your good credit rating would be shredded .

As I've outlined in my previous comment, the legal process favours the defendent not the complainant, although companies would have you believe that it's the other way around. It's true that a company could give you a poor credit rating, but you can dispute this and it has to be investigated. If you offer to pay for what you've received, you've not done anything wrong. Realistically, the company would hand over your MAC before either starting a court claim or contacting the credit reference agency.