3096Pipex UK ltd [London]
Total claims:4Hounding by Pipex March 2009no30/05/2009

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

This company changed from Toucan To Pipex They keep asking us for money for accounts that are non exsistent ie I had no telephone with them and a broadband that did not work, down all the time, spammed and lousy speeds. I wish to claim £900 in lost sales and £50 (4x £50) in out of pocket expenses.

We are both in poor health and disabled. But have been bombarded with robotic telephone calls and letters threatening to bring in debt collectors etc. If they continue as pensioners we shall have no option but to call in birminham police to stop this stalking. Broad band users beware of this ISP. They will try too hound you into submission but dont give in report them to the ISPA, police, watchdog, your mp. Give back what they give you and charge them for your time. In our case (similar to bank charges for a letter) we demand £50 per reply as per our out-of-pocket-expenses dealing with such charlatans practising "sharp practices" example keeping people tied up to their premium lines. Dont ring em' just report them. If you need more proof just put Pipex Credit Control Pipex or automated phone calls from pipex into your search engine and watch those complaints stack up. Avoid this crooked outfit like the plague! Is nobody taking notice of this outfits antics. We are, and will outline more details to interested bodies at the end of June 2009.Pipex have been informed of this if you have had similar problems do the same. They need closing down for the publics sake.

Note: This post has been moderated. Please ensure you read the moneysupermarket.com Community Standards and Terms of Service before posting. Thanks

Just an update on my situation. I ended up writting to every tom, dick and harry at Pipex, including proof of how I closed my account, proof of telephone calls to them, proof of my new broadband provider etc etc. Everything they needed. Sent it all recorded delivery and they said they never received it. However, they asked if I could email this proof so I scanned away and did that. Finally after lots of emails back and phone calls, they have confirmed in writing and email that my account is now closed and the outstanding balance cleared. WOOOHOOO.

However, when I check my out email address with Pipex, its still active and today I received a new email from Pipex saying my new monthly bill is ready. Utter useless idiots. Still, i have emails and letters saying that its all sorted so thats a start.

OH MY GOODNESS HOW RIDICULOUS ARE PIPEX!!!!!

I moved two weeks ago and Pipex have been asked 3 times to disconnect the service. They have disabled the line but somehow still managed to leave the line connected. PlusNET (who are Fantastic in every way) can't connect me back up until Pipex have disconnected the line. Customer Service at Pipex just cut you off when you try to speak to them. WHAT A RUBBISH COMPANY. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE EVER USE THEM. Despite having cancellation references, Pipex are unable to disconnect the line.

I just don't know what to do now - no landline - no broadband. This debarcle is almost as bad as the rubbish I had with The Post Office Home Phone service. I am so fed up I could cry.

DianeH

Just an update from my position on March 31st.

My daughter suggested I should write a letter rather than e-mail (I gave up telephoning when I realised the cost in time and money).

I printed a dated selection of the conflicting messages I had been receiving, and sent this with a letter which I asked them to regard as an official complaint. I had two weeks with no correspondence from them. Bliss!

I then had a letter from Fergus McGloin of customer relations, which seems to be fairly convincing that it has finally been sorted out, though I cross my fingers as I write this.

Perhaps old-fashioned snail mail is the answer? I certainly hope so.

Good luck to all fellow-sufferers.

allul

It's crazy how many people have had such differing messages from Pipex, some about accounts that don't even exist! It's like being stuck in a revolving door with them. Shudder.

I had another phone call from Pipex - from a chap called Jason in Customer Care (I think). He was picking up on my e-mail to Customer Care (which was just a CC of the e-mail to Watchdog) to check on how the resolution was coming along. I told him I had already spoken to a lady from Tiscali High Level Complaints (THLC) on the phone and had a letter from Pipex... He confirmed that I would be getting a cheque for 30-odd quid, as promised by THLC. The letter though, that's weird - it doesn't actually say HOW I will be getting back the £80 line rental refund + £30 goodwill thing. Strange, eh? I might write back asking for a statement of my account for the last six months, and ask him to clarify if I'll be getting a cheque, or what. Account credit is no good now that my account no longer exists (so Pipex say)!

The Pipex chap who phoned sent me a confirmation e-mail of what we talked about in the phone call, which did actually arrive, but I didn't get a callback phone number for him - just his ID number. He apologized, which was nice... The thing is, the people I speak to do seem to be bothered that people are angry/sad/irate - the problem is that they have to work within the company's crappy system to get anything done.

Does each Pipex department have about five databases, each one containing different account details for each customer? Seems like it... Still waiting for the cheque by the way. Hope it materializes!

Linus, I reckon get your formal complaint in to Pipex now. If you get to a point where you want CISAS or someone to arbitrate, you have to have been waiting for a response from the ISP for twelve weeks. Don't forget to bring in the ISPA - it's relatively easy to file a complaint via their website.

Just an update on my situation. After emailing Pipex Customer Care to complain and inform them that my account has been closed since November, I received a reply from Charry Sable and Paul McTernan. Charry Sable asked me to provide evidence of the following,

How you cancelled your Pipex service.
Evidence of the request (if written).
The date and time of your request.
(If Verbal) the name of the agent you spoke to.
Copy of your first bill from your new provider
Any other details you feel are relevant to the claim.

So this I have done, recorded post of course. I showed the date I phoned Pipex and cancelled with my BT statement. The letter from Pipex saying they are sorry I am leaving and providing me my MAC code. The date I phoned their advisers and the name of one of them. Plus my first staement from Sky and the confirmation letter saying i have joined Sky broadband.

Paul McTernan confirmed that my account has been closed (Not convinced) but that there were charges still on the account and could I send a copy of my first invoice from my new provider so he can investigate these charges further. So I have sent, recorded post, all the same details to him and to Charry. I have also sent the same details to John Cox at Credit Control who likes to send the threatening letters and to Gary Rodgus, head of customer care at Pipex's Hertfordshire address. gary was the one who sent me the orginal letter with my MAC code.

Hopefully, one of these people will be able sort out the problems. If not, then i will take it further and put an official complaint in.

Well allule, you can rest assured that you are definitely not alone! Just google "pipex appalling" or some such phrase and you'll see just how many people are being hassled by this excuse for a Company.

As for leaving them to it, there is the danger that they will contact debt collectors, as they have done with many people, and that does affect your credit rating. My husband kept telling me to ignore them but I didn't want my name blackened in any way so I kept on. We are in the fortunate position, at our time of life, whereby we are not interested in credit but there are many people more vulnerable who are being bullied by these morons. I have recently received an email from them acknowledging the fact that I had reported them to ISPA and that their High Level Complaints department were now dealing with my case. God help me! If that department is as competent as the rest, I'll still be complaining this time next year!

Don't, whatever you do, start to telephone them. It's a complete waste of time and will cost you a fortune. Write to them and email them and keep copies of everything including their replies (if you get any!).

Good luck.

anniep09

I have just found this thread - and I thought I was alone! Though make me think that resolution is unlikely. Obviously my saga of conflicting messages from 'customer relations' and the credit department would add nothing new, I do have two variations to add. Firstly, I have never had a Pipex account. I closed my Toucan account before the takeover, and switched to Plusnet (thank goodness). I also switched my landline to them. This has not stopped Pipex from claiming that I owe money on this non-existent account, or from informing me that they have barred outgoing calls because of non-payment. The second novelty is that, after receiving yet another demand, this time for £26, on Friday, I got a cheque for £13 over-payment on Saturday. All this on a non-existent account.

As they are not able to interfere with my service, I would just wait for someone, eventually, to sort this out. My only concern is that they might take some action which would affect my credit rating.

I shall follow this thread with interest, to see if anyone finds a way of getting sense out of this company.

Well, here's the next chapter in the saga of Pipex and Me. Today, after registering yet another strong complaint via their website, I received this email :-

Response (Anthony Marren)25/03/2009 03.52 PM

Dear Mrs. *******
Thank you for your email, the contents of which have been noted. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience, which may have been caused as a result of the issues that you are experiencing.

With regards to your e-mail, I can confirm that the outstanding balance has been cleared on your account. I have requested our Billing Department to inform our Debt Collections of this.

Once again I apologise for the inconvenience caused.

Kind regards,

Anthony Marren
Pipex Customer Relations

Guess what, I don't believe a word and I am sick and tired of their so-called apologies. Here was my reply :-

That's all very well but I have been told this many times before and nothing was ever carried through so I find it very difficult to believe a word you say. This case should never have gone so far and I am still waiting for the £10 cheques that was promised by Paul McTernan on 3-3-2009. I have put up with your incompetence since June last year and actually, I strongly feel that a lot more than £10 is due to me. That amount barely covers the lengthy and pointless phone calls I have had to make and certainly doesn't compensate me for all the distress your total inability to resolve any problems has caused. I am not withdrawing any complaints I have made to any authority until I have actual proof that you will never again chase me for money that I don't owe and have compensated me for all the trauma I have suffered. I would like that proof in writing from your Credit Control office in Birmingham and preferably from the infamous John Cox himself. Your Company is very good at assigning his signature to all the unnecessary threatening letters that they send out so let's see if they can put his name to an apology and assurance that I will never again hear from him.

We'll see whether or not this is the end of the road. Even if it is, I am still infuriated by the 9 months of hassle I've had to contend with and at the moment, I'm disinclined to let it rest. They are treating people in this appalling manner all the time and so far, seem to be getting off scott-free. I suppose I'll calm down eventually but it will take time. I'm sure I'll be back.

It's crazy that there are so many ways to contact Pipex - you'd think that would be a good thing, but really it leaves you with no central point of contact for, well, anything. And of course our old mate John Cox has his own special addresses and phone numbers for Credit Control. And if you phone them up, the only thing they can do with your account is take payment from you - they can't action waivers, put accounts on hold or indeed much that's useful. Although one guy I spoke to there was a total champ - he checked into my account with Customer Services and even unexpectedly rang me back to apologise. It didn't really solve much, but he deserves some kind of award!

I sent letters to three postal addresses:

• Birmingham / Customer Services - got a response

• London / registered UK office - no response

• Welwyn Garden City / complaints dept., or as it's now called, "Customer Care" (also, this address as given on the Pipex website doesn't agree with the Royal Mail database, so you may have trouble sending recorded mail there) - no response

There are even two e-mail addresses that look deceptively similar - customercare and customerservices at pipex dot net - but at least it's easy to just CC them all in with the BBC and that. ;-)

It turns out that Pipex responded to electronic communications much quicker than letters - even if you have to jump through the old hoop of complying with pesky Data Protection by e-mailing them all your details again straight away.

I agree with Ann, Linus - ditch the phone calls altogether and cane them with e-mails and letters. Going through your phone bills to tot up the cost of all the calls to Pipex is time-consuming, but can be satisfying - you can suggest they make you a "goodwill gesture" payment to cover the not-insignificant cost of actually speaking to them about their horrifying ineptitude. :-)

Hi Linus27,

I feel your pain, I really do! Don't bother ringing them again because that's just another way of them making money out of you. Write letters upon letters and send copies of everything you've received from them. Keep everything both on your computer and hard copies and then when the day of reckoning comes, you'll be equipped. Ha! Listen to me giving advice as though anything makes a difference. They will take no notice whatsoever but we've got to keep trying. Maybe someday, some authority will actually get off their a**e and take action. I would love to be able to get everyone who has had problems with this excuse for a Company together, find the address of their offices in Birmingham and storm it to demand action. I know it will never happen but I can dream. I'd like to strangle John Cox for starters, that's if there is such a person!

Good luck and you keep us posted also.

Hi anniep09,

I am having exactly the same problem as you. Cancelled my Pipex account in November 08. Got a cut off date from the chap at Pipex, got my MAC code in a letter from Pipex and paid my last Pipex bill which was the end of December 08. I then moved to Sky in December 08 and gave them my MAC code which Pipex provided. However, every month I get a letter from pipex saying I owe them money for my monthly bill. Spoken to 5 advisers who have all assured me it will be dealt with and yet the same letters and emails come through saying I owe them money. Its funny that they say thet they are going to cut me off my phone yet I never had phone with Pipex. Its also funny that they said in the letter with my MAC code that if I give this code to another internet provider, it means that I wish to cancel my account. Considering I have been with Sky now since the 12th December 08, do you think they realise that my account should be closed :)

They seem like the biggest bunch of idiots going. they have no idea what is going on. I am about to send my letter of and contact all the above mentioned at the start of this thread.

Hope you get yours sorted soon. keep us posted.

Hi Noahlovesnesquick and do you, by the way, love Nesquick I mean?

Yes, I will keep you posted with what happens next. I'm fully expecting someone to contact me yet again to assure me that everything has been dealt with and not to worry, I won't hear any more about it. I do realise, however, that once again, they will be lying through their teeth and I will be threatened by the infamous John Cox as has happened every other time.

I think that useless and incompetent are not strong enough words to describe this Company and I just wish that I could get the message across to the rest of the British Isles to never, under any circumstances, have anything to do with them. It's all very well telling people to vote with their feet but most of the troubles start when you try to either alter your package or try to leave. I just wish that someone with some clout would take them on and actually do something about all this. I can't believe that there has only been you and me who have contacted Watchdog about these morons and I know for a fact that there have been others who have complained to Ofcom and ISPA so why are we still suffering? I just thank God I cancelled my Direct Debit. At least they can't keep taking money like they do with other people.

Stay strong.

Man, there are just so many people who are having a terrible time with Pipex.

I hope you have some luck Ann with your report to ISPA. Filing a complaint on their website is pretty straightforward. Put in as many reference numbers, dates of phone calls etc. as you can.

The follow-up so far is:

1. THLC phoned me back a day after I spoke to them. They said my account was in credit to the tune of £32.86 and I would be receiving a cheque soon. This was confirmed in an e-mail from the THLC executive person - all I have to do is wait for the cheque I guess...

2. On the same day, I got home to a letter from... Tiscali High Level Complaints (postmarked Stevenage)! This referred to my complaint to the ISPA. It stated that Pipex were going to refund all charges associated with my (unrequested) telephone account, to the tune of about £80, plus a £30 "goodwill gesture" on top. Just have to wait for that cheque too.

So I got one response to the Watchdog/Times e-mail (the PR case) and another (seemingly separate) response to the ISPA complaint. Great... but why the freak didn't they respond to my formal letter of complaint (to their complaints address as stated in their T&Cs) back in January 2009? Weird.

(Jalexa - I guess my issue with CISAS was that you can't really speak with anyone on their phone number, and I left a message twice requesting an application form, and only received one a couple of weeks after calling. Even then you have to have received a deadlock letter or had 12 weeks elapsed since making your formal complaint. But maybe they have a lot of cases to deal with...? :-S)

Ann, please keep us up-to-date with your case... Perhaps I can help you with a contact number if you don't get anywhere with the ISPA. But hopefully that will stir some kind of response at Pipex HQ!

You certainly did have a lucky break although I wouldn't rule out hearing from them again. It was two months after I cancelled that they started hassling me. Before you decide to sign up with Tiscali, which means that you would have to speak to the same people on the same 0871 numbers, I would read about them on the various forums on the web, including on this website. It just may put you off.

I changed to Sky for broadband and calls, leaving my line rental with BT. It's not the cheapest option perhaps but so far, touch wood, I've had no problems. Mind you, that also means I haven't had to contact Sky for help but there is a very good website for all things Sky so I would probably try them before ringing.

Good luck whoever you choose.

Ann