Well, abit of good news on my side. After a month of nonstop problems with my connection they have agreed to terminate my contract due to techincal reasons(without charge).

About the Tiscali thing, i do believe the all customers on pipex run through tiscali, yes i was shocked aswell when i found out as tiscali seem to be the joke provider of them all. Ive learned alot from this anyways, you must always look into your providers background and read there terms and conditions carefully before entering a contract. Only thing that gets me is, what about these people who see do not have internet and only see the advert on tv, they do NOT get any info on terms and conditions.

Few things made me laugh, after a month of nonstop phoning them we recieved a phonecall saying your callrate is very high for this month to alot of 08 numbers( Pipex Technical Support), the months bill actually came to £120 which was refunded thankfully. Another thing that made me laugh was, i have hardly been using my internet as its unusable for the things i need it for, and they had the cheek to throttle my connection as they say i was a heavy user. Hmm, i dont download that much, all i use it for is gaming. So i asked, "how much bandwidth do you get to use before getting throttled for a week" i got told 1GB a week and if you go over that you get throttled for a week which means download speeds of 20kbs and an upload speed not even good enough for using voice communication programs.They only moniter your downloads from 6-11 at night (which is when most ppl use the internet as they work and this is not a business package).

So this so called "Unlimited Broadband" for most ppl(that work and only use it at night) is 4GB a week, nothing more in my opinion because try playing games/download when your connection is throttled.

Anyways, the big confusion for me is because pipex is buying over so many companys, i was with pipex ltd before and there service was great, when i wanted to go back after seeing the adverts on tv with big "PIPEX" letters i thought i was going back with same company, but it ended up i was joining PIPEX HOMECALL.

Ive got my cancelation now so im happy of that and im going for the BT Total Broadband package which has a monthly usage but in my opinion with connections getting so fast these days you are not going to get a stable connection on a unlimited network. Maybe a few bad things about BT on this site, but the way i look at is, if you have a technical problem with any other providers all they do is email BT so im hoping technical support will be much better going with the main provider.

Beautifulexpe

you seem to be saying your willing to try and help anyone on pipex homecall? i am and i will do anything to get out of this 12 month contract nightmare, can you do anything to help my case??

thanks

Tony

I want to get out of this 12 months contract. I started using pipex homecall 8MB broadband on the 14th of November. I can view web pages no problem, although some sites can be a are a bit slow to load. I was previously on a 2MB with a different ISP and i feel that i have not seen any real significant difference between 2MB and 8MB. My main issue is of course p2p throttling and p2p is the main reason why i went to 8MB hoping to download faster but unfortunately this is not the case, I do however notice a speed increase in the early hours of the morning, so i tend to have p2p running late at night/ early morning. I want to write a letter to Pipex but not sure how to write it. Help appreciated. Thanks.

PIPEX HOMECALL TERRIBLE SERVICE.

We join Pipex Homecall on 20/9/06 and they told us it would take 2 weeks for the move. After 3 weeks They didn't know that we have join then and when they would take over from the old supplier,on 5/10/06 we cancel the service even before it started.

After Pipex homecall toke over my Telephone line and broadband without our authorization some time around the 10/10/06.
We have made 3 phone calls a week since then, I have been passed around every department, and my problem still not resolve.
They put a TAG in my line and I can't get a broadband going since the 10/10.
I have send emails, register letters and till today haven't received nothing at all from Pipex.

I have Made Complains to everyone I can think off ( apart from George Bush) and no one can help me with this.
I Complain to Offcom, Watchdog, Trading Standarts and Pipex can get way with murder.

I want the TAG in my line to be release and get my Broadband going again.

My advice DO NOT JOIN PIPEX OR PIPEX HOMECALL THEY ARE THE CRAP OF CUSTOMER SERVICES AND SUPPLY OF BROADBAND.

Have you had any response to the complaints made to watchdog, offcom trading standards etc?

sezzika:Have you had any response to the complaints made to watchdog, offcom trading standards etc?

From everyone that I talk to, inc solicitors, no one could help me.
I didn't get a responce from BBC Watchdog yet (Complain twice) Trading Standarts only took my complain, they can't do nothing and the others they just sending me to someone else.

pipex_bugger

You say you only started using it on the 14th which isnt even 10 days ago, they will probably tell you that this is a stablizaion period but most likely you will still have problems after the 10days, im possitive you can still cancel as the 10 days are not up. I would look into that because in my opinion just get away from homecall. As i said before the throttling is terrible, 1GB a week is no good for anyone.

No, we have sign with Homecall on the 20/9/06 and after 2 weeks they didn't know nothing that we have asked to move to then, so I cancel the account EVEN BEFORE IT STARTED. on the 5/11/06.
I started having problems after the 10/10/06 when they took my line and put a TAG with they broadband.
I have been trying to solve this since the 10/10/06 and nothing I can do.

Hi Sara

I agree with you.
Pipex are the worst ISP around, and they all must be like this one here, you give them peanuts and you get monkeys.
They are full of excuses, that the Computer went down, that they had a problem with the system but honest they don't know what they are doing.

I work in a call centre and dare I say it, I work for Pipex Homecall. I know I don't work for Pipex but that doesn't stop their customers calling me and giving me abuse down the phone. If you do have a problem with them please call them direct and complain if you don't get any joy write in, you will get a reply but it may take a little while.

To all consumers out there who are disgruntled (myself included) please remember we (the people you speak to in the call centres) are humans and a lot of us are parents. We go to work to earn money to pay for nice things for our children, not to be sworn at and insulted. I do agree it can be very frustrating if you get the same answers over and over and nothing appears to be done, but please bear in mind that occasionally things that you ask us to do are not done instantly because sometimes thats not possible, sometimes things take a little longer than you want/expect.

I don't like to tell people what to do but a word of advise to get things done quickly and efficicently don't shout at the person on the end of the phone, don't swear and listen when they speak. If you co-operate with us we are more willing to help. I will help anyone who asks for my help but I will also disconnect a call when someone is abusive or insults me. Contrary to many customers comments I'm not actually stuipd I got a first at university and studied hard my for A Levels. I work in a call centre because I like to speak to people and help them. There have been many occasions where customers have started out pleasant but when I tell them something that they don't like they suddenly turn on you. Sometimes the customer is actually WRONG.

There is usually a process for complaints you can speak to an advisor first if they cannot help you can speak to a manager, further to that I would suggest writing to the company (by registered/recorded post) once you get a response you can deal with that from there if you happy wonderful, however if your not you can contact ofcom they will then advise you further.

I'm sure most people are aware of the bad press recently from a certain consumer programme, well I'm sure it would suprise many people that not only did we have people calling saying I watched tv last night now I want to leave, but we also had as many, if not more calling and saying I saw it and didn't agree. There are more satisfied customers out there than not but the ones who shout louder are more often than not those who are unhappy. It would be lovely to receive as many thank you notes as it would complaints.

I agree that the people in the call centres should not be abused. and every person I have spoken to with my complaint I have been polite and friendly, yet people like you seem to be very rare to find sometimes, not one person has given me honest straight forward answers, or even tried to sort my query.
I understand what you are saying and do feel for you, but the people in the same callcentres who just fob customers off are the ones I think should have to resolve queries.
I understand as I work in a shop, but I find most people do not have an attitude (although yes there are a rare few) the majority of people only become abusive when they have a lack of customer care.
I wish I could get hold of someone llike you within Pipex, especially at the beginning of this issue, as I may have been more flexible, but when they have had £200+ of my hard earned cash unnecessirily since 10 August, and they still cannot refund me I think it's beyond a joke.
this is when customer confidence becomes non-existent, and people become rude, when no amount of politeness and mild letters of complaint are taken seriously what is there left to do?
As far as i'm concerned now i will not see that money again and what will they lose? One customer - I doubt they care, so i'm afraid getting a bit sharp on the phone and writing to consumer programmes is the only line left............unfortunately it seems to be that the nice people who would be willing to help end up getting the abuse for the people that couldn't be bothered to help in the first place.
Just remember that the person who is being abusive has probably waited months and months for answers, explained their problem to about 20+ different members of staff, spent £s worth on calls to the company as well as time and energy worrying about it. Don't take it personally - a few people ruin it for others as always! :)

sezzika:I agree that the people in the call centres should not be abused. and every person I have spoken to with my complaint I have been polite and friendly, yet people like you seem to be very rare to find sometimes, not one person has given me honest straight forward answers, or even tried to sort my query.
I understand what you are saying and do feel for you, but the people in the same callcentres who just fob customers off are the ones I think should have to resolve queries.
I understand as I work in a shop, but I find most people do not have an attitude (although yes there are a rare few) the majority of people only become abusive when they have a lack of customer care.
I wish I could get hold of someone llike you within Pipex, especially at the beginning of this issue, as I may have been more flexible, but when they have had £200+ of my hard earned cash unnecessirily since 10 August, and they still cannot refund me I think it's beyond a joke.
this is when customer confidence becomes non-existent, and people become rude, when no amount of politeness and mild letters of complaint are taken seriously what is there left to do?
As far as i'm concerned now i will not see that money again and what will they lose? One customer - I doubt they care, so i'm afraid getting a bit sharp on the phone and writing to consumer programmes is the only line left............unfortunately it seems to be that the nice people who would be willing to help end up getting the abuse for the people that couldn't be bothered to help in the first place.
Just remember that the person who is being abusive has probably waited months and months for answers, explained their problem to about 20+ different members of staff, spent £s worth on calls to the company as well as time and energy worrying about it. Don't take it personally - a few people ruin it for others as always! :)

well said mate, agree with you completely, im just sitting tight, keeping an eye on this forum and hopefully something positive will come out in the end :(

Oh, i have experienced some random disconnections of my pipex broadband today. I have now emailed them telling them i wanna cancel, due to their slow download speeds. It clearly states on their website that the download speed is fast. I got better download speeds with 8mb connection that was in the day and night. Oh i used to work for Freeserve in a call centre so i know were your coming from. I have been as polite as i can on phone but i know if i call again i will start on one, that's why i've emailed.

oops i put 8mb i meant 2mb.

To the call centre person,

People get frustrated by the way the company is run in my opinion,mistake after mistake. Technical support should have people who actually have training on servers/boxes and know all the computer lingo(which most dont even know what a ping/tracert is. Pipex have not control over there own equipment from what it looks like, ive asked for interleaving to be turned off and i got an answer of "we dont have a button on our computer here to turn it off".

Another problem is they never update there customer profiles, everytime you phone you have to explain your problem all over again which gets really annoying after 30 phone calls. Ive actually got my broadband canceled due to technical faults and without any charges but still get calls saying "you have an open ticket about a problem on your broadband, have you fixed it" then we keep telling them that we have canceled and another reply from them "you know if you cancel you need to pay the full years bills". Why is it not in there database that our package has been terminated.

Just a few examples there of why people get frustrated, got to remember this is a business they are running and they need to provide a service which involves educated employees who actually know what they are talking about and have engineers who actually have control over the servers.I know pipexhomecall uses Tiscali servers so i think all they do is email them to get things fixed, but then if you look at it, basically you are with BT and Tiscali but giving money to pipex. Any problems you get all they do is email BT. And the end result always ends up in "BT has found a fault in your line and has been fixed"(not fixed) - "BT have not got back to us yet" - "Have you checked your pc for spyware" - "We are going to send you an email to do speed tests can you send back to us" (have sent you 4 of these already, why are they not in your database, AND the site you do speed tests from gives you faulty readings saying you can download at 32MB per second, which pipex say OH YOUR DOWNLOAD SPEED IS FINE).

Glad im away from them, never had service of this quailty from line quality to customer service, from ANY sort of company.The owner of the company is known to Watchdog and obvoiusly has bad work ethics. Cuts corners to save a buck.