Pipex/Tiscali/Talk Talk/ Carphone Warehouse cancelation

I have been a happy Pipex customer since the days of dial up.

I have a 2M broadband connection for which I pay £33.99 per month (At the time it was their premium home service with unlimited downloads and low contention ratios)

I decided that I would upgrade to a faster (and cheaper) package and thats when my nightmare began.

To cut a long story short, very bad call center, very bad support, very bad customer service and so I have decided to cancel. ('very bad' was a fairly mild 'bad' word which was censored when I previewed )

I have finaly been told that I will be given my MAC code in 5 days and that

"When you receive your MAC, please pass it on to your new provider immediately as it will expire in 30 days. Your broadband will remain active until your new service provider has successfully migrated your service. If you or your new service provider does not use your MAC, you will remain an active customer of Pipex and will continue to be billed as such.
(Bold added to text by me)

Since you are outside your minimum term contract, you will not be liable for any termination charges."

What I would like to know is if they can lock me in like this if I choose not to use another ISP but just drop broadband? (I have another line with Be Unlimited at 15-17M connection)

Edited by deleted (Tue 23-Mar-10 08:26:08)

That is a standard term required by Ofcom so they don't cancel your broadband just because you're looking around. If you cancel your broadband there may be a BT cancellation fee and a new broadband installation fee if you take broadband again in the future. If you use a MAC to migrate these fees don't apply.

No, if you wanted to cancel the connection entirely, and end the use of broadband on that phone line, you would specifically need to tell them that -- it's a different operation to migrating to another ISP. (Oddly enough, Pipex and other "bad" ISPs have in the past cancelled broadband in this way when customers asked to migrate, but I'm sure it was entirely accidental and not "sour grapes" at all!) Just note that it would cost you a small sum to get broadband re-established on that phone line if you decided to do that in future, so be sure it's what you want to do.

As far as leaving Pipex goes, well, that's another ordeal -- once you've left them (either by migrating or cancelling broadband), make sure you cancel your Direct Debit with them and tell them, by recorded delivery, that you'll pay whatever's outstanding if they send you a bill. It's annoying, but they've screwed too many people in the past by "accidentally" carrying on charging them after they've left (or taking a year's worth of fees by DD), so don't take the risk!

Where does the BT cancelation fee come in? It is a BT line not a Pipex one. Pipex were only my ISP.

Surely it should just revert to the way it was if I had never taken broadband.

I said may because I don't know if BT currently charge a cancellation fee or not, or even if Pipex would pass that on to you. I guess the fee covers the cost of unscrewing your ADSL wires at the exchange.

See http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/news/bt-comes-under-...

I don't know the current situation.

edited to add: unfortunate that the example I chose is BT broadband. Google for BT cease charge.

Edited by deleted (Tue 23-Mar-10 08:53:44)

BT do charge a cancellation fee if one completely removes adsl from the line. As has been said you want to migrate to another provide, hence the mac code.

As you've now discovered you've been paying well over the odds for your service for about 6 years.

You will have to pay for a 30 day notice period which has now started and, as advised, it's best to cancel your DD as soon as you've migrated and settle any outstanding balance by another method. Don't provide card details if requested.

Also watch your bank account for the next few months to make certain that no attempt is made to reinstate the DD. It's also best to tell Pipex that you've migrated.

I am experiencing problems with cancelling my Pipex account as well. I cannot believe how horrendous their customer support is, won't bore you with the details but I have spent hours on the phone going round in circles. Eventually got a MAC and have moved, now Pipex/talktalk say I owe them £120 for 'early cancellation'! Has anyone else had this experience?

Are you sure the £120 fee isn't correct? If you have terminated the contract early the Ts&Cs you signed up to may require a contract buy out. Getting a MAC and migrating doesn't vary the contract terms.

No mention was made of a contract or fee when I rang (several times) to get a MAC. I can't see how I am tied into a contract as I have been a pipex customer for 5+ years.