We have been told by bethere that ultra-fast broadband, (reportedly up to 24 meg download) is now available in Armadale.

Toucan and Pipex homecall (Tiscali)

Our first broadband internet service provider (isp) in Armadale was Toucan. Toucan also hosted one of our websites.

We decided to change isp to Pipex Homecall (calls, line rental and broadband), informed Toucan of our intention and asked for a MAC (migration authorisation code) number. Toucan could not provide a number and the next thing we knew our broadband access had been cancelled and our website deleted.

Pipex Homecall told us that they could do nothing until we had obtained a MAC number, so we contacted Toucan again who told us that we could not have a MAC number as we no longer had broadband with them. Pipex Homecall informed us that Toucan retained the broadband link and that they were unable to provide a service until Toucan released it. The release took weeks rather than days. To cover this period we set up our site on a dial-up isp.

When our new broadband service started, we set up our website with a dedicated host Ware Welch Web Hosting, which has proved to be excellent in all respects. This put the website out of the reach of any isp.

Unfortunately, eventually, connection speeds with Pipex Homecall (a Tiscali company) became slower and slower until, at times, dial-up was faster. Occasionally, connection at any speed failed, and so we decided to move to TalkTalk and we informed Pipex Homecall of our decision in January. We moved across to Talktalk on the 5^th February and we were billed by Talktalk from that date. The new connection speeds showed a vast improvement compared to those experienced with Pipex Homecall.

The transfer was handled totally by Talktalk.

Our bill from Pipex Homecall for February was minus £0.16p, and so we assumed everything was settled with them and we cancelled our direct debit. A bill from Pipex Homecall then appeared for March for broadband, payment due 1^st April. When we rang them, they informed us that the charge was also there for February, but it had been hidden by refunds for line rental. None of this was indicated on the bill nor was there any other indication given that the charge was ongoing.

We were informed on the phone by Pipex Homecall that Talktalk had mis-sold their broadband service to us and that they should have obtained a MAC number on our behalf. They added that as Talktalk had not done this, contractually (although not in fact) we were still on Pipex Homecall broadband.

Then Pipex Homecall’s ‘machine’ came into play to extract the final payment with repeated, auto-dialled, out-of-hours phone calls demanding this final payment. This was unrelenting and we were told that it would not stop until we had paid. During this period we had a death in the family, and so such intrusive phone calls, during a bereavement, whilst trying to organise a funeral, were most upsetting.

On one occasion, we were told that we should send our final bill to Talktalk and, on another occasion, that we should send the final receipt to Talktalk for payment by them. We were told many of their customers were in the same position with Talktalk and had been given the same advice (ie many of Pipex Homecall’s customers were moving to Talktalk’s cheaper and faster unbundled service).

On the 11^th April, we received a letter from John Cox (Pipex Homecall Credit Control) telling us that Pipex had been forced to place a temporary bar on our outgoing call facility (ie on the line that we left on the 5^th February!). As we were then on a Talktalk line, this was nonsensical.

We wrote to John Cox at Pipex and we received a letter, dated 18^th April 2008, from him telling us that the final payment was for line rental and call charges! – something that we had not been charged for in the previous month as we changed lines on the 5^th February. Clearly, the administration at Pipex Homecall leaves a lot to be desired.

On the evening of the 24^th April, we received another phone call, this time from the New Zealand out-of-hours call centre demanding the final payment to close our account, otherwise an administration charge of £25 would be added and the debt passed across to a collection agency.

Under protest and exhausted by the harassment, we paid this final demand of £5-92p and, as we had done previously, informed them that we would publish an account of our experience.

The lessons appear to be:

• Always obtain a MAC number when changing supplier and read the small print of your contract carefully.

• Do not waste money on phone calls trying to rectify problems. Always try to do it in writing.

• Do not believe anything that an internet service provider tells you on the phone unless they are willing to put in writing. What is put into writing may also be incorrect, but at least they cannot deny what is printed.

• Do not tolerate poor connection speeds from your isp.