Pipex Rant

[pegleg]

Hello all, I am new here on the boards. I am currently looking for a new ISP after feeling very let down by Pipex recently. Here's my story:

I first joined Pipex back in 2002 on the Solo 1000 package which offered unlimited downloads, free modem and 1mb speeds all for £23.44 a month. This was an absolute bargain back then and in all fairness I have never had any problems with the service, that is up until recently.

My issues began about 8 months ago when I was contacted by Pipex and told that as a loyal customer they would be dropping the price of my broadband to £19.99 as a good will gesture. This was then changed shortly after to an offer of doubling the connection speed instead to 2mb at the regular price of £23.44. I was pretty chuffed with the idea at first, however to this day I have never received that service and have remained on 1mb paying the same price. To add insult to injury recently I have actually noticed a drop in my regular speeds with my service dropping to 800k or so.

With these problems in mind and with the current competition offering such great prices I decided it might be time to depart to a new ISP. When reviewing those on offer I happened to come across Pipex's latest deals and to my disgust they are offering new customers an 8mb service to for £24.99, marginally more than I am currently paying for the below par 1mb!!!

So the next thing I do is to phone up to get my mac code, this was 5 days before my next months payment was due. When I explained the situation to the person on the phone I thought I might be offered some sort of incentive to stay, instead he just went right ahead and didnt hesitate to cancel it.

The final kick in the ass was the period I was left waiting for my mac code to be emailed to me. I was told it would be 3 days, a week rolled by and I didn't receive it, subsequently I was forced to pay for another month of Pipex. Upon ringing again to explain what happened customer services said they did in fact have my mac code ready and gave it me over the phone?

So, needless to say I wasn't very impressed with all this and so I just wanted to voice my opinion somewhere about it. Also I would like to hear if anyone else has had any bad experiences with them.

I am now migrating over to Eclipse Internet, a bargain at just £18.99 a month, 8mb with free Netgear Wireless Router worth £69.99 and first month free. Heres hoping that the service will be good!

[pedantic]

Your experience doesn't surprise me one bit. I migrated away from Nildram (owned by Pipex) over 2 months ago, bad service, underhanded business practices...the list is endless. When you migrate away to Eclipse, I suggest this won't be the last rant you have about Pipex. If you thought their service was rubbish, wait until they try to continually take money from you, long after you have left. Their billing system is amongst the poorest in the country, I'm still having to get money back from them, for what they owe me. Yet they insist it's ME who owes THEM.

I strongly urge anyone..........STAY AWAY FROM PIPEX ! And any companies they have their meat hooks into. You have been warned.

[skyblueheroes]

Been with them for 4 years with no problems at all.

[pedantic]

Originally Posted by skyblueheroes

Been with them for 4 years with no problems at all.

I'm glad you have a good service from them, just don't try leaving them.

[skyblueheroes]

Originally Posted by pedantic

I'm glad you have a good service from them, just don't try leaving them.

Okay I won't

[Xaccers]

Had a direct debit bounce last month, got a phone call from pipex asking for my bank details as they said they didn't have DD details at all.
I asked if I'd be able to set the date of when the payments came out, and the woman on the phone said I'd have to call customer services about that.
I thought it was strange that someone calling to set up a direct debit couldn't tell me if I could specify which day the payment should be taken, so I said I'd talk to the bank to find out what was going on and call them back.
Spoke to Barclays and they confirmed the DD was still set up.
As far as I know, Pipex didn't take any money this month, and haven't contacted me about it either.
I've got the money if they ask for it, but "free" internet kinda feels good


Never had an actual problem with their service though.

[scrotnig]

A lot depends on which bit of Pipex you're with. Rather like ntl was at one time, they are made up of many different companies that they have bought over the years.

For residential broadband there is "original Pipex" which is the company that used to sell "Solo" packages. Then there is Pipex Homecall, which used to be just Homecall, they bought that early this year. They sell a bundle of line rental, up to 8mb and anytime calls for £29.99.

Then you have Nildram, Bulldog and Toucan, all these are now part of Pipex.

All five of the above run more or less autonomously at the moment, though it is likely that will evolve over time.

The company is not a "bad" company, I always get good service from them, like any large firm they can screw up, it's best to try and get hold of someone senior to get it sorted out.

[Xaccers]

I was on Solo 1000, and also got an email saying they would be upgrading to 2Mbps.
Router is reporting 1152, speed test is reporting approx 800Kbps.
I've checked and the highest speed I can get on my line is a theoretical 1.5Mbps.
So it looks like they have upgraded me and the connection is at the max it can go on the line, and is running lower due to other users (so if you're on pipex in Leighton Buzzard, can you please stay off the internet? Thanks)
To get the equivalent package from Pipex, ie max I can go with unlimited downloads, I'd have to be on Pipex Max which is £24.99, more than I'm paying (or should be paying).

Pegleg, check what your max line speed should be, it could be you're in the same boat as me.
I'm thinking of changing to Tiscali when my contract is up, as they're charging less for 1Mbps than Pipex.

[pedantic]

Originally Posted by Xaccers

Pegleg, check what your max line speed should be, it could be you're in the same boat as me.
I'm thinking of changing to Tiscali when my contract is up, as they're charging less for 1Mbps than Pipex.

Tiscali are up for sale according to this article, so it may not be that cheap for much longer. There are a number of possible buyers, including NTL.

[Xaccers]

Oh well, with a bit of luck I'll be moving to Reading so I may have more options

[rossco555]

I am looking to move some elderly relatives from Onetel dial up, to a reliable but cheap supplier. Have been looking at the Pipex Mini service with anytime free calls for £19 per month.

Really don't want to switch if its going to give a lot of billing grief. Any advice/thoughts or experiences would be welcomed.

Rossco

[scrotnig]

Pipex overall is ok, and generally they have a good reputation. Obviously with any company some people have problems, but I'd sooner use them than Tiscali any day.

[parpenbhwarg]

Ugh, PIPEX! Unfortunately I moved from a serviceable area to a non-serviceable area and had to leave ntl after 14 months fantastic broadband. Requiring a broadband connection, I had BT enable my phone line and ordered up a slice of PIPEX.

Boy was I disappointed. The service at peak times was forever a problem. I suffered high latency coupled with packet loss when gaming, and had issues with slow browsing and downloads speeds due a to poorly implemented traffic shaping system.

Technical issues aside, I have also been at the hands of PIPEX's infamous inept billing system. PIPEX incorrectly charged me a cancellation fee when I moved (yep I moved again ) and also for a software package that I didn't want or ask for. This took no longer than 2 months to receive my refund.

Also despite setting up a Direct Debit on my bank account, due to errors with their system, they did not actually take money from it and then called me chasing the money asking why I have not paid.

I have managed to wriggle away from this poorly run "internet service provider" but it was a major uphill struggle.

The best way to deal with non-technical issues with PIPEX (i.e. Billing, disconnection requests, complaints etc.) I found (after numerous fruitless phone calls) is to write to them by Recorded Delivery.

My whole story is easiest explained by pasting the contents of a complaint & disconnection request letter which I wrote to PIPEX around a month ago. I warn you now that you may fall asleep reading the text below

I am writing this letter to complain about how PIPEX handle customers that move home and misleading information given to me by a customer service representative (CSR). To this end, the letter also explains my request to terminate contract.

I hoped that, similarly to all my other services, I would be able to notify PIPEX by telephone of my intention to move, supply the information required and my account be transferred with ease. Unfortunately this was far from the truth.

A telephone call dated 05/09/06 was made to request my service for username “xxxxxx” to be moved from a, b, CD12 3EF to a new address g, h, IJ45 6KL.

The female CSR (unfortunately I do not have notes of her name) informed me that my existing account would have to be closed and a new one opened.

My account went live on 24/02/06 which meant I had only run 6 months of the 12 month contract. By being assigned a new account I asked whether a new 12 month contract would be applied or if a further 6 months subscription would be sufficient to complete the 12 month contract.

This question was asked because – due to disappointing and unsatisfactory service – I was seeking to leave PIPEX after the 12 month contract expired.

The CSR answered that if I call in January to give notice of my intention to terminate contract, PIPEX would be able to look at both accounts and see that I have been a customer since February 2006 and therefore result in my request being successful. Oddly, I was offered 2 months subscription free because I owned ADSL equipment (odd as PIPEX had supplied me with equipment in February 2006 free of charge), yet this offer has not been applied to my account.

In a call dated 15/01/07 to "A Person" in technical support, I was told that I have regrettably been supplied false information and that a brand new 12 month contract stands from my new account live date of 26/09/06. "A Person" offered 1 months free service as a form of compensation which I have declined.

The reason for this is I would still like to leave PIPEX when my contract should expire, on 24/02/07. Due to false information supplied by the female CSR on 05/09/06 where I was either told to pay 6x £23.99 to terminate my contract early, or continue service for another 6 months with PIPEX, "A Person" informed me the cost for terminating contract now is 8x £24.99. By the end of February 2007 I will have been a customer for 12 months and therefore believe no fee should be charged at all.

The compensation offered is substandard considering I paid £23.99 on 29/08/06 for a months internet access, of which I only received 10 days. This is for the period 29/08/06 – 04/09/06 (xxxxxx disconnected on 05/09/06) and 26/09/06– 28/09/06 (yyyyyy live on 26/09/06). I am out of pocket here, yet have not received any pro rata refund.

As I live in rented accommodation it is perfectly possible that the landlord will want to move me out after my 6 month contract expires. If this was to happen, surely I will not have to enter yet another 12 month contract with PIPEX? I think that the moving process is totally unfair and absurd. When I called ntl to inform them I am moving, there is no new 12 month contract. If I call O2 to inform them I am moving home, again, there is no new 12 month contract.

I have been a customer since 24/02/06 and feel it is fair to request termination of my contract 12 months from this date.

As this will no doubt be disputed, should there be anything PIPEX wish to discuss with me, please do so in writing either by letter or e-mail. For reference my user names are “xxxxxx” (old) and “xxxxxx” (current).

Three days later I received an e-mail stating I was able to leave without charge and should e-mail them back to provide a date for disconnection.

Replying to the e-mail address that they sent this message from bounced, another e-mail address provided by a CSR bounced and when I did get hold of an address that worked (thanks Google), all that I got was an automated reply (26/01/07).

Nothing was said in over a week so another recorded delivery letter addressed directly to the lady who dealt with my case prompted an immediate response and my disconnection date was confirmed.

I kid you not that this morning (19/02/07), an e-mail has just dropped in to my inbox stating "[Pipex #xxxxxx] New Correspondence: PpIPEX ACCOUNT REF:xxxxxxx ". Ridiculous.

I'm now back in the hands of Virgin Media and am very happy to report that I have a 10MB broadband service which absolutely rocks no matter what time of day. 1.17MB/s download speed and a 11ms ping to Jolt? Nice!

[pegleg]

Hi folks, sorry it's taken a while to reply, just thought I would update you on my situation since my last post. I went through with cancelling Pipex and have since joined Eclipse but unfortunately there was one last sting in the tail from Pipex, they hit me with the dreaded hangover charge. True to many other people's experiences they attempted to continue charging me after I cancelled the service. I promptly contacted them via email and this was the response

"I can confirm that I have looked in to your account and I can see that you were charged after your service was cancelled on the 03/01/07. You were charged for your service until the 02/02/07, I have therefore set up a refund for £23.44 to be credited back to your account for the overcharge. The money will take up to 28 days to reach your account. Sorry for any inconvenience this matter has caused, please do not hesitate to contact us with any further questions".

So I am now being told I have to wait 28 days to get my money back which they unlawfully took from my bank account... pfff!

On a lighter note however my migration to Eclipse Internet ran like clockwork and I had no problems with the switchover. I am now recieiving connection speeds exceeding 4mb and so far it's worlds apart from the unfulfilled promises of Pipex.

[talklifeforums]

I am currently with bulldog(owned by pipex) but i would advise everyone to stay away from them, i have been trying to change my package for over a year now but they just wont do it, spoke to some good people in customer services and they cant really do anything but write to the main department, i mean how difficult it is to change my package to something else? it shouldnt take more than 1 day to change my package and its been over a year and i am paying £10 extra every month for this service, i want to move to bethere but the problem is that it would take around 2 to 3 weeks for me to transfer and in the mean time i would be without the internet(i am running 2 websites from home) so my websites are going to be down for that amount of time but yea stay away from them.