Ex Pipxers Beware

[bob_s]

Just received an email from pipex, which has thanked me for signing a contract for pipex as service provider.

This is obviously not the case.

I have let them know by email and my direct debit is still canceled.

Just to all the other ex pipexers out there you should be aware.  I dont think its being done out as a dirty tactic rather done because they are incompetent, but the result if I was not aware would be the same.

Anybody else who left in the last month should be aware.

Could somebody also confirm they wont go and move my connection back to their equipment??

[Simon]

I think they would have to have received a MAC code from your existing provider in order to do that, Bob.

[bob_s]

A quick call to idnet confirmed I am an idnet customer    And as such without a mac code I cant be moved back

So with the direct debit canceled I just await a reply from my email to pipex to confirm its just an admin error.

[Lance]

So with the direct debit canceled I just await a reply from my email to pipex to confirm its just an admin error.

I wonder how long that will take them!

[Rik]

Should be sorted by Christmas... 2010.

[Malc]

Optimistic 

[bob_s]

To be fair to pipex they did reply to my email requesting information about the cancelation

See below, note the price for phoning them at the bottom, lucky they replied to the email, as I would have been spitting feathers to paid 10p/min to speak to them.

=======================================================


Dear Sir

Thank you for your email

I can confirm to you that your account is cancellation pending and will be fully cancelled on the 22/02/2008.

If you have any further queries please don't hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards

Victor Chiwashira

Customer Care Email Team

Pipex Internet

Phone: 0871 222 5550
Fax: 0871 222 6373

Calls charged at 10p/min from a BT line or calls charged by Pipex at 5p/min. Calls from mobiles and other providers may vary.

[Rik]

I'd have switched to fax.

[Barndog]

Thanks for the heads up Bob, i left Pipex a few weeks ago so will keep my eyes peeled just in case!

[Sebby]

Pipex are disgraceful when it comes to things like this. We all know their system don't work properly, and they have a habit of sending out automated nonsense. If you don't get anywhere with Pipex directly, going through the ISPA always worked for me in the past.

[Lance]

One off the things I like about online banking is the ability to cancel a direct debit in seconds. saves hoping for the bank to act on a letter!

[Simon]

Indeed, Lance.  I don't know what I'd do without online banking now!

[Rik]

I started with online banking in 1986, HOBS from the Bank of Scotland, on the Prestel Service. I made £75 that year from switching money to and from a linked high interest account. I've never looked back.

[Noreen]

I also use online banking, love being able to pay bills in the comfort of my own home at any time of night or day.

[Rik]

It's great, isn't it, Noreen. It saves the banks a fortune, of course, but I do like the control.

[Malc]

Another online banker here.

It's great for us, especially when sending money to the Philippines, so much easier than the days in the 1990's when I had to make appointments in tthe bank to send money to Lani, before she was here.

And in them days the bank used to charge £30 per transaction.

[Inactive]

And in them days the bank used to charge £30 per transaction.

Mine still does Malc, ( HSBC ) well I think it is £20 and a terrible exchange rate.

[Malc]

I BGC it to the Allied Bank of the Philippines in London which is free, as it's just like a DDR.

Then they transfer it to Lani's sister's account in the Philippines and it costs £5 for any ammount, and there is no more commission.

[Inactive]

Thanks Malc, that is interesting.

When I bought my place in Spain, I used one of the larger currency exchange places, no charges, and I got the commercial rate of exchange.

I have now started to use a Nationwide Flex Account and I use my card at any Spanish Bank's Hole in the Wall, no charges and a fantastic exchange rate for me, all other banks have rip - off exchange rates/ charges.

[g7pkf]

Thanks Malc, that is interesting.

When I bought my place in Spain, I used one of the larger currency exchange places, no charges, and I got the commercial rate of exchange.

I have now started to use a Nationwide Flex Account and I use my card at any Spanish Bank's Hole in the Wall, no charges and a fantastic exchange rate for me, all other banks have rip - off exchange rates/ charges.

Yep me too but if Nationwide ever did start charging i woul look at the post office apparently they do the same as nationwide.

[Rik]

Full circle, back to the original Girobank concept.

[Inactive]

Yep me too but if Nationwide ever did start charging i woul look at the post office apparently they do the same as nationwide.

Thanks for that, I hope they are better than their miserable currency exchange rates.

[Si]

I use online banking, and indeed online services for all my utilities. Saves a load of paper - but I wonder how I'm going to cope the next time someone needs proof of address and asks me for a utility bill....!

[Rik]

You make a good point, Si, one that at least one member has already encountered. With the changes in the way we pay our bills, companies are going to have to adjust the forms of identity they ask for.

[Inactive]

I also use online banking, but insist on paper bills for that very reason, apart from the fact that companies are saving a fortune using the " green umbrella " without passing much on to their customers.

[Rik]

I agree with you on that, In. They use the emotional blackmail on us, but neglect to mention (or share) the huge savings they make.

[Si]

Although I caught something on Radio4 this morning with half an ear that sounded like BT offering free evening and weekend calls if you move to electronic billing? Although as I was wrestling with a 16-month-old and a flannel at the time I may be mistaken...

My energy supplier knocks a fiver off a year for going paperless - so I suppose that's a reasonable amount given the processing and postage costs for 4 second-class letters a year.

[Malc]

I'm with Powergen, and like with IDNet there is the option to download and print off an invoice if you need it.

Also they offer a discount if you do this.

[Rik]

BT, I think, now give £1.50/quarter for paperless billing, though they didn't initially, iirc.

[Si]

Yes, you're right, I found the detail on their site - new rate for DD & paper-free from March. Although it's actually £1.50 a month, which is quite reasonable....

[Ann]

Calls with BT are already free evenings and weekends aren't they?  Or 5p for connection and an hour is then free or something.  I think that's it anyway.  I'm only on the plain ol' line rental deal.

[Inactive]

I never know with BT Ann, they change their pricing structure as often as I change my pants.


( That's about once a quarter ).

[Rik]

Is that US-style pants, or UK-style, In? I'm just working out how far away to stand.

[Malc]

Which pants, under or outer

[Simon]

BT, I think, now give £1.50/quarter for paperless billing, though they didn't initially, iirc.

I thought, initially, BT were charging extra not to have paperless billing.  Or was that just not to have a direct debit?  Dunno, haven't been with them for years.

[Lance]

They were charging more for not having a direct debit.

[Simon]

How can a company fine you for not allowing them to debit your bank account as and when they like? 

[Lance]

Something to do with it costing them more to process non DD payments, they claimed!

[Sebby]

It's because it's less work for them if you pay by DD, so they give a discount for paying by this method. The discount must be less than the amount they save by not having to do the work.

[Si]

As a Credit Control manager (NOT for BT I hasten to add!) I can confirm that customers who pay by DD are a fair bit cheaper to administer. Theoretically you don't have the additional chasing letters/calls required for late payers, plus you can improve monthly cash-flow as everyone on DD will, by definition, pay bang on time. As money comes in via the BACS system it also simplifies allocating the cash to accounts, as opposed to cheque payments, and from a supplier point of view is generally a good thing.

Of course as soon as a DD bounces then it's all blown out of the water as you're behind the game and need to spend extra resource recovering the unpaid amount and trying to secure future ones.

Don't forget the direct debit guarantee is quite powerful for the customer - if you tell your bank a payment has been taken that is incorrect in any way the bank must refund you immediately and then take it up with the supplier to recover the money.

Right, I'll stop now - I'm boring myself! 

[Lance]

Thanks for that Simon!

[Rik]

DD rules Rule.

[Inactive]

They do...they do.. 

[Malc]

I'll second that