Jake Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I've cancelled my crap 1meg £24/month ADSL from Pipex and signed up with NTL cable broadband. Or rather I've tried to cancel with Pipex. I rang them to cancel and was told they had to send me a "MAC code" first and I had to give that to my new ISP. I said that I didn't think I needed a MAC code because I'm not having DSL, I'm having cable. The woman insisted that I did need it and she would email it to me. A week later no email has been received. So I rang Pipex back and explained it all again to a guy. He said I didn't need a MAC code, I just needed a cancellation email form which he would send me. He said I should fill out the form and send it back - and that would be it cancelled. That was 3 days ago and still no email received. So how the hell can I cancel with them? They reckon I can't cancel until I complete and return the form that they never send! I wish I was paying by direct debit because I could just stop the DD but sadly I'm paying by credit card each month. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeordieSteve Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Hold on... did they say they needed to send you a MAC address? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguin Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I've cancelled my crap 1meg £24/month ADSL from Pipex and signed up with NTL cable broadband. Or rather I've tried to cancel with Pipex. I rang them to cancel and was told they had to send me a "MAC code" first and I had to give that to my new ISP. I said that I didn't think I needed a MAC code because I'm not having DSL, I'm having cable. The woman insisted that I did need it and she would email it to me. A week later no email has been received. So I rang Pipex back and explained it all again to a guy. He said I didn't need a MAC code, I just needed a cancellation email form which he would send me. He said I should fill out the form and send it back - and that would be it cancelled. That was 3 days ago and still no email received. So how the hell can I cancel with them? They reckon I can't cancel until I complete and return the form that they never send! I wish I was paying by direct debit because I could just stop the DD but sadly I'm paying by credit card each month. Any suggestions? ntl! good choice mate trust me if its anything like i had you'd never want to go back to dsl again! - as for a mac code, ring the fuckers up and tell them you're passing on the info to ofcom if they dont cancel there and then problem solved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 Hold on... did they say they needed to send you a MAC address? No, not MAC address (that would be a good trick) it's a "MAC code" Something like Migration Authority Code I think they said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopite Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Sucks. Can't be of much help but i had a similar issue when i tried to cancel my phone with O2. Said it had to be done over the phone so i rang them and they said it would be done at the end of my contract 2 weeks later, number deactivated so i thought "great". 7 months later i realise that they've still been charging me line rental! Bastards. As it was before I had online banking etc i hadn't realised. They said I had no proof of the phonecall... how can i when they insist on doing it over the phone! Good luck with it dude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Hold on... did they say they needed to send you a MAC address? No, they said they were going to send a MAC code. Jake, why cant you just stop the CC payment (as opposed to stopping the DD). If you write and email to them informing them that you do not wish them to take any further payments, then they will have to refund you should they continue to do so. I would also contact your CC company and tell them that you are not going to authorise any further payments to them. The funny thing is, I had the reverse problem when switching from BT to Talk talk. BT gladly gave me the MAC code but they are only valid for 30 days and the numpys at TalkTalk kept on letting it run out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeordieSteve Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 phew! Apologies I was getting worried about NTL's helpdesk. Took me 30 minutes to establish there was no way to explain DHCP to BT's helpdesk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 Jake, why cant you just stop the CC payment (as opposed to stopping the DD). If you write and email to them informing them that you do not wish them to take any further payments, then they will have to refund you should they continue to do so. They're deliberately making it difficult for me to cancel. I can't see them accepting me cancelling my payment method. I would also contact your CC company and tell them that you are not going to authorise any further payments to them. AIUI, it doesn't work like that. Any valid card merchant can ring up and charge your credit card as a "Customer Not Present" transaction and there's nothing you can do to stop them. You can of course contest the charge with the CC but only after they've done it. I bet that's a right PITA too though. I might have to just report my CC lost and get a replacement card with a new number. That'll fuck Pipex up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguin Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 They're deliberately making it difficult for me to cancel. I can't see them accepting me cancelling my payment method. AIUI, it doesn't work like that. Any valid card merchant can ring up and charge your credit card as a "Customer Not Present" transaction and there's nothing you can do to stop them. You can of course contest the charge with the CC but only after they've done it. I bet that's a right PITA too though. I might have to just report my CC lost and get a replacement card with a new number. That'll fuck Pipex up. hehe - most fraud is done through customer not present - so if you ring up you're cc, they will deffo put a stop to that pronto - trust me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 hehe - most fraud is done through customer not present - so if you ring up you're cc, they will deffo put a stop to that pronto - trust me Yep - exactly right. Jake, if you inform the CC specifically stopping any payment to them then they will put a warning flag up for when they try to charge it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I'm almost certain you can stop a payment from a particular company, I've done it before when having a similar issue with a company. Good choice with NTL, their BB is superb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Hello hello hello...is there an echo in here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I've had a similar experience with pipex, I ordered for my dad at his old house 4 years ago. Phoned up to cancel, which supposedly took place. My dad being the old fogey that he is, wanted to stick with pipex, so got it transfer to the new house. 4 months later, he was being billed for 2 ADSL lines. Turns out they never did cancel his old line. He phoned the CC company and they refunded, and then pipex shut down his new line. After about a week of buggering about they admitted their mistake and all is good. Just get on the phone and tell them you simply want it cancelled, they should do it in all honesty. You don't need the MAC code, the MAC code is only used if you are transfering your ADSL to a different ADSL supplier, since you are going NTL, there is no need for the MAC code. NTL is a good service, and the customer service these days is FAR better. 10mb is currently the best going at £34 and I get GOOD speeds from it. Rumours of 20mb and 50mb trials are abound, and have been confirmed by an NTL engineer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Stopping payment will only prevent them giving the MAC address more. You need this before you can continue. Good news though...New Ofcom rules coming into force to prevent this kind of situation from this Feb. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,29390-2502722,00.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I had the same with Toucan (now with Orange) - you do need the MAC code (or whatever), but the new BB provider can get that for you - you getting it yourself just speeds things up a bit. The BB stay on the line with your old ISP until the new one takes over. Also when they give you the MAC - you must give this to your new ISP within 7 days (I was told) or BB 'drops off' your line and the new ISP has to set it up again... which delays things.. I would cancel the payment if I wasn't happy/not using it.. that's what I did with Toucan.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mawby Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 You don't need a MAC going from ADSL to Cable, so just write them a letter stating you want to cancel (and have tried and failed over the phone/email) and tell them that they are no longer authorised to charge your cc from date x and that should they have any outstanding sums after that date that they need you to pay for then they will have to send you an invoice and you will settle it by other means. Also tell them that any attempts to charge your cc will be treated as attempted theft/fraud and you'll report them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 This months PC pro have an article about ISPs making it very difficult to obtain MAC codes (ADSL migration only) so they can retain customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Also tell them that any attempts to charge your cc will be treated as attempted theft/fraud and you'll report them. Nice touch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Nice touch Unfortunately untrue though as it will have said in the small print that you allow them to take payment if outstanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Unfortunately untrue though as it will have said in the small print that you allow them to take payment if outstanding. That cannot be correct surely. If you notify in writing that you wish to cancel and specifically instruct them not to take money you must therefore overrule any previous agreement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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