Leaving an ISP mid-contract

iCe-BLaZeD · 21 Mar 2007 at 18:27

Hi people,

so apparently when someone (who wasnt the account holder) sent an email (from a personal email address) which requested us to be upgraded to a new service within pipex, it somehow without account holders permission (only with the username/password included in the email nothing else) got the account into a new 12 month contract ... does anyone know how tricky it is to leave mid-contract and what fee's they can legally attach to us for migrating via MAC code and "prematurely" ending a contract which nobody agree'd to?

thanks for any help on the matter

Petros

Felix · 21 Mar 2007 at 21:08

The sign up fee plus the remainder of the contract period.

iCe-BLaZeD · 21 Mar 2007 at 21:23

Felix said:
The sign up fee plus the remainder of the contract period.

so there is no way around paying in excess of 200£ ? when it was pipex who initiated a 12month contract without contacting the account holders? is that how it works out it seems highly illegal to me that they can get away with this type of thing

i mean, if someone contacted them to re-grade the account from a personal email address (gmail) with only the username and password of proof of any link at all to the account, shouldnt they of contacted the account holders via phone since their username/password may have been compromised?

Felix · 21 Mar 2007 at 21:25

Have you called Pipex? How long has it been at this new package?

iCe-BLaZeD · 21 Mar 2007 at 21:33

Felix said:
Have you called Pipex? How long has it been at this new package?

it has been about 5months since the package was regraded... nobody was informed (bill payer/account holder) for 1) authorisation to regrade / 2) agreement to a new contract for 12 months...

as in the only contact was between the person who asked for the regrade (on a personal email address using the pipex username/password to say which account wanted the regrade) and pipex

iCe-BLaZeD · 21 Mar 2007 at 21:35

Felix said:
Have you called Pipex?

sorry didnt see this, yes they were called today after countless emails... this is when they stated that the remainder of the contract was to be paid out , shortly after ringing back they said "half" the remaining contract to be paid back, at which point we told them to rethink again and contact us

:thanks for the replies btw

Felix · 21 Mar 2007 at 21:36

Don't you check your monthly bills and wonder why the amount has changed? Did you not received the regrade emails or letters? How did this person get the password?

iCe-BLaZeD · 21 Mar 2007 at 21:40

the person who asked for the regrade was the son of the account holder, he has the password/username since he manages the router sometimes ,

the amount before on the 1mbit service (yes i know its expensive) was the same as the PipexMAX package, and since that date (when it was regraded) the payments to pipex stopped due to a mix-up (apparently) at pipexs end.. we have sorted those payments out now but until today we didnt know why the payments stopped back then in december

Beerbaron · 21 Mar 2007 at 21:49

as far as pipex are concerned the account was regraded with the necessary details.

Felix · 21 Mar 2007 at 21:53

So no chance of cancelling it within 14 days of regrading!

I think you will find it very hard to argue your case since Pipex do send out letters as well as emails detailing the regrade so there would have been warning.

Make the son pay, though even if you don't want to stay with them it is probably best to otherwise you will waste £200. The only option is to phone Pipex and speak to the highest ranking person and make them see the issue.

Infact ask to speak to Dominic Crolla.

iCe-BLaZeD · 21 Mar 2007 at 21:58

Felix said:
So no chance of cancelling it within 14 days of regrading!

I think you will find it very hard to argue your case since Pipex do send out letters as well as emails detailing the regrade so there would have been warning.

Make the son pay, though even if you don't want to stay with them it is probably best to otherwise you will waste £200. The only option is to phone Pipex and speak to the highest ranking person and make them see the issue.

Infact ask to speak to Dominic Crolla.

Ok, well.. thanks for all the replies it has been helpful. To avoid confusion, yes this is his (the Overclocker's account) which I am using to post on now that he posted the original post and some details in between since he knows more about what happened.

Irregardless I dont think we'll be wasting that money even if Pipex has been nothing but a nightmare for the last year or so... I dont recall see'ing any regrade e-mails or letter but I do also expect that to be the case.

iCe-BLaZeD · 21 Mar 2007 at 21:58

Felix said:
Infact ask to speak to Dominic Crolla.

Just looked up who that is, really?

Felix · 21 Mar 2007 at 22:04

Go for the top!

You have 2 issues to complain about:

1, The account was upgrade by someone other than the account holder
2, The service is very poor - Especially with their FUP and traffic shaping

The 1mb package was £23.44, the max package is £24.99...theres £1.50 difference...

iCe-BLaZeD · 21 Mar 2007 at 22:08

ah, I thought it was the same price, anyway as the payments stopped when it was regraded (for what reason exactly is still unknown fully to me) I didn't notice. The re-payments for this have only just been sorted out.

As to the "regraded" without consent, i thought this too. but as Beerbaron says

" as far as pipex are concerned the account was regraded with the necessary details."

do you think that is true? this is all the information pipex needed irregardless to where the request has come from

Noxis · 25 Mar 2007 at 11:29

iCe-BLaZeD said:
the person who asked for the regrade was the son of the account holder, he has the password/username since he manages the router sometimes ,

the amount before on the 1mbit service (yes i know its expensive) was the same as the PipexMAX package, and since that date (when it was regraded) the payments to pipex stopped due to a mix-up (apparently) at pipexs end.. we have sorted those payments out now but until today we didnt know why the payments stopped back then in december

Sorry you are screwed its your own fault. Giving out your username and password is giving them permission to make changes to your account. This is not the ISPs fault it is yours. Suck it up and pay the charge or stick with contract.

Berserker · 25 Mar 2007 at 17:00

Precisely. As far as the ISP is concerned the person with the username and password *IS* the account holder and thus has the right to request any change. This sort of thing is the result.