RE: Tiscali Broadband [Incident: 070913-001326]

Thank you for you email below.

I would wish to draw your attention to the fact that I also cancelled my

account by email in October 2005. However, your Sarah McRae informed me

that my account had not in fact been cancelled as =93We do not accept =

emails =96

it says so in our terms and conditions=94. I was told that =93I could =

phone in

and cancel my account or put it in writing=94. But not by email!

I would also draw your attention to the Unfair Terms in Consumer =

Contracts

Regulations 1999

Key Facts:

=95 A consumer is an individual not acting in the course of his or her

business or profession.

=95 A consumer is not bound by a standard term in a contract with a =

seller or

supplier if that term is unfair.

=95 Standard terms are those devised by a business in advance and not

individually negotiated with the consumer. They do not have to be in

writing but typically are found in the =91small print=92 on the back of =

order

forms etc.

=95 A standard term is unfair if it creates a significant imbalance in =

the

parties=92 rights under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer,

contrary to the requirement of good faith.

As a supplier of email and internet products it is unfair not to accept

correspondence regarding customer accounts - by email from your =

customers.

As such I a strongly wish for a refund to be made.

Yours sincerely,

DAVID FINNEGAN

STONEHAVEN

HIGH STREET

MEYSEY HAMPTON

GLOUCESTERSHIRE

GL7 5JT

Email User

+441285 850560

+447786 361282

_____

From: Tiscali Customer Care [mailto:Email User]

Sent: 14 September 2007 17:17

To: Email User

Subject: Tiscali Broadband [Incident: 070913-001326]

Dear Customer Recently you requested personal assistance from our =

on-line

support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response.

If this issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may reopen it =

within

the next 7 days.

<http://uk-tiscali.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/uk_tiscali.cfg/php/enduser/acct_l=

ogi

n.php?p_userid=3DEmail User&p_next_page=3Dmyq_upd.php&p_iid=3D=

997094&p

_created=3D1189702636>

Subject

Tiscali Broadband

Discussion Thread

Response (Dannielle Oliver)

14/09/2007 05.17 PM

Dear Mr FINNEGAN,

Thank you for contacting Tiscali Customer Support.

I am very sorry to hear that you have are deeply unhappy with our =

service. I

have checked you account and unfortunately the note dated 19/10/05 from =

when

you contacted our cancellations department advises that you were =

informed

you would be billed to term. You declined this and instead advised the =

agent

you would write to our Head Office and as a result of your decision to

decline the billed to term and cancellation no further action was taken.

However, you did not contact our Head Office and had no further contact =

with

us until recently. In addition Tiscali bill customers via a monthly flat

rate charge and not on a usage basis. As a result the charges you =

incurred

are considered valid and sadly no refund is due of any amount.

I sincerely apologise for the confusion and inconvenience.

Kind Regards,

Danielle Oliver

Tiscali Billing and Customer Care

Customer (David Finnegan)

13/09/2007 05.57 PM

Joanne Davis

Tiscali

PO Box 7206

Kiln Farm

Milton Keynes

MK14 6XG

DAVID FINNEGAN

STONEHAVEN

HIGH STREET

MEYSEY HAMPTON

GLOUCESTERSHIRE

GL7 5JT

Email User

+441285 850560

+447786 361282

13th September 2007

Re: Account U17YHMS553 / 1260435 Tel: 01285 850560

Dear Ms Davis

Following receipt of a threatening letter from your Debt Collection =

Agency =96

CARS, I spoke with Claire today 13th September in your customer services

team, and was informed that my account was =A379.96 in debt.

I was then informed that this was in fact incorrect as I had cancelled =

my

account by email in October 2005. Claire told me that she had read the

email and the notes and that a refund was due. She told me that I would

have to pay up until April 2006 as this would be 1 year from opening the

account. I was also told that a refund would be made to me for the =

payments

from May 2006 until May 2007 (the date when I discovered that Tiscali =

were

still taking payments from the Direct Debit.)

I asked for a phone call from a Manager (as I do not feel that Claire =

was in

any way to blame for the misunderstanding) and was called by Sarah =

McRae.

She informed me that my account had not in fact been cancelled as =93We =

do not

accept emails =96 it says so in our terms and conditions=94. I was told =

that =93I

could phone in and cancel my account or put it in writing=94. But not by

email!

I am writing to you to express my disgust with the way I have been =

treated

and charged. I intend to pursue this matter with the Trading Standards

Ombudsman and also my Solicitor if it is not resolved correctly. It is

ridiculous to continue to charge a customer after they have tried to =

cancel

an account =96 without contacting the customer. Clearly I have been =

charged

for a service from October 2005 which I have not had or used. Tiscali =

knew

this in October 2005. I have not used the account since =96 and assumed =

that

the matter was closed. But I have now discovered that I have been =

charged

ever since!

I am also writing to complain about the threatening letter sent by your =

Debt

Collection Agent.

I have tried today to cancel the account - and was assured by a lady =

called

Manju that this would happen. When I then contacted your payment section =

I

was told that the account could not be cancelled whilst it was =

suspended! I

was told that I need a cancellation reference number (which Manju did =

not

give me) and I have had to pay the account in full now so that I can =

cancel

it!! I have again contacted your cancellation department and cancelled =

the

account with a gentleman called Mohammed. Hopefully this cancellation =

will

work finally??!!. The cancellation reference is 757041 and the call was

recorded (16:00pm 13th Sept 2007 approx.) Please listen to the call if =

you

require any further information from me.

I have paid the outstanding amount in full - not because I agree with =

it,

but to stop any action being taken by you as I do not trust your company =

at

all.

I feel strongly that this sequence of events is entirely unreasonable. I

should not have been charged from May 2006 as this was the end of the

initial 12 month period =96 and you were notified in writing in October =

2005

that I wished to cancel. I feel that your cancellation procedured is

unnecessarily complicated and sneaky in the way it operates. (If I had =

not

rung twice today to cancel =96 my account would still be being =

charged!!!) If

you prevent customers from cancelling by making it difficult and =

complicated

=96 they will never come back.

I am happy to have paid the 12 months initial contract fee from April =

2005

to April 2006 but I wish to claim a refund for the months from May 2006

until Sept 2007 at =A319.99 as I having cancelled the account and not =

used it

=96 I do not feel that I should have to pay. This amount is 17 x =

=A319.99 =3D

=A3339.83.

Yours sincerely,

David Finnegan

Question Reference No070913-001326

Product Level 1:

Billing

Date Created:

13/09/2007 05.57 PM

Last Updated:

14/09/2007 05.17 PM

Status:

Resolved

Tiscali TV:

No