Pipex Direct Debit Problem

Is anyone else having a problem with Pipexs' direct debits? I have been
having problems since the general incident lots of heir customers had in the
middle of 2006.
Since then I have changed banks and Pipex cannot seem to ask for the money
even though there are two mandates set up and there is money in the account.

Guy Smith wrote:
> Is anyone else having a problem with Pipexs' direct debits? I have been
> having problems since the general incident lots of heir customers had in the
> middle of 2006.
> Since then I have changed banks and Pipex cannot seem to ask for the money
> even though there are two mandates set up and there is money in the account.

Hmm - I've just checked and Pipex don't seem to have been taking any
money from my direct debit either since I changed from credit card
payment sometime in the middle of last year.

This is very annoying as I don't want to have to pay it all at once now!

The depressing thing is that to get through to them to sort it out is
going to take ages and it's not even as if it will do me any good -
it'll just cost money!

Tony

Yes I was originally using CC payment and I changed sometime last year at
their request.



What I cannot get Pipex to do is admit it is their fault. The other problem
is that when I send a message to them it gets forwarded to the billing
department and the whole exchange takes up to 14 days. Also my last exchange
involved 6 different Pipex representatives all quoting the Pipex standard
corporate response and all taking 7-10 days to reply. Eventually yesterday I
got hold of a representatives direct e-mail address but I am still waiting
for a response to my queries.

Guy Smith wrote:
> Yes I was originally using CC payment and I changed sometime last year at
> their request.
>
> What I cannot get Pipex to do is admit it is their fault. The other problem
> is that when I send a message to them it gets forwarded to the billing
> department and the whole exchange takes up to 14 days. Also my last exchange
> involved 6 different Pipex representatives all quoting the Pipex standard
> corporate response and all taking 7-10 days to reply. Eventually yesterday I
> got hold of a representatives direct e-mail address but I am still waiting
> for a response to my queries.

What is even odder is that they _have_ set up the direct debit on my
bank account but they have _never_ taken any money from it.

Tony

"Tony Brett" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:eo8b0v$n1o$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Guy Smith wrote:
>> Yes I was originally using CC payment and I changed sometime last year at
>> their request.
>>
>> What I cannot get Pipex to do is admit it is their fault. The other
>> problem is that when I send a message to them it gets forwarded to the
>> billing department and the whole exchange takes up to 14 days. Also my
>> last exchange involved 6 different Pipex representatives all quoting the
>> Pipex standard corporate response and all taking 7-10 days to reply.
>> Eventually yesterday I got hold of a representatives direct e-mail
>> address but I am still waiting for a response to my queries.
>
> What is even odder is that they _have_ set up the direct debit on my bank
> account but they have _never_ taken any money from it.

Ditto until last month when they called me to explain they hadn't taken any
payments for about 6 months and "was it OK to take the lot in one go" ...
which they have just done like you, DD was set-up and waiting with bank.

I think this problem dates back to 2nd August 2006, when lots of Pipex, if
not all, customers received the 1st. message below then the second message
on the 3rd. August. I recon there has been a major corruption of their
database which is producing these anomalies we are being subjected to.



The problem is what to do about it. I am tempted to change ISP but it is
apparent that all ISPs customer service are much of a muchness!



1st. Message:
"Dear Pipex Customer,


Your Pipex account has now fallen overdue as we are yet to receive payment
from you.

Unless the balance is paid within the next 5 days your Pipex services will
be suspended.

To resolve this matter and to prevent any unnecessary disruption to your
services, we kindly ask you to address this payment as soon as possible.

You can make payment online by visiting My Pipex at www.mypipex.net or over
the phone on 0845 077 2455 with one of our dedicated customer service
representatives.

Should you have any queries regarding your account please don't hesitate to
contact using the details below.





Kind regards

Adam Knights

Pipex"

2nd. Message:
"Dear Pipex Customer,
In the past few days, you may have received an e-mail regarding an overdue
Direct Debit payment.

Unfortunately, some Pipex customers may have been sent this e-mail
incorrectly due to a system error.

We kindly ask you to check your bank statements to see if your Pipex account
is up to date. If it is, please disregard the overdue Direct Debit e-mail as
it was sent in error.

In the meantime, if you do need to make a payment, you can do so quickly and
conveniently 24 hours a day online by visiting My Pipex, see link below.

Pipex will contact you again shortly if your Direct Debit is overdue.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Adam Knights

Pipex "

DubDriver wrote:
> "Tony Brett" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:eo8b0v$n1o$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Guy Smith wrote:
>>> Yes I was originally using CC payment and I changed sometime last year at
>>> their request.
>>>
>>> What I cannot get Pipex to do is admit it is their fault. The other
>>> problem is that when I send a message to them it gets forwarded to the
>>> billing department and the whole exchange takes up to 14 days. Also my
>>> last exchange involved 6 different Pipex representatives all quoting the
>>> Pipex standard corporate response and all taking 7-10 days to reply.
>>> Eventually yesterday I got hold of a representatives direct e-mail
>>> address but I am still waiting for a response to my queries.
>> What is even odder is that they _have_ set up the direct debit on my bank
>> account but they have _never_ taken any money from it.
>
> Ditto until last month when they called me to explain they hadn't taken any
> payments for about 6 months and "was it OK to take the lot in one go" ...
> which they have just done like you, DD was set-up and waiting with bank.

I now appear to have have two PIPEX direct debits on my bank account set
up and neither have ever been used. I just rang to try and sort it out
and they've given me yet another direct debit reference which doesn't
match either of the existing ones!

On the phone I offered to pay double every month until I've caught up
but they said they can't do that. I said that give that it is their
error it seems a reasonable offer as I don't really want 6 months'
payments all taken at once from my bank account.

We're left at stalemate.

Suggestions?

Tony

"Tony Brett" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:eofpt6$9qi$(E-Mail Removed)...
> DubDriver wrote:
>> "Tony Brett" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:eo8b0v$n1o$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> Guy Smith wrote:
>>>> Yes I was originally using CC payment and I changed sometime last year
>>>> at their request.
>>>>
>>>> What I cannot get Pipex to do is admit it is their fault. The other
>>>> problem is that when I send a message to them it gets forwarded to the
>>>> billing department and the whole exchange takes up to 14 days. Also my
>>>> last exchange involved 6 different Pipex representatives all quoting
>>>> the Pipex standard corporate response and all taking 7-10 days to
>>>> reply. Eventually yesterday I got hold of a representatives direct
>>>> e-mail address but I am still waiting for a response to my queries.
>>> What is even odder is that they _have_ set up the direct debit on my
>>> bank account but they have _never_ taken any money from it.
>>
>> Ditto until last month when they called me to explain they hadn't taken
>> any payments for about 6 months and "was it OK to take the lot in one go"
>> ... which they have just done like you, DD was set-up and waiting with
>> bank.
>
> I now appear to have have two PIPEX direct debits on my bank account set
> up and neither have ever been used. I just rang to try and sort it out
> and they've given me yet another direct debit reference which doesn't
> match either of the existing ones!
>
> On the phone I offered to pay double every month until I've caught up but
> they said they can't do that. I said that give that it is their error it
> seems a reasonable offer as I don't really want 6 months' payments all
> taken at once from my bank account.
>
> We're left at stalemate.
>
> Suggestions?

Well they have made mistakes but other than from a customer care angle the
bottom line is you owe them money and it's not unreasonable to have expected
you to have noticed that no payments were being made to Pipex. In theory the
money was sitting in your account making interest when it should have been
in theirs! Sorry, just my personal view. When Pipex caught up with me and
asked for all the money in one go I just thought fair enough that is what I
owe them as I could have volunteered payment earlier if I was worried about
owing a large sum once they had found out no payments were being made.

Yes precisely, customer care, they make some show of caring, buy being accommodating, and the customer may continue with their company. I would have thought even a little bonus to show good faith would be in order (like a free month's line rental). After all it is very expensive to get new customers; it's much cheaper to keep your existing customer base. What I have done is paid off my £188 that has accumulated over the last five months by credit card, so it leaves me free to migrate if Pipex cock up the next DD. (Luckily I have a new card with 9 months zero interest) Over the last five months I have tried three times to get them to collect the money by DD, so I do not have much hope in my continuing with Pipex. Shame, because I do not want all the hassle of changing all my family's e-mail addresses. Having said that I left BTOpenworld over five years ago and still have those mailboxes but the did give their operation over to Yahoo.

On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:52:05 +0000, Tony Brett
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I now appear to have have two PIPEX direct debits on my bank account set
>up and neither have ever been used. I just rang to try and sort it out
>and they've given me yet another direct debit reference which doesn't
>match either of the existing ones!
>
>On the phone I offered to pay double every month until I've caught up
>but they said they can't do that. I said that give that it is their
>error it seems a reasonable offer as I don't really want 6 months'
>payments all taken at once from my bank account.
>
>We're left at stalemate.
>
>Suggestions?


Not about paying off the debt, but I suggest you cancel the first two
unused DDs with your bank and just leave the latest active.
--
brightside S9