Pipex are meanies..

Got a message on the answerphone last week from Pipex, saying that there
were outstanding funds on my account and I needed to call them. This was
mainly odd because I have not been a Pipex customer since November..

Still, I rang them back - my Pipex service was ceased on 16th November, but
their normal day to take my DD was 14th November, so - as I had cancelled
the DD by then - they weren't able to take the last direct debit. The grand
total that I owe them - £1.51, for two days of service (service I didn't
physically use, because it was a house move and we actually moved before the
16th anyway).

BUT they couldn't just take the £1.51 over the phone (which I didn't dispute
I owe) - they had to take a whole month, and then I "would be credited back
pro-rata within 30 days". This I refused - so, three calls and lots of
holding whilst they debated later, their finance team agreed to raise the
credit first, and then called me back two days later to take the outstanding
amount.

Anyway, they win my "meanie humbug" award for being so tight that they have
to chase for amounts so small I would have just written it off.

Before someone argues that any company who just writes off customers debts
by default will soon go under, I have no doubts that the time I spent on the
phone to their staff, and the numerous calls that they made to me, plus the
fact that I elected to pay the pittance by debit card (incurring them a
fee), cost much more than £1.51.

Well, they say that if you get bad service you tell 10 people

D.

"David Wright" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Got a message on the answerphone last week from Pipex, saying that there
> were outstanding funds on my account and I needed to call them. This was
> mainly odd because I have not been a Pipex customer since November..
>
> Still, I rang them back - my Pipex service was ceased on 16th November,
> but their normal day to take my DD was 14th November, so - as I had
> cancelled the DD by then - they weren't able to take the last direct
> debit. The grand total that I owe them - £1.51, for two days of service
> (service I didn't physically use, because it was a house move and we
> actually moved before the 16th anyway).
>
> BUT they couldn't just take the £1.51 over the phone (which I didn't
> dispute I owe) - they had to take a whole month, and then I "would be
> credited back pro-rata within 30 days". This I refused - so, three calls
> and lots of holding whilst they debated later, their finance team agreed
> to raise the credit first, and then called me back two days later to take
> the outstanding amount.
>
> Anyway, they win my "meanie humbug" award for being so tight that they
> have to chase for amounts so small I would have just written it off.
>
> Before someone argues that any company who just writes off customers debts
> by default will soon go under, I have no doubts that the time I spent on
> the phone to their staff, and the numerous calls that they made to me,
> plus the fact that I elected to pay the pittance by debit card (incurring
> them a fee), cost much more than £1.51.
>
> Well, they say that if you get bad service you tell 10 people
>
> D.
>

What I would have said to them was "OK, you can take a full month by card,
then credit me back with the rest of the unused days, but there will be a
£10 admin charge."

> BUT they couldn't just take the £1.51 over the phone (which I didn't dispute
> I owe) - they had to take a whole month

Send them a cheque for the right amount - which will still cost them
to bank :-p

CC: a copy of the correspondence to their CEO and Chairman (i've
published these recently both here and the adslguide forums)

There was a 1p discrepancy (due to VAT calculations) between the amount
I'd already paid for my broadband kit, and the amount that was needed
when I signed up to BT Broadband a couple of years ago.

For this I was sent a separate bill and a Direct Debit was raised...

--
Helen D. Vecht: (E-Mail Removed)
Edgware.

"David Wright" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Got a message on the answerphone last week from Pipex, saying that there
> were outstanding funds on my account and I needed to call them. This was
> mainly odd because I have not been a Pipex customer since November..
>

SNIP tale of pathetic jobsworthiness.

You should have paid by cheque and NOT given them any card details.

> fee), cost much more than £1.51.
>
> Well, they say that if you get bad service you tell 10 people

Eleven

>
> D.
>

This one is silly, but of course you really did owe them the money.
Contrast this with the many tales of overcharging* and abuse of DD.



* for example my first month of "fixed price internet access from BT for
£15.99p" was charged at nearly £200 and the second month at nearly £30.
This was not the usual BT Loose Interpretation of English and Standards
(LIES), but sheer incompetence. Took ages to sort out.

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Helen Deborah
Vecht <(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>There was a 1p discrepancy (due to VAT calculations) between the amount
>I'd already paid for my broadband kit, and the amount that was needed
>when I signed up to BT Broadband a couple of years ago.
>
>For this I was sent a separate bill and a Direct Debit was raised...
>
I recently closed one of my two First Direct accounts. I'd cleared the
balance but they calculated they owed me a further 2p interest. They
sent me a hand-written cheque with a covering letter by first class
post. I returned it in one of their 1st class reply-paid envelopes to
pay it into the other account.

--
dave @ stejonda