It looks to me if its a trade description breach. The item "purchased" is not fit for the purpose as advertised. This is surely a breach of the most basic consumer rights. I would email them quoting my phrases, then mail your local trading standards. You have nothing to lose mate. Keep emailing them, record and LOG everything you get back from them. I hope you get these wankers to refund you ALL your money, quite frankly it's an outrage. You may also want to look at the link www.howtocomplain.com for some tips Best of luck.
thanks for your tips Brian, i'll surely check that site. But one question still remains unanswered: How much can we actually complain when they know we use bband for dling from p2p networks? (and i am assuming i'm not the only one at this forum doing it!) won't they be able to declare our 'illegal' use of their service? I suppose that when i phoned them and they replied by mentioning the amount i had dled in such and such dates carried an implied threat - and this is what annoys me the most, a service provider actually threatening its customer!- but in reality i wonder where do p2p users stand to complain in such situations...
I think it depends on how much you have been downloading each day? I presume tiscali are capping just the same as everyone else
Do Tiscali state in their small print "you are not allowed to download via p2p networks ?". I doubt it, well I bloomin hope so. In laymens terms, broadband is an "always on" connection, this is what these ISP's are selling. If they can't live up to their promises they are clearly in breach of contract and surely your years subscription is "voided". I have looked through the Tiscali website concerning "capping" IE Limiting of downloading, I can find NONE. What right have isp's, providing broadband, to stop people from using their service as the consumer demands?. None I believe. They surely can't "cap" the ammount of information downloaded?. Am I naive in my beliefs? I simply can't believe what certain members on this forum are having to put up with. I feel totally justified in holding back on broadband for the time being. I accept that some services appear to be good and some bad. How on earth are we to make a choice when you have to commit for 1 year?
thanks for replying i didn't know about this... how much is such a limit? is it a monthly or daily thing?
thanks for replying i didn't know about the capping... and, as far as i understand, the contract doesnt mention it at all... but they have a very dodgy point 5.9 that mentions that if they think we "adversely affet the network" they may change our access rate. This comes after 5.7.2 that says the user cannot use Bband to "deliver, knowingly receive, upload, download use or re-use any (...) material (...) in breach of any copyright"... so that covers their ass, i am afraid, or anyone thinks we can get round this one?
sorry, last msg was still replying to the 'capping limits' and i dont know how to re-edit msgs (new user's fault, i guess) i didn't know about the capping... and, as far as i understand, the contract doesnt mention it at all... but they have a very dodgy point 5.9 that mentions that if they think we "adversely affet the network" they may change our access rate. This comes after 5.7.2 that says the user cannot use Bband to "deliver, knowingly receive, upload, download use or re-use any (...) material (...) in breach of any copyright"... so that covers their ass, i am afraid, or anyone thinks we can get round this one?
When i first went on ntl broadband they didn't mention capping either they just added it to there t&cs later on NTL cap at 1gb per day although i regularly go over this and they have not complained yet. as for tiscali i know some peole have just downloaded like mad untill tiscali cut them off which they will do then they went to another isp contract out of the window
me again i have been through the tiscali terms and conditions as well, and no it does not say anything about capping, but if questioned all you will get is the standard reply that they are allowed to change there terms whenever it suits them. not a alot you can do about that,
from what i can find out about tiscali they recommend you stick to 100 to 200mb downloads per day now that is taking a liberty imo hers a bit of reading for ya http://www.the-scream.co.uk/forums/t9644.html http://www.anticap.co.uk/
I can't understand Tiscali. If they are recommending you stick to a max of 100 to 200Mb per day. This is obviously a "restriction". So lets say if i was a freelance photo journalist, who's income depended on sending large photo files to my client. Say these files were typically 50mb each & i was sending 10 a day. I would not be able to function as a business under Tiscali's terms. Doofy..thanks for the 2 links. Interesting reading. Well as far as i'm concerned if ISP's are trying to impose "capping" AFTER you have singned the agreement, surely it's time for everyone concerned to renegotiate the terms ofther contracts. The ISP's can't simply bully their "loyal" customers into a corner. If Tiscali "feel" that your "usage" can "compromise" Tiscali's service to other users, i suggest that Tiscali increase their standard of product to meet users demands, it's as simple as that. You cant just make promises about levels of serice then limit them as you feel fit. It's the lamest excuse i've ever heard.
I totally agree with you i had te same problem with NTL but at least they are a bit more Lenient than tiscali. The 1gb cap imposed by NTL is more of a guideline I regularly go over the 1 gb limit and nothings been said so far, and i have been doing that for a while. As for tiscali, get a good usenet provider i use eurofeeds, very reasonable £5.00 for 10gb downloads, go into the groups and start pulling off 5gb downloads they will soon cut off your account
i just emailed tiscali told then im going to cancel my direct debit with them tommorow due to the fact they are not keeping up with their promise of faster surfing let them do the running now,they can have there modem back in pieces. let you all know what happens ##ck them im not paying for another 7 months for a load of #rap your's coppo
It was a cold and stormy night (actually it was sunny but don't let that put you off), and the speedtouch died from such a fright. "Oh, help" cried the poor user - my modem doesn't function So I call Tiscali - who's 3 staff are all at luncheon. George, Steve and Sue must be hungry, but it doesn't matter because Tiscali have got your money. Call Alactel they cry, cos their nice guys. When the user sez "a new modem is all I need", alcatel will not accede. You must phone Tiscali they say, but despite 3 days later, neither side will play. Eventally they both say yer bike, You must a buy a new modem that we like. If you don't we'll cut you off, and charge you for the remaining years lot. Plus because we're so mean, you can't join freeserve or another team. We'll hold your line until you die, you can only eat the tiscali's pie. So spend 50 quid with alacatel, then watch your connection go to slowdem hell. Call for help, but be warned, but your phone bill can get rather warm. Only 50p a minute to be told, your spanky new pc is to old. The user cries help again to Steve and Sue, and he says my pc is brand new. We'll hang up on you plays Tiscali, hiding behind their usual blarney. While your're connection is slower than British Rail, you'll have to tolerate downloads not much faster than a skateboarding snail. We look at your line and say things are fine, and we've decided to fix things in our good time. When that can be we will not say, cos we's all hiding in Bombay. Plus because we's nice we'll still take your money when we like. So how does the moral of this tale curtail ? Once you get a problem with the Tiscali religion, you'd better be off with a carrier pigeon.
Hi everyone I followed one of your suggestions above and contacted Ofcom, the regulation body. Incredibly they not only replied to my letter but did 3 times 3!!! In the letter i mentioned the 'lowering down' of privileges that Tiscali imposes when one goes over an (undisclosed) level of dls and also the fact that in reality their service is never up to what they promise in terms of speed. This is one of the replies i got. It's nothing new but it may give some of you an idea where to stand: Re: Tiscali UK Limited Thank you for your recent letter in which you told us of the problems you have experienced with the above company. If you feel you have been dealt with poorly or unreasonably, you need to take the following steps: 1.Ask for your complaint to be escalated within the company. Many communication providers have high-level teams which deal with customer complaints that cannot be resolved in the first instance. Communication providers usually provide details of their complaints procedures on the back of their bills. 2.If your complaint has been escalated within the company and you remain dissatisfied you can then choose to use an “Alternative Dispute Resolution” scheme. You can find details of this scheme on the back of your bill. All communications providers are obliged to offer such a scheme. Tiscali UK Limited is a member of the Office of Telecommunications Ombudsman (Otelo) for dispute resolution. Before contacting the ombudsman you will need a "deadlock letter" from Tiscali UK Limited and you can then contact Otelo at: Otelo, PO Box 730, Warrington WA4 6WU. Phone 0845 050 1614. Website www.otelo.org.uk. You can also contact Otelo if you have been trying to resolve the matter with your service provider for 12 weeks. 3.You are not bound by the decision of the alternative dispute resolution scheme, if you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, then you are free to consider legal action against your communications provider. If you believe that your complaint has not been handled in line with your communications provider’s complaint or dispute resolution process please contact Ofcom again and we will look into the matter. However, we cannot change the decision concerning the outcome of your particular problem with your service provider. We may be able to take matters up with your service provider about its processes. Yours sincerely xxxx Ofcom Contact Centre just to end this loong msg, i'd like to have news from Coppo (2msgs above) and know what happened after the cancellation of the direct debit. thanks to all
well beleive it or not my broadband is like a rocket after lots of moaning, they tried to fob me of at first trying to tell me my pc was poorly set up and my firewall was incorrectly set, yeh whatever, i told them they had a very short time to sort out my slow conection, and that i was not leaving it there, but low and behold nexed day broadband is much improved mmm something i said, maybe they did listen
It's a shame that "they" appeared to sort out your problems after you had threatened them. I am pleased your system is running faster (as it should have done). I, for one, will never be taking up their service, after your bad experiences.
hi again thanks for your reply Coppo. I haven't been so lucky yet. Can i just ask you if you actually complained on the phone or by email? The guys i talk to on the phone always seem to be at the lowest end of the technician scale, unfriendly and, apparently, completely powerless... So i wonder if your threat worked more effectively 'cause you wrote to them... thanks once again
hi r/e your reply, it took just 2 email's and they seemed to be on the ball, but they do try and fob you off at first. Be firm but fair and dont forget to tell them you are not leaving it there. All i can say is that it worked for me. A mate of mine who lives down the road now has the same prob this could be interesting so i will keep all up to date. coppo
Very interesting reading - particularly as i was hoping to sign up for the 150 broadband option - thinking that since its alwasy on - id leave it slowly chugging away with q'd up files etc - and get them when i come back from work - as time is that important...but it sounds like id just be getting the same as dial up...what attracted me was the fact that its only £15.99, includes modem and line activation....the other option is to use who i sue for my £9.99 evenings and weekend dial up (which doesnt let me do FTP oddly enough - any ideas?!?!) Gio internet www.giointernet.com they seem to offer a slightly cheaper brandband option - but by the time you pay for the line to be activated, and a modem - its probably just as good to go with BT Yahoo - a larger, established company where i imagine you could argue more if you needed to - anyone else have and suggestions of a value for money (not really a cheap one as cheap sint always good!) ADSL provider.... thanks!!
