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EzeeDSL Offers Ex-V21 Users One Month FREE - Poster MarkJ (Saturday, November 18 2006)
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If they are offering a free month, my guess is the take up of their previous "offer" is much lower than expected.
I would tell them to stick their free month where the sun don't shine and wait it out till Friday. And choose an established ISP with a solid reputation that you can trust from this list of ISPs that have signed up to the migration code of practice http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/codes/bbm_cop/
If they are offering a free month, my guess is the take up of their previous "offer" is much lower than expected.
I would tell them to stick their free month where the sun don't shine and wait it out till Friday. And choose an established ISP with a solid reputation that you can trust from this list of ISPs that have signed up to the migration code of practice http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/codes/bbm_cop/
Hmm. Do the distance selling regulations apply? Is there a cooling-off period?Nothing in their terms and conditions about a Mac code just that you can leave if they persistently fail to provide a service or you can leave by giving 28 days notice in writing at no charge after 12 months, but after this fiasco Mac codes should be compulsory by then the more of us that complain to Ofcom the more weight behind the motion to make Macs compulsory.
By the way, have you noticed that BT is getting a little bit fed up of having to disconnect people's broadband over and over again, and has decided they really can't be bothered any more, and will therefore levy a charge of £33.75 per disconnection on ISP's who don't issue MACs from May 2007 onwards?I've not read the EzeeDSL T&C's, but will MAC codes be available in 12 months time should any ex-V21 customers want to migrate away?
Hmm. Do the distance selling regulations apply? Is there a cooling-off period?
I agree that there's a good chance of regulatory changes within the next 12 months regarding MACs, however I think it's unwise to bank on it. Who's to say we're not going to be forced into a similar situation again?
Personally speaking, when I'm choosing a broadband service, the shortness of the minimum contract, and the good track record of having given MACs to previous leaving customers, are the two single most important things. They're actually more important to me than the performance of the service itself. In the absence of a good track record, I may be willing to consider a contract which guarantees me a MAC, but they can't expect me to sign up if the issue of MACs isn't addressed from the outset.
MACs didn't exist when I first signed up with V21, however, I still considered the shortness of minimum contract to be very important, as a result of my experience with unmetered dial-up, when I plunged into a 12-month contract with BTinternet to avoid high 0845 charges, back in the days when BTinternet was only unmetered from 6pm to midnight. Don't get me wrong, the service was fine, but my computer wasn't. It was very shaky and unreliable, and I was frustrated at not being able to cancel an internet service that I couldn't get the best out of at short notice.
The next most important thing is the absence of port blocking. I expect to be able to do everything through my broadband connection that I can do with a no-sign-up dial-up, except at a higher speed. No proprietary systems either - so that rules out AOL and Homechoice.
Absence of capping is also important, but only in the short term. I realise that an increasing number of broadband services are being sold as uncapped when they're anything but, especially Toucan, and I don't want to be vulnerable to this type of pitch. However, I have absolutely no idea how much bandwidth I generally use, so I would like my next ISP to give me web-based bandwidth usage statistics. This will help me choose my second-next ISP. In the event that I do go for a capped offer, then the capping rates and extra bandwidth charges must be crystal clear.
The actual reliability of the service comes right down on my list of considerations, after all of the above. I generally don't take much notice of published contention ratios.
Finally, the availability of multiple email addresses, web space, static IP addresses, and the bundling of cheap phone calls and anti-virus updates are all gimmicks to me, that don't really affect my decision at all.
So - on the basis of the above, it looks like I'll still have to let the EzeeDSL offer slide. Shame, because it would have been nice to have a free month. But I've got to stick to my guns on that, I just know I'll regret it later if I don't.
No, they do not apply in this case.
Companies providing services once commenced can opt out of the Distance Selling Regulations cooling off period proving they inform you of this.
Ezeedsl have done so by including a clause in their terms and conditions.
(they've apparently learnt from their mistake with e7even where many attempted to take advantage of it - no mention of the cooling off period would mean 3 months & 7 days to cancel :laugh: )