I've been a customer since I started using Vispa dial-up in early 2001. I've had ADSL with them since 2003. After December 2009 I can honestly say that I can't wait to be free from what has become an excuse for an ISP. Why?

For one thing, during December my connection was so slow and unreliable that I was stuck with using dial-up instead. To quote Managing Director James Omerod when replying to a customer who was speaking out about the same issue:

"Many thanks for spitting your dummy out!

If you would have spoken to our customer support, we would have told you that our centrals are running at maximum capacity and that our new BT host link was commissioned today and being brought into services on 24th December 2009..."

"All other customers who have noticed the loss in speeds have been perfectly happy and accepted that it will be back to normal in one week's time. At least we have done something about it and ordered more capacity."

First of all, as one of these customers Omerod mentions, I was *NOT* happy that the service I was paying for had become unusable. Just because I did not make a complaint to Vispa did *not* mean that I was "happy" about paying for a service that for a protracted period of time I could not use.

And this brings me onto my next point. Why didn't I complain? Well, take a look at Omerod's words. "Many thanks for spitting your dummy out!" What kind of MD of what kind of company speaks to its customers with such blatant contempt?

As if all this were not enough, on Christmas Eve I discovered that Vispa had taken THREE payments in December! They recharged me for the month of October and November! When I e-mailed billing to ask what the heck was going on I got this reply:

These invoices have previously been paid, our system has reset itself and set them to unpaid. Please advise if you have paid these again and we will refund accordingly.

Not only did I receive no e-mail notification of Vispa having taken extra payments, but they also do not appear on my transactions history on Vispa's own website. So, Vispa have taken my money with no receipt or record anywhere but on my own bank statement! I feel like i've been mugged!

This issue is still ongoing with Vispa having asked me to send them my bank statements! God knows when I'll get my money back. What a nice Christmas present on top of having to pay for the month of December when for most of it the service was so poor that I could not even use it!

What an utter, utter shambles of an excuse for an ISP. Save yourself a lot of worry and headaches and find a *competent* ISP.