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Cancelling Tiscali - This Legal?

I contacted them this morning with the following email..

Dear Tiscali,

When I signed up with Tiscali, I was made aware of the fact that I have fourteen days (cooling period) in which I can cancel my account and contract with Tiscali, should I change my mind. Now according to their welcome letter I signed up on the 12th September. According to someone in their billing section, a Nicola Galbraith; I have until the 25th September to cancel. So, please help me cancel.

Since being enabled with Tiscali Broadband, on the 12th September, I've experienced nothing but constant problems with their services, including severer slow speed issues, so slow, ISDN seems much faster. From using various internet speed-tests, I was able to see that my latency was extremely high and regardless of what their staff said and do to correct my profile, my connection remains to be undesirably unstable with way too many drop offs, from a ADSL package that's supposedly to be classed as 'Always on'.

Now, I use both Apple Mac and PC and on both systems I'm experiencing identical problems, but as soon as I mention that I'm a Mac user, their technical staff stated they have little support for the platform. Then their tech support team proceeded blamed my problems on my hardware (bearing in mind i use both platforms), phone line, low voltage supply from usb ports and mains powered hubs; they even tried telling me the problem could be caused by virus protection software and firewalls (which i have non active, nor installed.. it's mac osx) then they blamed it on faulty modem s... luckily, I have my old modem, which works fine - also a Speedtouch 330 (same as their supplied modem).

For the sake of arguing, I even moved my entire set up to the master BT socket to do a line test. While being on the phone to their tech staff... and being asked questions regarding the modem signal light etc, the connection suddenly dropped. They asked me to reconnect.. only to be kicked off before completion.

Just to let you know, I think they should be looking at the way they manage their systems, train their staff to understand how everything works rather than blaming the customer for user error. I'm not a noob when it comes to computers.

Now, I'm within my cooling period and I wish to cancel the entire contract but with their phone handling system sucks. I'm unable to get through, so I can't speak to a customer care agent, instead I'm constantly left on hold, which is charged at national rates... only to be kicked off for being too busy! I've tried and tried to no avail. Please help.

I'm sure I'm not the only one, who's extremely dissatisfied with the quality of their service.. and wish to cancel the entire contract. I'm more than happy to return any equipment they've sent me, provided they are able to give me a mac code to migrate.. or remove the ADSL signal from my phone line entirely. I've even been in touch to ofcom - whom may I say, ain't that helpful either.

Best regards

And just now i got the following response...

Dear Mr. xxxxx,

Thank you for contacting Tiscali Customer Support.

We have received your request for cancellation.

As a valued customer, we would be interested in any issues you have encountered. We would appreciate any feedback or suggestions that would help us serve you better.

If you have been experiencing any technical problems you can either telephone our Support Team on 0870 744 2922, or e-mail us at broadbandsupport@uk.tiscali.com.

I would need to inform you that Tiscali Broadband has a contract term of twelve months. Canceling within this period would still require the payment to be completed for the time remaining on the contract. If your registration date indicates that you have completed the 12 month contract period you could terminate the service with a month?s notice.

However, if you wish to proceed with cancellation, you could call our Broadband Cancellations Team on 0845 077 4488 between Monday to Friday (9:00-6:00).

If you have any further queries please contact us by using the following link; http://www.tiscali.co.uk/aboutus/contact/ or alternatively you can visit our comprehensive online Broadband Knowledge Base at http://www.tiscali.co.uk/help/broadband/


Regards,

Why are they quoting me that If I Cancel within this period would still require the payment to be completed for the time remaining on the contract? When I signed up on the 12th? Isn't 14 days from the 12th, the 25th? What happened to the 14 days cooling peroid? Surely this ain't legal. Is it??
 
when did you actually order broadband? As you cannot go live with broadband the day you ordered it

Besides, I am 99.9% sure that it is a 7 day cooling off period, not 14
 
they are well within their rights, as your broadband has been activated

from their t&c's which you should read before signing up for anything you will find the following

2.2 Your contract with us will continue for a minimum period of 12 calendar months from the date that we make the broadband service available to you.

17. Ending the broadband service

17.1 You may give us notice by telephone to cancel within first 14 days of the date of your registration with us provided your broadband service has not been activated (please see "Contacting us"). If you cancel in this way, this contract shall be treated as null and void and you will be refunded the charges within 30 days. This is consistent with your rights under the Distance Selling Regulations 2000.

17.2 You may end your contract with us:

17.2.1 by giving us at least 1 month's notice to us by telephone (please see "Contacting us"). You may not end this contract during the initial 12 months of your contract with us although you may provide us with notice by telephone of your intent to do so. You must pay all charges for the broadband service until the date on which your contract actually ends;
 
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17.1 You may give us notice by telephone to cancel within first 14 days of the date of your registration with us provided your broadband service has not been activated (please see "Contacting us"). If you cancel in this way, this contract shall be treated as null and void and you will be refunded the charges within 30 days. This is consistent with your rights under the Distance Selling Regulations 2000.

Seems to me they are following it, if you are already using Tiscali broadband
 
Tiscali are quite right in this instance - the "cooling-off" period is only is between you "signing-up" and actual "activation".
 
All you can do now is be a perverble pain in their back side everytime its not working as it should email them post on forums complaining and call them. This method has got others their mac key early.

WE alway recomend to not sign a 12 month contract unless its to defer the activation fee

:)
 
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Hi Again,

It appears it doesn't matter when I actually ordered broadband with Tiscali, what's important is the date Tiscali actually enter onto their system. And speaking with a nice chap from Ofcom, the cooling period is in-fact fourteen days (14) and not seven (7), as someone mentioned above.

Further more, even though their 'code of practice' suggests, they would only consider canceling a contract if the service isn't already activated... However, Ofcom says if the consumer isn't getting the service as advertised, therefore the product is incomplete, thus the cooling period should start from the activation date.


After a somewhat lengthy conversation to Ofcom. They suggested I write a formal letter of complaint, to be delivered to Tiscali's Head Office via next day, recorded delivery.

In the said letter, I should asks to be terminated from the contract without delay, explain to them my your legal rights and their obligations, that they were suppose to offer, as part of the package. Contained within this letter. I was asked to include a detailed account of everything that's happened to date, provide them with all misleading advice they've given, express their poor quality of service, lack of customer care, and technical knowledge.
Also, in the letter I should ask for a pre-paid envelope, so the supplied hardware/software can be returned. And state, by cancellation, I owe them nothing and in return they must stop demanding further payments and release the line with in fourteen days (14)


Now for those of you reading this.. now I'm wise to the matter. I give you this tip..

Whenever you log a complain in, with today's technology; organization such as Ofcom will log all complains into their system, in return they'll have some form of reference that contains your details. if your wise, you'll get the full name of the person that dealt with your enquire along with his/her email address, and the date you logged the complaint... write it all down and keep a log for your own reference.

OK...

Armed with all the intel, I gave Tiscali one last chance to talk to me... I called their Customer care team and to my surprise.. I actually got through! Woot! So yes.. there is someone who mans' those phones... and once more they're in the United Kingdom. Yay!

Before I could terminate the contract, Tiscali's customer service agent offered me various offer to lure me into staying. Those included an extension into my cooling period to a month (which may I add isn't validated under the eyes of the law), then he progressed to making me other offers. Covering everything from lowering the broadband costs further... from the advertised price of 14.99 (2M Unlimited) to 10.99 for the same package, when I refused.. he then suggested they'll give me a additional twelve months for free! To which I turned down flat.

After a short silence the service agent then proceeded to ask what I'd like to have, to ensure I'd stayed as an customer... I actually asked for a brand new Ferrari super sports car to which he laughed... but I was quiet serious.

Eventually, he gave up and proceeded to cancelation.. whist asking me about the problems I've been receiving... Then he asked what's the current status of the line... To which I explained - the condition of the line isn't of concern here, I'm simply tired of the lame service your technical staff have provided and wish to terminate the contract with Tiscali.

He then asked.. What would make you happy today, sir? To which I said - I like to have nothing to do with Tiscali Broadband, and I'd like your ADSL marker to be removed from my line within fourteen (14) days, Otherwise legal proceedings will follow and I'm more than happy to goto court and sue for damages.. and lost of earnings - as I earn my income online.

I then asked for a pre-paid envelope so I can return their hardware, to my surprise they informed me that I should keep the modem as a free gift!


Finally, Conclusion..

Their customer service agent known as Alex will be sending me a hardcopy of my conformation to canceling ADSL with Tiscali Broadband, within ten (10) to fourteen (14) days. I've obtained a reference number, just incase, together with the agents full name and employee number. According to him and i quote... my account has "already been completely terminated!"

As for their offers, some of them sounded too good to be true, to be honest. And more importantly, it's up to the companies terms and conditions to honor them; with Tiscali's track record, I won't be surprised if they withdrawn any offer part way. I rejected them because I don't need to be served by a supplier who can't correct a simple problem.

Guess that's success..
I'm now an ex-tiscaly client...
Break out the bubbly!!!
OK.. Who's coming down the boozer?


My advice to anyone else experiencing difficulties from Tiscali...
like i said before, I'm only speaking from experience.. what worked for me, doesn't necessary work for you..

Contact them via email, putting your desires in writing, and stand by your demands, but make sure you know your details, such as the date of activation, it's likely that they will count your cooling period (normally it's 14 days) from the date they entered you on their system, rather than the actual date you called to place your order.

If in doubt, contact the offices of communication, they're there to help you and offer advice - they're supposedly anti-bias (what ever that means). And if your like me, impatient - bite your lip and try to talk to them, politely... Getting tongue tide and frustrated will only prolong the problem. I've learnt that a little bit of professional curtsy can go a long , long way.

Sorry to destroy some of your miss-informed misconception as to what their terms and conditions are... But I've successfully cancelled an activated account with the most annoying ISP out there, Tiscali. Proof, it can be done!!!

Good Luck, Everyone...


BTW.. Tiscali doesn't necessary have to supply a 'mac' key in oder to cancel your contract. They can reset the line so it'll appear, you've never had any form of broadband services on the line in the first place. A 'mac' key can be generated within five to seven working days... and is only required if you want to seamless transfer your connection to another provider.
 
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Bear in mind you cant claim for loss of earnings if your using a standard connection, rather than a business connection.

Im fairly sure thats the case.
 
I'm ain't worried now.. I have what I wanted... maybe it'll be useful advise for other people.

I shouldn't get too excited ............ you aren't disconnected from them yet, and there's been plenty of people in like circumstances who still had the bill drop on the mat!! :hrmph: :nod:
 
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Skrew the bills, quite literally. If they wanna send the bay-lifts around.. over the matter of fifteen quid. Welcome. I can't see how CCJ's are gonna harm me. I don't believe in loans... anyhow. CCJ's are a worry to those that relay on loans and plastic to run their day to day needs. I like liquid assets.
 
Update!

OK. folks, just to give you an update.

Today, Monday 9th October. Tiscali finally removed their ADSL marker from my line. So.. I guess you could say that's progress for you... I didn't even need to call back.. they just did it!
 
Well.. I only cancelled on the September 21st.. only took them three weeks!

Suppose it's better then 6-8 months like the others.. then Guess they knew they wasn't gonna get any money of me. I had to keep canceling their DD application... then reminded them that they're in breach of the Data Protect Act regarding storing my Bank details.. cheeky monkeys.
 
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