I've got a new provider - and a HUGE sense of release I signed with AOL 2 or 3 yrs ago at 512 Kb and received a basic but reliable service at a price, by no means the cheapest. Good news - they told me I had a free upgrade to 1 Mb I felt good about that that but didn't notice much difference. More good news -they told me I had another upgrade to 2Mb I felt good "again" about that that but didn't notice much difference. Had some interruptions of service in the last 6 mths so decided to dig into things. I have some IT skill set so interrogated the router. Actual download speed 576Kb, marginally better than my starting point years earlier. Got on the phone (because of interruptions) and asked why my speed was so slow. AOL said it was BT and my local loop. Not something I could not easily argue with. They were charging me £17.99 for a 2Mb service (I got actually 0.6Mb) when they were selling the same service for £14.99 to new clients. Asked for a MAC code to terminate - request IGNORED !!!! Asked again, a month later stating that they breached their licence by not issuing the MAC, confirmed the request in writing, and paid in advance for a months service. Got a MAC code out of them and almost immediately had my service discontinued, although I had around 3 weeks still paid in advance. Had to request a re-connection and was told that was ok but as a result I would have to phone to terminate again before the payment date because my card would be billed again. Now got connected to a new provider (Sky haven't equipped our exchanges else they had the best deal) Now connected at 7.8Mb + free calls for the same fee, and everything works. So much for BT's local loop - its fine but AOL blatantly lied, over and again providing a 600K service and describing it as 2Mb and overcharged for it. BTW Mr moderator - a copy of these facts is on its way to OFCOM I think you should know about this folks
All this was done exactly as their agreement stated, I got a letter of confirmation from Ireland For the Attention of the Subscription Manager Dear Sir, Termination - Screen Name XXXXX, Credit Card ********XXX Your ref :- 531/0050xxxx/SUBP065/0000xxx I hereby give notice of my termination of the agreement between us for internet services of the above reference which was made on 27th June 2005. I no longer require the services or any alternative from you. I also do not wish to receive any further marketing material from you or any associate organisation and ask you to remove my details from your marketing records. I will make no further payments to your company following the last payment on April 23rd 2007 which is a pre payment for one months service. I withdraw any permission to AOL to make charges against my credit card after that date. I have requested an MAC code today from your customer services department. Do not rely on the activation of a MAC code by another provider to terminate this agreement since internet services may not be required at this address for a period. I should point out that I requested this in a similar call in February this year and this fact was acknowledged by your operator today. You chose to ignore this request and this is a breach of the conditions under which you provide internet services. I understand from others that this is a common practice with your company. AOL (UK) Limited, 68 Hammersmith Road, London, W14 8YW. Cc AOL Cancellations Department, PO Box 328 Waterford, Ireland Copies for Barclaycard Ofcom
been with BT for years and finally got some sence and switched to Sky, by far the most competitive offer available (10 pounds per month with free wifi router) although you will need to either flash the netgear router they send you with new software or use a different one if you want a constant connection when not in use. They have programmed it disconnect if not used with xx amount of mins and you can't bypass this.
I Love BT, but then i would as I have worked for them since 1989! BTW BT Broadband has been consistantly voted the best performing for sometime...
did it get voted the most expensive for ever!!? i was paying 27 quid a month with BT!! called them asked for the MAC code so i could switch to sky, they asked what offer i was getting, so i told them 10 quid a month with a free router etc etc. They turn round and say we can do 22 pounds a month for you.... how is that better than 10 pounds a month??? bye bye BT. (must admit never had any problems but its not worth an extra 250 quid a year for)
