arghhhhh!

[cupidstunt.]

...Hello all,
Anybody know what i should do next?

I cancelled my 512K broadband with tiscali on the 3rd of dec,
there is a 30 day period before cancellation so my account was cancelled on the 3rd of jan 2005.
Tiscali told me in their letter of cancellation that it would take UP TO 15 days for BT to clear my line.
Being desperate to get back online i contacted BT, they told me that a cease request would be implemented by 7.30pm on the 10th of jan, i contacted BT at 8.00pm on the 10th they told me that they had cancelled and then UPGRADED my line to a 2mbit connection on tiscali's orders,(i've had it confirmed 3 times by differnt BT staff) I, of course told BT that this should not have happened, they told me to contact Tiscali, which i have done 4 times , Tiscali refuse to believe me when i tell that they have made a mistake, i have pleaded with them to contact BT to sort the matter out, they refuse, I have contacted OFCOM who told me they would contact Tiscali, I still have not had a reply after 7 days, i'm still awaiting a reply from ISPA.
All in all i have spent 4 hours on the phone to BT and Tiscali. Tiscali's customer support don't know their arse from their elbow, i seem to have run out of options, Ofcom also suggested that these things can go on for a long time and if i haven't had a resolution to the problem after 11 WEEKS! i should contact Otelo the ombudsman...arghhhh.
Sorry for the length .
Regards
Michael.

Tiscali really are the UK's worst ISP

[silver]

that really sucks

it sounds like you have contacted the right people (ISPA + ofcom)

unfort ofcom don't seem to do much so perhaps have a go with otelo - can't do any harm?

Sil

PS, welcome to TS!

PPS, you don't by any chance play unreal tourney / d17?

[cupidstunt.]

Thanks for the welcome Silver.
No, never played unreal online, though i have/ do play call of duty, Delta force 2, black hawk down, and now Half life 2. well, i would if i had a CONNECTION!!!..lol

[silver]

ah - someone with similar name plays unreal

other place you could try in <thread>:Contacting Tiscali - not sure if tiscali monitor adslguide or their own forums any more or if the email works - but might be worth a go..

good luck and keep us updated !

Sil

[AndyR]

What I read about Tiscali's non existant customer service just gets worse and worse. I'm stuck with them under contract untill March but will be dumping them as soon as possible. My supposed broadband connection is now slower than dial up. Last night I could not even surf web pages correctly as my connection speed was under 25 kbps ! It's full speed during the day but between 6pm and 11 pm it's totally useless. I'm being ripped off big style!
I tried three different bandwith test sites and when I could even get some results they averaged less than 30 kbps. But when I tried Tiscali's own speed test, I got 520 kbps mmm something fishy going on dont u think ? As for Tiscai's fair use policy, doesn't that totally contradict Unlimited? How r they getting away with selling an unlimited product and then saying it isn't?
At least with some ISPs' they tell u what the limits are but what is Tiscali's so called limit? And will it decreaase as they sell more ADSL lines? I think I had better reinstall my 56k modem, I'm going to need it in March!

[cupidstunt.]

Hi Andy,
Yours is the exact reason i am trying to dump Tiscali, on the odd occasion i'm off work during the day the connection was OK, however, in the evenings(when i want to be online) complete and utter shite connections , ping always 150ms and above, downloads a quarter what they should be, I can see my brothers house about .5 mile away, same exchange, his pings NEVER above 50ms in the evenings and flat out downloads with BT. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Regards
michael.

[stevied]

I am having similar problems. I have been with Tiscali for around 20 months, everything had been fine until last night. I pay for 512k broadband, but last night I was connecting slower than a 56k modem!! (according to the service status on the Tiscali site it said there were connection issues in the South). Today I can connect and it is faster than last night but still around half the speed I pay for!!
Could this all have something to do with the Tiscali upgrade to 1mb plans? Anyone still having problems today? I hope it gets sorted soon as I had been very happy with the service before.

Steve

[AndyR]

Results from broadband speed test recorded on Tuesday, 18 January 2005, 18:33.

Your Connection
Direction
Actual Speed
True Speed (estimated)

Downstream 164 Kbps (20.5 KB/sec) 177 Kbps (inc. overheads)
Upstream 31 Kbps (3.9 KB/sec) 33 Kbps (inc. overheads)


'Actual Speed' is the amount of useful data that your connection can transmit/receive per second. The 'True Speed' figure includes an approximation of data overheads (non-useful data) and is estimated to be around 8%. 'True Speed' is for informational purposes only and is not used in any ISP rankings.

NOTE: Your downstream speed result is very low for the type of connection specified (ADSL/RADSL, 512Kbps). We strongly recommend that you check your Internet connection is not being used elsewhere during the test and/or contact your ISP to resolve speed issues you may be experiencing.

WOW I'm impressed! My connection is now up tp %30 of what I'm paying for!

"contact your ISP to resolve speed issues you may be experiencing." LOL!!!!!

[stevied]

Same as mine, useless isn't it!! Mine has been like it all day so it's not looking good!!

[AndyR]

WOW!

Tiscali customer service have emailed me to try and resolve my issues. I'm impressed, there is somebody there. But they are first saying check my computer and connections, even though I have stated my bandwith is fine during the early hours and the daytime. Only when evening comes and I have to share the network with about 10,000 more users does it go tits up.

Could you imagine working for Tiscali and having to deal with so many complaints ?

[cupidstunt.]

update to first post.
Could things go from bad to worse? you bet!
Phoned Tiscali AGAIN, customer (non) service said "it seems you still have ADSL on your line" yes i replied, i know. "Then we will send another cease order" , so i checked with BT after 48hrs if they had received said cease order, guess what? so i phoned Tiscali AGAIN, no cease order was sent, as a cease order was sent on the 3rd of Jan. I have had enough. I still haven't had a reply from Tiscali after OFCOM and ISPA contacted them, so i am in the process of compiling e-mails i have already sent Tiscali, and then writing to Tiscali with copies going to OFCOM, ISPA, BBC Watchdog, Consumeractive (computer active).
I will update when i have more info.

Regards
Michael

[cupidstunt.]

Update no 2
Contacted Tiscali using the screamescalation@uk.tiscali.co.uk got a reply within 24hrs
telling me that they were "sorry for the inconvenience caused" and that my line will be released within 10 working days.
It's taken me 15 days to get to this point (see first post) all the e-mails and phone calls had no effect, one e-mail to the above address and bingo.
Pipex 1mb here i come..... well in about 4 weeks!

Regards
Michael

ps. nice one scream

[Paraboy]

Hi Michael was wondering where you got the email address, I myself are in the process of leaving them after 18 dreadful months see thread Tiscali useless. Is BT dragging their heels or is it all down to Tiscali.

cheers the noo

[PaulB]

Hi,

I am new to broadband and have just signed up for Tiscali, as part of my new PC package (from Dell). The main reason I chose them is because they were the only ones offering 'unlimited' downloads out of the three available and at £24.99 a month for 1 MBPS I thought it was steal!

After reading all the views of Tiscali in these forums, I am now having serious doubts about whether to use them - slow speeds, capped downloads (I wish to use P2P torrents when up and running etc...) and non-existent support. I am also concerned that my phone line will be 'locked' as they do not support migration and I will have trouble moving to another ISP.

I am not yet set up (still waiting for modem after 2 weeks as there was a 'slight delay' on my BT phone line) and have now been informed I have to wait another 2-3 weeks to be receive it, and no direct debit has been applied to my bank account to collect payments yet.

I wish I had found these forums before I signed up... I am seriously tempted to try another ISP if I can cancel my Tiscali account in advance.

My question is, can anyone advise where I would stand if I cancelled in advance my subscription? Would it possible? Thanx.

[AndyR]

Hi Paul, If you signed up to Tiswas within the last two weeks, you can bail out quickly.

Taken from Tiscali's terms and conditions-

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.

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/products/br...ode=ZZ-NL-11XY

Then click on T+C

Phone them NOW !

[PaulB]

PHHEEEEWWWW!!

I rang and managed to cancel today. I was past the 14 day cut off by two days. Happens due to their incompetence that I have managed to bail out. They had not progressed my order and there was a delay on the line so the call centre operative was willing to extend my cooling off period to 28 days. NO THANKS! I politely declined!

Have been told that I will receive letter in post confirming. I'll be regularly using these forums from now on - very useful. Thanx for the advice... Need to find another ISP now.....

[cupidstunt.]

Hey paraboy,
I found the e-mail address trolling through this forum, can't remember the thread, it looks very likely that Tiscali are to blame for my problems, BT have been helpful when i have managed to get through to them on the phone , and are adamant that Tiscali are to blame, It's a lot easier to get through to Tiscali on the phone, though you would get more sense talking to a retarded goldfish!. If you have any problems use ....
screamescalation@uk.tiscali.co.uk (worked for me).

Ps. I have contacted BT, they say my line will be cleared at 7.30pm on the 31st of Jan. Anyone know why BT seem to clear lines of ADSL at 7.30pm??

Regards
Michael

[silver]

ah - that's interesting, the 'screamescalation' was meant to be replaced (depreciated) and peeps were to use 'remedyescalations' - guess the old one still works (/works better)

glad you managed to get sorted CS

Sil

[Paraboy]

Cheers Michael
Hope everything goes well with clearing your line --- keep us posted on the forum. Likewise I will do the same thats if I ever manage to get away from TISWAS.

Cheers the noo

[cupidstunt.]

Silver... I emailed both remedyescalations and screamescalations the header on the reply was from screamescalations, in fact the only reply in the last 7 emails i have sent was from screamescalations!

Cheers
michael

[silver]

cool, I have added a link to this thread from the 'contacting tiscali' thread

Thanks for letting us know!

Sil

[cliff1]

Hi guys,

I'm new here - and i'm also new to Tiscali broadband (1mb connection switched on within the last two weeks).

I've got to say that so far I've been amazed with how smoothly everything has gone... found website which offered summary of loads of different broadband suppliers, picked Tiscali (admittedly unlimited was a big factor), filled in form online, got letter from BT to confirm switch over date, received modem from Tiscali and on the day everything was supposed to switch I just plugged in and off it went. I don't play online games so 30Gb per month should be fine for me - although I agree that they should make this clearer BEFORE purchase.

Now that I've read all your messages in this thread I'm wondering if I've made the wrong choice... haven't needed to speak to anyone yet so haven't had to deal with overseas call centres / bad service / lack of response.

Think I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now (hope I don't come to regret that in the next year) but I'll definitely keep my eye on this thread...

Hope everyone here that's having problems manages to get them sorted...

Great forum BTW!

[cupidstunt.]

....So i have finally left Tiscali, and i am now with Pipex, i cannot believe the difference in my connection .
My latency(ping) is never above 40ms day or night, Tiscali's used to be above 150ms every evening. Online speed tests were always below my connection speed with Tiscali, with Pipex it's the opposite. There is a downside though, i can't stop playing HL2 online, My girlfriend wishes i was still with Tiscali, it's great, not only do i have a great connection i don't have to look at my girlfriend anymore.... whopeeeee.

Cheers
Michael

[silver]

another satisfied ex-tiscali customer

good stuff

Sil

[MartyDom]

right new boi talkin here, but this is confuzzling right coz my 2nd house (girlfriends) is with madasafish (wtf) and thts theyre isp but all theyre windows in iexplorer all have tiscali up there is there a link with these two ppl or has someone downloaded something they shouldnt have? also after reading some of the other posts concerning the d/l speed they get the same things but even in the daytime and they cant access some sites (ahem hotmail ahem) im just gonna format theyre computer unless a post comes after this saying NOOOOOO!!!!! but hell i might just do it anyway
wayhey!
Martydom

[AndyR]

Is this English Marty ? I must have definately reached middle age !

I HATE SHITASCALI !
Ive had all of these problems from day 1. Only 2 months to go till IM RID OF THEM !!

THIEVIN RIPPIN OFF BAST**DS !!!

THATS ALL THEY ARE !!

hello everyone!

It might be late but then i still need to make some follow up explanation about the concerns you ahve forwarded.. I apologise if it seemed that your stay with Tiscali brought inconvenience.

First of all, I came with Tiscali not knowing about this issues you have posted because we have different information in hand. I work in the billing department of Tiscali based in an Asian Country (not in India) and i was here for 1 year now..

Everyday i received calls like concerns on billing, cancellation and connecivity issues so I understand where all of you is coming from. As much as I would like to explain everything but i guess this space ain't enough for me to give the details on my explanation.

I would be advising you if you ahve time please send me an email personally at (email removed - sil)