Tiscali - the beginning of the end?

Dominic Negus
Tiscali Customer Services
PO Box 7206
Kiln Farm
MK14 6XG


27 March 2007

Dear Mr Negus,

RE: Complaint - Customer Code *****

I am writing to follow up my written complaint of the 19th February 2007, and the various calls I have made to your Customer Service line in the interim.

I am astonished that nobody from Tiscali has taken the time to contact me regarding this complaint. I have spent a significant amount of my time and money on making phone calls to you; all I wanted was a written response to the issues I raised in my last letter, namely:

- The breach of data protection by which the previous tenant of my property was allowed to cancel my Internet provision

- The disruption and potential loss of earnings caused by the fact that myself and my partner have not had any Internet access for the last six weeks

In addition, I would appreciate an explanation as to why I have not had any contact from you or your Customer Service team since my initial contact with you. I had called on the 16th March to find out when I could expect a response to this complaint, and was told that one had been drafted, and I could expect to receive it in the “next few days”. When I spoke to your Customer Service representative Ruth on Saturday morning (24th March), she said that it looked as though the fact that I had made the call meant that it was no longer deemed necessary to send me a letter to explain the situation.

I would like to reiterate that in the interim, I have been very patient, and I have continued to pay my Tiscali bills. Part of the reason I signed with Tiscali was your reputation for good customer service – I was obviously mistaken, as you do not even see fit to respond to such complaints. My patience has now run out, and I will be looking elsewhere for my Internet and telephone provision.

Furthermore, if I do not receive a written response from you within the next 14 days, I will assume that you are not interested in responding, and I will contact Ofcom, to seek their advice (with particular regard to the data protection issue and your lack of interest in responding to customer complaints).

I look forward to hearing from you.


Yours sincerely etc etc

Tiscali - the saga continues

No letter for this one (again), but I have been in constant contact (with me having to make all the phonecalls) to find out why they let the problem develop and what they intend to do about it.

Last contact I had was last Friday morning, apparently after three weeks of investigation, they have finally formulated a reply. Unfortunately, I haven't received it yet. Even allowing for second class post, this seems to be a long time.

Watch this space - I am not going to let this go...

AXA PPP - the saga continues

Sorry to go on about this, but here is the latest chapter - this time they have replied!

15 March 2007

Dear Ms Roberts,

RE: Policy no ******

I am once again writing to follow up my previous letter of the 19th February 2007.

It has been nearly four weeks since my second letter, and I am still waiting for a response. I am astonished that you do not even acknowledge such complaints.

I am writing to make you aware that if I do not hear from you by the end of March, I will follow one or both of the following routes:

- Seeking legal advice regarding the manner in which Nicola was signed up to this policy

- Contacting the media regarding your practices

I would also like to remind you that I used to work in the complaints department of a direct marketing firm, so feel well-informed and justified that your practices in this case are not legitimate.

We are not seeking any form of recompense, merely a written apology and an assurance that this incident will be investigated, and that you will take steps to ensure that such practices are not continued.

I am aware that you may not have replied as you do not wish to be seen to be breaching data protection guidelines - as such, I have asked Nicola to co-sign this letter to show that she authorises me to act on her behalf.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding this issue.

Yours sincerely etc etc

Lo and behold, yesterday I received the following:

Thank you for your letter of the 15 March which has been forwarded to this department for reply.

Your letter has now been passed to one of our Customer Relations Executives, who will reply within the next ten working days. We will let you know if we need longer than this.

Yours sincerely etc etc

Amazing how they obviously hoped that I would give up, and how they sat up and took notice when I threatened to go to the media! Please note that I hate that kind of threat, it was very much a last resort - remember that the above was my third letter to them on this subject...

Surreal TV moment of the week

Last night, I got home from work at about 8.30pm. I kicked off my shoes, took off my coat and decided to have a good old sit down before having some dinner. I turned on the TV to see if there was anything interesting on, and was confronted with the most bizarre thing I have seen in ages - Huey Morgan, of the New York indie-hip-hopsters Fun Lovin' Criminals, taking part in what I can only describe as pro-celebrity dog training.

"That's unusual," I thought. "For a Tuesday."

Moanin' old git - update

Tiscali - I have been in dialogue with them over my complaint, although I have had to call them, rather than the other way around. Apparently it is "under investigation" at a senior level. I have told them that I am getting very impatient and made sure that their customer service staff have recorded that on my file.

AXA PPP - I have not heard anything. Again. They are going to be sorry.

Watch this space...