Provision of MAC code - New Rules

[bram stoker]

Switching broadband provider | Ofcom
BBC NEWS | Technology | Broadband switching set to ease

Note changes from 14 Feb.

[chocolatte]

Originally Posted by Vampiress

Switching broadband provider | Ofcom
BBC NEWS | Technology | Broadband switching set to ease

Note changes from 14 Feb.

Thanks for that. I have an oustanding Telephone Bill with Tiscali which I telephoned and offered to pay £100 per month, and although i was not running up any further Bills with them, they refused to re-enstate my Broadband service.
So I asked for my MAC from them which they flatly refused, therefore holding me to ransom until the full bill was paid!
However, due to OFCOM'S new piece of legislation I have my MAC on it's way to me today. And I can get back on Broadband and still pay off the Bill in installments.

You are such stars on this site, I don't know where I would be without you! Payment on its way to you X

[bram stoker]

Many many thanks for your donation.

[chocolatte]

You are very welcome for my donation, I will contribute more as and when I can afford it. It's worth it!

I am about to phone Tiscali again as they said if I had not received my code within 48 hours I should call them back. It's now about 55 hours,

Thanks again X
Cally

[chocolatte]

Tiscali have had me running around incircles and I still haven't received my MAC code which has been eight days since they said they sent it.
They said they would generate another one today???????????????????? ???

[calvi36]

I* am still having problems with talk talk and below is a summary of where I am upto. Do not call their 0870 numbers as these are premium rate, use this number 01925 554949. They try to charge a cessation fee of £70, this is illegal under OFCOM rules that came into force on 14th Feb 2007 where it clearly states no penalty charge can be levied when requesting a mac code. I spoke to their customer services today and they are very abrupt and unhelpful. I was told that there is no 5 day rule and he did not know what I was talking about. I took great pleasure in giving him the relevant rules (read him the riot act lol). He then fired back with, we cannot issue you a mac code as your account is owing 29.99. I told him that this was in dispute and again referred to the ofcom rules that a mac code cannot be witheld if an account is in dispute. I also asked why they only had 0870 numbers and that I was not happy having to call a premium rate number, he told me that 0970 is not a premium number (more lies), I called their 01925 number as above.

Long and short of it is, my mac code WILL be emailed to me within 3 days. So don't take any crap off of call centre staff who think they can brow beat you. We know the law and the relevant regulations due to this great site. Use the rules against them.

Here is what they will try!!!!

Dear Sirs,

I initially requested the Mac code for my telephone line from yourselves on 31/03/07 and I have still not been issued with it. I will not call a premium rate telephone number to have the service disconnected. As stated in your previous email dated 04/04/07, “A MAC normally takes five days to generate and will be sent to you via e-mail.” This has not happened. I refer you to the OFCOM code of practice on Migration Codes:

Issuing MACs to End-Users

A1.5 The Communications Provider shall communicate the MAC to the End-User in writing by letter and/or by e-mail within five working days of receipt of the End-User’s request save for A1.6
.
A1.6 Where the Communications Provider has issued the MAC to the End-User over the telephone (including details about the MAC validity period and expiry date and the Broadband Service to which the MAC relates), the Communications Provider is not required to communicate the MAC to the End-User in writing.

As you have failed to supply me with the MAC Code within 5 working days you are in breach of the code of practise as per section A1.5
.
As a gesture of goodwill I shall give you a further three days to communicate my my code to me, if you fail to supply the mac code by close of business 12/04/07 then I shall have no hesitation in making a formal complaint to OFCOM.


Regards,





On Mon, 9 Apr 2007 08:39:34 +0100 , Broadbandsupport@talktalk .co.uk wrote:
>Dear Mr ,
>
>Thank you for your e-mail regarding cancelling your TalkTalk account.
>
>Please accept our apologies for the delay in replying.
>
>We are sorry to learn that you wish to cancel your account, we request that you contact our Options Department on 0870 168 0870 (Option 2, Option 5, then Option 2)who will assist you in having your account cancelled as we are not authorised to have this done by e-mail request.
>
>We apologise for any inconvenience you may have experienced in our service.
>
>If you have any other enquiries please reply directly to this email, or you can contact our Customer Service Team on 0870 444 1820 (Please note that this is free from a TalkTalk landline). For technical support please contact Broadband Technical Support on 0871 226 7146 (Calls to this number are charged at 10p per minute. Charges may vary from mobile phones). You can also email broadbandsupport@talktalk .co.uk or visit our website at Welcome to TalkTalk powered by AOL
>
>Yours sincerely,
>
>Palesa Motsoeneng
>TalkTalk Correspondence Department.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From:
>Sent: 06 April 2007 01:20
>To: BroadbandSupport
>Subject: Re: TalkTalk
>
>I request that you disconnect me from your service and send me the mac code by email within 5 days.
>
>
>On Wed, 4 Apr 2007 15:15:55 +0100 , Broadbandsupport@talktalk .co.uk wrote:
>>Dear Mr ,
>>
>>Thank you for your e-mail. I have investigated the matter on your behalf and can confirm that a request can be made to disconnect your services which will generate the Migration Authorisation Code (MAC) requested. A MAC normally takes five days to generate and will be sent to you via e-mail.
>>
>>Before I place a request for your MAC code, I have to advise that a £70 cessation fee will be applied due to the fact that you are in an 18-month contract and you have decided to terminate this contract prematurely. Please confirm that you would still like to cancel your account. I hope you have found this information useful.
>>
>>If you have any general landline queries, please call TalkTalk Customer Services on 0870 444 1820.
>>
>>For technical queries, please contact Broadband Technical Support on 0871 226 7146. Calls to this number are charged at 10 pence per minute (call charges may vary from mobile phones and other telecom operators).
>>
>>Both of these numbers can become busy during peak periods and TalkTalk apologises for any inconvenience caused by the delays.
>>
>>Yours sincerely,
>>John Hamalienko
>>TalkTalk Correspondence Department
>>
>>TRACKING NUMBER:
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>>
>>
>> From:
>> Sent: 31 Mar 07 15:58:45
>> To: <broadbandsupport@talktal k.co.uk>
>> Cc:
>> Subject: TalkTalk Broadband-MAC code query
>>
>> Contact Us Information
>>
>>Name: MR
>>
>>Postcode:
>>
>>Email:
>>
>>Address:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>Account Holder: I am the TalkTalk account holder Account Number:
>> Bank Name: NATIONWIDE Phone number: Alternate
>>number:
>>
>>Query Type:
>>
>>TalkTalk Broadband
>>
>>
>>MAC code query
>>
>>
>>
>>Comment:
>>Dear Sirs,
>>
>>please email the MAC code for my broadband line to
>>. Regards,
>>
>>
>>
>>COPY RETAINED
>

[calvi36]

I have got so fed up with Talk Talk that I haver just sent a formal complaint to OFCOM. I sent this directly to Vicki Nash Director Nations, Scotland at OFCOM.

Dear Vicki,
Firstly apologies if I have sent this email to the wrong person at OFCOM, if I have then can I ask you to please forward it to the relevant department.

I am having problems with talk talk and below is a summary of where I am upto. At the moment I have denial of service from Talk Talk, no reason given so therefor they are in breach of contract not myself. I have tried to resolve this matter with them and I cannot get anywhere.

I requested my mac code from them on 31/03/07 due to the denial of service. They try to charge a cessation fee of £70, this is illegal under OFCOM rules that came into force on 14th Feb 2007 where it clearly states no penalty charge can be levied when requesting a mac code. I spoke to their customer services today and they are very abrupt and unhelpful. I was told that there is no 5 day rule and I did not know what I was talking about. I took great pleasure in giving him the relevant rules. He then fired back with, we cannot issue you a mac code as your account is owing 29.99. I told him that this was in dispute and again referred to the ofcom rules that a mac code cannot be witheld if an account is in dispute.

I also asked why they only had 0870 numbers and that I was not happy having to call a premium rate number, he told me that 0870 is not a premium number (more lies).

The summary of my complaint is as follows:

1. Mac code not provided within 5 days.
2. Talk talk attempting to charge a penalty fee before providing a mac code.
3. Having to call an 0870 number and being lied to by call centre staff member called Neil who said it was not a premium rate number. See email below where they state calls are charged at 10p per minute.

I have copied and pasted all correspondence that I have had with Talk Talk below and would ask that you investigate this formal complaint on my behalf.

Regards,

P

[calvi36]

Latest Instalment, I should have started a freash thread sorry vamps, perhaps a mod could move this.


Dear Sirs,
firstly THANK You for attempting to treat me like a complete imbecile. And also I would like to thank the imbecile that responded without reading the previous correspondence that is always attached to my emails to your selves. Had your employee taken the time to read my previous response to yourselves he would have seen that I am only too aware what a MAC Code is and what it is required for. I left your telephone service as the level of service from your company was deplorable. I am leaving your broadband for more or less the same reason. It would help massively if you employed people who's first language is English as maybe then they would grasp exactly what is being stated in the written and spoken word.
I telephoned your customer service number on 9th April and was totally disgusted by the attitude of your staff member who attempted to patronise me and verged on calling me a liar when I referrred to 5 day mac code provision ruling by OFCOM. I was also told that your 0870 numbers are not premium rate, this was an outright lie. I was told my MAC Code would be emailed to me within 3 days and this has not happened.
I will now inform you that I have made an official complaint to OFCOM and that this is now under investigation by them.


On Tue, 10 Apr 200714:41:32 +0100 , "Denise Grant" <Denise.Grant@ofcom.org.u k> wrote: Re: Case Ref:1-15430239 - Complaint re non-provision of mac code
>Good afternoon Mr ,
>
>I refer to your email of 9 April 2007 addressed to Vicki Nash, Director, Ofcom Scotland. Your complaint has been passed to the Ofcom Contact Centre who will reply to you directly.
>
>Kind regards.
>
>
>:: Denise Grant
> Administrator
> 0141 229 7406
> denise.grant@ofcom.org.uk
>
>:: Ofcom Scotland
> Sutherland House
> 149 St Vincent Street
> GlasgowG2 5NW
> www.ofcom.org.uk

So0 you think you can stall and withold MAC Codes and stop people from leaving you crappy company, well think again. If you provided a decent level of service and customer service then I would not be leaving your company. However I would never reccomend TALK TALK to anyone in my case I will WALK WALK as I want nothing more to do with your sorry excuse for customer service. Please be aware that this email will be sent to OFCOM in further support of my complaint against your company.

P

On Thu, 12 Apr 2007 07:39:05 +0100 , Broadbandsupport@talktalk .co.uk wrote:
>Dear Mr ,
>
>Thank you for your e-mail regarding your MAC request.
>
>We must inform you that you do not need a MAC Code to transfer your Landline only for Broadband.
>
>If you have any other enquiries please reply directly to this email, or you can contact our Customer Service Team on 0870 444 1820 (Please note that this is free from a TalkTalk landline).
>For technical support please contact Broadband Technical Support on 0871 226 7146 (Calls to this number are charged at 10p per minute. Charges may vary from mobile phones). You can also email broadbandsupport@talktalk .co.uk or visit our website at Welcome to TalkTalk powered by AOL
>
>Yours sincerely
>
>Trevor Mosingati
>TalkTalk Correspondence Department.

[patdavies]

Just a small point. 0870 is not premium rate. All premium rate numbers start 09.

0870 is a national rate number

[calvi36]

Originally Posted by patdavies

Just a small point. 0870 is not premium rate. All premium rate numbers start 09.

0870 is a national rate number

Hi Pat, see below and on this site what you actually get charged SAYNOTO0870.COM - Non-Geographical Alternative Telephone Numbers ou will find that most companies will be using 0870 numbers as they take revenue from the calls. National rate is around 3p per minute at peak rates so you are being charged 65% more to call an 0870 number.

Calvi36

>If you have any other enquiries please reply directly to this email, or you can contact our Customer Service Team on 0870 444 1820 (Please note that this is free from a TalkTalk landline).
>For technical support please contact Broadband Technical Support on 0871 226 7146 (Calls to this number are charged at 10p per minute.

[patdavies]

I am well aware of this - I have an 0871 number myself.

I was making the point that TalkTalk are not lying when they say that they are not using a premium rate number

[calvi36]

Originally Posted by patdavies

I am well aware of this - I have an 0871 number myself.

I was making the point that TalkTalk are not lying when they say that they are not using a premium rate number

Hi Pat, let's agree to disagree on this one then, but I class 65% above a standard national call rate to be charging at a premium and I never call them. I always use the alternative numbers provided on the previous link. All 087 numbers are nothing more than a rip off as far as I am concerned. You will notice that all debt collection agencies use them, once again hitting those who can least afford it the hardest.

[calvi36]

Ofcom reference: 1-xxxxxxxx
23 April 2007
Dear Mr X
Thank you for your further email to Ofcom. I apologise for not responding to you sooner.
I was sorry to read about the continued problems you have encountered with TalkTalk and that your service was cut off causing you to cease and re-provide.
I am sure that you will be interested to know that Ofcom has opened an industry-wide enforcement programme into compliance with the new general condition. This is with the aim of monitoring whether CP’s are complying with the newly introduced requirements. Where we see evidence of systematic non-compliance with the obligations we will take appropriate enforcement action to ensure compliance. Details can be found on our website at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/bulletins/comp_bull_index/comp_bull_ocases/open_all/cw_946/
Yours sincerely
::Alastair Hogg


Dear Alistair,
thanks for your email and the link it contained. I was aware of the new regulations and this formed the basis of my complaint. This is the update:
I was contacted today by Talk Talk Hi Level complaints team:
1. They admitted I should not have been disconnected and forced into cease and re-provide.
2. They stated they had spoken to their network team to attempt to get me a mac code. At this stage this is not possible as their marker will cease on my line on 26th April.
3. They admitted that I was given incorrect information regarding their charges for 0870 numbers and that the member of staff concerned was undergoing "further training".
4. They stated that the £70.00 cessation fee would not apply and that this should never have been a condition of being sent a MAC code. They agreed this was a penalty charge for cancelling a contract with them, which I then informed them that this was unlawful and this was accepted by them.
5. They stated that they would contact me on friday the 27th April to confirm their marker has been removed.
6. I informed them that I had to make a formal complaint to yourselves as the regulator to get any action taken. I was asked if this matter was now closed and if I would withdraw the complaint. I declined.
7. I informed them that I shall be pursuing them for the costs of all calls I was was to make to their 0870 number when my telephone bill arrives.
I would like to thank you for your intervention in this matter.
Kind regards,
xxxxxxxx