Demon Internet Cancelled: Now Bill for Last Three Years!!

[illonavamp]

As if I don't have enough problems

I was with Demon Internet from May 2005 until February this year. Their internet package was 24.99 per month for 2mb broadband.

I found an alternative deal, gave them 30 days written notice to cancel, requested my MAC code, and moved over to Sky Broadband.

Shortly afterwards I received a refund of 11.00 following closure of the account.

I construed this as closure.

A few weeks ago I received thirteen (obviously computer generated) letters asking for 24.99.

The following week I received another thirteen letters saying the same thing. I then started receiving phonecalls.

So, I sent them this letter:

I am writing to express my serious concerns regarding both the quantity and frequency of letters and telephone calls that I have received from your company.

On the 26th March I received thirteen (13) letters from you all saying the same thing.
On the 4th April I received twelve (12) letters from you all saying the same thing.
I am now receiving telephone calls to the same effect.

I am now formally requesting that all further correspondence stop. I cancelled my Demon internet and gave you the required notice (having dealt with an incredibly condescending customer service person, who was sarcastic to the point of rude), and have since in fact received a cheque refund from you which I construe as closure.

I demand that these letters and calls stop immediately. I am now familiar with the terms of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and I believe your harassment places you in breach of these acts.


If you believe that there is some communication to be had with me, I will accept one further letter, sent by registered mail only and will not tolerate any further harassment.

If you continue to mail and call me, I will report you to both Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading. Take further note that continued mails and calls after the receipt of a request not to contact may constitute a criminal offence under Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003

You will be deemed to have been served notice of this request no later than 2 working days after postage and I am advising you that I have kept and recorded all calls and letters received to date, and will continue to do so after this date with the intention of them being used as evidence.

Today I received a 'without prejudice' letter from them saying that there is actually an outstanding balance of 299.98 and enclosing a statement. The statement dates back to 2005 and I have NEVER missed any payment to them, I just paid my 24.99 a month and that was that. I never EVER received any correspondence from them that I was incurring any extra charges on the account, not ever. The plan I had with them was a 'homeoffice account' which was 'unlimited usage'. I'm aware that there is an unfair usage on most of these broadband contracts but shouldn't they tell you and not save up the charges for two years until you cancel?

I'm absolutely GOBSMACKED that this has happened, especially since I have actions on the go with my credit card and bank, I am at the very end of my wits.

Please help, any advice would be appreciated.

Sam

[davethorp]

Can't offer much help though at one point a few months ago I was receiving letters off demon informing me that I'd cancelled my direct debit on a daily basis. Needless to say as I'd not been a customer of theirs since another telecoms company who shall remain nameless disconnected my BT line in breach of their terms and conditions, this was something that I already knew.

I also had homeoffice and have only ever been charged the £24.99 normal rate. Oddly I also still get the odd statement of demon for this which I ignore as my BT line isn't even active any more so chances are I could find myself in a similar boat soon

EDIT Actually I think I can offer some help. The first thing to do would be to S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) them under the data protection act. Get them to send you a list of everything they have on you. Every charge, payment and any other data they have on you. This will cost £10 as it does with the banks. Once you receive this you should be in a better position to work out whats going on though my guess is they are still trying to charge you even though you ported away from them using your MAC code

[half ax I]

Not quite the same. I received a £120 annual bill from Demon earlier this month (for a business dial up service) and was dated 31-05-2001. The service was cancelled in 2000.

Looks like a very efficient billing system!

S

[illonavamp]

Well, in my opinion these charges are hidden. Not at any stage did I get anything other than the 24.99 receipted invoice, never anything about usage balances carried forward or any note that said I was incurring the charges.

I will do a S.A.R and ask them for previous notification of these charges. They CAN'T, they just CAN'T just say 'sorry you cancelled, here's a bill for charges for the last two years which, oops, we never mentioned to you'.

They just can't, can they? I'm just....speechless.

[illonavamp]

Originally Posted by half ax I

Not quite the same. I received a £120 annual bill from Demon earlier this month (for a business dial up service) and was dated 31-05-2001. The service was cancelled in 2000.

S

I'd have ignored that

Stuff them, you know what, stuff the S.A.R. I'm going to let them stew in their own juices. I've already told them not to contact me any more after the 26 envelopes arrived. If they threaten me with anything I'll so the S.A.R and counter-claim for the hourly cost of opening 26 envelopes and researching my rights.

Stuff 'em I say! Stuff the lot of 'em I've got enough on my plate.

[illonavamp]

S.A.R sent recorded delivery today to Demon, 1st Credit, LCS Solicitors, all of whom have sent me letters about this.

[alibobsy]

Go get em these companies think they can screw us over left right and centre. Go consumer rights!
alix

[rks99]

Good luck person

[illonavamp]

Got this email from Thus Plc this morning:

From: "Gourlay, Donna" <donna.gourlay@thus.net>
To: <illonavamp@hotmail.com>
Subject: Subject access request 1-135865369
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2007 16:55:42 +0100

Dear Miss D,
I have received a letter from our customer services department dated 29th May. Could you please confirm that you wish us to go ahead with a subject access request.

So that we can action your request could you please confirm the below:

* list of transactions - Can you please confirm what is required
with regards to "list of transactions and charges" Billing details in
terms of a list of what we billed, when you paid, etc?

* Can you please confirm what is required with regards to "usage
charges"

Many thanks
Donna
Regulatory Team.

To which I replied:

In future please write to me at the address supplied, I do not authorise any correspondence via email.

1. Yes, I want you to go ahead, I wouldn't have asked otherwise.

2. I want exact copies of everything you ever sent me, basically. Particularly ALL correspondence relating to any charge over and above my monthly payment of 24.99

3. Yes, as above any and all correspondence notifying me of any charge accumulating over and above my 24.99 monthly payment.

Basically Donna (and I'm explaining this for the third or more time), I was with you for two years, paying 24.99 a month for broadband usage. The line was 'upgraded' which resulted in a serious deterioration of service for me in that I was being disconnected every 10-20 minutes which I put up with for months in the hope that it would right itself. I contacted your technical support on several occasions and they were unable to help. So, I sought an alternative provider, provided you with the required noticed, requested my mac code and moved to another broadband provider. Shortly afterwards, I received a cheque from you which I understood to be an overpayment and closure. I while later I received twenty six letters over two days requesting payment of 24.99. I contacted you asking for the excessive correspondence to stop. You wrote back saying 'ok, but now you owe us 299.00'. I want to know where this came from, where you've told me about it before, and if not, why not - which is why I require all the above documentation in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

[illonavamp]

Last week I received an envelope containing about six invoices (six months worth) with no covering letter, no agreement, no contract, nothing.

I haven't had any other correspondence from them or any since.

None of these invoices had any small print or anything even indicating to the fact that I was incurring extra charges, so I fully intend to act upon it if I hear from them again.

I also dug out a copy of the terms and conditions, particularly looking for their fair usage clauses and there are none, least I can't find anything in the T&Cs that came with the 'starter pack' in 2005.

Additionally, they changed the service late 2006 - shouldn't they have sent me a new contract/T&C's?

Anyway..it's all quiet for now.

[illonavamp]

Yesterday I received a missed call which I returned. It was from 1st Credit, and after giving them details they said 'Someone must have called you by mistake, this account has been cleared.'

I'm still getting letters from them so if this goes to Court I will refer the Court to my letter about harrassment/Communications Act and show them the subsequent letters and phonecalls I received.

And that'll be the end of it hopefully

[Nads]

Originally Posted by illonavamp

Yesterday I received a missed call which I returned. It was from 1st Credit, and after giving them details they said 'Someone must have called you by mistake, this account has been cleared.'

I'm still getting letters from them so if this goes to Court I will refer the Court to my letter about harrassment/Communications Act and show them the subsequent letters and phonecalls I received.

And that'll be the end of it hopefully

Sounds to me like this Company are in total confusion, I suggest you get confirmation in writing from 1st Credit that the account has been cleared. What date it was cleared etc. If you end up going to court, you will want proof.

[Essence44]

I am having a problem getting my mac code from Demon, despite writing letters and too many phone calls i am still waiting.

It all started when i called Demon to say that access to my internet was denied and i asked why. They told me I had an outstanding bill for £449!. I was very shocked. At no time what so ever had they informed me of this outstanding balance. Then they told me that direct debit payments had been collected up to December 2005, then in Jan Feb and March 2006 they couldn't collect anymore and stopped trying. But they didnt inform me of this, instead let my account build up for 1 year and 8 months!!!!.


I have now requested a S.A.R. Subject Access Requests under the Data Protection Act 1998.


I shall also be reporing them to Ofcom.


By the way, Ofcom is receiving an increasing number of complaints from consumers who find it difficult to obtain a MAC from their provider.
Therefore, from 14 February 2007, General Condition 22: Service Migrations will require broadband providers to supply consumers with a MAC upon request and free of charge.

A more robust MAC process – as described above - will go some way to relieving the problem. The new rules will also make it the responsibility of all broadband providers to ensure that technical and operational problems such as tag on line do not hinder consumers’ ability to switch.
Ofcom will continue to work with all broadband providers to address the root causes of tag on line. BT has set up a telephone helpdesk to support those with a marker on their line and will aim to remove tags wherever possible, or offer consumers advice where it is not able to remove the tag.

check out this link Switching broadband provider | Ofcom
or go straight to Home page | Ofcom

[illonavamp]

I had no trouble getting my MAC from them, or getting my account closed and getting a refund.....it was after that I got my bill for hundreds of quid. They can take me to Court for it because I am NOT paying it. They can prove in court they were telling me about this extra balance what was accumulating - I know they didn't.

Interesting about the provision of MAC Code free of charge - since many BB providers charge a cancellation fee.

[Essence44]

Well i got my MAC Code from Demon, just got to see if it actually works. i shall keep you informed.

[Nads]

Are they sure they have the right accounts, I cannot understand how a company can have so much payments outstanding and not at any time contact the customer to let them know or even to demand payment. These days every company is now ringing their customers even when one months payment is outstanding.

Sounds very suspicious to me, I suggest everyone in this situation check their account details thoroughly, then check them against the account details Demon are actually using/quoting. If you find an error, don't tell them wait until you go to court then sting the fools for their incompetence.

[Essence44]

Thanks for that Nads

Infact the letter they sent me had someone elses account number on it!!

After requesting my MAC Code, here is the email they sent me

Demon email

We are sorry to see you leave. As requested please find below your Migration Code which you will need to pass on to your new service provider within 30 days.
We would appreciate any feedback you may wish to provide to us. Please complete our online Customer Satisfaction Survey and in appreciation of your help, you will have the opportunity to enter into our prize draw to win a 2Gb Apple iPod: