Morning all, What is the best broadband provider for the Harrow area? Thanks.

I signed up to O2 50GB tariff in September 2018 and decided to pay for the device up front to make the monthly payments cheaper (£22 per month instead of £29). Everything seemed fine for around four months until out of the blue I received an email notification from O2 claiming that a request for a tariff change had been made. No request had been made by us. At first I put it down to some sort of [problem] email and ignored it, but checking my account online later that day, it did show up as a change of tariff - with the new tariff of £29 per month for the same 50GB i was already receiving. I chatted to a couple of gurus until it appeared 'Keith' finally understood what I was complaining about. He said he would change the tariff back but the next payment could not be stopped but he would make sure the extra charges were reimbursed soon after. I waited and waited, and nearly four weeks later I still havent received the refund, and my tariff is still showing as £29 per month. I dont know if it was the right thing to do but I have raised a complaint through Resolver, and am currently waiting for their response. As a side to this, one of their gurus told me the exact time of day the so called request was made, and I have prove through my vehicle tracker that I was driving at the time, and no one else has access. My suspicion is that O2 are running some sort of fraudulent [problem] once they realised they are not charging me enough for the 50GB. Shortly afterwards I noticed that an extra charge of £4.50 has been added to the account, stating an 'app' had been purchased from Globway BV. I had not, and never would buy an app for £4.50. Another complaint was raised about that. Then just yesterday (Sun 10) I noticed that an incredible (for us!) 7.21 GB had been taken from our remaining monthly allowance, with 2.78 GB going after the device had been switched off for the night. Another complaint ensued! This is now the second time in two months that over 7GB has been wiped from our remaining allowance, and I wonder if anyone else has any similar experiences of this, and if any members can recommend future course of action? Many Thanks

Hi All We switched over from BT to Plusnet at the back end of last year, just before christmas and since the switchover, I have not had a decent internet connection through the WiFi since. Background: The house is a large old property with brick walls so WiFi is spotty in some areas, to resolve this I have placed access points that are hard wired in where necessary. When the provider was BT there were no problems I could test with a cable or WiFi and the speed would be pretty similar. Since switching over to Plusnet the internet speed through the WiFi has been awful and I don't think I've hit more than 6meg when testing. The reason I know it is not a WiFi problem is because the issues only started when we switched to Plusnet and when testing the internal network speeds they are consistent and the signal strength is also fine given that when I'm testing I'm less than 2 metres from the main router so any interference would be minimal and the WiFi has a clear channel. On top of that I seem to be getting regular dropouts which also aren't being detected by Plusnet. I have been on the phone to Plusnet at least once a week trying to get the problem solved, they sent out an Openreach engineer and after doing all his tests said that there is nothing wrong with the line coming in. All plusnet seem to say is "they can't guarantee wifi speeds" which I understand, however when I'm literally sat less than 2 metres from the main router without obstruction and the speed isn't anywhere near the wired speed, I know that there is something wrong. Having exhausted all options that I am able to, I'm pretty sure Plusnet are throttling the wireless connection somehow which they say they don't do but all evidence points to the contrary. I need a solution to this problem because it is causing me a massive amount stress. Any advice or guidance would be appreciated. Thanks K

Having moved my home phone & broadband recently - without any problems, I thought I would take advantage of the pricing offered - Vodafone - and move my business account to them as well - different address. After making contact they tried at first to say they could not help as my business does not show on their Postcode lookup - yet on Royal Mail PAF it comes up straight away as it does with many others - could it be VF use an out of date system, would have to be years old as have traded from here for the last 10+ years. Eventually overcame the Postcode issues as they input things manually but they now tell me I may have to fork out for a new phone number as the one I have is not recognised. I have suggested they contact my present provider who will tell them otherwise. In this day & age it seems to me as if those connected to the IT industry have the worst values. The bigger the company the worse they are.

Hi, My mother has been using Three mobile for her broadband (she lived in a caravan, and later a flat, that were unable to have Virgin/Sky installed). For all of 2017 she lived in a flat with a 6GB internet allowance, over the year she went to her limit twice. Purchasing a 2GB extension each time, she had no issues. In November, following weeks of issues, she went in to the store and complained and got upsold a new contract. 20GB allowance, plus she had BINGE (which allowed free watching of Netflix without using her data), her data would be capped and stop automatically when she hit her limit, but 20GB would be more than she needed (she was informed) November she used 8GB, December she used 8GB. In fitting with what she'd used before. Then in January, she suddenly jumped to 12GB, 19GB in February. No explanation for her sudden jump, she only uses facebook and searches on google for stuff. There's no downloads or streaming (apart from Netflix, which is not included in her data usage, it has a separate part). Apparently most of this usage was on Mondays, when she's only in the house for 4-5 hours at most. In March though, she had the real issue, when after 2 weeks she found that she was unable to access the internet. Anytime she tried she was told she was past her limit. 20GB, in two weeks! Still no explanation as to why it jumped so much. I went on her account to check her details. Imagine my surprise, when despite constantly being told "You have used your allowance" and being unable to connect to anything (Including Netflix, which was supposed to be free, but was for some reason cut off when she hit her limit), on her charges it listed a further 6GB that she was OVER her 20GB allowance (despite being capped and cut off, as was requested and told would happen when she had the contract) The 6GB over use, came with a lovely £53 charge. She only pays £15 for the 20GB, so it's extortionate to charge nearly 10x that amount on a per GB pro rata rate, but it shouldnt have been possible to go over. Naturally, we called Three to ask what had gone on, and had a very rude staff member tell us "You cant say you only use so much data each month. We know you used a lot more" we asked how, and why it went up so much, given her habits have been the same for about 4 years now. "I dont care, you cant tell me I'm wrong. You owe use the money" Then we were cut off. One rude customer service agent. Possibly hung up on us, maybe a real disconnection. So we called again, and got basically the same response and also got told that the store could not cap her usage, so she owes them the money. Unhappy with this, we went through their Resolver complaints procedure, and this is where we now stand. They have admitted: *They should have capped the account *Mum should not have been told it was capped, if it wasn't *The £53 charges are not fair They have said: *Mum cant cancel her contract, without paying them £70 early cancellation charge, despite them not giving her what she was told she was getting. They have offered: *My mum stays with them, and pays the £53 charge, along with her £15 bill *To make up for their mistake, they will give her £40 credit towards her next bill *They will now cap her account. Leaving my mum, with an internet account that is still using an insane amount of data for facebook and google searches (she changed the password too, in case someone was using it somehow). A £13 deficit after the £40 credit, and no real apology, given that the £40 apology doesn't even cover the charge that they shouldn't have been able to add anyway! She currently has her Three Mobile broadband unplugged and is just sticking to her phones 4G data (10GB a month, different provider, no issues). Is there any advice for how to reply to Three now? To me, I was sure this was a breach of contract on their part. Because at the POS she was told she was getting a capped internet (that would stop at 20GB), with unlimited netflix. She was given an uncapped internet, that had a 20GB limit before incurring extra charges, and netflix that stopped when she hit the separate 20GB allowance. Leaving her to go 6GB over, despite not even being able to go on the internet. Thanks for any help

Countdown to high speed broadband for all begins READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/countdown-to-high-speed-broadband-for-all-begins--2

I left talk talk after several years up to 2017 and had no yearly contract to honour due to it expiring. Quite simply they didnt provide me a working internet, blaming some issues with their line management software. I finished with them and didnt pay them for the time the line was not working. They sent me bills but I just could not pay them due to the principle of it. I tried to call their staff to explain that I am not going to pay when I didnt receive service, but wasted effort of course. Now talk talk are threatening credit score points against me if I dont pay. Is there anything I can do after they put this on my credit file. Its the principle of it that gets me, I just dont want to pay them after all the hassle and expense they put me through. As I was having to buy mobile broadband until I had a BT line put in. I have lots of credit I hardly use so its not the end of the world anyway but surely there must be a way to challenge them ?

Hi - I know this has been advised on loads of times, so i'll keep this brief as possible. I have read and read the threads and have formulated my defence, I just wondered if someone would cast their eye over it and make sure it reads okay. Background: Name of the Claimant - Lowell Portfolio Date of issue – 7 February 2018 AOS on MCOL entered on 7 February 2018 What is the claim for – the reason they have issued the claim? Please type out their particulars of claim in full (verbatim) less any identifiable data and round the amounts up/down. Full POC 1.The Defendent entered into an agreement with BT Plc under account reference..... 2.The Defendant failed to maintain the required payments and the services were terminated. 3.The agreement was later assigned to the Claimant on 27.3.2017 and notice was given to the Defendant. Despite repeated requests for payment the sum of £349.54 remains due and outstanding. Claimant Claims: The said sum of 349.54 Interest pursuant to S69 County Court Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum from the date of assignment etc etc Costs Have you received prior notice of a claim being issued pursuant to paragraph 3 of the PAPDC (Pre Action Protocol) ? Not sure What is the value of the claim? Total £458.75 Inc fees and costs (373.75 claimed) Is the claim for - BT Broadband Account When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? After Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. Assigned to Lowell Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? No Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ? No Why did you cease payments? January 2014 account was closed (or I thought it was) What was the date of your last payment? 18 January 2014 for £301.88 which I thought settled the account. Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? No Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management planicon? No I requested details the day I received the claim form from Lowell under (mistakingly the CPR rules for Credit Agreements, I got back an email stating that they were not required to retain and provide me with a copy of the agreement, also default notices does not apply and are therefore not issued etc. I honestly cannot remember what happened with this account. I left my home with my children as my husband was in a black hole of addiction at the time, and I left without most of the paperwork. He has subsequently passed away so I can't ask him either. So this is my proposed defence The Defendant contends that the particulars of claim are vague and generic in nature. Paragraph 1 is accepted. I have, in the past, entered into a contract with BT PLC, which was in dispute and never resolved to my satisfaction. I do not recall the exact details, nor do I recall any outstanding balance. I have requested the claimant verify the exact details of this claim in my letter to them of 7 February. The claimant responded on the 13 February, but refused to provide me with a copy of the agreement, stating he is not obligated to do so by virtue of the consumer credit Act 1974. To date, no statement of the alleged account has been received. Paragraph 2 is noted, again I do not recall any breach and I have never received the stated Default Notice. The Claimant has stated, by letter, that he is not obligated to provide a copy of the Default Notice, again by virtue of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The account was in dispute and never resolved by BT. Paragraph 3 is denied. The claimant never served a Notice of Assignment pursuant to the LoP Act 1925. However they did subsequently send me a copy on the 13 February 2018. Therefore the Claimant is to provide strict proof to: (a) show how the Defendant has entered into a Agreement/ Contract; and (b) show and evidence the nature of breach and termination. (b) show how the Defendant has reached the amount claimed for; and © show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim; The Claimant has stated that he has made several requests for repayment, yet I do not acknowledge any debt to the Claimant. As per Civil Procedure Rule 16.5(4), it is required that the Claimant prove the allegation that the money is owed. As the Claimant is an assignee of a debt, it is denied that the Claimant has the right to lay a claim, due to contraventions of Section 136 of the Law of Property Act. Subject to the above, should the alleged amount claimed include an early termination charge(s) amounting to the total balance of the remaining contract, OFCOM guidance clearly states that any Early Termination Charge, that is made up of the entire balance of the remaining contract, is unlikely to be fair, as it fails to take into account the fact that the provider no longer has to provide and pay for their service. By reason of the facts and matters set out above, it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief claimed, or any relief. Any comments or help greatly received

Hi everyone. I have the same issue as antonia26. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?463115-moriarty-law-JC-International-Claimform-old-Talk-Talk-Broadband-debt-***Claim-Discontinued*** i received a court letter taking me to court as i owe £257.28 As it was advised I have filled the form out and acknowledged of service and said I'm defending the whole claim. I sent a CPR 31.14 request to solicitors requesting information pertaining to their claim . I am not sure if it was done right. I 've received letter from the court about receipt of the Defence. and the letter from solicitors with the text below: we write to acknowledge receipt of the defence filed by you with the Court and in that regard we confirm that our client is processing with their claim. My CPR 31.14 was ignored and now I don't know what to do. Any further steps I should make in this case? thaank you very much for your help

Hi We changed broadband and landline provider in May 2017 from Fuel Broadband to EE, we were not tied into a contract with Fuel Broadband at that time. When we tried to pay the last bill of £20 we were unable to as the site wasn't active nor were any of the contact details to pay them. Today we received a text message from the Post Office saying that we owe them £20 and threatening us with debt collectors. This is the first contact we have had. On phoning them they couldn't find details of our account and told us they would have to get Fuel Broadband to contact us. They rang us and told us to ring the Post Office back when we were ready to pay and pay them. Do we owe them? The contract was always a month in advance to begin with and we can't check on what the final £20 is for because since switching to EE we no longer had access to account history and Fuel Broadband disappeared. Can anyone give any advice? Should we just pay the £20 and hope that is the end of the story? Many thanks for any help.

Tougher rules to let customers exit their contract New rules being introduced by Ofcom will let broadband customers exit their contract at any time if they aren’t getting the speed quoted by their provider. Currently customers can only cancel their broadband deal penalty free within the first three months of the contract. After that time they are charged a penalty fee to exit, even if their broadband speed is slow. Under the new rules customers can cancel at any time, if the speed they receive is slower than the speed they were quoted when they signed up. http://www.which.co.uk/news/2015/06/slow-broadband-speeds-now-you-can-cancel-406021/ That's the theory, meanwhile in the real world: Three in four households pay for internet speeds they never receive – but very few can use new Ofcom rules to switch providers More than 13 million households who pay for internet speeds they never receive are unable to use new rules allowing people to exit slow broadband contracts. As well as the headline speed, the provider must give a so-called "minimum guaranteed" speed. This is the highest speed available to the slowest 10 per cent of households in their customer base. The new rules introduced by Ofcom last week allow people to leave contracts early only if the speed is below this "minimum" level. Experts said it was therefore likely that just 10 per cent of the 22 million British households with broadband will be able to make use of the new rules to leave their provider. Customers who receive speeds just above the minimum threshold may be unable to argue their cases and will face fees to terminate their contract early. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/shopping-and-consumer-news/11682353/Millions-with-slow-broadband-cant-use-new-exit-rules.html ADVERTISING

Broadband providers drop cancellation fees for Armed Forces personnel READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/broadband-providers-drop-cancellation-fees-for-armed-forces-personnel

Hi Guys, On February 22nd I placed an order with Origin Broadband and paid £27.99 up front as they had a really competitive deal....However that night i decided to read reviews (my bad for doing it in that order, usually i read reviews first!)...Anyway i discovered so many many bad reviews about the company that it made BT look as though it was the king of Customer Service. So naturally i decided to cancel the following morning when the lines opened. So i called up (February 23rd) and after waiting 43 minutes in the queue, i was able to cancel my order and would told my refund would be back in my account within 10-14 days....On March 14th nothing appeared in my account from Origin, I called again, but this time i just hung up after 26 minutes in the queue as i had things to do. I emailed in and no reply to this day. Since then i have looked around, Facebook, Forums and Review sites and there are a lot of people saying they have been waiting 2+ months for their refund. I did try to submit a complaint to Ombudsman, but they wont touch it because it hasnt been ongoing for 8 weeks. To me it is clear that Origin are not going to issue the refund, based on what i have seen from other people. I thought about small claims, but after fees it would cost slight more just to take them to Small Claims, what can i actually do here? Whilst it is only £27.99, im not the type of person that can let a company get away with something like this....it urks me! Any advice would be greatly appreciated

For the full story - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/mar/24/broadband-users-in-line-for-millions-in-ofcom-compensation-plan

I enquired about joining BT in December. While I was still with TT they kept sending me 'don't leave, speak to our loyalty team to see what they can do' messages...so I did. 28 Dec - agreed a new deal 10 Jan - not heard anything so rang them. New deal hasn't been processed because I'd 'missed Jan's payment' (it's DD so it's their fault they didn't take it!) made me pay Jan's bill there on the phone. Couldn't talk about new deal because payment hasn't been processed 12 Jan - they rang me back & agreed new deal. Later that day I received confirmation email of package....it's completely different to what we agreed on the phone!! 14 Jan - they stop my internet & phone. Turns out they've 'processed a cancellation' from the beginning of all this mess.. .even though I stayed with them!!! I've paid Jan's bill for them to cut me off!!!! The new deal I've agreed starts on 26 Jan - and I keep getting letters emails about the package I'm having and they're all different!!!!!

I had been with Virgin since it started in our area, around 10- 15 years ago, and always found them reliable and the bb was excellent.. Left them in September 16 owing to the appalling TV that didn't even let you watch FREEVIEW channels. Went to BT, and boy I am disappointed, and want to leave. the bb has been off/on, not able to reach sites and my mobile won't connect to BT Lodged a complaint which is still open after 3 months India kept phoning me 3 times a day to check this & that, and I couldn't understand them half the time. Phoning me in work hours, when I had no access to my bb, and now they have said they are sending out a new router, and THEY WILL NOT CHARGE ME, how dare they provide such a dreadful service, and then say as if I am not entitled to it, they will not charge me. The complaint is still open and I still really cannot get the smooth bb that I had with Virgin Media. How do I word my cancellation letter/email to them, under I presume the terms and conditions and compensation for no service.

New rules forcing broadband firms to be clearer in adverts on the costs of their contracts have come into effect. Broadband suppliers will now have to show upfront and monthly costs, without separating out line rental prices, according to the changes brought in by the Advertising Standards Authority. The rules were originally due to be implemented in May, but firms asked for more time to comply with the changes. The ASA said customers were now much less likely to be misled. To comply with the new rules, broadband providers will now have to: Show all-inclusive, upfront and monthly costs, with no separating out of line rental prices Give greater prominence to the contract length and any post-discount pricing Give greater prominence to upfront costs http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37818861

People moving house will be able to easily compare broadband speeds at different addresses before buying for the first time under government plans Internet firms will be ordered to hand over data on broadband speeds for individual addresses rather than just geographical areas under changes contained in the Digital Economy Bill. It is hoped the move will encourage price comparison websites to create easy to use searches of broadband speeds at different properties. Currently, if a house-hunters wants to check how quick broadband is at a property of interest they must individually approach every different internet firm. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/12/broadband-speeds-for-every-property-to-be-made-easily-available/

Hello all, I am using BTHH5 and every night my broadband is dropping from 35MGB to 3-4MGB after 7pm. I am having a nightmare with BT understanding what I am trying to tell them and have an Engineer coming out tomorrow morning to look at the fault. The problem is, the broadband will be fine when they come out to look at it. Does anyone have any idea how to fix this? Ryan

Hi My Name is Greg I took out Broadband with Orange. The router was duly delivered and I plugged everything in and it never worked. I contacted Orange with great difficulty and they could not fix the problem. I contacted them on at least on 10 occasions and they said the same thing it should be working. I duly cancelled my direct debit and complained again to Orange but still no joy. I had a debt letter sent to me and felt this was a bit harsh as I had never had the Broadband working. I have paid the debt of £204.77 and have found out this has appeared on my credit history. I am applying for a Mortgage and how do I go about getting this off my records. Please help. Thanks Greg

Hi, What do you think I should do? I ordered Business Fibre 152mb broadband in January 2015 Virgin required a £230 deposit which I paid. It is now a year later, hundreds of emails and hours of calls and 6 missed apointments and we seem no closer to an actual installation. Costs initially escalated from £60 for the install to a couple of hundred, and 2 months in I opted for a government Connection Voucher to cover it. Since then they have continued to rise and I've continued to agree to them as they are still less than the grant. Highlights include: a 3 month wait while Virgin was emailing the wrong email address to get the installation started being asked to pay £3895 excess costs which turned out to be a basic algebra error resulting from adding the £3000 connection voucher grant and actual £895 costs together waiting for contractors to not show up to do work on 6 different weekends I made a formal complaint in October and have a reference for it, but all the complaints department do is chase their Manilla call centre to give me an update, which typically doesn't contain any information. It has been a very frustrating year and the practical and financial impact on my business is huge. There is also no sign this is going to end with Virgin actually getting round to the installation... I've thought about complaining to CISAS, which is the ombudsman Virgin Media seem to be linked to, what should i be asking them for? Is there anything else I could do?

The UK's broadband providers have been told to expect tougher rules on how they advertise their services. The UK's Advertising Standards Authority said it was considering the step to ensure people "aren't misled by pricing claims". It follows a study that indicated most users could not correctly calculate bills based on the information given in a selection of broadband ads. The ASA said it would make a final decision before June. A lobby group representing the broadband industry has suggested more research is needed before any changes are imposed. But one of the internet service providers has already said it supports reform. "It's obvious that a single headline price is much clearer and better for customers, and we're actually already doing it on a pilot project up in York," said a spokesman for TalkTalk. "But until the whole market moves to single prices, any company that advertises its products like this will struggle to compete with what look like better deals from other providers." The announcement comes a month after the charity Citizens Advice called on the ASA to review its code of practice because it said consumers were being misled by attractive-sounding broadband offers. Full Article

The UK Government has taken action to ensure remote homes and businesses can access its promised basic 2Mbps broadband service In a bid to deliver on previous guarantees it has made about affordable broadband access, the government will offer subsidised satellite dishes to some of the most remote areas. The scheme will be administered by local authorities. Homeowners and businesses within eligible areas will receive a voucher code to provide them with a free satellite dish and in some cases installation, as well as reduced 12 monthly subscription costs from partnering satellite broadband providers. Use the postcode checker here to find information about what is available in your area: http://gosuperfastchecker.culture.gov.uk/basicbroadbandchecker/index.php

I am approaching the end of my 12 month contract with Plusnet Broadband Service. I wrote to Plusnet to let them know I did not wish to renew the contact for another 12 months they have e mailed to say there is a £30 cancellation charge to disconnect the Broadband Service. I cannot find any reference to this charge in their Residential Terms and Conditions. Can anyone advise if this £30 charge is legitimate or are they just trying it on.

In the early months of 2010, Golden Eye (International) Ltd, a company connected with the Ben Dover porn brand, decided to chance their hand at obtaining settlements from alleged file-sharers in the UK. Although they successfully obtained the identities of alleged file-sharers through the court using the Tilly Bailey & Irvine (TBI) law firm, things quickly went wrong for GoldenEye. TBI pulled out due to bad publicity and the company was eventually fined late 2011 by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority for their mishandling of the cases. In September 2011, Golden Eye were back again, trying to extract money from Internet users via the previously untested route of the small claims court. But in December 2011 it all fell apart following proper scrutiny in the High Court. And now, in March 2012, unbelievably Golden Eye are back again with a third attempt. http://torrentfreak.com/pay-up-or-else-bittorrent-scheme-resurrected-in-uk-high-court-120309/ Posted this here for info, hopefully it wont take people by suprise like acs law. I download nothing, but always expect a letter lol