Ten days that shook my world (5)
Regular readers of NightHawk will know about my recent loss of connection problems with my Internet service provider Pipex, but you can remind yourself here.
Once I obtained my Net connection back again, I lodged an immediate and detailed complaint with Pipex. I was not satisfied with the response so I took the matter to the ombudsman Otelo. They would not accept the appeal because they said that I had not exhausted Pipex’s own procedures.
So I escalated the complaint within Pipex in a letter sent on 3 June 2009. What do you think happened?
I had a response in a letter dated 12 June 2009. Bizarrely this stated that three out five specified items of information were not available in my original letter and that therefore the company was unable to act upon my complaint. What were these five items of information?
Customer account number:
I was astonished that Pipex needed me to supply this information since the company’s own customer systems ought to provide this from my name and address.
Customer’s full name:
This was of course contained in my original letter.
Customer’s address including postcode:
This too was of course contained in my original letter.
Customer’s date of birth:
I have no idea why Pipex requires this information (except perhaps as a security check).
Customer’s contact telephone number or e-mail address:
Since Pipex is my Internet service provider, it provides my e-mail address and, since my loss of service resulted in frequent calls between me and the various lines of support in Pipex, I thought that my contact number was well-known to the company.
Is it any wonder that so many people choose not to complain or give up when faced with this Byzantine response? I’ve now supplied Pipex with all the information it requested and now await a speedy and helpful response. Well, I can hope …
June 20th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
I’ve been following this saga on your blog, and I’m completely amazed at this company’s lack of response. I should have thought they’d be more interested in keeping a customer than they appear to be.