Extortion by Internet

I have avoided naming names so far in the ongoing debacle that has been my Internet service. However, there is only so much anyone can take. As of now, it's cat-out-of-the-bag time.


I have been trying to migrate away from E7broadband since February. They have sent two migration codes, neither of which have worked, and ignored my request for a third.

I see they even have an entry in Wikipedia now. It's not complimentary.

My ADSL line stopped working on July 1st. A Saturday. So no hope of contacting anybody. As if there ever was, with that company.

On Monday, I finally discovered they had closed down, and had terminated all contracts with no warning. I discovered this by searching for news on the company, not because they told me. I have had no information at all from them.

That’s exactly what I have come to expect of this company. However, they continue to occupy my line with a non-functioning ADSL connection.

Why?

Well, it seems they have ‘an arrangement’ with 186k, aka Ezee DSL.

Unless I pay this new company to set up a new account, they will continue to block my ADSL access until the 14th of July, when E7broadband ‘officially’ terminates. There is no option to get out of this arrangement, which was set up without either informing or consulting their customers.

That is, purely and simply, blackmail. It translates to ‘Give us money, or you’re offline’.

Their website has no Email address, and only one phone number. I am forced to wonder if it is E7Broadband in a new incarnation? The website looks new, and the format is rather similar. So, what is it, eh? Cancel all contracts, keep the money, and charge your customers again for the same crappy service they’ve had all along? Speculation, naturally, but it’s a logical conclusion based on the limited information made available to me.

After all, this ‘arrangement’ didn’t materialise overnight. Ezee DSL, as far as I can tell, did just that.

I continue to try to contact Ezee DSL, so far to no avail (sound familiar?). I will not be paying their extortion demands.

Instead, I will be contacting the appropriate ombudsman and possibly initiating legal action.

If you are considering taking up broadband service in the UK, I can only recommend, based on my own experience, that you stick with one of the larger, established companies. Avoid the small outfits.

They might look cheaper, but you get what you pay for.