Sunday, 12 October 2008

MAIL-(DIS)ORDER

If anyone has been unsuccessfully attempting to e-mail us and has had their e-mails chucked back at them, this is due to the fact that our service provider, Pipex, having been recently bought by Tiscali, have (without advising customers, naturally!) been 'migating' Pipex accounts to their own. In the process, they've succeeded in screwing up vast numbers of e-mail addresses. We've not received any mail for the past two days, which is bad enough, but now we find that e-mails are being bounced back to the senders.

The websites for Pipex and Tiscali have (as one would expect) say nothing about the chaos that is ensuing, but trawling the internet forums reveal hundreds - probably of thousands - of people in the same leaky boat.

One of the FAQ on the Pipex site is: 'Can I switch from any service provider?' ‘Service provider’? Er… no, I don't think so! And they obviously need a new FAQ: 'Can I switch TO ANOTHER service provider?'

The most priceless piece of lunacy was an automated response to a message requesting information left on the Pipex site: “We will respond to your enquiry with an e-mail…” Well, they’ll be bloody lucky!

4 comments:

Boll Weavil said...

Let me match you with one ! I've had an account with Paypal for years. I use it to collect subs for my poetry magazine. It rarely has any money in it as its always moved into a savings account so I was suprised when, on the very day it had got a bit of cash in, it was frozen by Paypal. This was, apparently, because it was the type of account liable to be used for terrorist activities or money laundering ! They have kept the money pending further enquiries and me supplying paperwork to prove I'm legit...paperwork...for an online account ! Presumably also its innocent until proved guilty not the other way round ! Money laundering...on an account that handles around $200 a year ? Hmmm the war against terror must be won I guess !

Brian Sibley said...

Amazing story... If and when I get my e-mails back, I'll send them a note putting in a word in your defence...

Anonymous said...

Re: e-mails. You probably didn't get the Noel Coward lyric (Useless...phrases) I sent you last week. If not I'llsend them when your e-mail is back.
ATB
Roger

Brian Sibley said...

Well, ROGER, it seems to be back... How clever of you to find the Coward lyrics: I couldn't track them down anywhere... You know, we really should create a Greek Island version...