Being a former employee of Pipex I can confirm the billing system retains all the card information for customers.

A process was introduced to remove card numbers and replace with ***'s but this rarely got followed. Also the billing system - Navision - is overly complicated and does not allow purging of details easily.

Hypothetically you could raise an order through the website if you knew the existing account number and have services / items billed against it.

Is this why when i requested my MAC code, i got it inside 1week, and then 3 months after i had used it, i got it resent to me (without any prompting from me). On the other hand it took me 3 months to get the refund sorted out (seeing as i left due to heavy usage so they said they wouldnt charge me for the remainder of my contract). Well at least i got it back last week, after constant phone calls to them, and them applying the refund to my account with them (which had been cancelled for 3 months) I think something was a bit fishy from them

I'm still waiting for them to chase up a 3 years old debt i have with them. :)

What a steaming pile of bullshit they're spewing now, 'keeping records in case they come back'?, well Pipex have made it very clear they didn't want me back when they kicked me off off at the end of March for being a 'heavy user' on their 'unlimited' ADSL package.

I shall return to Pipex when satan's primary transport for commuting to work is a pair of ice skates.

Kind of lucky that Pipex's internal departments never talk to each other, if they had this would never have come to light.

They thought to try make some money they would chase accounts where services are still active, but were not billing the customer. Or that was the intention, but instead they just reactivated loads of accounts and then sent emails saying they were charging their credit cards for backdated charges! If you have ever been on Pipex its well worth checking your credit card statements to see if they have helped themselves.

They are actually strict with data protection in the offices, your desks are checked frequently to make sure there is no customer information lying about, well where i worked they were. However, pay a visit to HR and all of their desks are piled sky high with paperwork....OUR paperwork!

Glad i got out of there when i did, wonder how long it will be before the companys on the street corner again flogging its self to the highest bidder.

Sky TV do the same, they keep details for years.