Existing customer? Sorry, no TalkTalk

If Carphone Warehouse is going to offer free broadband through its TalkTalk brand then I hope it employs some more people to pick up its phones.
I was held for 30 minutes last week when trying to get through to the company's broadband customer service line. I had previously sent four emails, all of which remain unanswered.
Out of interest, I wondered how long it would take to get through on the telephone line for new sales. The answer: three rings. At least I know where their priorities lie.

Michael Clarke, This is Money

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Comments

[Ian MacKenzie]

DONT USE THESE JOKERS

I have had the worst customer service from these people. They sgree with whatever you say just to get you off the line then they dont do what they agreed to do. They then put false information on to your file in the form of notes so that the next operator you speak to doesnt realise what has happened. Dreadful people. I cant wait to leave. Dont want to give them a penny extra so will have to wait till end of contract.

[American]

I have been trying since June 1st to get TalkTalk to provide a correct final bill for the deceased estate of which I'm executor. Letters are ignored. I've made three transatlantic phone calls and been shunted from pillar to post by rude, incompetent staff. TalkTalk insists on writing to the deceased's address in spite of having received the death certificate. Their bill includes charges up to July 7th. They were notified of the death on June 1st and asked to cancel service immediately. They have now sent a Final Demand threatening to disconnect service (Oh, the irony!) and charge £70 plus additional charges. What do I have to do to get these people to give me a correct bill?

[georgina]

practical advice:

OFCOM - 0207 981 3040

get a complaint ref No from them

write making formal complaint to:
Customer service manager
Talk Talk Telecom Ltd'
Portal way
London
W3 6RT

make complaint asking them to investigate on a formal basis in accordance with their code of practice

if not satisfactory then go to Othello (Ombudsman) quoting your ofcom ref No Tel: 01925 340 049

[Mr N Heard]

I've recently been cut off from my landline for 10 days.
It has taken me hours of calls via my mobile to contact a company that has absolutely no idea of how to coordinate itself in any way. When asked what compensation I could claim I was told £1.09 per day for trhe period that I had no phone after the 5 day 'guarantee to fix it' period had expired. Do they know how much a mobile call costs for nearly 3 hrs of calls? I know their tunes off by heart, I want to throttle Roger McGough if he reads me any more of his poems, I dream of my call moving up the queue after I have long expired.... And the final insult was to be asked 'if there was anything else they could help me with today sir?' I kept the image of a bottle of pills, a very tall bridge, and a noose firmly in the back of my mind but they kept on leaking through!!!! Oh just to let you know how I got on.. I got an engineer from another provider to fix the problem in my home, something that I had been asking Talk Talk to do for 9 days!!! It cost me £25 and a cup of tea. A little different from the final insult from Talk Talk for a charge of £140 just to come to my home. How is it that they keep any customers? I know, because their broadband is free! I have a free therapy clause in my contract, I suggest you get one too!

[Tom]

We used to have BT broadband/phone line, we had a lot of bad experiences with BT, including them not cancelling our dd, even though we switched to talktalk some 6 months earlier. They reimbursed etc. However - I haven't looked back - switching to talktalk was the best move ever, they even upgraded us to a wireless broadband free. I must admit - we havent had a reason to call them yet, but the transition to their service was seamless - and we are saving a fortune. If your downloading movies 24/7 you might notice a slower connection, but ours has never let us down since switching. And no - I am not a talktalk employee - I am writing this to show - a good customer experience, and am surprised to read so many negative ones.

[Mike Turner]

Please , under no circumstances consider using this company for anything. They could not even manage the proverbial party in a brewery.

I have been disconnected from making outgoing calls for 4 weeks now just because I showed a little interest in their broadband offer. I cancelled within the period but they still switched me from Onetel to TalkTalk and attempted to connect me up.
After I protested they said they would sort it. They have NOT sorted anything and I am still waiting. I have now contacted BT to take over my service. What is the purpose of Ofcom ?, if they can permit such a company to continue trading.

[C. Hutchison]

TalkTalk a complete joke: I joined them in June 2006 I did eventually get a broadband connection that year which judging by some of your respondents was not bad. However, I had trouble with their speed for alomost a year it was 2.2mbps and I wrote to them four proof-of-posting letters and one phone call. Last October the broadband stopped and I have to use my library. My solution. I reported them to OTELO.

[Pat]

I was one of the first customers to subscribe to TalkTalk and have regretted it ever since. The service was abysmal at every stage. We have now moved from the UK and it has taken me several calls, letters and a couple of months of follow-ups just to disconnect my line.

My advice would be to run a mile from this 'service' provider.

[Egil Schmidt]

I have had a few problems with Talk Talk But most of there service is good. That was until I got a letter informing me that I was now due FREE Broadband. I rang to ask when and was told "Oh" you are an existing customer we are new sales only ring Customer Service they, will be able to tell you when the FREE service will be available.

After many discussions I was told that in my area it was still not available. I then asked if this was the case why did my Brother-in-Law and a friend have it as, the lived just around the corner from me. I was told that I must be mistaken as talk talk did not send out letters or connect just one or two pepole in an area.

Giving a phone number, which they checked to prove I was incorrect, the reply was, I don't know how this happened we don't usually make errors. Let me come back to you. They very quickly did, only to tell me that FOR TECHNICAL REASONS my line was one of a very small number that could not get FREE BROADBAND.

Any ideas what or why I cant get TALK TALK FREE BROADBAND? I would like to say there will be a reward, but then I would be misleading you, and this I believe is illegal if you are just a private individual.

[Mallory]

I've had a hell of a time with talktalk and now want to get out, but they say i'll have to pay the disconnection fee of £70. I've been with them 18 months, but for some reason they re-newed my account last May, so it's only sayng i've been with them 7 months. I don't know why they've done this, but I'm trying to find a loophole. their customer sevice is terrible. I had a broken internet connection and i'd spend up to an hour on hold waiting for second line tech support, only to get cut off when I finally did get through, and have to start again.

[andrew holt]

Do not use Talk Talk under any circumstances. I had one months phone line(through BT) then nothing since April, now unable to use that phone number, changed number and gone back to BT and still receiving bills/requests for monies etc. made in excess of 30 phone calls, 10 emails, countless texts and numerous visits to the carphone warehouse showroom near us. Unbeleivable!!!

[jenny]

I had a history essay to write it was a fair percentage of
my GCSE and I couldn't even use the internet because talk talk services just stopped working. My dad tried to call them but they didn't pick up. Because it wasn't the first time my dad decided to cancel talk talk but they wouldn't even give us the MAC code.

[Lesley]

The customer service of this company is zilch. After about 7 hours hanging on over the last 7 days, listening to the same 2 tunes over and over again, speaking to about 5 different tech support people, being told to ring Netgear because "the problem's at their end" twice, it's safe to say that I'm pretty hacked off with Talk Talk. Incompetent, wretched, inefficient, isolated... I could go on. Since going to 'free' broadband, I've been disconnected. Am now thinking of going elsewhere - for my sanity.

[marshman]

Talk Talk, what a bunch of jokers, pay cheap pay twice - just stick with BT, yeah they cost more but it works. If you ever work from home and need internet access then forget Talk Talk, they have just also put my DD up by 50% after a cold call sales call, I said no but they just put me down as a yes anyway.

After an hour on the phone to South Africa I was advised I have to cancel the contract and sign a new one as it's been changed and I can't do anything - that's where they are wrong cuz I have just called BT and I am will be back with them for the 30th of this month.

DO NOT BE TEMPTED, THEY ARE A TERRIBLE COMPANY AND OFFER A RUBBISH SERVICE...

[Ian thompson]

Could I hold the world record for waiting for broadband from Talk Talk? I applied in April 2006 - and got my telephone line sorted quickly and without problems. Some 14 months later I still wait for my broadband service to appear. It is good sport to ring them twice a week for the latest excuse. In the meantime I've spent £17.99 a month with WANADOO - and so would love to sue Talk Talk for 14 times that amount. Only problem is I'll miss my regular phone calls - I've been told I cancelled, I need to contact BT, I need a MAC, it will only take 10 working days to create a userid and password!, I'll sort your problem out for you personally sir, etc etc etc.

What can I do?

I've asked for written confirmation that if I cancel I will not be charged for leaving befre my 18 month contract term. The truth of the matter is that I don't think I want their broadband service as it appears to be very poor judging by the comments I've read. It's a bit of a sport trying to get it - but it appears that getting rid of it is just as hard as getting it!

[Jim Castle]

I've been waiting since March for talktalk to transfer my broadband to them from their sister company onetel. I've threatened them with going to the small claims court to reclaim the difference in cost between onetel and talktalk. Perhaps we can all do this just like the bank charge protests?

[Ronjon Kar]

DO NOT USE TALK TALK UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! I connected in early September. Almost 5 months on, and I still do not have a broad-band connection. I have chosen to terminate the contract as they have not fulfiled their part of the contract. However they are still want to charge me the £70 cancellation fee! Unbelievable as they have been in breach of contract for 5 months! Anyone know how to terminate the contract without incurring the ridiculous £70 charge

[kassim]

Without a doubt the offer that talktalk is offering is impressive BUT as always its too good to be true. We run a small web design business and it goes without saying that internet access and phone calls are vital to us, both of which talktalk are consistently failing to provide.

It took myself about one hour to get through the call centre today only to be told that the earliest they could investigate would be 3 working days. Please take my advice and pay a little more to a company who can at least deliver the basics. Incidentally I may have to pay £70 disconnection fee if I wish to terminate my contract even though talktalk are not fulfilling their part of the contract!

[Robert Young]

Do not use TalkTalk.

I had a telephone and broadband service with TalkTalk for nearly 16 months and after weeks of emails and phone calls TalkTalk finally issued me in April with a MAC.

Disconnection of my broadband service took place on 1st May. TalkTalk then took a Direct Debit payment for £19-98 which according to the bill received was for the period 18/04/06 to 17/05/06, an overcharge for 17 days when I was using Pipex Broadband. I emailed Customer Services at TalkTalk to request a refund. Having had a similar experience with Gio-internet in 2004 just before they collapsed I cancelled my Direct Debit.

No reply to my email so I phoned Customer Services and after they checked my service account it was agreed a refund of approx £9-64 would be paid into my Bank Account. This of course never happened.

I received additional bills and a series of ever more threatening letters from their Customer Services Director, Steve Rescoria, and their Head of Credit Control, Simon Rawlings. I wrote by Recorded Delivery to each of these people enclosing documentary proof that I was no longer a TalkTalk customer but had no replies. I spoke to a Credit Control representative, explained the situation and was promised it would be passed onto to a manager. Again this did not happen.

I wrote by Recorded Delivery to the CEO of Carphone Warehouse, Charles Dunstone enclosing copies of all the bills and letters. Again no results. I have sent over thirty emails and eight letters but no one listens at TalkTalk and no one communicates with me!

Last bill received 17th August is for £98.42 and states that if it is not paid immediately they will suspend my Broadband Service – if only they would!

If you want a decent low cost ISP use Pipex. They have some Service problems but their Customer and Technical Support is brilliant. They always reply and they never leave the problem until it is resolved. If only they could do the same with my TalkTalk problem.

[A Barratt]

Hi all,
try AOL. One of the biggest tricks of Broadband providers is to advertise "unlimited usage" but then in small print, to introduce a "fair usage" policy. Generally, they give you a fast connection (up to 8mb) then seriously restrict you to a few measly Gb a month, with somewhere around £1 a Gb charge for any extra usage. Aol is expensive, at £29.99 a month but there is no restriction on downloads - and that really is a rareity!! There is also a free, on-line customer support center (but usually staffed by tenagers that havent a clue). But all in all it is one of the best if you like to be on-line a lot like me.

[richard meredith]

Here's another reason to be wary of Talk Talk...
I wanted to sign up with them for line rental today but they made it a condition that I gave them my bank details over the phone - something I have learned never to do due to the huge amount of phisching going on.
I pay monthly - no problem - and am an existing customer anyway (of their cheap calls service).
What a joke they are. Oh, and I had to make four calls (incl being cut off twice) before being told their unacceptable rule.
Take your business elsewhere is my advice.

[DIANA KIRK]

I HAVE HAD LOTS OF PROBLEMS WITH TALKTALK SINCE JOINING THEM FOR BROADBAND I HAVE NEVER HAD ONE MONTH FREE FROM THEM THEY ARE VERY QUICK TO DISCONNECT YOU BUT IT SEEMS THEY TAKE FOR EVER TO SOLVE ANY PROBLEMS. ALMOST EVERY OTHER DAY I HAVE TO CONTACT CAR PHONE WAREHOUSE JET AGAIN HOWEVER SINCE OFFERING FREE BROADBAND TO CUSTUMER I WAS PROMISED THAT MY BROADBAND WAS NEVER TO BE DISCONNECTED EVER AGAIN BUT IT STILL HAPPENDS I JUST WISH THEY WOULD SOLVE THIS PROBLEM

[Dave Campbell]

TALKTALK BROADBAND.
For anyone considering changing their broadband service to 'Talk Talk', my advice would be dont, under any circumstances.

I signed a contract with them in April for phone and broadband services. They eventually managed to connect my landline, but not any of the additional services which I had requested.

It took countless e mails and phone calls to eventually connect the additional landline services and they did not even bother to apologise for their awful sevice. My broadband service is still not connected, more than 3 months later,despite spending an estimated 5 hours on the telephone trying to contact them or occassionally speaking to them on the rare occassion that they answered their phone.

I have also e mailed them on 3 occassions but they did not even reply to 2 of the e mails.I have even had to twice provide a MAC Code from my current provider as the first one time expired, due to talk talks incompetence.

In desperation I eventually managed to contact talk talk to request a copy of their complaints procedure.They promised to send me a copy of their complaints procedure the same day. They never did. At this rate I envisage my 18 month contract with talk talk expiring before they actually connect me to broadband.!!!

[phil durham]

To anyone who is even considering this company, I will give you one answer, don't. They are currently massively oversubsribed, the service when you do get it is awful to say the least, slow speeds dropped line, no service for days at a time, and they use active port blocking so to all you downloaders your speed will be zitch 24 hours a day, but the most cynical thing of all is the fact that the service runs perfectly with fast download speeds till the 14-day cooling of period ends then you're hit with it, customer support is a joke with myself spending 12 hours on the phone in 5 days to contact them.

[Tony Richardson]

My unlimited broadband internet provider is Telewest at £17.99 per month, '2mb', but my phone line is from BT at standard monthly line rental, and I use the low user tariff.
What is my best option? Should I terminate both services and go with Carphone Warehouse, or should I take my phone line from Telewest as well as the broadband internet service, or should I cancel the internet service with Telewest and get my phone and broadband internet from BT?

[Robert Gibbard]

I had the door step sales team round yesterday, (Crowland Peterborough), saying that broadband would be free, and at 8Mbs!
I did not take them up on the offer as probably my provider of broadband will have to reduce their price also.
I clicked on Talk Talk website, and found out it was not free on our exchange.
A mis-selling practice?

[Janet]

I suggest you don't bother calling the sales line, even if there is an instant pick up, given my recent experience.

I requested a broadband line from Talk Talk at the beginning of Feb and have had a litany of excuses - all blaming BT and (nonexistent) incompatible products - and broken promises. I would have been willing (just) to tolerate a 30min hold for a positive outcome.

Even with the intervention of OfCom there seems to have been little improvement

Two months patience is more than generous and today's the deadline - if the service isn't live by end today I'll terminate the contact.