Talktalk charges for evening calls...

Milarky

I'm with Onetel (now TT/CPW) on their StandardUKTalk free plan. I used this last night because I somehow got into my mind that evening weekday calls to '01/02/03' numbers were free with this package. In fact they never were - only weekend calls are free. The call I made lasted just under 50 mins and was charged 76p (1.4p/min + 6p connection?)

Anyway, whilst I understand that what has happened here is that in April BT dropped the sixty minutes for 5p evening calls from their 'Option1'/'Unlimited Weekend Plan' - so TT must have changed the terms of their service (in this case for the worse) to match them. The current call rates are shown on this link

http://www.onetel.co.uk/index.php?node=landline-call-rates-national&rates-id=standarduktalk&x=9&y=11

However, when I go to the page which allows me to select a new Onetel call plan (and see details of the one I'm on) it contradicts this. What it says I'm on is

StandardUKTalk
Evening calls to UK numbers for just 5p an hour
FREE Weekend calls to UK numbers
5% off BT Together for UK daytime calls
Savings on UK mobile rates

And I don't remember being notified (I suppose it would be by email) back in April when the per minute charge for evening calls came into effect.

Any advice on how to take this up effectively with Onetel/TT/CPW?

Thanks

Chris2000

I was with TalkTalk from the start rather than Onetel, but here's the less than obvious way they notified me in April that they were going to start charging for evening calls that were previously free.

If you didn't receive a similar email and it wasn't caught by a spam trap then you probably have a case, but it may end up costing more than 76p in time and phone calls to get a refund.

The pricechange link in the email below was actually linked to what looks like a personalised page, but neither version of the link works now.

Date: 18 April 2008

Subject: Important Information about your TalkTalk bill

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]We're giving you FREE weekend calls.[/FONT]

Dear

Great news, you're now getting free weekend calls. So you can make as many UK landline calls as you like, all weekend for free1.

We want you to get the most from your TalkTalk service. To make it clearer which calls are included in your call plan we're changing its name. From 1st April 2008 your call plan will be called Talk UK Weekend.

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Online billing, it's greener and now saves you money.[/FONT]

From next month, there will be an additional cost of £1.25 a month to receive a paper bill from TalkTalk, but as you've already chosen online billing you won't have to pay a penny more. So not only are you being a little greener, you're now also saving money.

Remember, you can do so much more than just view your latest and previous bills at My Account. Visit mytalktalk.co.uk and you can:

• View your frequently dialled numbers - then add them to your Calling Circle to save even more money.
• Register your Nectar Card and earn 2 points for every £1 on your TalkTalk bill2.
• Manage your phone services and add Calling Features.

From 15th May 2008 we're making some additional changes to your bill. For full details visit www.talktalk.co.uk/pricechanges.

We're committed to offering you the best possible phone and broadband deals. In fact, uSwitch voted us 'best value for money' for our home phone plans - four years running3.

Yours sincerely,

1Talk UK Weekend: Applies to calls made between midnight Fri & midnight Sun to UK numbers starting 01, 02 & 03 only (excludes calls to Channel Islands). Max price for calling non-geographic numbers starting 084/087 is 12ppmin. Max call time 70 mins per call, redial before 70 mins to avoid further charges.
2Nectar: Offer for fixed line and broadband Internet services only. Simply call 0800 049 2999 to register your Nectar card number with TalkTalk. For what you can and can't earn points on, visit nectar.com
3uSwitch: YouGov survey carried out for uSwitch.com in May 2007.