TalkTalk Broadband. Yes or No?

inside_scoop

ec9wrr wrote:

If TalkTalk are going to make a £50m loss this year as a result of giving away free 24/7 calls why are they doing it? This doesn't sound like a good thing for a company interested in increasing profit to do... What I assume is happening is you will loose £50m worth of revenue from call charges but gain increased customers and increased revenue from the new customers being on a higher monthly tariff (regardless of calls being free). To say that TT will loose £50m a year from this isn't quite right.
Picky I know. But let's remember that Talk Talk aren't doing this for the benefit of customers. This is a fantastic deal and one that I am sure Talk Talk are planning on making money out of!!

Hi

This is for the benefit of both us and our customers. We obviously want to make money but we are just prepared to make a lot less money than BT and all the other ISPs. We are forecasted to lose £50m only in the first year as the investment in unbundling the local exchanges takes its toll. Our forecast is to make money in the second and subsequent years as that investment then pays back. You can see some of the figures in the bbc report:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4898212.stm

alexjohnson

manrow wrote:

Thanks to all you teckie guys out there who have identified the problem areas.

As someone who phones around the world almost daily I think I will stay away for now and use 18866, or 1899 or 18185!!

Well it depends on whether the countries you call are in those 28 that will be free, no? And also, you can still use 1899 etc. - you just have to call an 0800 number. Rates aren't quite as good but still very good. If you make a lot of international calls I can't see why you wouldn't want this!

alexjohnson

utilitybroker wrote:

Its a shame your tied into a 18 month contract.

inside scoop, is the 18 month contract portable provided you stick with TalkTalk, or do you get stung if you move house?

I expect to be moving in the next six months - probably to a rented place till I find somewhere I want to buy, hence the question about whether you can "move" the contract.

I'm with Bulldog which up until today has looked great - blown out of the water now, and if you're representative of the TalkTalk service, all power to you, and good luck! With luck for me Bulldog will get more competitive - I can't see how they could stand still really - but your team deserve to do well. Just don't drop the ball on customer service!

Annoying about LLU not being portable. I can feel a rant about the sheer crapness of Ofcom coming on, but will go and listen to some soothing music instead...

sloughflint

Inside scoop,
Are you the CPW rep for this site? ie is CPW following the MAAF's lead? If so, it also needs to follow their lead with Customer care!

inside_scoop

Hi

When you move house your contract with TT is cancelled. If you wish to continue using TT in your new house then you can switch your broadband and your landline over to the new house without any problem and without incurring any additional costs from Talktalk - you will not be chanrged the connecton fee again. However, you will need to sign a new contract for the new property.

This service is dependent on the network availability of your new house. If there is no BT line into the new house then you will need to get one installed - but be aware you may incur a cancellation fee from the old supplier.

Also, if the new house does not on an LLU exchange and therefore does not qualify for free BB then you will have to go onto the £10 2Mb BB product although this is still cheaper than anyone else!

I'm going to ask for an FAQ to be added to the website with this info in full

inside_scoop

sloughflint wrote:

Inside scoop,
Are you the CPW rep for this site? ie is CPW following the MAAF's lead? If so, it also needs to follow their lead with Customer care!

SF, i'm not a CPW rep in any official capacity. I made it known that i work for talktalk as i thought everyone should have all the facts from someone that is close to the proposition. I use this site a lot under another name - i created a new account for this post so that my other username can make comments without prejudice.

I'm afraid that i don't know who MAAF are. I tried a search on Google and it came back with the Military association of atheists and freethinkers but i am assuming that you don't mean them!

In terms of TT customer service - we have suffered in the past because we have legacy systems here which make it hard to handle some things (apologies for being deliberately woolly - i don't want "CPW has terrible systems" being banded round). That said - we are updating all the systems at the moment and launching a new platform in August which will make the whole experience better both for our customers and our CS advisors. In addition, we have opened FOUR new call centres to handle the increase in demand for this new product and to ensure that we still give a good level of service.

In the past, many posts on this site have been critical of customer services kicking them off TT due to heavy usage. This is not going to change except that in the past we have not given an indication of the limits for customers but now we are being completely open - it is 40GB per month (the same as the equivalent £30 /month BT package). this means that if you are a heavy user then our package is probably not the one for you

Sorry for the long post - i hope this helps

WebJunkie007

I have a few questions:

1. In the terms and conditions it says that your Technical support helpline is an 09067 number charged at a premium rate (as specified from time to time on your website). I couldn't find this information on your website. Could you please confirm what the call charges are for your technical support? Also are the hours really only from 8am to 10pm?

2. What if I do want to quit prior to 18 months - will I be charged the remainder of the contract or is there a flat cancellation fee.

Thanks!

Madasafish_Customer_Care

Hello Inside Scoop,

In response to:

"I'm afraid that i don't know who MAAF are. I tried a search on Google and it came back with the Military association of atheists and freethinkers but i am assuming that you don't mean them!"

This might jog your memory.

Cheers,
Samara

ps. We were at the ISPA awards, perhaps I saw you there?

mikemoate

Madasafish_Customer_Care wrote:

Hello Inside Scoop,

In response to:

"I'm afraid that i don't know who MAAF are. I tried a search on Google and it came back with the Military association of atheists and freethinkers but i am assuming that you don't mean them!"

This might jog your memory.

Cheers,
Samara

ps. We were at the ISPA awards, perhaps I saw you there?

I was wondering how long you would be able to resist! You didn't do bad, must have been like someone dangling a chocolate bar out in front of you.

inside_scoop

Madasafish_Customer_Care wrote:

Hello Inside Scoop,

In response to:

"I'm afraid that i don't know who MAAF are. I tried a search on Google and it came back with the Military association of atheists and freethinkers but i am assuming that you don't mean them!"

This might jog your memory.

Cheers,
Samara

ps. We were at the ISPA awards, perhaps I saw you there?

hello Samara

I really wasn't meaning to be rude - as i said, i'm not an official rep for CPW so not up on all of the competitors etc. Therefore, I was not at the awards that you mentioned although i do know that we won the uswitch award for best customer service.