My Tiscali line is 'tagged' ??

chinaysa

I've been a happy Tiscali customer (no really) for a couple of years with their £20/month broadband, anytime calls and line rental package. Recently the broadband connection has been dropping off and I'm thinking of moving to a similar package with TalkTalk.

But.......on ringing TT [who now own Tiscali of course] I'm told that I cannot transfer my existing line to them as it's got a "tag" on it. I asked the TT rep what this meant and he admitted he 'wasn't absolutely sure'. His only solution was to get me to lose my existing line and pay £60 for a new one!

Looking at other web forums, I see that tagging is an issue for customers but haven't found any mention of it yet on the MSE ones. Anyone else fallen foul of this and do you think it's a matter for Ofcom?

Thank you

speedfreek1000

I'm confused by this and I think they would be too.

What you're asking them to do is move your connection from them to them. Although you were originally supplied by Tiscali, Tiscali is now TT. Every thing Tiscali had is now owned by TT.

I'd suggest 1st raising a Technical Support call for your connection problems!

Have you done this yet? If you did what did they say?

If you get no joy then consider switching to a completely different non TT supplier. This is a relatively easy process if your phone line is supplied by BT.

If it is not and Tiscali provided your phone line too then you would have to call BT and do a "Return To Donor" (costs about £30) where you ask BT to take your line back. Then once your line is back with BT sort out a new provider.

As for TAGS have a look here http://www.maccode.org.uk/switch-broadband/dealing-with-a-tag-on-phone-line/ & here http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/dealing-with-a-tag-on-your-phone-line.html

chinaysa

Thanks v much for your comments and links - v interesting.

The reason I posted originally was because of the first point you make - they are both part of the same company......and I made this point to them. The TT operative I spoke to admitted it seemed odd but there was nothing they could do about it - and apparently there are several Tiscali customers like me who are asking to transfer to TT assuming the process would be straightforward.

I am talking to Tiscali tech support and it's proving a slow process - but at least they are responding to my problem. But in any case the TT deal is better (its anytime calls deal includes 0845 and 0870 numbers free) which is why I'm thinking of switching. But I certainly don't want the hassle of a new number and £60 costs.

I think there's a wider issue here for those of us who've switched our line rental away from BT: I think the tagging process needs to be explained along with its implications, and I'm wondering if the current approach amounts to a restrictive practice?

speedfreek1000

I've got you now as I'm in the same situation as an original Bulldog customer (taken over by Pipex >>>> Tiscali >>>> TT now)

Do what I did last week.

If you're out of contract call and threaten to leave. :money:

I was paying £30 a month for 8 meg plus telephone line. They price matched me to just under £20 plus threw in a new modem as long as I agreed to 12 months. :rotfl: Just do some research on the package you want and quote it chapter n verse until they give in.

Debating using the 7 day cooling off period to cancel and renegotiate a call package on top as I forgot to do this :eek:

I've had 3 line faults in 5 years with mine and they can usually get it resolved in around 3 days (its about the time it takes to book and get an engineer to the exchange).

The hard/painful bit with CS is figuring out whether the fault is with your equipment or a problem with the exchange. You have to be patient follow all their steps and stick to your guns if you're not satisfied. Be polite but firm and above all be persistent!

As for the phone line I agree totally. There should by now be a process in place to move from one ISP's equipment to another without moving the line back to BT.

It will change over time as more and more ISP's install there own equipment into the exchanges. Virgins deal with Cable n Wireless will help (maybe?) Unfortunately this will take time and is the price we will have to pay for taking a leap of faith as early as we did.

We're complaining now as prices have levelled out but we weren't when we got the cheapest deals 2 years ago :beer:

chinaysa

Thanks again, v interesting to hear of your experience and I think you make some fair points.

I've taken your advice and requested a new router from them (free if I sign for a new 12-month contract), at least then I'll be able to check whether the problem lies with my setup or at the exchange.....and I'll remain patient for now.

On the wider issue of tagging, I think I'll probably write to Charles Dunstone at TT asking if he's aware of the ridiculous situation for customers like me who might want to switch from Tiscali to TT (and presumably vice-versa)

RhinoSimon

This is all interesting stuff to me as I have been waiting for TT customer services to answer a similar question.

I signed to TT when the free broadband offer was first launched and rejoined after the 18month contract (got free kit as my router had just failed). My current contract will end in November and I have been looking around at options. I am looking for a provider that can supply comms', broadband and TV and the Tiscali package looks the best (financially) for what I need.

When I enquired at tiscali they ran my landline number on their system and told me that it was not suitable to switch and I would need to have a new BT line fitted at a cost of £100 ish. I have had a similar answer from Sky so this must be the line being seen as not a 'BT' one as it is now in a TT cabinet in my local exchange under the Local loop Unbundling (LLU) process.

I have complained to TT that I was not made aware that moving to them would have this effect on my line and that I don't believe I agreed to this therefore if there are costs to move back they should pay them.

No reply as yet........

emweaver

Im looking to change too. I rang talk talk to enquire and was told they dont own an exchange in my area so meant a £15 premium a month, atm Im with tiscali and they do own an exchange (apprently) yet they are the same company now. doesnt make sense