Tiscali/TalkTalk Broadband

CuriousMeerkat

Hi,

I'd had Tiscali broadband for a few years at my last house at which point I moved. I wasn't under contract with them so I asked them to disconnect the broadband at the previous address. They did this no problem, but due to paying by Direct Debit I had overpaid them by £9.94 at the point that they cancelled the connection. They duly sent me a credit note for that amount.

The letter that accompanied the credit note said the usual 'sorry you are leaving' bit, and noted that if any money was due to Tiscali they would take it from the registered credit card. Fine. However, in order for me to claim the credit note I would have to call Tiscali/TalkTalk Customer services.

I rang them up thinking it would be a fairly short phonecall using my mobile. After going through the menus I was told I was in a pretty hefty queue so I hung up. I phoned back a bit later using my new landline and was on hold for over 40 minutes before I got through to someone. This was on February 4th 2010. I was told I would be sent a cheque for the £9.94 within 28 days, but I haven't received it yet.

Once my landline and mobile phone bills arrived it became apparent that I had been forced to spend £6.01 in order to claim the £9.94 that was rightfully mine. Tiscali/TalkTalk gave me no other options for reclaiming the money other than calling their number.

I wrote to them asking them to refund me this £6.01 in addition to the £9.94 (along with a gesture they feel appropriate for causing me to waste 40 odd mintues of my life on hold). Sadly they have just fobbed me off with a letter saying they can't refund me for charges incurred by me phoning them. They also stated that the cheque for £9.94 will be sent to me and please allow up to 28 days for this. The letter is dated 6th April 2010. I was told 28 days originally on February 4th 2010.

I know the amounts aren't huge, but I think these guys are taking the p***. Any advice on what to do next?

lily-ella

Ugh I just want to say good luck and I feel your pain! I am cancelling tiscali, but I spent 20 minutes on hold on saturday to be told, "sorry we dont deal with cancelations on a saturday, please call back on monday" Their customer service is so bad, and im dreading cancelling as I know Ill have a problem like yours and probably a large phone bill to come

CuriousMeerkat

I think it is ridiculous that they force you to spend money in order to get your own money back.

It can't be right. Anyone have any advice?

david39

Go to the TalkTalk web site, click on Customer Forums, register and put your complaint on there. It's similar to this one but is solely for TT customers

You usually get a quick and positive response that way and there is no call cost.

CuriousMeerkat

Tiscali/Talk Talk are still insisting that they cannot refund any calls to their customer service line, and have referred me to the terms and conditions of the contract between us. Question: is there still a contract between us? I thought that would have ended when I asked them to cancel my broadband. Now I am just a creditor of theirs aren't I? Also they still will not respond to the point I have made that they only provide one method of obtaining a refund, which is to call them up.

One other thing, I didn't receive the cheque until way after the 28 days I was promised. In fact it was around double that. Can I use that as leverage at all? What does the law say regarding refunds?