TalkTalk deregistered my BT line!

Yvonne103

[FONT=&quot]Has any one else encountered a similar problem to me when switching Broadband suppliers? I am currently with Talk Talk (previously Tiscali) and want to switch to Orange. However, when I phoned TalkTalk for a migration code they said that they couldn’t give me one and I first need to activate my line back on the BT exchange. All well and good except that it was TalkTalk who took me off the exchange in the first place and it will cost over £100 to re-activate! Are other people aware of this potential ‘exit fee’ when switching and I wondered if anybody else had any similar experiences or ideas how I might reclaim any of this re-activation cost. I've checked it out and what they've done is legal, if not particularly well advertised. Thanks for any suggestions.
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sasshirley

Take a look at the Offcom rules on the top of the page (there's a long sorry thread under it) They have to give you a code if they have your line & you're out of contracted time with them.
That said, I had a similar problem leaving Pipex a few years ago & moving back to BT. Pipex suddenly stopped charging for Broadband on my direct debits without any instruction from me. I didn't notice for a while, but when I did I thought they might be offering a new deal like Talk Talk were at the time, (free to phone customers) & expected a letter. (OK, naive). Next thing I knew we'd got no service so I called to complain. Several customer support & more tech support later found out it had been cut off, no-one knew why & no-one could restore it! I couldn't get a MAC code because I had no service to move.
As I was going to BT I thought they would be able to fix it anyway, they control the lines after all. Wrong! They couldn't switch my Broadband on because Pipex had a "tag" on the line marking it as "theirs". Only Pipex could remove it!
It took a couple of months at least, lots of phone calls and letters, & involving offcom before it was settled I'm afraid, but eventually Pipex paid compensation for their errors and released my line.
I'm now looking to get away from BT, contract a end, phoned up for code. Rep very rude, told me I was all wrong & they could give me better value than the rest. Told me I already have far more Broadband available than we use........ (we'd previously e-mailed warning me we were close to our limit, now I find they'd increased that limit but not told us!) Got My Code.
Tried to move to 02 but they're messing up before I get started!!!!!!!!!!
GOOD LUCK!

kwikbreaks

TalkTalk attach the line to their equipment at the exchange for the phone as well as ADSL. MACs are for transfers between ISPs when you are on a BT line so there is no MAC involved when you leave TalkTalk. If you want a phone or ADSL after leaving you have to get the line reconnected to BT equipment but that can be done by several companies as well as BT (e.g. Post Office and PlusNet to name two). Last I heard BT had a deal going to reconnect for £29.99 (I think) but it involved an 18 month contract. You would be free to use any ISP that needs a BT line then.

macman

TT are contractually entitled to LLU your line if they so wish.
You will need to take your line rental back to BT in order to move your broadband elsewhere, but there is no charge for this (it's called 'return to donor'), however you will need to take 12m line rental with them.

billsavings

One of the disadvantages in moving to Talk Talk (LLU),or any other LLU supplier come to that is it retricts your choice when you wish to leave.

You can only use the return to doner option if your line originated with BT before it was LLU by your existing supplier.

JamesMorton

You will be on LLU with TalkTalk, Local Loop Unbundling. TalkTalk install their own equipment in the exchange and disconnect your line from the BT equipment and connect it to their own. Not only do they take the line but if you bundle your phone with them they take and tag your telephone number. A lot of people, me included, have been caught out by that one.

If you switch to another provider then it will/should cost to get the line back. An engineer has to visit to swap the wires over. Now things get dodgy...

If you switch back to BT or one of their re-sellers... Plus, MadasaFish, GreenBee and there will be others, there will be 'no charge' to get the line transferred back to BT. GreenBee did suggest via their website there would be, £39.99, however on phoning them the charge magically disappeared. It is only later, by chance, that I discovered GreenBee were under Plus and hence under BT.

As far as I know Orange provide their services over BT lines however since they are not BT you 'will' get charged £110. This is effectively line rental for a year in which you swap, cancel and incur a cancellation charge. To me that is anti-competitive.

Orange suggest a 'dodge' which I did not look into whereby you take a one month contract with MadasaFish, who are under BT, which gets your line back on BT equipment, magically for free, and then after the month you cancel, transfer to Orange on the BT line a avoid the £110 charge. Again dodgy practices.

Otherwise, check with SamKnows for what is available at your exchange. You will have to Google SamKnows.. as a newb I am not allowed to post links.

I swapped because of TalkTalks recent display of arrogance in deciding to follow their customers about the internet, StalkStalk. Using them as guinea pigs to test out and develop some 'exciting new service' which is basically illegal. I wanted to avoid anything to do with TalkTalk so if you want to do the same take care because TalkTalk owns AOL, Tiscali, Pipex, Bulldog and probably others. I also wanted to avoid BT because of their involvement with Phorm.....

That left me with Sky. Take care there as well. In my case the exchange, as indicated by SamKnows, was already unbundled for Sky. Sky are supposedly unbundling more exchanges at the moment but if it has not happened don't accept a contract on the basis that it will happen sometime in the future...

In my case an LLU TalkTalk to LLU Sky transfer is going to cost me £39.99. Obviously it's annoying that TalkTalk made no mention of the possibility of these charges when they 'stole' the line however I'm happy to suck that because it does 'nominally' cover the cost of an engineer to swap the wires over. It is certainly less than £110.

Regarding your telephone number...

If it is 'precious' to you and for many it will be then TalkTalk will have tagged it as well. There should be no problems.... getting it released to your new provider however it is possible that you will lose it. Otherwise it can take up to 30 days for it to be released. Sky say they can effect the changeover in two weeks if you accept a new number but it can be up to five weeks if you wish to keep the old one.

Regarding MACs..

As I understand things MAC codes are really only applicable when you are on BT equipment. They are there as part of the regulations to ease transfer from one supplier to another as long as you remain on BT equipment. When you get LLUed you get taken off BT equipment and put on the equipment of your new supplier. MAC codes exist for that but are prefixed with LL.

Effectively they are meaningless because if you move from one LLU provider to another then you get transferred from one set of Providers LLU equipment to your new Providers LLU equipment. If the providers used the same set of equipment then it might make sense to have such LLMACS but since they don't then, as I suggest, they are effectively worthless. LLU to LLU, LLU to BT and BT to LLU transfers do not require MACs although if you move to a BT line on BT equipment you will get a 'real' one should you wish to change provider and your new one uses BT equipment.

In some respects I have made that up on the basis of what makes sense but apart from it hurting your brain it should be near enough.

Hopefully that will be of some help to you...

James.

lilyflame

Have been reading posts re: leaving talk talk. I have been paying BT line rental thr'out time wth tiscali. Used Tiscali phone/broadband bundle for 18mnths,then changed back to BT for calls, keeping Tiscali for broadband only. Am i still likely to have probs leaving, even tho i'm paying Bt for line rental?? All help gratefully received...!:o

kwikbreaks

If you are on a BT line then you need a MAC and they MUST issue one (sticky on forum as mentioned)

Dial 17070 - if a robot tells you your phone number you are on a BT line.

lilyflame

Will try thanks!!

Yvonne103

Thanks for all the responses so far (they've all been useful), especially James who looks as though he joined the forum especially to give a detailed, helpful reply. I found it hard to believe that TalkTalk (and others) can do this but is definitely something to bear in mind before switching to a supplier who installs their own equipment.

deklan99

kwikbreaks wrote: »

If you are on a BT line then you need a MAC and they MUST issue one (sticky on forum as mentioned)

Dial 17070 - if a robot tells you your phone number you are on a BT line.

Not quite, if it only tells the phone number it is not a BT line. Phone number plus other test options is a BT line.