Another Talktalk Customer service nightmare

GM43

Hi Mark,

Thanks for reply but it still doesn't really shed any light on my problem - do you mean that this amalgamation of Tiscali and TalkTalk prices began in April 09? and should I have been notified about it especially if the price difference was £7/month? My package from then is described as 'Tiscali Max Unlimited + Anytime Talk 11' with charges for line rental - it had previously been '2MB unlimited' with line rental charges.

With regard to the personal details request on the outgoing call - I requested that the caller identified themselves in someway to show that they were from Talktalk as I was expecting email contact and they told me they couldn't do it until I had fully identified myself - a no win situation then! I had also requested that they contact me by email to confirm this phone call - they failed to do so.

I know that I am free to go elsewhere but I would also like the situation fully resolved also. I contacted the customer service helpline again and was told to change my contract to get the line rental backdated to April 10 and that this was the advice to give if I rang back - (why I have to ring up to get this info as I was left the phone message stating they would ring me back is a question for another day), I again explained that the complaint relates to charges from April 09 and was told that because my complaint relates to charges dating back over a year I should contact the retentions department - is that normal practice? It also appears from this that no one has actually looked at the actual query, just assumed I mean April 10, which is not the case.

Thank you for your help.

GM43

Mark

re above post - I will just copy and paste the advice given on a different thread by yourself.


'Hi Wahtajoke,

To confirm the rebranding of Tiscali - TalkTalk following the acquisition of Tiscali by TalkTalk, did not equate to a new contract term.

Instead all accounts remained on the same tariffs, terms and conditions and contract terms as previously.

In the event there were to be a change to your contracted term this would need to be agreed with the account holder in advance of its implementation.

Regards

Mark '

Does this then mean that I should have had confirmation of the change in contract in 2009 and that Talktalk have indeed broken their contract with me as I was not notified of the change of tarriff and it certainly was not agreed with me beforehand.

Thanks

GM43

WOOHOO - I have hopefully had some success today - everyone please cross fingers!:)

I have spent 1 and a half hours on the phone to about 8/9 people in Talktalk/tiscali. I have lost count really - I think kept they passing me on because it sounded too complicated. It was confirmed twice during the course of the various conversations that I didn't sign up to a new package in April/May 2009 and that the price shouldn't have changed. My amalgamation has only happened this month so the increase is nothing to do with that - which is what I thought.

The last person I spoke to said the original complaint had been logged as my requesting free line rental - nothing to do with it so that explains why no one could help but does not explain why it has taken so long to get someone to listen to the actual problem!:mad:

Anyway she has raised another complaint with the correct details on it and then put me through to retentions in case they could do something with my current amalgamated package but they couldn't without signing me into an 18 month contract - I have decided that there is definately more to life than money so he has talked me through the way to go back to BT. Incidently the guy in retentions confirmed that the correct complaint has been made this time.

One more step forward - will see what results it reaps - at least there are 2 competent people working in Talktalk then!;)

TalkTalk

Hi Gm43,

IM glad to see you have had some progress on this matter and it looks as if you have got the answers to your questions above.

It is the case that the changes of packages is an ongoing project so there is not one set date when everyone changes. Changes started a number of months back and will be ongoing untill all customers are on a single billing platform, with unified calls plans etc.

Contracts were not automatically renewed with the acquisition of Tiscali by TalkTalk, or with the changing of plans unless specifically agreed. As there are various different type of customers now under the TT brand (ie originating from Tiscali (and various companies Tiscali previous acquired), One-Tel etc) there is not one stock answer to the question of "what should have happened" as this is dependant on a number of variable factors which need to be confirmed first.

If you have any other issues with your TT account feel free to join the TalkTalk Members forum and we can assist you with any issue you may face.

Regards

Mark

GM43

My happiness was short lived - I've just rung TalkTalk again as I hadn't had a reply to my complaint from 2 weeks ago.

Apparently the package was changed by TalkTalk when they took over as part of a review of the packages to check they were correct, they believed that I was paying the wrong rate for my package with Tiscali so they are refusing to refund the money.

The package I agreed with Tiscali was a special offer they made to me in order to get me to agree to transfer my phone to them, they did not put a time limit on the offer. So as far as I can see TalkTalk have changed my contract without proper consultation etc and so they do still owe me the money. I tried to raise this matter further with them on the phone today but was told that I would have to write to their customer complaints dept (apparently they don't accept calls - I wonder why?:eek:)! Does anyone know if this is true or is it just more stonewalling from them?

I am currently composing a letter to them as I know this is the proper route before the matter goes before Ofcom. Also in the meantime I have emailed the address they provided to Watchdog to see if they can help. Starting to get really upset about all this now - why can't they just do what they are supposed to do and stay within the law?:( That's another one of my only day off in the week taken up by this, mind you I'll probably know comsumer law by heart by the time I'm finished!

TalkTalk

Hi GM43,

Any changes to your tariff should be agreed with you in advance.

In the event you have no option than to change your plan in order to continue receipt of services you can by all means choose not to continue services if the new plan is not suitable.

If this situation is applicable then you should not be held to any contractual terms for choosing to cancel, as the change is beyond your control.

As previously advised this needs to be investigated in more details for us to provide further information on this matter. If you join the members forum we can investigate for you.

Regards

Mark

GM43

Hi Mark

I have been trying to get this investigated further for nearly 4 months through the various channels within TT, firstly having the complaint mis-interpreted and then when they finally listened to me they told me that they were right in increasing my payments without telling me and that I couldn't do anything else other than escalating the complaint to the customer services department in writing.

This has taken up so much of my time already to get this investigated that I find it a little upsetting that you feel the need to post that you have 'previously advised this needs to be investigated in more details for us to provide further information on this matter.' and that 'If you join the members forum we can investigate for you.'

Part of the reason I am posting on here is to let others know what an abysmal customer service TT have and to hopefully find out about others problems in the hope of finding ways to resolve this.

I have to admit to being a little sceptical that the forums will be able to succeed where my many other dealings with TT have failed but I have posted something so we shall see.

GM43

Ok, I have a reply from the forums, they are unable to help:

'Unfortunately it is not possible for the forums team to assist with this type of query, we have limited access to account information and cannot change packages or confirm package prices etc.

Looking at the systems here, you have had 3 support tickets open regarding this issue in July, August and September, the last 2 were raised as refund requests rather than complaints from what I can see.

The only thing I can suggest given what you have already tried, is to raise a formal complaint. Details on how to do this are below:'

and they give me the details which have now been posted on these forums a few times so I won't do that again.

So that was more of my time wasted persuing this complaint. I think I need compensation for the time spent as well as the money TT owe me. I reckon £15/hour should be sufficient.;)

Paul_Varjak

According to this, you should be able to make a complaints by phone...

http://www.talktalk.co.uk/help/further-help/how-do-i-make-a-complaint.html


Incidentally, you cannot raise a complaint with OFCOM. You can, however, raise a complaint with OTELO, if your formal complaint is not resolved within 8 weeks. It will cost you nothing to ask OTELO to adjudicate in the matter - all the costs have to be footed by TalkTalk!

You should also follow TalkTalk's complaints procedure fully, though it is not clear if you should be following the TalkTalk complaints procedure or TalkTalk Tiscali's complaints procedure (they are separate). In either event, the ultimate arbiter would be OTELO (not CISAS or OFCOM).

TalkTalk

Hi GM43,

If you are not happy to continue using the forums based on the reply given, i would advise putting your issue into writing.

As Paul rightly stated the TalkTalk and ex-Tiscali procedures do still differ slightly at present so this is a factor in considering which complaints procedure to followed. The relevant process is detailed in full if you consult the relevant Code of Practice on the TT website.

WIth regards Alternative Dispute resolution OTELO is the relevant ombudsman. you can by all means raise an issue with Ofcom but they will not investigate individual issues, only monitor industry trends of complaints and investigate any industry based issues, rather than individual consumer issues.

Regards

Mark