TalkTalk billing date - changed without my knowledge

thriftymanc

TalkTalk have changed my billing date without telling me (although of course they claim they did) and are now refusing to change it back.

Ok, not the end of the world, I know, but highly irritating when all my other bills come out on the same day and most companies give you a choice about when your direct debit comes out. I was perfectly happy with the old date. I don't want one random bill coming out in the middle of the month!

Would the TalkTalk representative care to comment?

(Before anyone says it - I'm an ex-Tiscali customer stuck on one of those non-existant packages with a weird account number so I can't register on the TalkTalk forum.)

TalkTalk

Hi Thriftymanc,

The TalkTalk system, which will be defined by you having a 10 digit numeric account number, will not allow you to change your direct debit date.

If you are still on the ex-Tiscali system and your account is yet to be migrated I cannot comment on the facilities this system offers as I do not have access to this.

As the TTMF team do not have full system access and resources to support ex-Tiscali customer there is a separate forum located here

<http://www.talktalk.co.uk/forums&gt; where you can obtain further support on this matter.

However once the account migrates onto the TalkTalk billing platform as part of the amalgamation of the two customer bases, you will not longer have the facility to move your DD date.

Regards
Mark

thriftymanc

Well, thank you. Finally a definite answer. Not the one I wanted to hear but it's nice to be told for certain instead of being given a load of waffle that doesn't remotely answer my question! Still, why have the date in the middle of the month, why not at the start of the month? Most people get paid at the end of the month and like their bills to come out at the same time so it's easier to keep an eye on. Of course, I can just remember that I have one bill coming out later on, and I'm sure I'll get used to it after a few months, like I said in my first post it's not the end of the world - just seems a bit strange, that's all.

TalkTalk

Hi Thrify,

I understand your point but this presumes that our custeomrs get paid monthly, alot also get paid weekely and therefore a start or end of the month date isnt necessarily applicable.

TT utilise fixed direct debit cycle to ensure an even distribution of bills and extractions through the month. IF we were to extract on the same date each month we would be billing millions of customers on the same day. As such if even a small portion had a query on the bill we would have huge spikes in contact all at the same time, which would impact call queues hold and response times etc.

By having a fixed DD cycle this is avoided and contact, billing, payments etc are distributed evenly throughout the month to ensure smooth operations for both the business and the customers who choose or require contact with us.

Regards

Mark