TalkTalk feedback needed; good and bad

irishackett

I was never on broadband before but think that having the talktalk broadband is great. For the same outlay, ( I used BT and 1899 for calls with a dial-up connection to the internet) I now have a broadband connecton at 1 meg and also my telephone line is freed up and I can receive incoming calls while surfing the net. What could be better!!!:j :j
From Happy in Tyne and Wear

LittleStar

Penny-Pincher!! wrote:

Hi

Thinking of moving over to Talktalk broadband...but can people state what connection speed they are running at please? It will cut our monthly bills in half if we can get a decent connextion speed:D

Thanks
PP
xx

Hi,
When i first connected with TT it was 2.2mbps ... then out of nowhere (they must have upgraded it lol) ... it went up to 8.2mbps ... sometimes it connects at 7.7mbps but that might be when everyone is trying to connect ... oh and I live in south east london, greenwich.
Hope this helps x

LittleStar

glenboy wrote:

Have just been upgraded to full 8 meg and having no end of problems connecting and staying connected!!

I had this same problem when they upgraded mine ... but I got a High Speed RJ11 modem cable and now its working fine *touches wood* lol x

SarahSH_2

Now really scared. Signed up for Talk talk 3 international with broadband at the end of May. Like everyone else, got the landline, don't have the broadband. Millions of calls, waiting hours only to get cut off etc etc. They tell me I have an incompatible product (Orange/Wanadoo broadband presumably but they can't tell me). I've done the BT Wholesale, Orange phone calls too. I've now checked with Sam knows and there is no LLU thingy at my exchange for Carphone Warehouse which I think means I have to disconnect broadband for 2 weeks and then reconnect with Talk talk which I don't want to have to do. Is that true or does it mean I will never get talk talk broadband? (Not what they told me when I signed up, obviously). I now want to get out of the whole thing as I've read about everyone else's problems once they're connected. I'm sure the MAC code would have expired by now too but no one's telling me that it has. I'm not very computer literate and don't know what to do next. Should I go back to BT (with Onetel/talk talk)or someone else? Do I get my connection fee back? Do I have to pay a reconnection fee with BT? Surely I don't have to stick to the 18 month contract thing as they have not fulfilled their part of the contract?

By the way, I changed to Talk talk on Martin's recommendation so I'm hoping he will act with some serious consumer pressure soon (?) Surely, that poll of satisfied Talk talk customers is being falsified by their employees logging on? I just don't believe the results, given my experience and everything I've read from everyone else.

woodview

I had changed to talktalk broadband when my Bt dialup costs went over £15 per month. TalkTalk at that time charged £17.99 for broadband. When the offer came through I was able to change to £10 per month with a one off charge of £29.99. I cannot get the 'free' broadband because of our exchange.
I do feel sorry for the people who have had so much trouble with TalkTalk and can only say that the 'free' broadband offer was very poorly thought out and might well rank along side Hoover's 'free flights' as an example of how not to look after the public. I am still with TalkTalk and have had only minor problems with speed or connections, maybe the £10 a month makes a difference. :-)

savemesomedollar

I wouldn't talk talk's touch broadband if you paid me, there customer services is a total joke, each time you call you go through to India, South Africa, Newcastle, London and no one seems to have a supervisor or a manager to hand in any of the call centres.

THANK GOD I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR BROADBAND.......

sweety123

I had loads of probs setting up all works fine now however my broadband is £10 a monh and not free as stated!!!!

AndyNorthYorks

K9COOP wrote:

no issues at all with them

started with them from the beginning. already had the calls and LR with them just swapped over to get the broadband for free from my prev supplier PIPEX. not had any issues at all...

Recommended a friend as well a few months ago and they are also on with no problems...

Agree totally - I signed up last month - installed three weeks earlier than anticipated - FREE NOT available in my area though as I live in the sticks - download rate a bit variable but surfing is fast.

Pleased so far as I took the £30.99 per option per month all inclusive charge - effectively broadband costs me £4 per month on a like by like comparison with prior BT line rental Talk Talk call charges and Dial up Internet use

MSE_Martin

By the way, I changed to Talk talk on Martin's recommendation so I'm hoping he will act with some serious consumer pressure soon (?) Surely, that poll of satisfied Talk talk customers is being falsified by their employees logging on? I just don't believe the results, given my experience and everything I've read from everyone else.

Am I watching this... you bet

I understand your point. However I have been monitoring this poll closely since it started (before it went too public and TalkTalk could've heard) and the result % is remarkably consistent considering - indicating to me that it is fairly representative.

It's a nightmare for some, a MoneySaver for others

I think some people have suffered terribly with TalkTalk and that's a nightmare - others have had an easy ride and are getting the most price competitive service. The problem is delineating which you will be.

I've been in contact with TalkTalk on a number of occasions about this. Self evidently it was swamped with demand and made serious errors in calculating and managing that (in my view signing up in tranches of 50,000 at a time and not signing up more until they were working would've alleviated all this and seen a pent up demand for the product and it being "cool to be on TalkTalk".)

The dilemma

Yet I am wrestling with this as a dilemma - both the emails I've received and the poll indicate the majority of the people actually get the service, perhaps with some delays and are saving money. Yet a substantial minority are having a nightmare. I will be honest I still haven't yet worked out what I will come out with and am monitoring things carefully.

It's important to remember though the fact any individual has had problems doesn't automatically mean others have, it’s sometimes difficult to see beyond this.

How much of this is the 'broadband switching' fault

Part of the problem is endemic in broadband switching, there are either accidental or deliberate blocks and sloth put on switching by the incumbent provider which slows things up. With the massive churn of TalkTalk it is suffering the PR bash - yet I have heard this story echo'd with many providers.

Interestingly before all this happened - in fact for two years I've had the following note in the broadband article

"When writing about broadband providers I always take a deep breath. My Chat-Forum clogs up with people writing “I can’t believe you rate the hideous provider X”. Often the next post applauds the very same provider. So unless a disproportionate number of complaints have been made (when I note it), I simply judge on price as service is much of a muchness. "

This is always a difficult scenario - in broadband you certainly can't please all of the people all of the time.

Where from here

None of this means TalkTalk isn't culpable of appalling mismanagement and responsible for this situation. It just means that whether I come out and say "don't touch TalkTalk with a bargepole" isn't a simple decision. Is it manifestly worse than any other - or is it because of the large number of people signing up - its poor display has been much more public, it's customer service worse, but it isn't manifestly worse.


I thought my rambling musings may help. I'm still watching and thinking.....

Martin


PS. Sorry this was knocked off as a brain dump at speed, so hope it makes sense, I plan to write properly on it at a later date.

Grumpy_Old_Woman_3

Applied on the first day of offer and finally got a modem in September. Rang customer services many times in between and was given personal guarantees from each person I spoke to that my modem was in the post. Wrote to CEO, re customer services and delay,and am still waiting for a reply. Now online but can't open Excel, is TalkTalk connection responsible? Who knows? My business accounts are in there.

But definitely moneysaving, much lower phone bills