Tiscali/Talk Talk

chris980

Well, where to start...:mad:

I was with Tiscali for a few years, paying £14.99 per month for broadband, no problems at all with the direct debit coming out every month on the 1st of the month just after payday and everything was great. Until they were taken over by Talk Talk...

Then, I noticed my bill had suddenly gone up to £19.99 per month without explanation. I called Talk Talk/Tiscali or whatever they want to call themselves these days to query this, and they advised that they had brought all prices in line with Talk Talk rates. I wasn't happy with this as I had signed up with Tiscali on their terms, not Talk Talk.

Then, Talk Talk started taking the direct debit on the 20th of the month, and for a couple of months after losing my job the money wasn't always there to take. I queried why the direct debit date had changed and I got the same answer as before, to bring it in line with Talk Talk. I asked them to change it back to the 1st of the month (when all direct debits come out) and they said they could not do that. Therefore, I suggested that I paid manually on a monthly basis and that was fine, even though it would cost another £3 on top of the £19.99 I was paying.

I then noticed that they were still taking a direct debit on the 20th of the month, despite me asking them on numerous occasions to cancel it. I even cancelled it with my bank but they kept calling for the direct debit and of course it bounced, and they were then applying charges to my account for failed direct debits.

I finally seemed to be getting somewhere in November 2010 where it was agreed I would call on the 25th of the month (after my new payday) to pay my bill, happy days. Until 24th December, when I checked my statement and they had taken £27 out of my bank with 'card purchase' the narrative.

Yet another phone call followed querying when I authorised a card payment of £27 or gave them permission to take random amounts whenever they wanted, they looked at my notes and records and came back with 'I cannot find when you said this, but we would not take money without your permission'. I was furious, they have taken money out of my bank without my permission, is that not theft?

Has anyone had any similar experiences or does anyone have any advice where to go with this?

Regards

home_alone

They have a history of this even after people have left them for pastures new.