Talk Talk Offer - Genuine?

outofmoney

This week three men appeared in our road, calling at each door. Two came to mine so I'm guessing one was in training.

Anyway, he said they were from Talk Talk, briefly showed me a card round his neck, which tbh these days anyone can make up, and then went on to say did I get the leter from Talk Talk to say we could now get free Broadband.

I said no, and he said none of our neighbours had either. So he continued saying about the free Broadband but all he needed to do was use our handset to test if we were eligible.

I said No, which he seemed surprised at. He asked if I really didn't want free BB and that it didn't matter I was in a contract with someone else, and then again said, I just need to use your handset.

I replied No again, to which he still seemed surprised.

So has anyone else had this? If it is genuine, why do they need to use the phone?

poppie123

OMG, i had this very same thing yesterday and i posted it on anther forum here is my experience taken from what i posted although they didn't get as far as asking for my handset before i shut the door.



Just had a young girl at the door, holding a notepad. The conversation went something like this.

(her) "Did you receive a letter about your local telephone exchange"

(me) "No"

(her) "Sorry about that, do you pay for your broadband"?

(me) "Yes"

(her) Did you know broadband is now free in your area"

(me) Really? no thank you (shuts door)

My eldest Daughter said she had called earlier and showed her a card saying she was from talk talk, explaining to her the same thing.

Has anyone else had this? is it some sort of scheme to get you to sign up to talk talk for you home phone and they throw in broadband for free?

kwikbreaks

Looks like the same sort of scam as door to door third parties getting people to switch electricity and gas.

The thing to always remember about free Talk Talk offers regardless of who is making the offer is that there is a big snag - if you do get the product it will be supplied by Talk Talk.

outofmoney

Thanks both. Sounds genuine then...though not necessarily a good deal.

My concern was if they used the handset they could do all sorts to it. Bit like the scams where you had to press 9 then ended up with huge bills.

kwikbreaks

I don't see that he needed to touch your handset at all. About the only thing that could be checked using it would be whether or not it was on a BT line and that is pretty much irrelevant. My suspicion would be that to get to the handset you'd have to invite him in which may get around some bit of cold caller legislation.

OTOH he may have wanted to decapitate you with a rusty axe and preferred to do so in your living room rather than on the doorstep. Who knows?

The basic rule with all cold callers either at the door, on the phone, or walking in the street is to tell them to sling their hook. Once in a million such encounters you may miss a bargain by that tactic but all the rest you're probably avoiding problems.

outofmoney

Now you mention it I did notice a orange rusty look to his hands, lol.

My phone is cordless and works up to 50m away so I could have brought it out to him if I really could be bothered.

henrie

Got to be a scam, they dont offer free broadband. Ive been with them for a few years (before they took over tiscali) and they charge £23.53 for broadband and any time talk. very cheap and pretty good!

Froggitt

I think on my bill its listed as Line rental say £12, anytime calls say £10, and BB free......same as £22 for line, calls and BB which is what I signed up for

Hannibanal

No, not a scam, i know someone who signed up online last year and they do have free broadband for 6 months.

But another reason they possibly wanted access to your phone was to input the code to get your line number.
Then they could input that number into their line checker which would give a rough estimate of speed on your line.
(It would also probably go into their records for future marketing calls, lol)

It's likely that your area has recently been enabled for talktalk LLu at the exchange and their sales reps have hit the area.

Same happened here, also happening here with Sky as we prepare for digital switchover.
But i never accept street offers myself, if interested best to go online and ask in the right places.

ankspon

My talktalk bb is free,i wouldn't allow anyone to use the phone in those circumstances,the technology these days means they would know if your phone/line is compatible without touching it

spannerzone

Yeah I've had this, they're just cold call sellers and make a commision on sales and next week could be selling gas or electric deals door to door.

If you're daft enough to let them in and even stupider to let them use your phone they'll sign you up to an ISP that offers phone line rental and internet bundle.

It's a genuine deal (mostly) but who in their right mind would take an offer from a complete stranger?

oh yes, mugs would!

It's remarkable that by simply wearing a high viz jacket seems to make people think they're official so can't be scamming. HI VIZ jackets can be bought from B&Q for £5 people so be aware!