Help! Disconnected by TalkTalk - their fault

mcl123

I have an 18 month contract with TalkTalk for line rental, phone and broadband which started in December 2010, and have been paying by Direct Debit for this service since. 10 days ago they disconnected my service so that when you phone in there is a message that says 'the number you are dialling is not receiving incoming calls' and when I try to phone out instead of hearing the dialling tone, I only get an engaged tone.

Having spoken to nearly 20 people at TalkTalk, they say that they made a mistake in disconnecting me but that I have to sign up for a new 12 month contract, and they will get me reconnected hopefully by the middle of April, and that it will be to a new number! The wait is because they have to get BTopen reach involved so they say!

As I already have a contract with them with nearly 15 months left on it I don't understand why they cannot just reconnect me back to my old number. I accept that mistakes can happen. All I asked was that it should be rectified urgently which they are not doing, making the whole situation far worse.

If I tried to get out of the contract I am sure that they would be charging me. How can I get them to provide the service that they should be providing under my existing contract?
Can anyone help please?

spike7451

Once a cease is put thru then it has to be completed &,unfortunately,any changes cannot be done until it's completed,which is why they may not be able to give you back your number as by the time a re-provide is done,your number may have been given to someone else.

Mark_In_Hampshire

Suspect you're going to need to write to them. As Spike says you may not be able to get the old number back, but I'd write explaining that you want:

- the old number restored
- the service restored on the ORIGINAL contract basis
- the billing adjusted to take into account the period of unavailability
- compensation of £x (look in their Ts and Cs to see if there's any amount specified)

Send it recorded delivery or by email. Give the date by which you expect it restored and what you intend to do if it is not e.g.

1. Start a claim in the small claims court for breach of contract
2. Go to the regulator
3. Change supplier and charge any setup costs to them, early cancellation fees will not be paid, etc

Or any or all of the above at your option.