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MSE News: Ofcom finds TalkTalk guilty of mis-selling

in Phones & TV
29 replies 5K views
This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"TalkTalk has a month to change its practices after breaking Ofcom rules for selling landline deals ..."
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Replies

  • ReaperReaper Forumite
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    What I love about company statements when they have had their wrists smacked is they sound exactly the same as when they have been given a top award.

    In this case:
    "We have processes to help employees be accurate and we invest heavily in training and monitoring of our sales and retention teams.
    "Improvements in the language used and the materials provided are constantly being made and we will provide Ofcom with detailed information about our ongoing programme to maintain the highest standards in all of our transactions."
    ""We have processes to help employees be accurate" - clearly not.
    "maintain the highest standards in all of our transactions" - high standards? Obviously not. Maintain - that suggests they don't need to change anything.

    They are not the only company to issue statements like that, they all do it. They must all have gone to the same PR school. No sign of an appology.
  • HernHern Forumite
    464 Posts
    To quote directly from the OFCOM judgment, TalkTalk is:

    Dishonest.

    Deceptive.

    Says it all, really.

    But will there now be a mass exodus of customers from this nauseating company, complaints about which are racked up by the dozens on MSE alone??

    Nah.

    Welcome to -- if you weren't already aware of it -- Dumb Britain.

    Where anything goes because most consumers are quite content to let anyone screw 'em.
  • pixwixpixwix Forumite
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    I've had trouble with TalkTalk - almost every person I know who has ever dealt with them has had problems, usually serious, including a neighbour who was 'slammed' by them.

    I'm still having trouble. They took over my old isp and I left, having previous bad (actually, shocking) experience of TalkTalk. I've had a new isp for 4 months now, and despite 2 separate written admissions from TalkTalk that I no longer have a contract with them and owe then nothing, the red letters STILL roll in on a regular basis.

    But if TalkTalk are a disgrace, Ofcom are increasingly a waste of space. As far as I can see they deal with consumers' day-to-day problems on a month-to-month basis. Their latest report includes the phrase "most consumers are happy with their (broadband) provider". Rubbish - in point of fact most consumers are simply resigned to poor broadband services - and that's not the same thing at all.

    TalkTalk (and other large companies) should never have been allowed by Ofcom to dominate the broadband market so much in the first place - effective anti-monopoly regulation in this country seems to be a thing of the past.

    Stop pussfooting around, Ofcom - you should have heavily fined TalkTalk months ago - do it now! And apply those fines to management salaries, not - ultimately - to the hapless TalkTalk subscribers!
  • ianspiansp Forumite
    50 Posts
    pixwix wrote: »
    I've had a new isp for 4 months now, and despite 2 separate written admissions from TalkTalk that I no longer have a contract with them and owe then nothing, the red letters STILL roll in on a regular basis.

    Same experience as me. I had them for my phone line a few years ago, and they billed me for months after i left. I spent hours on the phone.
    (Can I claim compo for that? :) )

    Occasionally they come to the door asking if I would switch, and when they then ask why I say no, I tell them. It's because I used them once, and would now rather have to use a yoghurt-pot and string than go back to Talk Talk.
  • pixwixpixwix Forumite
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    iansp wrote: »
    Occasionally they come to the door asking if I would switch, and when they then ask why I say no, I tell them. It's because I used them once, and would now rather have to use a yoghurt-pot and string than go back to Talk Talk.

    Love it! I had two (very tough-looking) TalkTalk reps at my own front door late last year - touting 'unbeatable' telephone services. I told them I'd buy a carrier pigeon before I ever had anything to do with TalkTalk again! They were very intimidating (I'm retired and disabled) and refused to take no for an answer. One of them only removed his foot and shoulder from my door when he heard my wife phoning the police....

    Bunch of crooks the lot of them.
  • HeinzHeinz Forumite
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    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Car Insurance Carver!
    Time has moved on (much quicker than it used to - or so it seems at my age) and my previous advice on residential telephony has been or is now gradually being overtaken by changes in the retail market. Hence, I have now deleted links to my previous 'pearls of wisdom'. I sincerely hope they helped save some of you money.
  • pixwixpixwix Forumite
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    Heinz wrote: »

    All very well, but if TalkTalk are fined, why should the management care? They're raking it in, and don't give a monkeys! Any fine will simply be applied against profits and TalkTalk customers will pay.

    Now if Ofcom started applying fines to management salaries and bonuses...
  • edited 24 May 2011 at 8:39PM
    HeinzHeinz Forumite
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    edited 24 May 2011 at 8:39PM
    Let's just hope word gets around and others are warned off.
    Time has moved on (much quicker than it used to - or so it seems at my age) and my previous advice on residential telephony has been or is now gradually being overtaken by changes in the retail market. Hence, I have now deleted links to my previous 'pearls of wisdom'. I sincerely hope they helped save some of you money.
  • poppy10_2poppy10_2 Forumite
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    Unsurprising. I left TalkTalk years ago, but I still have a bitter taste from my experiences with them - awful service, made it as difficult as possible to cancel, and then even after I had cancelled, continued to bill me for several months. I've warned off everyone I know who has been considering going with the company - they are, as Ofcom has confirmed, dishonest and deceptive. Hope they go under soon.
    poppy10
  • amilotteamilotte Forumite
    129 Posts
    Well what a turn up for the books! I made a complaint to Ofcom about TT and their disgraceful treatment back in late 2009, at the time I felt I wasn't being listened to so I am really glad to find that this hasnt been the case.

    The only thing that confuses me is that they say from July 2010 - I was accused of taking out a new contract with them back in 2009 they then hounded me for a £70 disconnection fee.

    I doubt I qualify for compensation as it was before their report states but I wish everyone who may be entitled to it well. Heres hoping TT learn a lesson from this (although I will be sticking by my word and NEVER using TT ever again).
    :jThanks to everyone who post competitions/freebies :j
    Started comping June 2011 and wins/freebies so far are..
    JLS cd Tabasco sauce Toothpaste Simple eye corrector pen Armarni Sport Code Bio effect serum Charles Worthington hair straightening kit Lancome mascara Rimmel mascara £50 gift card Breakfast Cereal
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