New Talktalk poll; feedback needed, good and bad

farhanshaikh

Signed up with Talktalk when the 'free broadband' deal was offered last year sometime. Initial setup went ok, there were a few teething problems with connecting first time and with my wireless router.

Twice during my period with Talktalk my connection has been lost due to technical difficulties at their end, but these were soon resolved.

Customer service is abroad (India), Technical support is abroad (India). But once they pass it through to second line then you get a call from an English engineer. I can appreciate peoples hatred of foreign call centres because I too used to HATE this with a passion. Thing is you have to accept it, how else can these companies offer low prices?? I was with BT Broadband for nearly 3 years previously and they were just the same, foreign call centres, long waiting times yadda yadda yadda...I have come to the conclusion that with all these companies offering cheap broadband the difference between their after-sales support is negligable. WIth every supplier you get customers who have have bad experiences, I should know I've had a few!

I'm just happy I pay £20 a month for telephone and broadband. Can't really complain about that...as soon as I find a supplier offering me more for less I'll be leaving them pronto...no customer loyalty here, thats a fact.

tawnyowls

I've had no real problems, other than with the modem. I signed up end of November, received modem and acceptance letter, and beginning of December was told I'd get broadband a few days later. However, BT sent me a letter saying the phone line wouldn't be switched over till the middle of the month, so unsurprisingly, the broadband didn't actually work till then! Couldn't for the life of me get the modem to install, much less work (helpline hopeless), so I used my own modem and had it up and running in minutes. Since then, apart from the odd occasion when it somehow decides one or other of my email addresses isn't working (no rhyme nor reason to this, and usually if I download manually via Outlook it's absolutely fine), I've had no real issues. I would recommend them to others, with one caveat: Don't waste your money on
1)the modem - go out and buy one with a decent diagnostic program (mine's a Zoom, and I find it very easy to use),
2) the 'help'line - they're rubbish. If you're a real novice, pay a friendly techie to install it for you (believe me, it'll work out cheaper!), and if not, there are dozens of computer forums out there, where you'll get answers from people who actually know what they're talking about and won't insist you have their blinking modem before they even talk to you.

scottw_2

I'd been holding off Broadband until the price became reasonable, but was increasingly disillusioned with BT as they were a) expensive, b) took way too much money out on S/O building up credit in their bank! and c) charged full price for my 0870 No. dial up 56k connection despite inclusive local and national calls package.

When Talk Talk started promoting their "Free" broadband package I thought I might as well take the plunge as the fixed fee was at least £5.00 below my lowest ever BT bill without BB!

I signed up around June (if memory serves) and was connected about 4 weeks earlier than their predicted end of August timescale (phone went live much sooner and I still had 56k access at reduced cost so was already ahead).

As I'm relatively Tech Savvy I had no problems (that I couldn't work around;)) and didn't need to use their tech support / customer service.

From my perspective then, it does exactly what it says on the tin!

However...

On the strength of my experience my Dad signed up and to cut a long story short finally had his Broadband working in time for Xmas!!! (a 4 month wait from it going live!)

The issue (which I diagnosed from the start and was re-iterated to customer service on many occasions) was actually with the line rather than the PC / software setup. My dad insisted that BT be asked to investigate, but advisor after advisor insisted on reinstalling the software on the PC each and every time before eventually admitting that it was a problem with the line and that they would pass it to BT. When no action was forthcoming my Dad had to start from scratch on numerous occasions.

Finally BT came to investigate and the engineer just had to swap over a filter in the junction box as the line enters the flat. Apparently this is a known issue.

There seems to be a lack of co-operation between BT and Talk Talk (and other Broadband suppliers reliant on BTs good graces). I suspect this is due to BT attempting to protect it's monopoly position at the expense of customers caught in between. I for one will NEVER go back to BT!

When the service provision from newer operators becomes more mature and they have more control over the infrastructure, then I am sure we will see far better service, greater competition and the end of the dinosaur that is BT!

Heinz

scottw wrote:

Finally BT came to investigate and the engineer just had to swap over a filter in the junction box as the line enters the flat. Apparently this is a known issue.

There seems to be a lack of co-operation between BT and Talk Talk (and other Broadband suppliers reliant on BTs good graces). I suspect this is due to BT attempting to protect it's monopoly position at the expense of customers caught in between.

I'm a little baffled by those comments.

Because of your knowledge, you were able to work out the problem was not computer-oriented but was in relation to the Talk Talk landline - but Talk Talk refused to believe you and wouldn't call Openreach to investigate (probably so they didn't get charged).

When they eventually did call Openreach, an engineer attended and fixed the fault (and probably charged Talk Talk).

How does that amount to a 'lack of co-operation?

Julieoolie

I made a formal complaint about TalkTalk to OTELO as despite signing up for the broadband offer in April last year and following numerous letters, emails, phone calls (think I've spoken to every employee of TT in India!) and having 3migration codes from me they've failed spectacularly :rolleyes: !

OTELO have a very clear procedure which you should follow before they allow you to make the complaint official - if you need any advice I found their helpline really good. Once they tell you that they can investigate the problem on your behalf you will need to complete a complaint form. They can either do this over the phone, through the post or via their website. I chose the latter option and it took me about 15 minutes.

I'm waiting to hear something now from OTELO but I feel at the moment that there's light at the end of the tunnel :j . It got to the point where I felt physically ill whenever the TalkTalk advert came on the TV!:mad:

Find them at https://www.otelo.org.uk

mrss_5

MSE_Martin wrote:

What's this all about?

TalkTalk's 'free broadband' package took the market by storm and on paper is a clear winner on price (see Cheapest Home Phones article). Initially customer feedback was very strong, but by July and August reports were coming through that it couldn't cope with capacity - and many users are stuck without broadband.

Therefore last October, I carried out a poll to survey MoneySavers experiences. The results were better than expected, showing that while a very substantial number had suffered problems, they were still in the minority (See previous TalkTalk poll)

Why a new poll?

Four months is a long time for a new service. As this is a very competitive product, its important to know whether its working for people and to see if the product now is more reliable.

Please spare thirty second to answer the above if you have/applied for TalkTalk 'free broadband'

Martin

I wouldn't recommend TalkTalk to anyone. I applied in August and only went live 2 weeks ago. I have had many phone calls with customer service and my experience is that they jump on the first thing they can to get you off the phone. My connection is so slow I cannot access my bank accounts. I've been told this is because my modem 9isn't connected to the main telephone line. It never has been before and my dial up service was quicker! The only reason I haven't canelled them is because I wuld have to pay as I'm in contract. Roll on next December when I can move to another providor. I wasn't happy with my previous providor (Tesco) but they were fab in comparison. I've also used AOL and they were by far the best - probably the most expensive tho.

mach_3

I joined talktalk for a yr and half ago so was paying BT for line rental and broadband, and Talktalk for calls only. My BT bills came to about £28/month, and talktalk bills usually about £5/month. I then enquired about cost of broadband with Talktalk after my BT contract finished. The unenthusiastic agent told me it would cost me £20/month for everything - line rental, all calls national and international, and broadband. So despite all the horror stories I had heard, I decided that the savings would be worth it so I signed up mid November. I promptly got a letter saying the connection would be ready on 19 Dec and how great its going to be, enjoy the savings, etc. Fantastic! So I waited patiently, and out of interest I tracked the order on their website. As expected it said going to be ready by 19 Dec and modem which I paid extra for would be with me a couple days before that. Then I recieved a bill on 20th Nov for £12.80 ("9.99 for talk3 int'l, £2.81 for calls, £1.91 VAT). I figured that looks OK as when broadband switches over from BT, that will take it to roughly £20 as promised. 21st Dec came about and nothing arrived - no modem, no letter, no phonecall. So I called them and spoke to a girl (I won't mention her name) who, after putting me on hold for five minutes to "read the notes", told me that the order had been "rejected - I'll have to transfer you to another dept", very quickly without giving a chance to question what "rejected" meant. So after another few minutes of listening to their theme tune 'we have got to get it together', a gentleman answered. I asked him what was happening to the order after giving him the account details. He advised that there were a lot of notes on the system so he would have to put me on hold while he read them. I remained on hold listening to that same tune over and over for about 15 minutes before hanging up and calling back to find that they were closed (no prizes for guessing why he really put me on hold). By now I recieved a letter from BT saying they were sorry I was leaving, and also a bill for broadband only for about £17. The next day I recieved email from Talktalk saying my bill had arrived and that I would be able to view it online as usual. To my surprise and horror, the amount was for £39.72 ("9.99 for Talk3 int'l, £7.23 calls, £22.50 for line rental and calling features, £5.92 VAT). Ok you might say the bill breakdown is there, but i was told "£20 all inclusive - line, broadband and all calls".
Without further delay I cancelled the direct debit before they could take the money which I assume they tried to do 3 days ago as said on the bill. Then called them to question it but was transfered to another dept and more of that very appropriate tune. I started by asking what the status is with my broadband order. "Rejected" as expected and offered to be transfered to yet another dept which I refused. Then asked the bloke to confirm the month fee of the package to which he answered "£20 al inclusive"! So I asked him to have a look at my latest bill and explain why it came to £40 when I had'nt even recieved what I'm supposed to recieve, at which point he just sounded like a gibbering mess and all he could tell me was that he could transfer me to a dept who could explain why the order had been rejected and that it was probably a technical issue which can be resolved straight away. I told him that I am no longer interested in why it was rejected and just wanted to be put back to the basic package (Talk1) where I paid for calls only. This he apparently did. Then I immediately called BT to se what I can get from them. The very pleasant and helpful woman there offered me a 12 month discount for broadband of £4, and after a bit of haggling I got an all inclusive package (line rental, free evening and wkend calls and broadband) for £25/month. I then asked if she would throw in a new modem to which she replied she had already done so. I asked which one - she said its the home hub and when I checked, it turned out to be their top of the range.
Now I'm waiting for a notice of unpaid bill from talktalk.
Moral of the story - better the devil you know than talktalk.
Oh and the BT modem arrived 3 day later - easy to set up, super fast, I've got a voip line to it too now for even cheapper calls, and I bought a BT wireless adaptor on ebay for £15, which seems to make it even faster still!!

Harmonic

I had 3 Months of hassle then used the "Special " Telephone No, given by Martin, I was then contacted by a brilliant 'TalkTalk' Engineer who sorted the whole mess, refunded the 2 months I had paid Tiscali for Broadband, and waived the connection charge. everything has been fine since.

If the "Special" number is still valid ? perhaps Martin could put it out again?

nickg147

I joined in July last year - It's been a fantastically cheap deal! Line was recently upgraded to 7mb, all fairly seamless. I've had no problems so far, so cannot comment on how poor their customer services is, but from what I've heard, if you can get by without them - your fine. If not, it's a nightmare!

Megatronic7

Am I the only person in the whole wide world who has had absolutely no problems with Talk Talk!
Signed up, got the phone. A few weeks later got Broadband. Since then not a problem in sight. No drop outs, disconnects or otherwise.
Maybe I was in on the ground floor before the problems started. That was last April May I think.
Big up Talk Talk!! Keep up the good work.