Talktalk Disconnected Me!!

neil0705

I'm in the process of switching my phone and broadband from Talktalk to Primus. I've been with Talktalk since 2004 but as we have seen from the recent survey their customer care is now appalling. I've had two incidents this year.

One where I was called to upgrade my package and when I said I needed to discuss it with my wife I was abruptly told that my wife would definitely think it was a good idea and that I should go ahead with it! I don't know what my wife's thinking most of the time, so god knows how Talktalk's sales team do!!

The second incident was when I was persuaded to stay with them after looking to change service providers. They bettered the deal I had found then didn't change anything, so I remained on my old contract. That brings us up to todays episode!

About 3 weeks ago I decided to change to Primus. I received the standard Talktalk letters about leaving them and notification from Primus that the change was going through and that they would keep me updated.

I got a call from my wife mid morning telling me that both phone and broadband weren't working. I contacted Primus who told me that they weren't in position to take over my line for another 2 weeks so the problem lay with Talktalk.

I contacted Talktalk.The first person I spoke to said that there was nothing they could do, but they could reconnect me today if I signed up to a new 12 month contract with them. They would even wave the normal connection fee!! Funnily enough I refused and told her I just wanted my phone reconnected until Primus took over my line. She said her department couldn't help so I was put through to another one. Again I explained the position I was in and was told this time that Primus had informed Talktalk that they would be taking over the line today and therefore that's why I had been disconnected.

Got back in touch with Primus and as I was part way through explaining the situation the girl on the other end stopped me and asked if I was with Talktalk. She then informed me that it was common for Talktalk to disconnect landlines earlier than they should, of customers looking to leave them. They would then try and get the customer to sign a new contract when they phoned to find out what the problem was.

I rang Talktalk back and spent an hour going from department to department who could not help me so would pass me on to the department who usually deal with that problem. Strangely enough it does seem that out of the 4 or 5 (I lost count) of the departments I spoke to none of them dealt with that problem but all could tell me that the only way they could reconnect me today was for me to sign a new 12 month contract. One comment did stand out though. I was told by one guy "What do you expect if you've told us that you want to leave us. We're going to disconnect you."!!!!! I did inform him that when I've changed gas suppliers in the past that my gas supply wasn't cut off and that I expected a smooth transition with my phone and broadband.

I have another number to call in the morning for Talktalk. I expect the same merry go round as today with me ending up contacting ofcom to sort it out. Wish me luck! I'll update you tomorrow.

If you are considering switching to Talktalk please seriously consider the feedback from existing customers before doing so. The comments don't lie.

Regards
Neil :mad:

BargainGalore

I had no end of aggravation from these muppets when I left them last year, they couldnt organise a P**** in a brewery that company. What they fail to understand is if you hound people and or make live difficult they just might never return. I never go back to them

sorry I couldn't read all your post its far too long winded without any paragraphs

TalkTalk

Hi Neil,


If you join the Members Forum we can look into this for you in more depth and confirm what actions we can take in regards to this issue.

The first stage is identifying your account and as we have no private message facility on MSE to exchange such details I would request you join the Members Forum where we can assist further.

Regards

Mark

neil0705

Thank you Mark. I would like you to look into this further. I have registered on the Talk Talk members forum under user name neil0705.
Regards
Neil

TalkTalk

Hi Neil,

No problem, if you post in the customer service and billing section for this to be addressed.


Regards

Mark
TalkTalk Online Community Executive

jamesperrett

Hmm - I'm not impressed with the Talk Talk representative's handling of these queries so far. I would expect Mark to take ownership of the problem personally and sort it out rather than asking the original poster to just go through the standard online proceedure. If it was me having those problems I wouldn't be at all happy with Mark's response.

Mark - you're going to have to up your game to match that of your competitors if you are serious about customer service.

James.

TalkTalk

HI James,



Our presence on the MSE forums does not allow for exchange of personal infomraiotn ins a private setting. As such in order to provide support we need to refer you to the TalkTalk Members forum, when we need to access account specific information.

You will note I am also present on the TTMF forum as OCE responsibilities vary from day to day. As such the Online Community Department are taking ownership of the issue at hand by referring customers to the Members Forum where we can provide more support than we are able to here on MSE and other Third Party site. We manage all TalkTalk online contact via Forums, Facebook, Twitter where support is provided and if a private medium of exchange is not available for us to completed Data Protection checks we refer to the forum. This ensure we have complete ownership of the issue and are not reliant on the resitrctions of maanging issues via third party forum, rather issues are handled on TalkTalks own dedicated support forums where a team of Online Community Executives can manage and resolve the issues in full.

With regards ot competitors we are one of the few ISP that allow customers to post unedited on our TalKTalk Members Forum (which is publicly referenced on Google) and Facebook wall for support. In addiiton to being one of the first to provide support and engagement via third party sites and proactively seek customers who voice issues and concerns in the Online Domain in order to provide support and assistance.

I can only apologise if you do not think this is taking ownership of the issue and striving to further our reach of customer service and support but the OP does not appear to have raised any greivance with my handling of this issue and the support offered.


Regards

Mark
TalkTalk Online Community Executive
TalkTalk Online Community Department

DVardysShadow

jamesperrett wrote: »

Hmm - I'm not impressed with the Talk Talk representative's handling of these queries so far. I would expect Mark to take ownership of the problem personally and sort it out rather than asking the original poster to just go through the standard online proceedure. If it was me having those problems I wouldn't be at all happy with Mark's response.

Mark - you're going to have to up your game to match that of your competitors if you are serious about customer service.

James.

I agree. This is a problem which needs an immediate resolution of the restoration of OP's service without the need to take up a new contract. As OP says

Got back in touch with Primus and as I was part way through explaining the situation the girl on the other end stopped me and asked if I was with Talktalk. She then informed me that it was common for Talktalk to disconnect landlines earlier than they should, of customers looking to leave them. They would then try and get the customer to sign a new contract when they phoned to find out what the problem was.

Now, the resolution needs to happen within 24 hours and neil0705 should ideally let us know how it is resolved. Because if this is not resolved, it is fair warning to everyone not to do business with TT because they will punish you for leaving.

jamesperrett

TalkTalk_Company_Representative wrote: »

HI James,



Our presence on the MSE forums does not allow for exchange of personal infomraiotn ins a private setting. As such in order to provide support we need to refer you to the TalkTalk Members forum, when we need to access account specific information.

OK - so I took a look at a couple of your responses on a forum that does allow private messaging (which is used by other ISP reps). You're avoiding taking on people's problems there too. As I said Mark, if you are going to hang around forums where other ISP's offer a more proactive approach, you are doing yourself no favours. I'm not a Talk Talk customer and your current behaviour has convinced me that I wouldn't even consider being a Talk Talk customer in the future. If your stock answer is to tell everyone to go to the Talk Talk forum you're not really doing a useful job.

James.

TalkTalk

Hi James,

You can contact MSE in regards to ISPs ability to send and recieve Private Messages. Initially this facility was available but is no longer due to a number of ISP using PM to process sales rather than provide support. Feel free to test this by sending a Private Message to this account.


We do not avoid dealing with the problem and as previosuly advised the OP is in the process of continued support via the TTMF forums. The OP is free to post the resolution fo the issue here, alterantively anyone can view the TTMF forum and the OP has provided his username below.


Regards

Mark

NittyGritty

talk talk are well known for switching your phone line without your consent , had it happen to me when i was with BT,
i was looking for deals so i entered my number on their site to see wot i coudl get, few days later i got constant calls from talk talk saying we could save you money, i told them no thanks, again the following week i was bombarded with calls saying the same thing, even i keep saying no they kept ringing back, id say avoid talk talk at all costs, you only need to look at their stats they are bottom, n no surprise really with their attitude