In 18 month TalkTalk contract. Any way out?

Rueben_2

Hi all.

I'm currently 11 months into an 18 month TalkTalk contract. I've actually been with the company (Tiscali originally) for nearly four years, and was outside of the original 12 month period when I was signed up for this new contract. It was primarily because I was moving house and when I rung up TalkTalk to tell them they insisted that as I was moving house I would need to sign up for a new 18 month contract.

I was strongly opposed to this but felt I had little choice but to take it. Unfortunately I'm nearly two miles from the nearest exchange and BT Infinity doesn't seem to be heading this way for a while yet, so am considering going with Virgin Media (I average around 3mbps at the moment). They're hardly my favourite company, but the only viable option at the moment for high-speed Internet.

Is there anyway I could weasel my way out of this TalkTalk contract? I may have to stick it out, but it is galling that when you've been with them a long time you still end up stuck with them just because I had the cheek to move house.

Ta in advance.

HappyMJ

How cheeky of you to move...Yes you can get out of it but you will have to pay a cancellation fee. Probably £8 per month 7 months remain so about £56. For the speed increase I'd just pay it....but you could keep the line as well as have the virgin line if you wanted to. http://help.talktalk.co.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/1617/~/is-there-a-charge-for-terminating-my-contract-early%3F

Rueben_2

Cheers. Negotiation even an option? I may stick it out for a couple more months at least anyway to reduce the charge further. I still remember when I moved originally I was told the new contract was to stop me leaving within a month of them moving me over. Certainly cheeky of them considering I was around 32 months into a 12 month minimum contract.

Thanks again.

bod1467

Are you paying line rental to TT? If yes, have you been informed of the increase (to £14.50)? This gives you a limited window of opportunity to exit from your contract with no termination charges.

Tippytoes

bod1467 wrote: »

Are you paying line rental to TT? If yes, have you been informed of the increase (to £14.50)? This gives you a limited window of opportunity to exit from your contract with no termination charges.

Agree. You can then reject the price increase without penalty.

macman

Only if the increase is above the rate of inflation can it be seen as a detrimental change in your terms, which would allow you to leave without penalty.
The deal is from TT's perspective is: you get a free home move (they absorb all the cost) in return for another minimum term contract.

bod1467

The increase of 70p is 5%. This is more than inflation.

However (IMHO) this is a bogus argument, unless this (inflation) is specifically mentioned in the TT T&Cs. If you are in a contract for a fixed price over a fixed term then any change which increases the customer's total cost for the contract is detrimental.

I have also seen TT use the "our wholesale costs have increased" BS before to justify a price increase and try to deny their customers an exit without termination charges. That's exactly what it is - BS. For the consumer the TT wholesale costs are irrelevant.

bod1467

By the way ... on the TT forums some people are mentioning that TT updating their website to advise of changes to T&Cs is a valid mechanism. This is FALSE.

Any changes to T&Cs must be made via a durable means, such as letter, email or fax (although the latter is unlikely), as this provides a means to verify that the customer has been advised of the changes. The website could be changed at any time without and revision history being retained or checked.