Talk Talk add cancellation charge. Is this correct?

CEON44

I was reading Martins newsletter dated April 4th, where he described getting out of a TalkTalk contract due to their impending price hike. As I felt I was getting a poor service with a lot of downtime and very low signal I decided to exercise my right and leave. I'm going back to BT who had previously provided me with a solid reliable service. Anyway today I was contacted by TalkTalk customer service who called to check I really wanted to cancel ( and try and talk me back in). After politely saying I still wanted to change over to BT and agreed the release date she then hit me with a £47.61 charge. I asked what it was for and she said it was because I was on a "package" which had certain discounts, which had to be paid if I decided to cancel my contract. I disputed this with her and left it that I would call back. Anyone have any idea how this should be handled. Do I have a case to ask for the charge not to be applied?

macman

You have to inform them (in writing) within x days that you are exercising your right to leave without penalty due to a detrimental change in your T&C's. Have you done that?
It's not automatic, you have to formally reject the change they are imposing.

CEON44

Thank you. I wasnt aware that I had to write to them. According to Martins newsletter I had 10 days from when I received price hike email to cancel. I called them to advise them but have not written. Will do that asap Thanks again

macman

Writing gives you more evidence when they later claim to have no record of the phone call!

LincolnshireYokel

When i switched my aged mother to virgin from BT, i simply rang them and told them to disconnect. When they told me they were going to add a £60 disconnection charge, i told them i was not going to pay them to go away, and told them to produce a contract with two wet signatures on and take it to the County Court. I heard nothing from them after that.

macman

A contract does not require any signatures. If your mother had a service with VM then she was in a contract. Whether she was still in a minimum term, is another matter.

fro2012

Based on personal experience I would be very wary of dealing with Talk Talk and trying to avoid cancellation charges. I started having problems with my broadband service about 4 months ago. I contacted the support service and after trying to fix it remotely they said they would send out an engineer. However, they said this would cost £50 if the fault was not with their equipment. As I was out of contract at the time I told them to forget it and that I would get another provider. I was then put on to the so-called loyalty team who confirmed the charge would be waived. All well and good I thought! The engineer arrived fixed the problem. Thinking I'd had a good service I foolishly signed a new 1 yr contract. A few days later the fault was back and so was a £50 engineers charge on my next bill. Despite numerous attempts to get it back, dealing with extremely rude staff and false promises to credit it to my account I've still not had a refund. I'd be grateful if anyone could give me some guidance on what my rights to cancel the contract are?

bod1467

Raise your question in the TT forum (if you haven't already).

If you've already tried the forum then try the CEO complaints process (links in TT forum).

But from what you've said there's no direct correllation between rubbish service and ability to exit a contract. However ... have you received notification from TT about their line rental price increase? If yes, was it less than 10 days ago? If yes then you can use this as a way to exit your contract without charge, as the price increase is to your "material detriment".

fro2012

Mant thanks Ian. I haven't tried either of the options you suggested. I'm not sure if I've received any notification about the line rental increase - hopefully I have and it gives me the option to look for a better service! I'll let you know how I get on.:)

bod1467

Reading the TT forum this morning it seems not all customers have yet been notified. So it looks like you may still have this window of opportunity.

Debran

I too have used the increase in line rental fees to escape TalkTalk's contract.
I got a call from them saying they were prepared to waive the increase if I were to continue with the contract but by then I had already placed an order elsewhere. They have written to me saying I may be charged a cancellation fee. I have replied saying I am not prepared to pay it because as they were varying the contract (increased rental fees) I am not liable.
I shall be watching for their email informing me the next bill is imminent and will cancel my direct debit if I am not happy with the charges. I will then pay by credit card the amount I believe they are due.