TalkTalk price hike

Lou3000

I've been with talktalk since I was migrated over to them when I was with Tiscali. I've been paying approx. £20 a month direct debit. This is for the broadband service only - I don't have a phone package with them.

I opened up an email from TT this this evening to check on my monthly payment details to discover that this month's direct debit will be £25!! To add insult to injury, I haven't been able to watch any online videos (youtube, 4OD etc) for about 2 weeks because they are constantly buffering.

I've emailed TT customer service (I refuse to phone as I hear their customer service is shocking and I refuse to pay them the privilege of hanging on for 30 minutes or so)

I just wondered if anyone else has been charged exra this month and if so, do they know what it's for?!

I see TT have an 'opportunity' for customers to improve their broadband speeds by signing up for their superfast fibreoptic broadband at £15.99 a month or a mega download boost for an extra £5. I suspect everyone is experiencing rubbish and slow connections at the moment in the hope we'll all cough up the extra 5 quid!

I'd love to know why I'm having to pay £25!

50Twuncle

We pay TT £24.95 per month for a crap internet connection (max connection speed of 3Mb) and is constantly losing connections (we are off today again) and the phone line (that has quadroupled the number of unwanted spam calls since we changed from BT) and unlimited peak time calls - all in.

I suggest that you take the opportunity to run away as fast as you can - don't look over your shoulder and try for another ISP !!

nilrem_2

I have been with AOL for over 10 years, who of course are now owned by Carphone warehouse owners of Talk Talk. My broadband was being increased to £25 this month too!

I phoned up for my MAC and they offered just £5 off per month for the next 3 months if I take on a new contract, the person on the phone was not at all surprised when I said no thank you.

IMHO they are getting rid of customers who are not on a LLU exchange they only want customers who are using Talk Talk equipment.

On Friday I am being switched to BT internet, same service but only £13 per month, a reduction on my line rental, all phone calls free for 12 months and a £25 Sainsburys voucher!

nilrem_2

21Twinkle wrote: »

We pay TT £24.95 per month for a crap internet connection (max connection speed of 3Mb) and is constantly losing connections (we are off today again) and the phone line (that has quadroupled the number of unwanted spam calls since we changed from BT) and unlimited peak time calls - all in.

I suggest that you take the opportunity to run away as fast as you can - don't look over your shoulder and try for another ISP !!

Living in the sticks my speed is only in the range 2-3Mb which is why I was unhappy paying £25, I felt I may as well pay BT just £13 for the same slow speeds.

Lou3000

I got a reply to my email which basically said that from time to time companies have to impose price rises blah blah.

I emailed back to say that they hadn't answered my specific question. A small price increase once in a while is something we all have to put up with but such a huge increase for just one telephone line for Broadband? Pah! The line rental is BT as well!

I shall certainly look at switching over to BT. I live in the rural Highlands so certainly, our Broadband can be pretty slow occasionally but it's all the time now.

According to my account, I'm still under 'Contract' - although I'm certain I've been with TalkTalk for over 2 yrs now. I shall have to check when I get home.

Robbers!

penrhyn

It would seem that Carphone Warehouse are trying to dump their non LLU customers presumably as they have to pay BT for their rebadged service.

Best bet is to see if their are any LLU operators at your exchange using Samknows, if not then you'll have to find the cheapest BT reseller.

Lou3000

I've had this reply to my request for the reason why I am now being charged £25 for a service which provides broadband only (and a crappy one at that):

I can confirm that the cost of your broadband service is determined by the cost of providing you with you broadband services. This charge is also affected by your location. This is a standard fee that is determined by the pricing department. Due to the increase of the provisioning cost, we also had to increase the cost of your broadband package.

They went on to recommend that I contact their customer service department to see if I can get a reduction on my price.

So, looks like I'm going to have a hot ear this evening.

By the way, what is LLU?

penrhyn

Local Loop Unbundling. Companies like talk talk, O2 and Sky install their equipment in BT exchanges, this enables them to charge less for the service as they are not selling on a BT product.
As per my prevoius post you can see which sercices are available at your exchange by doing an exchange search on Samknows.

nilrem_2

Lou3000 wrote: »

According to my account, I'm still under 'Contract' - although I'm certain I've been with TalkTalk for over 2 yrs now. I shall have to check when I get home.

Even if you are 'in' a contract, a price increase such as this normally gives one a right to move without cost.

Lou3000

I checked Samknows and found that under the heading 'LLU Operator Presence' there was a long list of providers with a big, fat, red X against their names - one of which is TalkTalk.

I shall phone this evening (God knows how much that'll cost me) to find out if I can get a reduction or to cancel my contract.

It's a huge amount to pay just for a broadband service without any frills. I've just spoken with a friend who also uses TT and she phoned to complain and they offered her a £5 reduction for 12 months - but she uses their phone service as well. We rarely make phone calls - our kids live abroad so we use Gmail messenger - so a phone package would be useless.

I signed with Tiscali in 2004 and migrated to TT when they took Tiscali over - obviously, customer loyalty means nothing to them!

nilrem_2

Why not look at the BT offers? They seem to be the only ones who want to keep people like us on Non LLU exchanges.

http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayTopic.do?topicId=25633

They are giving a £25 Sainsburys voucher ATM! Plus you can save a lot on your existing line rental!