TalkTalk issues: where do I go next?

esmereldagreen

Hello all,

Long time browser, first time poster. Need some advice on how to proceed with some issues regarding TalkTalk.

I signed up for home phone and broadband in June as I was moving into a new property at the beginning of July. I chose TalkTalk because of price, and because I only needed a very basic service. I was told it would take until the middle of August to install a phone line which I wasn't happy about but was assured that it was because of OpenReach and not a TalkTalk issue. I then had to reschedule this appointment until September because of a holiday.

Phone and broadband were installed on September 11th and everything was fine until Sunday morning when all of a sudden it stopped working. I checked my emails on my phone and had an email from TalkTalk thanking me for cancelling. I hadn't cancelled. I called them up and spent 30 minutes on the phone trying to resolve the issue and was told it had been a mistake. Apparently when I swithed installation dates a new order was raised and the two orders were not linked, with one automatically expiring, hence my lack of phone and broadband. An engineer was to come round tomorrow but I was told it should become active again before that.

On Tuesday I logged into my TalkTalk account to see that I had no subscriptions. This was odd as I definitely have a subscription with TalkTalk. Furthermore my phone number was not recognised in a line check.

I then emailed TalkTalk via the website (also contacted on Twitter but that was a severe waste of time). My email was ignored. I called today and as I was waiting to be put through I was told by the automated system that my broadband was due to be installed on December 11th. I went through to a tech support person who had no idea what I was talking about and told me I needed to order a new line. At this point I completely lost my cool and asked to speak to a manager, but they would not put me onto anyone senior.

I got through to sales who said I was given misinformation previously, that it was not as simple as reactivating the line. he said there was no obvious reason as to why it had been cancelled and said I would need to go through to customer services.

Then I got through to customer services where I was told I had been given misinformation by the previous adviser, and that I would have to wait until December to have my line reinstalled. At this point the adviser was implying that I had cancelled the line and it was my fault. At this point I asked to go through to cancellation. While being transferred the call was dropped.

I called back and went straight through to cancellation and said that I wanted to cancel the entire thing and I wanted a full refund of £114 (the upfront line rental I had paid). The customer adviser here was much more helpful and said to get this whole thing fixed it would have to go to the CEO's office, but that they would only respond within 5 working days. I informed her that I had had enough and wanted a full refund which she assured that I would get. As for the engineer who was to call round tomorrow, that was apparently never ordered so it is a good thing I called today or I would have sat in the house waiting on no-one.

That is currently where I stand. I am appalled by the shoddy service. There seems to be no known reason as to why my entire line was cancelled. I am sceptical about receiving this full refund and feel that I need to take my complaints further.

Can anyone advise as to what I should do next?

James_Lahey

PM sent - hope it helps.

macman

'I chose TT because of price'
Unfortunately, you've now discovered why they are cheap. When TT works it's OK, but when you get billing or technical issues it's then that you find out how poorly managed they are.

esmereldagreen

Thanks James, just got your PM.

Yes price was one of the reasons, but the bottom line is I only wanted a basic internet service to use from home, none of the extras that every other company had been offering. Turns out it's difficult to actually just get broadband and nothing else!

Currently drafting a letter to TalkTalk as through Twitter and the forum I can see that this is not unusual!

DevonMarc

This sounds strangely similar to my problems actually.

TT, the telecoms cowboys!