Talk Talk MSE Offer. Avoid!

bignosemac

More fool me for believing the advertising and I'm disappointed that MSE have anything to do with this terrible company.

I signed up with Talk Talk by following a MSE link. The sweetener offer was a £70 love2shop voucher. Factoring that in against the retention offer from my existing supplier meant I was approx £40 better off over the year. Or so I thought.

First. switching from a LLU supplier to Talk Talk is classed as a new line so not eligible for the voucher. Will the average person know that? Most will think a new line means an engineer calling and connecting a line to your property. Or someone at the exchange switching on a dead line. Nope. It also includes LLU switches. And that isn't made clear in the offer terms, by either MSE or Talk Talk.

Second, after getting agreement from Talk Talk that a LLU switch isn't mentioned as being ineligible for the offer I'm further told that I'm not eligible because I signed up online. What??? The only way to get the offer was to follow a link from MSE:

sales.talktalk.co.uk/product/broadband/v-essentials?portalId=MONEY_SE

And to cap it all off Talk Talk are refusing to release me from the contract within their 10 working days cooling off period after go live date, because they believe my go live date was the date I signed up! That was 28th February. I didn't even receive my router until 17th March! And my previous supplier said my end date was 20th March and have billed me accordingly.

So, I'm disappointed at my own stupidity for believing the offer. I'm disappointed with, but not surprised by, Talk Talk's actions. But I'm really angry with MSE for advertising this offer from such a disreputable company. Shame on you MSE. You've caused me a great deal of unnecessary stress as well as left me in a worse financial position when I thought I was actually going to be making a saving.

Anyone else thinking of switching to Talk Talk because of the voucher offer advertised here on MSE? My advice - don't.

gardner1

a simple google of talk talk reviews would have warned you to AVOID at all costs

macman

You can't switch LLU to LLU direct anyway, so you must have had it done as a new line. That doesn't necessarily mean a new physical line and an engineer visit.

Jemma-T

Try posting a complaint on their forums: http://www.talktalkmembers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=45

Jemma-T

...and be clear about what you want eg would it resolve the matter with a £70 account credit etc.

chanz4

makes me wonder if the site is getting a backhanders, look at the primus push also

Sooler

chanz4 wrote: »

makes me wonder if the site is getting a backhanders, look at the primus push also

They may if you click a link with an *

"If a link has a * by it, that means it is an affiliated link and therefore it helps MoneySavingExpert stay free to use, as it is tracked to us. If you go through it, it can sometimes result in a payment to the site."

Basil1234

i remember signing up for another offer thru mse and never got what was promised seems mse pushes what suits but don't fully check there facts and list full terms also.
another thing i remember them doing a story on wae+ along while ago saying how wonderful they where i put up a post asking about them because never heard of them look at response i got and how long problems have been going on!
and still no staff members have offered to get involved to help the consumer with a company they endorsed ROFL!
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3885699
i have to be honest i am doubly wary of any offer or story they publish as i can't full trust what is said as i have been screwed over once voucher never paid from offer and a lucky escape secondly with wae+.

its like in the weekly mail change your gas and electric every time done this a few times and soon as change a few months in prices goes up so any savings have now gone, so is a none saving story really just them trying to make a some sort of story to fill there email on a regular basis because they don't have any real offers wish they just wouldn't bother with it because i wonder how many people have been caught out like me?
another question would be how many of these offers have they back checked to see if actually happened and worked out on gas/elec i bet very few in fact i would put a £100 on it but anytime things go wrong mse keep very quiet on it nothing is ever said the acts of cowards if you ask me!
bignosemac i wonder if any staff will intervene to sort this offer out you had from them with talktalk think my £100 is safe!

bignosemac

Jemma-T wrote: »

Try posting a complaint on their forums
...and be clear about what you want eg would it resolve the matter with a £70 account credit etc.

In correspondence with Customer Services I've already been offered £30 credit. That isn't acceptable as I'm still worse off signing up with Talk Talk verses the retention offer from my previous supplier.

Whilst I'm not happy with Talk Talk it is Money Saving Expert with whom I'm really angry. How do I effectively complain about the misleading offer they advertised, and continue to advertise? Is this forum the only avenue to do so?

If MSE is going to continue taking the affiliate fees for advertising Talk Talk's voucher offer, they need to make it clear that the offer is not available to those who are on an existing LLU service. Merely saying those who require a new line are not eligible is not enough.

MSE is all for unambiguous terms and conditions in consumer transactions. It's a shame they don't practice what they preach.

As I said in my OP, the layman will think 'new line' means the physical installation of a line into their property or the re-connection at the exchange of a dead line. Not the switch from one LLU's equipment to another.

chanz4

Basil1234 wrote: »

i remember signing up for another offer thru mse and never got what was promised seems mse pushes what suits but don't fully check there facts and list full terms also.
another thing i remember them doing a story on wae+ along while ago saying how wonderful they where i put up a post asking about them because never heard of them look at response i got and how long problems have been going on!
and still no staff members have offered to get involved to help the consumer with a company they endorsed ROFL!
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3885699
i have to be honest i am doubly wary of any offer or story they publish as i can't full trust what is said as i have been screwed over once voucher never paid from offer and a lucky escape secondly with wae+.

its like in the weekly mail change your gas and electric every time done this a few times and soon as change a few months in prices goes up so any savings have now gone, so is a none saving story really just them trying to make a some sort of story to fill there email on a regular basis because they don't have any real offers wish they just wouldn't bother with it because i wonder how many people have been caught out like me?
another question would be how many of these offers have they back checked to see if actually happened and worked out on gas/elec i bet very few in fact i would put a £100 on it but anytime things go wrong mse keep very quiet on it nothing is ever said the acts of cowards if you ask me!
bignosemac i wonder if any staff will intervene to sort this offer out you had from them with talktalk think my £100 is safe!

I have to agree about the gas/elec, what they also dont mention is that if you fix your paying a higher price for longer until they MAY go up.

bignosemac

Well, someone at Talk Talk Customer Loyalty finally took ownership of the problem and there has been a mutually acceptable resolution.

But what an effort. It still needs to made clear that voucher offers are not applicable to customers who switch from a LLU supplier to Talk Talk. The buck should not be passed to the third party affiliates who are advertising offers. Talk Talk pay those affiliates and dictate the terms and conditions.

Lying to customers about not being eligible because they signed up online should not happen. Lying to them about their contract start date so as to give the false impression they are locked in and any cancellation will attract penalty charges should not happen.

It shouldn't need six phone calls, plus two that were cut off, two Online Chat sessions and the use of the Talk Talk forum to get a resolution.

It shouldn't have to be a total lottery to finally end up talking to someone who not only takes ownership of the problem, but resolves it in that one phone call. That should have happened the first time I called.

So, I'm remaining as a Talk Talk Customer thanks to one shining star in the Customer Loyalty team. The less said about the other staff I've had dealings with the better. They've got me for 12 months but Talk Talk will really have to impress me if they want my custom beyond that.

Finally, in case anyone is wondering, I'm still not getting the £70 voucher. Instead, I've agreed to a credit on my account at a mutually acceptable amount.