Talktalk can't fix faults

Stonker

I reported my phone out of order on 24 Dec and talktalk seem unable to get Openreach to fix it or answer my questions as to why. most of my calls to their support management are completely non effective and they are unable to answer my questions, They keep saying they will put them to Openreach and call me back but fail to do so. Yesterday they promised to call me before 9pm but failed to do so. This morning I called them at 8am and they had no record of this.

A few months ago, I reported a previous fault on my line and told them exactly what the problem was. I had eleven Openreach engineers here over a 3 week period before the 11th one fixed the exact fault that I had reported to them

I'm now absolutely sick to the back teeth of them. I fully understand that they're dependant on Openreach and it seems that the real problem is that they are happy to get fobbed off by Openreach where as I am not.

I would now like to terminate my service with them but are still in contract until May. Is there anyway I can complain to Ofcom and get service terminated without penalty on the basis that they are unable to fix a fault in a reasonable period of time?

macman

You can't go to the regulator until you have made a formal complaint with TT and exhausted that process-so for you haven't begun that (it requires a letter headed 'complaint').
Bear in mind that if the fault is on the local loop, then switching provider will make no difference. What is/was the fault?

Stonker

OK, I told TT that I will complain to Ofcom, they only said that I they respect my decision. They didn't say that I need to complain to them first. But OK, I'll do that first.

The fault is that a tree blew over and broke a dropwire on 23rd Dec. I keep asking why it's taking so long to repair and the excuses I've had so far are:

1. They need a hoist
2. Both poles are damaged and need replacing
3. They need a hoist to move the fallen tree
3. The need to dig and repair underground cables
4. A hoist came but was the wrong one
5. They have raised an A55 (whatever that is) and that needs to be processed

macman

Given the amount of havoc that has been wreaked upon the telcoms and power networks by the recent weather, and that the OR norm is around 5 working days to fix faults, I don't think that 23/12 to 4/1 is too bad, given that it's also a holiday period. I make that 6 working days. If the dropwire is broken due to bad weather then this fault has nothing to do with your earlier one.
As I pointed out, if OR are already on the case then there is nothing more that TT can do about it. No other provider can move your fault up the list. All you will get from TT (if you ask) is a credit for the downtime-there is no SLA on a residential contract.

Stonker

But Openreach surveyed the fault on 27 Dec and made an appointment to fix it on 2 Jan. 3 engineers have been here and tell me they need a hoist. But TT can't tell me why they need hoist nor when they requested it. It seems that everytime I call TT, they call OR and are fobbed off with a different story. TT appear happy to be fobbed off but I'm not. I'm only asking then to justify why the reapair is taking 2 weeks. If a hoist was required and had been requested on 27Dec when they surveyed the fault, it could have come the same time as their engineer and then he would have had the right tools to do the job.

The last fault was from the last pole to the house, this one is 4 spans further down the road. I only mentioned the previous issue to show that my previous fault took the 3 weeks and 11 engineers to fix what I told them the fault was when I first reported it.

paulsad

Seems to me they are doing all they can, given the really bad weather conditions of late.

Stonker

paulsad wrote: »

Seems to me they are doing all they can, given the really bad weather conditions of late.

What giving me a different excuse each time I call in, claiming they don't know what OR need to do to fix the fault or why they have send 3 engineers who have been able to fix the fault?

Thay made an appointment to replace the drop wire on 2 Jan and failed to do so

macman

TT are dependent on OR to keep them informed-and OR, as the sole provider, rarely bother to do so.

Stonker

macman wrote: »

TT are dependent on OR to keep them informed-and OR, as the sole provider, rarely bother to do so.

That's the problem. TT are not prepared to push back when fobbed off. I'm beating them up but they just accept what OR say and don't question it

LouiseTopp

I left talkTalk for sky as they are the worst company I've ever had to deal with. I couldn't understand what they were on about, one even slammed the phone down on me.

Ich_2

1. They need a hoist

Probably because

2. Both poles are damaged and need replacing

So are unsafe to climb by normal means (ladder) or would you prefer they try and someone gets injured?

4. A hoist came but was the wrong one

Quite likely as different designs have different safe reaches, so they may need a specific machine