Talk Talk Customer Retentions - Horrible Experience

eddddy

A quick summary of my horrible experience with Talk Talk Customer Retentions.

A Talk Talk Customer Retentions Agent offered me lots of incentives to stay and upgrade. I finished the phone call feeling very happy and looking forward to my faster broadband and new TV service. The call had lasted an hour.

When the confirmation letter arrived (and I read the t&cs on the website), they didn't seem to correlate with what I was offered on the phone.

Following a call to TT Sales Compliance and two more calls to Customer Retentions, it became clear that the original Customer Retentions Agent had misled me through omission, and had not made a note of all the incentives he offered me.

In these later calls, I was made to feel as though I was lying in order to wrangle a better deal. Their attitude seemed to be "if it doesn't say it in the notes, the agent didn't say it". And they didn't want to listen to an hour long call to check.

But, after a lot of arguing, I got almost everything that the original agent offered. But I was very angry that I had practically been accused of lying.

Then Talk Talk went on to make a mess of the upgrade... and dealing with their Customer Service teams is 100 times worse than dealing with their Customer Retentions team. It's like dealing with a bunch of out-of-control 10 year olds. They don't have the answers to any questions - so they make stuff up. And most of it is pure nonsense. It's like listening to an pompous child saying "the dog ate my homework".

Or another trick is to put you on hold for 20 minutes while they investigate - then they just hang-up.

Overall, I think I got a really good deal on price in the end - after a lot of arguing. But I'm no longer happy or excited about my new services. In fact, I'd say I now despise Talk Talk. I'm hoping that when my contract ends another provider will offer me a good deal - I'm looking forward to telling TT I'm leaving them.

Talk Talk have a very strange way of running their business.

eddddy

A small update - dealing with Talk Talk is a bit like being stuck in a surreal nightmare...

My upgrade seems to be stuck in an infinite loop:

My Talk Talk order included a Youview box and Powerline adapters (I need Powerline adapters to connect the Youview box to the internet)

TT have sent me the Youview box, but they say they cannot dispatch my Powerline Adapters until my TV contract actually starts.

My TV contract starts as soon as I connect the Youview box to the internet.

But... I cannot connect the Youview box to the internet until I have the Powerline adaptors

... and nobody in Talk Talk has the ability to break this deadlock

So I guess I could be waiting forever...

However, I'm told that if I wait a week they will just start the contract anyway, and then the Powerline adapters will be dispatched.

So I'll just stare at my shiny new Youview box for a week or so, and wait.


The funniest thing is, the Talk Talk folks tell me all this stuff, but they don't seem to realise how ridiculous it sounds.

Quentin

Why not connect the box to your router?

Then await the arrival of the adapters and take your box to the TV and install it?

eddddy

Just received my first bill since upgrading - and Talk Talk have overcharged me.

So another call to Talk Talk Sales Compliance...

Their strategy seemed to be to talk utter nonsense until you lose the will to live, and give up. (Lots of their agents seem to do this, it can't just be coincidence.)

But I persevered and got the refund in the end.