Talk Talk Nightmare - but can't find anyone cheaper

LotsToDo

I have been a Talktalk customer for years. A couple of years ago, they did a bit of a sales number on me and I found myself with fibre and the television box thingy.

The television box has never worked since the day it was put in. When you try to record it tells you the recording has failed. I am at the end of my contract and have been phoning round all day for a cheaper quote. I can't find anyone cheaper than Talktalk. Can anyone offer any advice please. I have really tried to play hardball and they are quite happy to let me leave!

My circumstances are such that I really want to keep my costs low. I have worked hard this past year to pay off debts and also to get myself into a position where I am payrolling everything and not using credit of any kind. The end is in sight. I can almost touch it!

The only two things I can reduce my costs on now are Talktalk and my mobile phone provider (and my deal for that is really good, but I am still going to give it a go lol).

I would welcome any advice. Thanks.

Neil49

What is your current deal with them? Do you need unlimited broadband, free evening and weekend calls etc? It would help if you detailed your absolute minimum requirements so that we have something to work on.

helptoyou

https://sales.talktalk.co.uk/product/broadband#

See Above note you can only record with the plus tv package not the essentials plus check the talktalk mobile deals out as well.

LotsToDo

I have Plus TV, unlimited calls and unlimited fibre. They are quoting me £30.95 and then it goes up to £40.20. I would like to keep it to about £25. I have just recently secured some work from home, that I am hoping will grow legs, so to speak. So feel, I need the anytime calls and the fibre. Talktalk is great if everything is working, but the minute you have a problem, you are on your own and I just don't know enough about it to talk with any kind of knowledge.

JJ_Egan

Customer service is something you don't find under cheap ISP .

If you are working from home then you need a Business contract not a home service .

LotsToDo

JJ Egan. Thanks for reply. I am only doing a little bit at the moment, in the hope that it turns into something bigger. What is the difference between the two.........do you know. Thanks.

helptoyou

£30.95 that includes line rental thats not bad !!! Plus you can pay line rental upfront to save a little more £180.36 equal to £15.03 .#

HALF PRICE Fibre with Plus TV for only £14.25
a month for 12 months + £16.70 monthly line rental £15.03 if paid upfront ===£29.28 per month.

Plus if you pay the monthly bill early within 24 hours of bill receipt by e-mail you receive a further 10% of the bill see below.

http://help2.talktalk.co.uk/speedy-payment-discount

JJ_Egan

A business account gives you more comeback / compensation possible faster repair .
Usually running a full time business is against the T&C of most home services .

Pincher

You will need a backup connection, which could be the local McDonalds if you are really desperate, but a Wi-Fi Hotspot that works through the mobile phone network is good enough for e-mail. My mobile phone has Wi-Fi Hotspot capability, but I suppose you can use the phone itself for e-mail. I use a PC or tablet: can't stand small screens.




Quidco is doing £80 cashback for PlusNet:


38Mb Fibre Broadband + £80 cashback
38Mb Fibre Broadband from just £3.75 a month
(+ line Rental, which you pay one year in advance using Line Rental Saver)




EE doesn't have a cash back right now, bizarrely.
They are terrible for customer service, but you get a FREE EE TV box. I'm getting £100 Quidco cash back from a December deal, and I'm using it as my backup broadband, so hopefully it won't be too bad. I can't keep the old telephone number on that line, according to EE!? Would have cancelled the switch if it was my primary line.

duchy

JJ_Egan wrote: »

A business account gives you more comeback / compensation possible faster repair .
Usually running a full time business is against the T&C of most home services .

There's a difference between working from home - and running a fulltime business.

I work from home and know categorically Sky have no issue whatsoever with me working from home full time on their residential service (and from a far higher level than call centre). I doubt other ISPs are much different.

A business account would give me faster resolution I agree but in eight years with Sky I've lost a total of 3 work days. It wouldn't make financial sense to have paid for business service as the service I have is reliable and I've never waited long for engineer resolution when needed.

I do however agree you get what you pay for and if TT have not shown the level of reliability they need for a business then maybe "the cheapest" isn't the best path if income is involved.

There are so many deals around at the moment - Sky offer 6 months free fibre for new phone and BB customers at the moment for example on residential -and there's plenty of other deals with other companies.

I don't understand the need to stick with TT wo hardly have a good reputation for reliability or customer service anyway.

Cornucopia

The problem with Talktalk is that their TV services are poorly defined.

That is, when you pay extra for "TV", what are you getting for your money? The answer to that seems to be: a "free" Youview box. Which is great if you want a "free" Youview box.

Depending on what you use the box for, though, there are much, much cheaper options elsewhere. Freeview PVRs are readily available starting at sub £100, and if you are looking at on-line content, there are options starting with Now TV, which is £10.

As always with these threads, if the OP can specify what they want/don't want, there will be help available. Also, we would need to know whether Fibre is essential or over-sold by the TT salesperson.

In the absence of that info, I would suggest Plusnet who have a good combination of price and service.

As a general guide, Line rental should be less than £17/month (pretty much everywhere) and you should not be paying more than £5/mth for as much broadband as you want. Free calls should be less than £7.50/mth. Fibre varies but £10/mth seems to be typical amongst the value ISPs.

On that basis, the OP might struggle to get to £25 all-in for free calls and fibre, even with a new customer offer.

I pay c. £30/mth for unlimited Fibre BB and line rental (free weekend calls) with TT. I still use their Youview box from a previous TV contract.