Talktalk charging me for for a call out to repair fault caused by BT engineer..

sparkiemalarkie

Hi, in February of this year my talktalk fibre speed had dropped to less than 3 mbps. A Talktalk engineer came to my house and tested the equipment. Equipment was ok, but the problem was escalated to BT Openreach who own the lines.


A few days later a BT engineer came to test the speed of my fibre ( he had previously reset the speed) and to make sure it was stable. He opened the front of the junction box, cut the wires in the socket and attached his equipment to the cut wires. I questioned this at the time and he said something about getting the speed without passing through equipment.
Everything was great and the broadband speed was fantastic. He re-joined the socket wires and left.

Late the next day I went to make a phone call and the line was dead. I then realised that we hadn't received any calls since the engineer had left and that my phone hadn't been working for about 36 hrs.

6 days later another BT engineer came to my home to repair the damage done by the previous engineer. Since my equipment was faulty, I have been charged £65 for the work!! I am being charged for a repair on something that BT broke.

My bill has just shown up on line and is due to be paid, by direct debit, in the next few days.
I have phoned Talktalk and it seems that I am liable for the fee.


any suggestions please?


sparkie

daytona0

sparkiemalarkie wrote: »

I have phoned Talktalk and it seems that I am liable for the fee.

Doesn't that answer your own question?


I'm just curious, but does Talktalk and BT act as separate entities here? If so, Talktalk have zero responsibility and as such they will charge you for the work. It will then be up to you to contact BT and arrange reimbursement. Better yet, it might be more proactive to contact BT FIRST as they need to be given the opportunity to resolve the issue...

Aside from that, allow for someone more experienced to make a post.

sparkiemalarkie

daytona0 wrote: »

Doesn't that answer your own question?

Yep, but I'm not really happy to accept that.
I can't contact Open reach as all the arrangements are done through Talktalk. They are completely separate ... Talktalk 'rent' BT's lines/cables and it's their responsibility to maintain them.


sparkie

powerful_Rogue

Around 3 years ago my parents were with Talk Talk. They had a problem with the broadband speed so Talk Talk said they would run some checks and get back to them. The next day a BT Engineer arrived and pointed out a problem with the main socket.

A few weeks later Talk Talk attempted to charge my parents for the call out, even though they wasn't told an engineer was coming nor any costs involved should the fault be with the equipment.

Talking to customer services was absolutely pointless. In the end an email to the CEO about the situation resulted in the charge being dropped from the bill.

Drop an email to Dido Harding (Talk Talk CEO) and hopefully her team will be able to resolve this for you.

[EMAIL="dido.harding@talktalkplc.com"]dido.harding@talktalkplc.com[/EMAIL]

sparkiemalarkie

powerful_Rogue wrote: »

Around 3 years ago my parents were with Talk Talk. They had a problem with the broadband speed so Talk Talk said they would run some checks and get back to them. The next day a BT Engineer arrived and pointed out a problem with the main socket.

A few weeks later Talk Talk attempted to charge my parents for the call out, even though they wasn't told an engineer was coming nor any costs involved should the fault be with the equipment.

Talking to customer services was absolutely pointless. In the end an email to the CEO about the situation resulted in the charge being dropped from the bill.

Drop an email to Dido Harding (Talk Talk CEO) and hopefully her team will be able to resolve this for you.

[EMAIL="dido.harding@talktalkplc.com"]dido.harding@talktalkplc.com[/EMAIL]

Thank you so much for your advice and the email address.
I have practically written the email in my post above. I will hone that down and send it off this morning.


I forgot to mention that I was told that it was BT making the charge to Talktalk and they are passing the cost onto me... or so it was said.


sparkie

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

daytona0 wrote: »

Doesn't that answer your own question?


I'm just curious, but does Talktalk and BT act as separate entities here? If so, Talktalk have zero responsibility and as such they will charge you for the work.

It was my understanding BT own the network, Talk Talk pay for it's use and it would appear BT Openreach have a responsibility to maintain it, however it is the OP that doesn't have anything to do with BT, Talk Talk on the other hand have a direct relationship with BT and arranged for the all work to be done, including the 2nd visit where the OP claims the damage was caused.

sparkiemalarkie

I have just had a phone call from Talktalk to say that the £65 is to cover the open reach box that was replaced as the old one was corroded. This is a blatant lie ! He never replaced anything I certainly would have noticed as I was in the room with him all the time. The 'old' box is less than 2 yrs old and is in my living room- hardly going to get corroded there.
I am so disappointed. How can I compete with these untruths? It's my word against theirs.


sparkie

powerful_Rogue

sparkiemalarkie wrote: »

I have just had a phone call from Talktalk to say that the £65 is to cover the open reach box that was replaced as the old one was corroded. This is a blatant lie ! He never replaced anything I certainly would have noticed as I was in the room with him all the time. The 'old' box is less than 2 yrs old and is in my living room- hardly going to get corroded there.
I am so disappointed. How can I compete with these untruths? It's my word against theirs.


sparkie

Did BT issue a job sheet of the work carried out?

deanos

im sure a photo would prove its the old box still there ?

sparkiemalarkie

powerful_Rogue wrote: »

Did BT issue a job sheet of the work carried out?

No job sheet.


sparkie

agrinnall

sparkiemalarkie wrote: »

I can't contact Open reach as all the arrangements are done through Talktalk.

This is correct, it is for all practical purposes impossible for a consumer to directly contact OpenReach. Quite how such a nonsensical situation was allowed to develop I don't know but as someone who had many battles with BT Retail over no or poor broadband service it is extremely frustrating - having moved to an urban area life in that respect is considerably simpler.