Escape TalkTalk- Times Article Exposes Breach of T&C's

DirectDebacle

See article in The Times Money Section Consumer Affairs 23/1/2016.


There may be an opportunity for long suffering TalkTalk customers to break their contract without incurring early termination charges.
TalkTalk require all customers to pay their bills by direct debit. For every bill produced where no active direct debit is in place the customer has a £4.50 penalty added to it. This is described as a non-direct debit admin fee. Prior to the 27th August, 2015, this fee was notified to consumers in the Terms and Conditions. The notification entitled TalkTalk to apply the charge.
This is what it said:

Direct Debit Payment

10.7 We reserve the right to request that you pay for the Services by Direct Debit and you accept that your Charges may increase if you do not use this payment method. If a direct debit is dishonoured or cancelled we shall be entitled to pass on to you any third party charges we incur and in addition, we may lower your Credit Limit, suspend or terminate your Service. We shall also be entitled to charge you a monthly administration fee for each month in which your direct debit is dishonoured or not reinstated following cancellation.

On 27th August, 2015, the Terms and Conditions (http://www.talktalk.co.uk/legal/terms/talktalk-product-terms.html?utype=talktalk) were updated to reflect changes. One of the changes was the removal of the above clause entitling TalkTalk to charge a non-direct debit admin fee. By removing this requirement it would appear to customers the charge had also been removed. However TalkTalk continued (and are continuing) to apply the charge to customers’ bills. They have created a trap containing a stealth charge.

The effect is that some customers, who were regularly paying the previously notified charge, are now being hit with a hidden charge which TalkTalk are not entitled to make. It is probable they are under the impression they are still obliged to pay this charge. Certainly that is what TalkTalk tell them.

Furthermore anyone looking to switch to TalkTalk would not have the information that such a charge could be made and would not be able to make an accurate price comparison with their competitors. It seems likely that anyone joining TalkTalk without being fully informed of charges would be the victim of a mis-sold contract.

There is a thread (http://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/My-Account-Billing/Why-am-I-being-charged-for-cancelling-my-own-direct-debit-when-I/m-p/1813415#U1813415) on the TalkTalk Community site in which TalkTalk are repeatedly asked to show where in the Terms and Conditions their entitlement to make a non-direct debit admin fee charge is stated. They are unable to provide one.

They state the entitlement is provided by their right under Section 9.6 of the T&C’s to charge a fee for a direct debit that is rejected. This, of course, is an entirely different matter. A non-direct debit admin fee can, as its title suggests, only be applied if no direct debit exists. A direct debit rejection fee can only be applied if a direct debit does exist and it is rejected.

I am in the process of challenging TalkTalk on the charging of this fee. If anyone else feels they have been wrongfully charged it, I suggest complaining and following the TalkTalk complaint procedure. I also recommend forwarding a copy of your complaint to Ofcom. Ofcom will not investigate individual complaints but do collate them. If a complaint is persistently repeated and brought to their attention they may launch an investigation as to the cause. Email below:
[EMAIL="contact@ofcom.org.uk"]contact@ofcom.org.uk[/EMAIL]

If you haven’t been charged this fee you may feel that TalkTalk are in breach of their requirement to notify customers of any changes that may be detrimental to the customer and allow them to leave without penalty (Section 16.2 of the T & C’s).

It seems to me that removing the requirement to pay a fee but continuing to charge as if it were still a requirement, would be a detrimental change. I suggest non notification of this change would be reasonable grounds for challenging any early termination fees, which TalkTalk may try to claim, if a customer chooses to switch to another supplier within the minimum term.

I do not see that if prior to the change a customer, who was properly informed of the non-direct debit admin fee and was paying it, can in anyway now be obliged to continue paying it. The contract under which correct notification was given no longer exists. The current contract does not contain that notification or any similar alternative. TalkTalk have so far failed to provide any evidence in the Terms and Conditions of their right to claim it.

This is purely my opinion. I am sure others will disagree with it. Nevertheless I believe it is worth pursuing. I would be happy for Ofcom to investigate whether or not TalkTalk are complying with the requirements placed upon them and treating customers in a spirit of fairness.

baby_frogmella

Utter tosh. I have an active DD setup with TT and quite often i will pay my bill with my credit card and have never been charged an extra fee. Oh btw i'm a happy TT customer...get fibre line speeds of 76 meg day & night and any support queries are satisfactorily dealt by their Warrington call centre (many of whom are ex-Zen broadband staff)

DirectDebacle

You don't understand.The fee is charged when there is no active direct debit, therefore it will not be applied to your bill.