Talk Talk No internet service but keep charging every month

JadeLouise989

Hello! I'm new to this site but looking for a little advice it's on behalf of my sister. She decided to go with TalkTalk for her internet provider & has never received any internet (hence why I'm doing this for her) she signed up in Sept & by november this will be the third bill she's paid with very little connection to the internet. She has contacted TalkTalk several times which they have sent engineers out & checked the lines which is reading 0.2 so they know there is an issue so surely should they be charging her full price each month if the service is not provided? She has tried to cancel but they are trying to charge a £100 & odd pound fee! Apparently they have said it's under investigation but this has been like this since the modem has been active. Hopefully someone can give us advice on what she should do as she doesn't know where she stands with still paying & not receiving the service. Thank-you!

iniltous

Is TT the first provider your sister has used at the address, or had she service from someone else previously ( so has a comparision speed from the previous provider ) ?
What exactly have the TT engineers said ( presumably Bright Sparks people) , does she have broadband just very slow, or no broadband connection at all ?
Broadband isn't priced on a sliding scale, you don't pay less just because it's slower than other people's connection.
I would start by getting an speed estimate for your sisters address, that should give an indication of acceptable speed range, if the actual speed is outside that, then your ISP should assist you in getting the speed upto that estimate, and if it cannot be done release her from the contract...if they have already sent 'bright sparks' it does seem they are trying.
She should try connecting the router into the master socket test port, but presumably the bright sparks people would have already tried this

JadeLouise989

This is the first time any provider has installed internet it was our granddad house prior. Not sure who's been to her house but there has been a couple of visits. They changed a cable outside & also plugged a device into the mains which was reading 0.2mb. The estimated standard is 17mb for the area. There is a connection but it isn't strong enough to even connect a phone to access the internet. They have said that they are looking into it but they never contact her back when they say so she ends up calling & having to explain the whole situation again.

iniltous

I woukd check what that 17Mb figure actually means, if it's 'regular' ADSL broadband then for 17Mb to be the estimated speed on an upto 17Mb service the address would have to be very close to the exchange.
Your provider may advertise their ADSL service as 'upto 17Mb' , perhaps that's where that figure comes from, the further away from the exchange the slower the speed is, for example , on my upto 17Mb ADSL service, I get around 3Mb/s and I'm around 5Km from the exchange...on speed estimating sites you can normally use the postcode to get an estimated speed , you can also normally use the phone number , but as TT is a LLU provider, the phone number may not provide any results....if the address is 10Km or more away from the exchange , it may be on the limit of working at all.
Does the the line even work as a phone line ( to make and receive phone calls ) ?

JadeLouise989

She did have internet which was working fine for around two weeks at first but that's all she had. She was able to watch netflix & go on fb etc then the speed just dropped & won't load a webpage now. Next door have TT & they've got no issues I think that was the reason why they went with that provider as they've never used internet at that address. Yeah phone line is fine she can call out & receive calls fine. The figure I got was from online where you put your postcode in & it tells you standard & fibre speed estimates. I think she is waiting for someone to call her back sometime this week so I can let you know what they say once she receives a call

TalkTalk

Hi JadeLouise989,

I'm sorry to hear your sister is having problems.

We'd provide an estimated speed for the line specifically as well as an "upto" speed for the package. This would be on the order confirmation. Do you know what the estimate was for the line?

Is your sister using a wired or wireless connection at the moment? Is she having any problems with her home phone services such as loss of dial tone or noise on the line?

Thanks
Emma - TalkTalk Social Team

JadeLouise989

Hi Emma
Just spoken to my sister her estimated speed for her line should be 17mb. It's also a wireless connection. She's paid 3 months by direct debit but only had a connection for 2 weeks. The reading at the moment is 0.2mb this was completed by an engineer & also over the phone with TT customer services. She has had no problems with her phone line which she can ring out & receive calls on the phone line.

Browntoa

Isn't it Talk talks own equipment at the exchange ?

Sounds like their kits faulty

JadeLouise989

TT have allowed her to cancel now as they can't provide the speed that was estimated. She did ask about the months she had paid but they've refused to refund as TT have told her she isn't paying a termination fee. I do think this is wrong as it state on there online site she would not have to pay this fee due to TT not being able to provide a service. Thank-you for your time & replying to me though!

[Deleted User]

JadeLouise989 wrote: »

TT have allowed her to cancel now as they can't provide the speed that was estimated. She did ask about the months she had paid but they've refused to refund as TT have told her she isn't paying a termination fee. I do think this is wrong as it state on there online site she would not have to pay this fee due to TT not being able to provide a service. Thank-you for your time & replying to me though!

But why can't they provide the speed that was estimated? Surely a reason was given?

JadeLouise989

They just told her they have looked into it & there was nothing they could do & that they couldn't offer her the estimated speed. She's as puzzled as what you was!