TalkTalk aarrrggghhhh

vivatifosi

My father died this autumn and at the time I phoned TalkTalk and gave them my details to transfer my dad's DD to me as well as requesting PAC codes for the mobiles for his and mum's phones as they were both under the same contract. This was two separate calls.

FF to the end of Nov. I haven't transferred the phones yet due to having to spend my time on other aspects of the estate, but wasn't worried as I figured this would be picked up by the DD I had set up. End Nov get a payment remainder for the outstanding balance. Called TT early Dec to see what was going on. Spoke to a lovely person in the bereavement team, who explained that the DD was only set up for home phone and broadband and that the two billing systems were run separately.

I offered to pay the balance there and then, but they said they would take payment by DD as we set up a new DD to my mum's account.

Fast forward just under three weeks and we receive a letter from a debt collection agency calling in the debt on behalf of Talk Talk. It is now 23rd Dec and my mum is beside herself with worry. She is disabled and my father was her carer and did all of the banking, which is why I put the initial DD against my own account.

I spoke to TT who said that there is no debt, as they had taken the payment before Christmas. Actually, they were the best part of useless. They originally told me that the bereavement team were not in on Saturdays and to call back Monday (Christmas Day!) When I pointed out to them that would not be possible as they would not be there, I asked to speak to their manager to see if I could get some common sense. I hasten to add I was firm but not impolite. They cut me off, possibly not deliberately.

After Christmas, I phoned the debt collection agency, who were actually lovely and far easier to talk to than their client. They told me that the debt was still shown as unpaid on their system, and to give them a call back in the new year to check that the debt had need removed by TT. They also agreed not to contact my mum by phone as she is deaf and that would stress her out.

I then contacted the bereavement team again. They confirmed that they had the DD details and had taken payment, but hadn't let the debt collection agency know. They also said that the reason that they didn't take payment when offered was because the bereavement team can't do that, so they just put it on the DD.

So why wait before taking it on DD and then put it onto a debt collection agency?

I want to make a formal complaint to TT but the individual departments don't seem to know what the others are doing. I have a complaints address for the bereavement team, but I'm not even sure that's where I need to start. Any ideas? My mother is elderly and vulnerable and the shock of everything going on is very hard on her.

mobilejunkie

You need to follow the proceedure on their website. In my case they ignored my formal written complaint so I went to Ombudsman Services after waiting the obligatory 8 weeks.They simply accepted evrything Talkmobile said despite it being clearly against the terms of my contract (which they didn't obtain a copy of), discounted everything I said and just awarded compensation for the fact Talkmobile had ignored thweir own complaints procedure. Be aware that Talkmobile no longer exist in March - Vodafone will be fully taking over (they already have in practice). They are incredibly even worse.

Whose name was the account in? If in your father's they can't do a lot or damage your mum's credit files (something else you need to be aware of - they will have already done that so any complaint needs to address that too.).

Mister_G

mobilejunkie wrote: »

You need to follow the proceedure on their website. In my case they ignored my formal written complaint so I went to Ombudsman Services after waiting the obligatory 8 weeks.They simply accepted evrything Talkmobile said despite it being clearly against the terms of my contract (which they didn't obtain a copy of), discounted everything I said and just awarded compensation for the fact Talkmobile had ignored thweir own complaints procedure. Be aware that Talkmobile no longer exist in March - Vodafone will be fully taking over (they already have in practice). They are incredibly even worse.

Whose name was the account in? If in your father's they can't do a lot or damage your mum's credit files (something else you need to be aware of - they will have already done that so any complaint needs to address that too.).

Isn't the OP talking about Talk Talk not Talkmobile?

mobilejunkie

True. My mistake. The procedure remains the same though. Hopefully the outcome may be more straightforward.

Mister_G

mobilejunkie wrote: »

True. My mistake. The procedure remains the same though. Hopefully the outcome may be more straightforward.

I know what you mean about Talkmobile. I eventually had to go through the Ombudsman to get back the £10 they owed me when they shut down their PAYG service. It took over 5 months to get the money!

mobilejunkie

Not sure if it's the same Ombudsman. I've dealt with several; the Ombudsman for EE is a completely different kettle of fish, for example - used them twice and EE seemed to immediately accept my complaint in full once I went to them. Ombudsman services have proved much less sypmathetic, although I have been better off for using them (at least four times to date!) for energy and Talkmobile. However, that may be because it's pretty hard to defend a supplier when they have not only failed to follow their own complaints procedure but also ignored the complaint.

vivatifosi

Thanks everyone. My complaint is against TT Mobile. I haven't had anything to do with them previously so didn't know they were two different companies.

Unfortunately the account was already in my mum's name as I changed that straight away. However I still can't see what we've done wrong. I gave them the details for a DD, they didn't tell me that they were two different companies. As soon as it was clear that there was a problem, I phoned them, they took details and said they didn't want to take a payment, then stuck a debt collection agency on it.

I have nothing but contempt for them.

mobilejunkie

I suspect it's my fault, but they are separate companies so if you dealt with the correct company (before I muddied the waters!) the "different companies" is a red herring. Stick with the complaints procedure and then the Ombudsman (though that will need to be in your mother's name unless you have authorisation - which you may have if you've managed to change the direct debit previously). It is possible that they don't have authorisation for you to give instructions based on an account in your mother's name. If that is the case it may explain why they didn't set up a direct debit to take payment and refuse to take one from you - though if then I would have expected them to explain the reasons to you.

TalkTalk

Hi vivatifosi,

I'm so sorry to read about the experience you've had, we'd like to put this right for you. If you get in touch with my team directly over Twitter (@TalkTalk), we'll get this raised straight to the CEO's Office. If you don't have a Twitter account, you can register and post on our Online Community and the team will look straight into this.

Thanks,
Becky

vivatifosi

Thanks Becky. My issue is with Talk Talk mobile, can I please check that you are a representative of that part of the company?

TalkTalk

Hi vivatifosi,

We can raise this with the Mobile Team, the CEO's Office also deal with both mobile and broadband complaint and this is the highest escalation point within the business, they'd be sure to get this sorted for you.

Thanks,
Becky