MSE should stop recommending Broadband deals with vouchers: Providers don't honour the vouchers.

BornThrifty

So I joined TalkTalk in October 2020, and the deal at the time said I would get an Amazon voucher for something like £75 but only after up to 90 days of activation.

I was with Plusnet before and I had to chase them up to get a rewards card and I could only chase them after 90 days, after which I only had a 30 day window in which to chase.

These are obviously setting customers up to fail: "Jump through these hoops long after it's out of your mind to gain the rewards that probably sold you the deal in the first place".

With TalkTalk I've had an email to check the status of my Amazon voucher, received in October after signing up, and it's just a support ticket service hosted by Giftcloud.

I submitted a ticket today but searching back I actually opened a ticket 11 days after I was fully set up with TT and their reply the next day was:

Hello,

Thank you for your email.
Unfortunately, we are not the suppliers of this offer.

For any queries about your gift please contact our friendly the Decision Technologies support team and quote the gift reference at customerservices@broadbandchoices.co.uk
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any other questions or concerns.
Kind regards,
Daria

The ticket was then closed.

So that's me fobbed off then.

TT have many people complaining on their forums about this right now: https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Your-Account-Billing/Amazon-voucher/td-p/2449309

So the next step is to faff around making an account on there to chase this up, but several people are reporting having done that and having to chase and chase and CHASE and still get nothing.

I've spent about an hour trying to find this now and, being employed, it'll eventually stop being worth my time to chase up. And TalkTalk know that.

Hence I'm writing this to say: MSE please STOP recommending such shyster offers, they should at least be laelled with heavy disclaimers that you will possibly never get your vouchers, and definitely won't without a fight, so no decision

This kind of !!!!!! is exhausting and I regret going back to TT at all, the utter cretins. The vouchers should have just been emailed out automatically upon completion of signing up, by TalkTalk. Not delegated to some shady third party who have probably long since embezzled the vouchers.

It shouldn't be legal to sell products under such false pretences at all.

Chino

BornThrifty said:

The vouchers should have just been emailed out automatically upon completion of signing up, by TalkTalk.

Did you sign up directly with Talktalk?

Talktalk's asking you to contact customerservices@broadbandchoices.co.uk suggests that you signed up via a third party (https://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk). If that was the case, sorting this out is that third party's responsibility.

BornThrifty

I signed up by clicking through the Get Deal button on this site's Broadband Deals section. Not sure if that counts as a third party r not.

Just thoroughly disappointed with TalkTalk but mostly with myself by giving them another chance after they messed me around so much for years from 2008 to 2013. I thought they might have changed.

JJ_Egan

So why not contact MSE re vouchers .

james_smitha

they should stop recomending Shell too, Don't touch Shell, I asked them via twitter if a letter sent to them and signed for 3 days ago had made any progress such as being asigned to an employee. They where told the full recorded delivery numberthen. They refused to answer, even when the content of the letter was not being mentioned. They where told that the letter included my account number

jon81uk

BornThrifty said:

I signed up by clicking through the Get Deal button on this site's Broadband Deals section. Not sure if that counts as a third party r not.

Just thoroughly disappointed with TalkTalk but mostly with myself by giving them another chance after they messed me around so much for years from 2008 to 2013. I thought they might have changed.

Have you followed up with MSE about this using the information on their broadband deals site?
From https://broadband.moneysavingexpert.com/
Something has gone wrong with an MSE blagged deal. Where can I get help?

Please email unbundled@moneysavingexpert.com with full details.

and

I haven't got a voucher or cashback that came with an MSE blagged deal. Where can I get help?

If you signed up to an MSE Blagged deal - a best-in-market offer we've negotiated exclusively - which involves you being sent a voucher, we'll always do our best to ensure you get the voucher.

However, there can occasionally be problems with the deal tracking. In particular, if you were running ad-blocking software or cookie blockers when you signed up for the deal, or exited your browser while in the process of signing up, this can stop it tracking correctly. We've some key steps that can help:

1) Do first make sure you've followed all the steps required to get the voucher or cashback. Some deals require you to fill in online forms to redeem the offer, separately from signing up to it.

2) Also you can check the details of expired deals at this link - before going further, check that the deal is due (sometimes you might have to wait up to 90 days to receive it).

3) If you've done this and your voucher is now overdue, first reach out to your provider, which'll be best placed to follow up.

4) If you've already done steps 1-3 and are still struggling, drop a note through to voucherhelp@moneysavingexpert.com including your full name, order number, provider and details of the deal. If you're eligible we'll see if we can help push the provider for you.

jon81uk

The voucher has nothing to do was TalkTalk. It is provided by MSE (who I assume are working with Broadband Choices).
When you click on a Talk Talk deal with a voucher it asks for your email address before it goes through to Talk Talk. The page asking for an email address is still broadband.moneysavingexpert.com. It has NOTHING to do with TalkTalk, so they cannot help get the voucher. Contact MSE as above.

solentsusie

I took up this offer, took a while and a few emails back and forth but I got my vouchers.  Wouldn't do it again though!

SaveMeDo

Yes, you have to fight for them, ofcourse, a lot of people can't be bothered, which is why they make it difficult to claim them.

As above, the whole voucher/gift card thing is little more than a scam.