Talk Talk - Leaving contract due to poor speed.

Timm1000

Hi,
We have been with Talk Talk broadband  (Fibre 35) since December 2020, and have been very disappointed with the speed in the evenings. We should have stayed with our previous supplier, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
I have tried twice (once in January, once last week) to engage with their customer service over web chat but with no increase in service. We live in the country and therefore our minimum guaranteed speed is 6mbps, with an upload guaranteed of 1mbps. Usually, during the day we can get 15 Mbps, so the line is capable, it's more than likely just a capacity issue on the line from the cabinet. In the evenings the speed drops to between 0.5 and 3 Mbps, with virtually no upload speed. So basically unusable.
On both occasions I contacted their web chat, they asked me to do some speed tests and because I contacted them in the afternoon, the speed was over the minimum guaranteed speed and so they said I didn't have a problem. The speed manages to drop just after 7pm, when their live chat closes, so there's no way of proving the speed is below the minimum while on the chat. The second time I contacted them I pushed them to open a case and said they had 30 days to resolve the issue. This was "resolved" after about 4 hours when they said an engineer had visited and solved the issue. I still can't access the internet properly in the evenings.
My old provider managed to supply working internet in the evenings, so my goal is to be able to leave TT penalty free. Any advice on how to achieve this? Register a complaint and take multiple speed tests (I have the ability to test the wired speed, not just wireless)? Attempt to contact them via social media in the evenings for support?

In addition, they emailed me last week saying our price per minute would be increasing for our landline calls. Any ideas as to whether this counts under the OFCOM rules about leaving a contract if the price increases. We don't have any particular call package with TT, just Fibre 35. That would be too easy I suppose....

Any advice appreciated 

andytabb

I cant speak specifically for talk talk, but many Internet Service Providers increase their contracts. However, i am pretty sure price hikes shouldnt happen within the first 6 months or so of the contract, so you may have a valid arguement. My advice would be to take screenshots of several speed checks, hardwired on more than one device. This will prove they are not providing the service they suggest you are able to recieve. It is their responsibility to try and rectify that for you. Evening issues will most likely be due to high utilisation and their services not able to support the demand. You are well within your right to speak to complaints team or retentions / cancellations. Hope this helps a bit - Andy

[Deleted User]

You could have cancelled fairly within the first 30 days - would this have not been January?

Anyway, you need to register it as complaint and give them the opportunity to fix it then you can insist on leaving.

JJ_Egan

No price on calls not under Ofcom rules .

Poor speed  keep complaining  you must give them the chance under T&C to put this right .

You are not measuring over wifi i hope as thats null and void test.

james_smitha

Timm1000  you need to use the word ombudsman towards your provider a few times. They are paid to provide the proper service 24/7.  Shell that use their systems provide me with only 50% of the speed that I got with the previous supplier, but can't explain why.

Timm1000

Thanks everyone, appreciate the responses. Yep I’m testing with wired internet. I’ll throw in a few ombudsman references too!

Henry_wants_deals

Talk Talk are dreadful, they say we couldnt switch to our new provider until we settled a £2 bill, and we sent back the router, both of which were untrue. We said to Now TV, who we are moving to, about the hold up and they say Talk Talk uses lots of tactics to try and keep you, a lot of which they cannot keep you too, so keep pushing!