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HELD HOSTAGE BY TALKTALK

zepps
Posts: 26 Forumite

in Phones & TV
My elderly parents decided to change there phone line from talk talk to BT in February ,they have been with talktalk formally onetel for over 20 years.
To clarify they always paid line rental to BT via direct debit and the calls package was with Onetel (now Talktalk)
They only have a phone line (no internet).
They paid monthly with a paper bill every month at the post office and several times they cut them off with no notice at all and this is why they wanted to swap to BT as my parents are in their 90's and ill and was unable to phone the doctor etc and causing them stress.
So in February i phoned BT to swap to them and was given a date and we contacted talktalk to notify them that we was moving our line to BT.
After several attempts calling them and being on the phone to a indian call centre for what seems like 2 hours and being moved from department to department they have given us a date for a disconnection, but this has not transpired and this has been going on for months.
We are still getting letters saying ' We are glad you decided to stay with TalkTalk' and receiving Bills even through they are trying not making any calls and only receiving calls, they have been but off several times during this time.
So now my elderly parents are being billed by BT for Line Rental and with a free calls package from February (direct debit) and TalkTalk who are still sending us Bills as the phone line has not been swapped to BT yet as TalkTalk Wont let us go.
Still being held Hostage almost 6 months later.
Every time you phone them the operators just read from a script and cant help you which is very annoying, they seem to think we have Broadband with them as they sent us a bag thru the post to send their equipment back, what equipment do they mean our Home phone which we have bought.
They keep asking for our email address and I keep saying 'they are in their 90's they have no Broadband so no email address'
Will swapping our Tel Number help.
This is making my parents sick and causing so much stress to me also.
Any help would be appreciated as this keeps going round in circles.
Contacted ofcom but no help with them either
Diane
To clarify they always paid line rental to BT via direct debit and the calls package was with Onetel (now Talktalk)
They only have a phone line (no internet).
They paid monthly with a paper bill every month at the post office and several times they cut them off with no notice at all and this is why they wanted to swap to BT as my parents are in their 90's and ill and was unable to phone the doctor etc and causing them stress.
So in February i phoned BT to swap to them and was given a date and we contacted talktalk to notify them that we was moving our line to BT.
After several attempts calling them and being on the phone to a indian call centre for what seems like 2 hours and being moved from department to department they have given us a date for a disconnection, but this has not transpired and this has been going on for months.
We are still getting letters saying ' We are glad you decided to stay with TalkTalk' and receiving Bills even through they are trying not making any calls and only receiving calls, they have been but off several times during this time.
So now my elderly parents are being billed by BT for Line Rental and with a free calls package from February (direct debit) and TalkTalk who are still sending us Bills as the phone line has not been swapped to BT yet as TalkTalk Wont let us go.
Still being held Hostage almost 6 months later.
Every time you phone them the operators just read from a script and cant help you which is very annoying, they seem to think we have Broadband with them as they sent us a bag thru the post to send their equipment back, what equipment do they mean our Home phone which we have bought.
They keep asking for our email address and I keep saying 'they are in their 90's they have no Broadband so no email address'
Will swapping our Tel Number help.
This is making my parents sick and causing so much stress to me also.
Any help would be appreciated as this keeps going round in circles.
Contacted ofcom but no help with them either
Diane
0
Comments
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I'm afraid you've done this all wrong. When you sign up to a switch, you allow the incoming provider to handle the switch and they contact the outgoing one. You do not contact TT at all What you appear to have done is requested a disconnection (which is what you don't want, as you will lose the number). If the line is still with TT, then I'd start again, and this time do the whole process online-no need to talk to any call centres.
Obviously you'll need to sort the situation with BT first if they are billing you without the switch actually happening.
PS: paying the monthly bill at the PO is about the worst way to do it: not only do you pay a non-DD surcharge, but if your parents were unable to get out to pay the bill, or forgot to do so, they could be cut off.
Ofcom do not investigate consumer complaints, the regulator is the Telecoms Ombudsman, but they won't look at your complaint until you have been through the supplier's own complaints procedure.
No free lunch, and no free laptop0 -
Thanks for the reply.
Sorry if the first post sounds confusing as i am writing this up on behalf of the old couple who this has happened to.
To explain things they phoned BT with whom they pay there line rental to if they could swap there phone line from talktalk to BT and they took up a calling plan with BT.
Bt sent out a latter confirming a switch over date of 11th February 2021 but shortly after this date the phone line was cut off, it was talktalk who told them if you dont pay this bill we wont connect you ,they thought they was now with BT so they had to pay the bill to get connected again, they also had a letter from talk talk saying.
We received notification from another provider, that you would like us to stop the cancellation of your talktalk service.
So they again phoned BT asking why this has happened and so another letter now saying a switch over on 25th March 2021.
Same thing again.
So after numerous phone calls to BT and TalkTalk's terrible customer service they are now pulling their hair out, bare in mind they are in the late 80's and have no internet and they dont want it.
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Confused even more .Pay BT line rental for the phone line .But also say phone line is with TT .Suggests two phone lines ??But TT want to cut off a phone line , thats the BT phone line .Rereading the OP suggests phone line from BT but a calls package from TT . Its a guess that this very odd setup has confused TT .You need to unravel the mess .Suggest you first check the contract with TT for calls . If a monthly contract then cancel it .Then add a calls package to BT account .0
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Yes it is confusing.
Years ago you could pay line rental to BT and have a calls package with Say Onetel this was before the days of Internet.
So yes they still pay the Line rental to BT and calls to Talktalk but if you phone 17070 its a talktalk service which they can cut you off.
Seems like BT send out a letter confirming a switch over date which doesnt happen than TalkTalk send out a letter saying thanks for stopping with us.0 -
You can't "switch" a calls package, you just need to cancel it.
As the line is already with BT, just contact them and get a calls package going with them instread.0 -
I would be checking how many line rentals are being paid out . BT and double check TT is not also line rental .But key is not to confuse the ISPs again .Why would TT swap a phone line that you say you have with BT .Phone Line the one you pay line Rental for .A calls package is not a phone line .
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Essence of above and your original posts reads as you have put in a cancellation for a phone line with TT .They have attempted to follow your instructions >>> But you do not have a phone line with TT .0
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I am only telling you what the op is telling me (they are friends of the family and in there 80's), they was with Onetel for over 10 years than TT bought Onetel out so now they pay the calls package to TT and line rental to BT, they are not paying line rental to TT.
So what would happen is that sometimes TT would cut them off so they Rang BT to get a calls package off them, so they received a letter from BT with a switch over date and im not sure when but sometime after this date the phone line would be effectively cut they could receive calls but could not dial out, they could only ring TT and told to pay the bill to have the line working again.
They have told TT time after again that they have signed up for BT's call package and want to cancel with TT but every time they are reassured that this would go ahead but it never does just another bill from TT or a welcome letter.
They are still paying the Calls Package with BT even thru BT said it go ahead in 24 hours but it doesn't.
This has happened three times now since February.0 -
They could try a proper written complaint not email to TT .Or a LBA letter before action/claim Google for templates .BUT(
So what would happen is that sometimes TT would cut them off)How can TT cut them off when TT dont supply the line ??( but sometime after this date the phone line would be effectively cut they could receive calls but could not dial out, they could only ring TT and told to pay the bill to have the line working again.)Again why as TT dont supply the phone line .
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It is correct that many years ago it was possible to pay line rental to BT, but pay call charges to someone else, such as Onetel or in my case Tiscali. I can see from my records that in May 2003 I started paying Tiscali for call charges, while continuing to pay BT for line rental. This situation continued until August 2007 when I discontinued line rental to BT and started paying it to Tiscali.It seems as though the customers in this case have stayed with the original set up, paying BT for line rental, and paying TalkTalk as the successor to Onetel for the calls package.Obviously no-one they have communicated with in either BT or TalkTalk understand the situation. The declared requirement is to consolidate both line rental and call charges with BT. In these circumstances I would focus totally on BT, and put the requirement in writing as a COMPLAINT. An alternative solution would be to change the requirement, and consolidate both line rental and call charges with TalkTalk. TalkTalk will insist on provisioning the line with their standard broadband service, because they do not offer a phone-line-only service. The customers could appoint someone to act on their behalf, by filling in TalkTalk's nomination form which can be downloaded from here.1
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