TalkTalk and Compensation

MoneySavingMiss95

Hello, 

In December we completed a Home Move with TalkTalk and were sent the confirmation email that it was all live and running. However our landline won't receive incoming calls, stating that the number is invalid, and our router is just flashing orange and white with no connection. We were told the speeds would be 17.3mbps but having run tests using their website at random days it's coming up at 0. Engineer came out on 28th Jan and said the contract was not fit for purpose, this would have not been sold to us as a new contract but because it was a Home Move they don't check these things, and that we would need fibre. I went back to TalkTalk and they ordered the fibre and engineer was due to attend on 21st of Feb. I had no confirmation or communication from them and no equipment arrived ( I assumed they would either bring with them or with our router being fairly new we could keep using that one).

I spent hours on the phone and to chat to them on the morning of the 21st to find out when to expect the engineer; being passed between departments and people and eventually told between 1-6pm. After about 7pm I messaged and called again and was told that the engineer was working on the outside cables and to call back the next day to check whether he still needed to come out. I did and again spend ages being transferred round the houses with one person telling me the order was never placed and to place a new one (another 4 week waiting list for engineer appointments), then another telling me there was an order and to reactivate the existing one.

In the end I got fed up and wanted to cancel my contract as I couldn't afford to keep paying for mobile data and driving to different locations to use wifi for work. Spent hours being passed between departments, put on hold and then disconnected. Eventually I got through to someone who after offering me the world said they would cancel and waive the early cancelation charge (£236.13), and to contact the tech support department for compensation. 

According to the website there is compensation of £25.18 available for a missed engineer appointment for which I waited at home all day for. Furthermore a charge of £8.06 per day to compensate for total loss of service, which “is when you can’t use your phone and/or broadband service at all” where the issue of being unable to make or receive calls and total loss of broadband connectivity both fall under the remit for automatic compensation. I have also lost £66.99 of billed funds for services I have not been able to use between December and now, £10 per person per month for extra mobile data and the fuel, time and wear and tear to the car for unnecessary travel to locations with an internet connection to do my job. 

TalkTalk are refusing to budge on any other form of compensation as they have already waived the early cancelation charge, do I have any recourse?

Thanks in advance. 

The_Fat_Controller

You can only make a formal complaint and see where it gets you.

You will not get any compensation for consequential losses such as data, travelling time, fuel or wear and tear.

Castle

As above, make a formal complaint to TalkTalk and if you are still not happy after 8 weeks make a complaint to CISAS, where you may be awarded compensation based on the following tiers:-
https://www.cedr.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CISAS-Guide-to-compensation-for-inconvenience-and-distress.pdf

Fidden

Having gone through the pain of terrible customer services from TalkTalk several years back, I feel your pain!  We went through the complaints process and basically got standard template letters back, but took them to the regulator and got a decent payout and left them as soon as we could.  At the end of the day, you get what you pay for.

As and when you can get out, look to companies with high customer service ratings over prices, unless pricing is paramount.  There was a recent MSE email about ratings, listing Cuckoo and ZEN at the top if that helps.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

StuieUK34

Thank u for this post, i had considered TalkTalk , as i was under the impression they put staff on "customer service" training course's over the past 4 - 5 years..
Guess not,  just reached out to Cuckoo, see what comes of that (FTTP)   

HaroldWren5

StuieUK34 said:

Thank u for this post, i had considered TalkTalk , as i was under the impression they put staff on "customer service" training course's over the past 4 - 5 years..
Guess not,  just reached out to Cuckoo, see what comes of that (FTTP)   

Good call

HaroldWren5

Fidden said:

Having gone through the pain of terrible customer services from TalkTalk several years back, I feel your pain!  We went through the complaints process and basically got standard template letters back, but took them to the regulator and got a decent payout and left them as soon as we could.  At the end of the day, you get what you pay for.

As and when you can get out, look to companies with high customer service ratings over prices, unless pricing is paramount.  There was a recent MSE email about ratings, listing Cuckoo and ZEN at the top if that helps.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

I agree with this. Check for customer service ratings, shorter contracts and of course pricing. Cuckoo and Zen topped the MSE list recently. 

OP, you seem to be within your right to cancel with TalkTalk. Then pursue getting Full Fibre (FTTP) with another service provider like the aforementioned two.