OneBill Telecom/Tiscali nightmare

pennyweyes

We became OneBill/Tiscali customers through the Screaming.net/Servista route and have had problems trying to transfer services.

Last year we applied to transfer our home phone service to Tiscali on one of their phone&broadband packages, which we figured would save us an average of £15 a month.

We were given two transfer dates by Tiscali, but on neither occasion did the transfer take place. When we phoned Tiscali customer services, they said OneBill had blocked the transfer; OneBill claimed that Tiscali had not taken up the transfer request. In the end, due to illness in the family, we let the matter drop but Tiscali have continued to bill us for Tiscali Talk, their phone service, which we're not receiving. They charge for calls to their customer services, and have had long waits on several occasions before we actually got to speak to a CSA. Then you have to go through the whole sorry history every time and never get a satisfactory answer. We were even told by one of them that we didn't have a BT line, although we do. In the end, we've been trying to sort the matter out by email, without much success.

Health issues resolved, we decided earlier this month to transfer to TalkTalk. Yes, I've been reading the sticky and know some people are dissatisfied with TT but I would guess not as dissatisfied as we are with OneBill and Tiscali.

When we originally applied to TalkTalk, we were asked for a MAC and duly requested one from Tiscali. It took them so long to provide one that in the end we didn't need it, as TalkTalk had got their LLU service up and running so we wouldn't need a MAC. (I think I've got that right)

Everything seemed to be going smoothly with TT; their transfer process seemed simple and straightforward, we felt they kept us informed of what we could expect. We got our welcome pack and wireless router along with our 'go live' date.

We received a letter from OneBill, the usual 'Sorry you want to leave us'. They inform you that you have to call them to confirm that you want the transfer to go ahead, otherwise they will refuse it on your behalf. We called them to confirm.

On 25th June, then again on 26th, we tried to get TalkTalk up and running but couldn't connect to their broadband service.

Checked on the 'track your order' facility on their website to find that the order had been cancelled!

Phoned their customer services, who told us they'd been informed by BT that the transfer had been cancelled or refused by a third party. We asked who this was, as it was certainly not ourselves. TalkTalk said they are not party to that information, I'm guessing because of the Data Protection Act.

Sorry this is so long-winded, but basically:

We want to know who cancelled the transfer. Can anyone tell me who to contact at BT to find out?

We want the transfer to go ahead; what can we do to make sure that this farcical situation doesn't happen again?

Any advice appreciated!

olly300

BT are not allowed to give you the information officially. However if you find someone nice on the phone and are persistent (make sure you understand basics of The Sale of Goods Act ) then you can get the information out of them. The information should be in front of the person on the telephone.

Tiscali are awful I am just sorting out a cancellation with them but I've gone to cable which they don't seem to understand. They sent me an email for an upgrade yesterday, a bill on 16th June for services until the end of June even though I agreed to cancel with them in May on 12th June. With emailing them they have agreed to write of 2 months charges because of their lack of and poor service since April.

Even if you can't get the information out of BT contact Tiscali Complaints by email. Give the email a title "Formal Complaint" , give you account numbers and ask for another MAC. In the email state* that they have wrongly cancelled the migration of your broadband services which is against OFCOMs rules, a breach of contract and a breach of The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (as amended). If they cancel it again you will make a formal complaint to their customer services managers and OFCOM followed by small claims court proceedings for not having a working telephone line with a supplier of your choice and damages.

*Tiscali clearly don't know what each department is doing so they won't know whether it's true or not.

pennyweyes

Thanks for that Olly. I am really steaming about this, especially as it happened twice last year when we tried to transfer our phone service. I suspect OneBill are the culprits; whilst researching avenues of complaint on the internet I've discovered that OfCom have received numerous complaints about the company.