TalkTalk

I am an ex-Tiscali 'customer'. Material is still being displayed by Talktalk which they had promised would be deleted when my account was closed. When I had an open account their customer services systems were laughable - the reason I left, but imagine being a non-paying ex-customer! After two calls to the premium-rate helpdesk which both lasted more than half an hour each, in which no-one could adequately answer my request to have the material removed, and even though I was put through to a supervisor, poor thing who could offer nothing else, I saw on t'website that letters will be answered in 7 days. Address in England even! Well, I have written six letters now, which have all been met with different mixtures of bureacratic obfuscation, blithe refusal to answer the question and in some definite thinly veiled cruel humour all pointing to the fact that the problem will not be answered this side of the next millennium. All but one were answered in 7 days though: the last which also admitted to being unable to help, but which directed me to the this website! That really speaks of corporate incompetence: the employees have to send people outside the organisation to get issues resolved. The cynicism with which the Customer Service Department must be run is breathtaking.

When I first joined talk talk I thought their service was ok, but soon noticed the speeds were often very slow, slower than with my previous ISP. So I complained, but was assured I had the fastest speed my line would carry because a lot of new subscribers were using the exchange, this sounded plausible so I let it go.
Three months later I started getting problems with broadband, dropouts for seconds minutes even full days on two occasions. Talk Talk blamed my equipment, so I replaced filters then modem/rounter, they made excuse after excuse but did not fix it. The problems magicaly disapeared when I changed to another ISP, and my speed almost doubled.
In rating below I give rating of 1, only because zero wasn't available!

I fully endorse Dawlish's comments below.

I have been with Tiscali/TalkTalk since 2005.
Service has been alright if slow, but it's always a struggle with the offshore support desks - frankly you dread talking to them.

I have just been without internet access for 10 days. I was sent 2 new routers and had numerous lengthy, difficult and tiresome phone calls with first line support desks in India and Thailand.

I finally insisted that my fault was escalated and TT UK support isolated it (to their servers) on the phone in 5 minutes and it was fixed 30 hours later. It was indeed a fault with TT servers and nothing to do with me.

During this fiasco I discovered the UK TT support forums which had I known about I would have used. The problem with them is that they are not real time and can take 2 days to respond. Not helpful when you work from home and your internet access is down.

The service is ok when it works but if you have any sort of problem - it's a nightmare.

Speedwise I am getting on average 1.3mbs on a line BT says is capable of 3mbs. (I live way out in the sticks).

I have been out of contract for several years and they have advised they will be increasing my monthly charge by 20% from next month. Time to swap ISPs I think.

Well, my past experience said this was not a company to join, but it was dictated by financial circumstances.I signed-up, and was asked when I wished to start the contract. Expecting things to take about two weeks, and having three weeks to finish with Virgin, I chose an early date. To my surprise, the engineer arrived minutes before he was due, shot in the door and sorted the box. Out again to test it, then back to say it was working. Twenty minutes in all. I connected the modem and we were away. Only two LAN outlets in the modem, so a five pound switchbox from EBuyer sorted that.It works, is reasonably fast, as we are not in the best area, and the price is good.When I need help from TT is when I will find out how things are handled. Hopefully, if the line keeps working, I will not need to contact them. Their website is fast and gives me all the info I need, unlike Virgin.I also get hosting for my website.

Just try accessing talktalk and finding a solution to your problem. Any problem. You can be sent to any one of 5 countries (so far) and you will never, ever, be able to talk to the same person twice. they have a policy of not allowing customers to call individuals, or allowing one department to talk to another).

I have had two problems. One of lost emails from their server and one of my router not being good enough to reach one particular bedroom in the house when someone else is on the Internet. I see from the forums that the rubbish routers they provide is a regular complaint. Neither problem has been fixed.

Both times, their diagnostics cost me my Internet connection and the use of my router for over 1.5 hours. The first time they paid me £50 compensation. The second time they've paid with their contract.

The mark of a good company is their response to problems. That's why I'm here, looking to change to the best provider the site can point me to. My advice to anyone with talktalk/AOL is to do exactly the same.