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Has anyone else been “verballed” by TalkTalk like this?

I have been right royally screwed by TalkTalk twice in a very short time and I’m hoping that somebody can suggest how I can fight back.

The first problem I had was that I was without a usable telephone line and broadband service for over a month between late August and early October 2010.

On 28 August I reported that my telephone line had developed a loud crackle, which made telephone calls impossible and caused the broadband connection to drop every minute or so. I knew exactly what the problem was. Every two or three years, rainwater leaks into the junction box at the top of the telegraph pole outside my house (it is under a tree). In the past BT have come out and fixed it within hours (once on a Sunday morning in mid-winter), in order to restore my service, and last time they had to replace the pole to house cable. I assumed that TalkTalk would make similar efforts to restore my service over the August Bank Holiday.

The TalkTalk operator was not interested in my diagnosis and said that he would have to “escalate” the report. After waiting three days, I received a call-back and had to explain the problem over again to another operator. He told me that an engineer would have to visit my house in order to check the equipment before they could start looking at the BT infrastructure. I was leaving for a month’s holiday in Portugal the following day and told him that, while people would be living in the house in my absence (and would want to use the telephone and broadband), I could not guarantee to have anybody available at a set time to allow an engineer in. In any case I repeatedly pointed out that the fault lay outside my house.

The operator told me that he would close the fault report, since I could not make myself available for an engineer to call, and that I should re-report the fault if it persisted on my return. I told him that I refused to consider the report closed, since there was remedial action that he could take without my presence: he simply would not, or was not allowed to, take it. I re-reported the fault just before my return to the UK and a BT engineer called in early November. He didn’t bother coming into the house: he just climbed the telegraph police and fixed the problem.

Having realised what a mistake I had made moving my telephone line away from BT, I contacted TalkTalk Customer Services again to see how quickly I could extricate myself from TalkTalk and return my telephone line to BT’s care. I was initially told that, as a result of upgrading my telephone package in January 2010, I was now subject to an 18 month contract and could not leave until July 2011. I challenged this, knowing full well that I have never agreed to an 18 month contract and I spoke to the Tiscali Retentions Section (call ref 20397743).

The operator told me that TalkTalk’s records showed that I had agreed to the lengthened contract over the telephone, when Tiscali customers’ contracts were being brought into line with TalkTalk contracts. I asked for written documentation showing my agreement and I was told that such things were not put into writing. I told the operator that the record he was relying on was either mistaken or deliberately false and I explained why.

- When I upgraded my call package at the beginning of 2010, I was given the option of receiving a new wireless modem and signing up to an 18 month contract and or not having the modem and remaining on a 12 month contract. I chose the latter option. The emails I received in mid-January 2010 about the upgrading were clearly written in the knowledge that some recipients would have received a new modem and some would not, which supports my recollection concerning the modem/no modem and 12/18 month contract options.

- On 5 February 2010, over 2 weeks after the upgrade had been completed, I received an email inviting me to “upgrade” to an 18 month contract in return for a £20 Amazon voucher. One of the questions at the end of the email was this :

"Will my contract dates change?
No, not if you stay on your current package. However, if you choose to register for a new package, you will be subject to a new contract."

That email clearly indicates that, at the beginning of February, TalkTalk realised that I was still on an annual contract. I did not reply to this email and I have never received an Amazon gift voucher.

- The operator could not give me any indication of the context of the conversation during which I made the claimed agreement. Nor could he tell me what inducement I was offered to agree to a extended contract given that I had already turned down a £20 gift voucher.

Despite this, having consulted his supervisor, the operator refused to accept that I was on an annual contract. He did offer to give me two months free of charge as a goodwill gesture; but I refused because my only desire is to leave TalkTalk asap.

By the way, I should mention that TalkTalk charged me for the whole period during which my telephone and broadband were unavailable, even though the fault easily fixable (as BT well knew when they were eventually called out) and it was only TalkTalk's mindless bureaucracy that caused the extended delay.

So my question is what do I do next? I tried writing direct to the Chairman but got no reply. I tried using the mediation service IPSA; but TalkTalk seem to be ignoring the process (Tiscali are shown as members of the scheme although TalkTalk are not – which I guess is understandable given that the service is received from Tiscali was fine until TalkTalk took them over).

My inclination is to get a MAC number in early January 2011, when the year is up and move elsewhere. But, if I do, I fear that TalkTalk will list me as a non-payer and do whatever they need to screw up my credit rating.

I am even considering paying-off the disputed six months of the contract just to get away from TalkTalk without further argument and frustration. But then they get another 6 months money in addition to the month they have already taken for providing me with no service, and that just confirms their view that they can defecate on their customers with impunity.

Help, please!!!


Ken P
 
Thank you, Mel. I hadn't realised there was this option. By posting this tale of woe on this and a couple of other sites, I was hoping that somebody up the food chain within TalkTalk just might see it and decide that it needed looking into. After all, getting something escalated from Customer Services up to somebody who can make a sensible decision is near impossible. But that was a long shot and an approach to Otelo is likely to prove far more productive.

Thanks gain

Ken P
 
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