Carphone warehouse/Talk Talk;Have you been a victim ?

[MrsMiggins]

Not sure if this is actually a Talk Talk problem, but...

My mum has been with them for over a year and, other than delays in getting set up initially, all has been ok. About 3 weeks ago her internet connection went down. 2 weeks ago we discovered that her phone number had been changed. Instead of 0999-999-1234 the number was 0999-999-5678 and the name on the new number was that of her upstairs neighbour.

Multiple phone calls to Talk Talk failed to elicit a solution, with the call centre staff insisting that she had cancelled her account, which she had not. Some staff suggested she had been 'slammed'. When asked why they had not written to her asking her if she had agreed to change providers (which is common with most utilities suppliers) none of them could explain why they had not, if slamming is so common.

TT then claimed that BT were responsible for the problem as they had disconnected her number and connected the other account in its place; since my mum was no longer a TT customer TT staff could not help and suggested calling BT.

Call BT. No account in mum's name. Not a surprise. Gave them the other number which is currently connected to mum's house - sorry, we can't speak to you about that due to data protection. You need to speak to TT.

Call TT. You aren't our customer any more...

Round and round and round and round...

So far I've spent several hours trying to sort this, but I feel I'm finally getting somewhere. IMO, if you have a telecoms problem phone Ofcom sooner rather than later. It wasn't until I spoke to them that I was able to get hold of someone at TT who was actually interested in resolving the complaint. Up until then I spent my time in an endless circuit of fob-offs, refusals to escalate the complaint and a basic unwillingness to help based on the fact that mum was "no longer a customer".

BT haven't been any better, promising to sort stuff 'within 24 hours' 7 days ago; promising to return calls but failing.

The biggest PITA has been the telephone queueing system though. I've lost count of the times I've been cut off or transferred to the back of a queue or, worse still, spoken to someone, explained the problem (again) provided loads of details to be put through to someone who can help, explained the problem (again), been put on hold while they speak to another department but instead of being put on hold being bumped back into the queue to speak to the same overseas call centre I called in the first place!

It goes dial-hold-give details-hold-explain problem-give more details-hold-refuse to accept attempt to fob off and insist on transfer to other dept-hold (for ages now!)-give details-explain problem-give more details-hold-be transferred back into first queue etc etc ad infinitum. BT and TT are just as bad.

[ANDENA]

Can i ask advice my bills is very high so changed to talk 3 just changed banks and when i changed to talk 3 also changed d/d now been charged 3.50 for admin as they said no d/d set up ,but my bank showed it had.rang yesterday and told them. now instead of £29.89 to pay i have got to pay£54.39 that includes charges for talk 3 for next month is this correct.

[Justforfun]

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documen...talk_final.pdf

Information Commissioners Office deals with talktalk

[britesprite]

Hi Martin,

I just put this thread up in the Broadband section. Thought it may be of interest to you. Also about to PM you cos I'm hoping you may be able to help me....

Cheers

[Spectric]

Well I will never deal with the carphone warehouse again and make sure that I warn everyone I know to avoid having anything to do with them at all.

They are totally incompetant, lack any technical skills and the helpdesk cannot even communicate in basic English.

They left me with ADSL that was unreliable & slow, plus my landline just cut off after so many seconds in use.

Avoid them at all cost, it will prolong your lifespan due to reduced stress & anxiety !

[cady-leigh]

my mom also signed to tt who said take out the full telephone package and they will provide her with the broadband free yeh right after phone calls letters and nearly 10 months it acually happened she told them shr was going to seek legal advice thats when they changed there tune and got it connected she is nearing the end of her contract now which she has only had a few months use out of it

[buzby]

She won't be 'at the end of her contract' - these contracts last for ever, it is only the minimum term where she cannot leave without a penalty - so no real milestone....

[waterbottle]

In the past few months I have experienced:

lost/delayed messages (1471)
hours wasted with incompetent staff
line restricted when we stopped payment in protest while refusing to act
all incoming calls were forwarded to department in an attempt to collect payment
frequest disruption of services
line dead on frequent occasions. even 999 didn't work!
total failure to supply broadband
other stuff

[Ingrid]

Yes, thank you!!!

I would NEVER change to or use Carphone Warehouse or TalkTalk again!!

See here -

Ongoing saga with TalkTalk despite cancelling Doorstep Selling Contract

[maz1964]

Hiya all
just thought i would alert you to my dilemma with talk talk
Ive been given a mac code to give to orange for my broadband and im out of contract with talk talk, they have given me the same mac code twice and its invalid when orange try and register me.
ive complained to talk talk all this week, last conversation with someone who promised to get me a new number as the one i had definately didnt work, had been telling them this all week, even though they insisted it was oranges fault!!!

Anyway this conversation i had with the last guy was thursday and he still hasnt called me back, even though id already complained to ofcom.

Ofcom had recommended i told them to cease my service which would mean i would without broadband for a week, this would enable them to contact bt to remove any tags on my line.

Now i will wait until tomorrow if he doesnt call me will call ofcom again and alert them and get them involved in this shambles. Or should i just go to the media, cant believe im the only in the country experiencing this problem?

Will update you ciao for now have fun weekend MAZ

[buzby]

Firstly, OFCOM won't help (they don't deal with condumer complaints) and the media don't care - incompetence is only a story when it affects 100s of folk at the same time. The whole system was a kludge from day 1 so the fact there are problems surprises no-one. If TT fail to provide a valid MAC then it can be over-ridden but I'd be prepared to use a broadband dongle to cover your period of outage.

[iis2good]

Hi Martin,
Please can you help?

I have a slightly different problem with Talktalk. After about 5 months of dispute Talktalk have finally agreed that they have mis-sold me a product!!!!! I thought this was a great result.... so far

Now they are trying to charge me about £40 for my final bill as calls made and line rental, I agree this is a valid charge. Alas, I paid a similar amount to BT to leave my contract before 1 year, Talktalk are not going to refund me for the exit fee which leaves me out of pocket for their 'lies' over mis-selling.

1) I feel they should not charge this as I should not be in a worse financial position than before I joined them. Have you got any experience of them refunding this sort of charge?

2) Have you any experience of talktalk compensating customers for the time they are disconnected. I was without a phone for a month when they cut me off without telling me why. I tried to call them but i was told my phone was disconnected and the call could not be connected!!!!

Finally, at least they reviewed the recorded tapes and agreed that I had been misinformed and thay are crediting me with the £140 of calls that I should not have been charged for. finally they did someting right!!!!


Any advice on the 2 points above would be most welcome

Cheers

Mike

[Furkin]

I have a complaint about CarPhoneWareHouse,,,,,, though of a different nature.
I am disabled & need to rely on my phone.
Last June I bought a new model Motorola (K1) from DIAL-a-PHONE (Part of CPWH). It had to be sent back to them twice for repair.
When I got it back I could hardly get a signal with it, & it keeps losing time / date.
I send umpteen e-mails to them to ask for a replacement - all ignored.
I wrote to the M.D with the same request - this was likewise ignored.

I contacted Motorola who, although not their immediate fault (!?!?) said that I could return it to one of their workshops (SEP or similar initials).
When it came back it was absolutely the same. I had asked for a a repair report with it, but none was sent. I had to send a SAE to them to get the report, which said that th ey'd updated the software (!?).

I contacted Motorola again who now said that it was out of warranty (I bought it in June 2007 - apparently it was out of warranty by March 2008.
When Motorola looked deeper into it, they told me that the unit wasn't meant or programmed for U.K use !!!!!!!!!!
I asked again for a replacement, which they refused.
Again it went back to their repair shop,,,, again it came back just the same.

It's no use my taking the damn thing out with me, as it's unreliable.
I have virtually just used it for texting from home, as my nearest cell is just over the road. It still has the protective plastic on the screen, buttons & camera lens - so you can tell it's virtually unused.

I wrote to CPWH asking how they can allow phones to be sold in the UK that wern't meant for the UK,,,, but never did get a reply.

God only knows where they buy their stock ??????????????????

Just thought I'd throw this in as CPWH were mentioned - hope no-one minds.

all the best to you all

[wildcard898]

Re: Furkin's comment

Although CPW are pretty back for things like that - I think on this occasion you're probably wasting your time complaining to CPW as Dial-A-Phone are owned by Phones4U and not CPW

Unless it was OneStopPhoneShop or E2Save you meant - those are the online discount brands offered by CPW and offer much the same type of product as Dial-A-Phone - unreliable, dodgy refurbs and grey imports!

[Furkin]

Thanks WC: You are totally correct.

I was writing a post about the ordeal & got carried away - citing the wrong mother company. I apologise - unreservedly - to CPWH.

When I checked my files (should have done first !?) I did, in fact, write to Phones4U about this,,,,,, tho' the story remains the same.

Thanks for elucidating the point.

Furkin

[dnzz]

Add me to the list you have going my friend and I've only been with them for a couple of weeks. I say been but I haven't received a service just yet. I'll post my problem up here aswell :

• Ordered a contract with CPW with a free PS3 on 25/07 and received the phone a couple of days later.
• I received no signal immediately, rang up CPW about this and was told to wait 48 hours while they tried to activate it. This didn't happen and was then told to send the phone back recorded delivery.
• Waited a week until I received my new phone and was told a new contract was taken out on 4/08 unbeknown to me meaning the PS3 would then be pushed back a further 4 weeks (the main reason I took out the contract in the first place).
• I had a little rant about this and was told nothing could be done but the guy on the telephone had sent an e-mail to the free gifts sector explaining the situation and the possibility of sending the PS3 within 28 days of the original contract.
• The best part is that the replacement phone has exactly the same problem (an inactive SIM, wtf is that?). Apparently they will 'manually' fix this over the weekend. Its Sunday now and I still have no signal.
• Furthermore, I have received no apology or one phone call telling me what is happening. It has always been me ringing them, being put on hold for accumulatively about 2 hours. I have received no contribution to sending the phone back, which they said they would.
• I've complained on the phone and via e-mail but no response just yet. I even tried to cancel the contract but apparently I accepted it as the SIM is in the mobile. Its not even working!

What advice do people have? I don’t really know where I stand now. Everything is just such an effort and whenever I ring up CPW they say its 02's problem and vise versa. Apologies if this post is a little laborious.

[MikkiH]

Hi,
I would love it if there were something we could do about the terrible service we get from phone companies - TalkTalk in particular.

I am trying to move house. I am a TT customer and so are the owners of the place we're moving to. Yet they tell us that we can't START the application process until we move, it takes 14 days and they can't tell us until we start the process whether or not we have to pay a £125 fee for "engineering work"

I have a flat which I sometimes use in the week for work, and which I will give up when I move house. "Aha!" I thought. "I can transfer the Virgin service which I have at the flat (and which they assured me is totally portable when I signed the contract)"

No. I can't. Worcester, it seems, is not a cable area. The line is not with BT. BT want £125 to reconnect it. TT claim that the line is already WITH BT which is why they might have to charge for the engineering work.

Whichever option I go with I will end up paying a fortune in connection fees, and won't be able to have a phone and internet connection from the day I move in.

This seems like a scam which takes advantage of the fact that because BT provides (most of the) infrastructure, providers can claim it's not them it's BT, and because BT only owns the lines they can claim that it's not them, it's the provider

Please please if there's anything we can do to get utilities companies, especially phone companies, to provide a clear, transparent, fair and competitively priced service then let me know what it is. i am fed up of being ripped off and messed about by indifferent customer service drones reading off a script.