Talk Talk Hell

[katesage]

I am actually sitting here in shreds so bear with me.............

Please don't go near Talk Talk Broadband if you are serious net users or already have WiFi.
My partner, is, as we speak booked into a hotel in London because he cannot access his broadband from home. He will stay there until I get this sorted which at the moment looks like July 14th. Not kidding.
His work is totally dependent on the net, he has Skype and is permanently online to his colleagues in London. He usually works from home 4 days a week.

We agreed to transfer to Talk Talk Broadband, moving away from BT, who had given reliable if expensive dervice for 2 yrs.

Moving was going to save £19 p/m. If only I had known how willing I would be to pay that money and be back with BT.

I was promised the break between ISPs would be 2hrs. Total B*******ks.
Woke up last Thursday am. NO Broadband. No Warning. Opened post, letter from Talk Talk saying 'Hello today is your Go Live date. However no modem pack, so stuffed!
Modem miraculously arrived next day, installed it to my PC only to discover that O/H s laptop couldnt connect because their modem only works with one pc, plugged into the USB. Not compat with our existing Netgear Wireless as their modem has no ethernet port.
Got my PC online only after Talk Talk installation disk had crashed my pc twice and its in-house security system proptly set about having a punch up with my existing Norton security.
Checked their website, networked, wireless set ups require a different modem/router that will do away with our almost new and superior Netgear all for the privelege of forking out £60.
I felt conned and misled. I had told them all about our wireless setup when i ordered.
By now my o/h is barely speaking to me as it was my silly idea to try and save money by switching.
Throughout all of this I made 6 calls (each on hold 40mins)to tech help/broadband support (pah!) useless and dishonest. I was told a totally different remedy each time, including my personal favourite, 'this is not possible madam as you do not go live till the 7th of July.'
Ahh yes, which is why I'm staring at your wretched website as i'm speaking to you, i must be hallucinating, sorry to have troubled you'
OK So now dont care what it takes i want to escape, I have just requested my MAC codes but not optimistic. Spoke to Ofcom earlier who were helpful but could only offer advice but not do anything. They did give me reference number and want to hear back from me.
BT can install a new line for £125 but not till 7/7. broadband 5 days later.
At Talk Talk, you cant get thru to anybody who can actually help. Their helpline is a joke.
I have learnt a valuable lesson, but right now i'm still stuck, possibly going to have to get legal to break out of the contract and recoup all the costs we have incurred as a result of this shambles.
anyone with charles dunstones phone number will be paid a serious reward!
thanks for letting me vent!

[Spiceskull]

Hi Kate,

Sorry that you had to go through this - I too have just had a simlar, if somewhat shorter experience.

We transferred from Tiscali to TalkTalk about a month and a half ago for the 'phone service. In all fairness this service has been excellent. We also wanted the BB package, but as I work from home we were more specific about the what, where and when.

Our agreed changover date was 7th June, and the problems we had getting our MAC code from Tiscali are legion. However, the code went, and our account with Tiscali was due to expire on 22nd June. I checked our IP service on 22nd, and sure enough it was still Tiscali, and I therefore assumed (correctly) that the switchover had not yet happened.

Like you, our internet went dead on Friday, and I was on the phone to TalkTalk immediately. The nice polite chap told me that the changeover was not due until 25th, and that is when the wires would be switched. He also said to expect the modem/drivers sometime within the next week.

Okay...deep breath...this is Mr Spice talking. "When we took on the package we were told that we should not notice a break in service, although there may be a slowdown for an hour or so when the service switches. Additionally we were told that the switch would happen on 7th. We stated categorically when applying for the service that as I work from home full-time, a prolonged break in service would not be acceptable...and now I have no internet connection, and I absolutely MUST be online by Monday morning - waiting a week is simply not possible. What is TalkTalk going to do about it...?"

"Well, we are very sorry for the inconvenience an...."

"INCONVENIENCE? INCONVENIENCE? It is NOT an inconvenience, it is an impossible situation. TalkTalk absolutely MUST have this resolved by Sunday night!!! The contract we signed up to explicitly stated that we would NOT be without a connection, and now you tell me that I need to wait a week?"

On comes the supervisor (Priyesh): "Very sorry about this sir. Do you have any friends on TalkTalk who could lend you the drivers until yours turn up?"

"@*#%#%**?@##"

"Okay sir, I'll tell you what we will do. The physical switchover will happen on Sunday morning (25th) and we can then go through the connection procedure with you on your existing ADSL modem, if you call 0870 444 1820 (option 3)"

"Thank you - I'll be back if this is messed up, and believe me, if I am back you will regret it."

Sunday morning (25th) I was back online by 10:00...without anymore messing around.

So, the moral of the story is this: call 0870 0876627, tell them that you are NOT happy with the situation, that Thursday 22nd was your go live date, and that you are still not connected. If you insist that you will take this as far as you can, and that you are on CAG, I am certain that you will get this resolved quickly.

See the steps I took to get my bank charges back.
Spiceskull v HSBC.
Thank you Consumer Action Group.
Read my blog.

[katesage]

Thanks Spiceskull, sounds like you had a carbon copy of my experience all except i'm assuming you didnt have the incompatible wifi.
I think it was the useless customer service that put me off the most, if you are as dependent on the net as we are, (seemingly our relationship too!!) then reliable customer service is priceless.
BTW Am going to go legal on this one. Letter of complaint off tomorrow. I will seek compensation in exactly the same way we do against the banks. We can prove my partners lost income and of course the hotel bill....

PS whats the 0870 0876627 number, i only have 0870 4441820.
thanks again

[Spiceskull]

Hi Kate,

We had an ADSL modem with Tiscali, but I since upgraded to a wireless gateway - we have at least 2 desktop PCs and 2 laptops all wanting to connect at any time...I work from home so access is a must. As for compatibility, I would be surprised if they suggested you needed a TalkTalk compatible piece of kit - but that depends on the hardware you have. Usually you just need to configure the thing yourself, using the details provided by the ISP (I'm not an expert on these things, but suggest that your OH should know how to do this...)

The number is the one dedicated to Broadband set up (the tech team - 0870 4441820) whilst 0870 0876627 is the actual customer service team, dedicated (hah!) to resolving all the problems...this second number is the one that got the brunt of my ire...

I am sure that if you call them, play hardball, you should be up and running before the week is out. Good luck.

See the steps I took to get my bank charges back.
Spiceskull v HSBC.
Thank you Consumer Action Group.
Read my blog.

[Karnevil]

with your netgear modem you should be able to go into your netgear setup online pages and change the various codes and access passwords to suit the talktalk connection - when I got my connection back with BT I called up and asked specifically for the encapsulation settings, went through the oh we dont know anything about Linksys blah de blah, and eventually they read them out to me and I managed to find the right places in my Linksys setup pages to change them.

These were they.... if anyone recognises the code types you'll know if this is of any help at all or if I am on the complete wrong track.



vpi0

vci38

chap

moderation g.dmt

encaps pppoa

encaps vc mux

dns auto

[Spiceskull]

Forgot to say - my wireless gateway is also Linksys. They have a "live chat" facility, and the people on the other end are second to none. They went through everything with me when I first got the thing, and if you want good customer service, these guys are certainly in the top ten...

See the steps I took to get my bank charges back.
Spiceskull v HSBC.
Thank you Consumer Action Group.
Read my blog.

[Karnevil]

Originally Posted by katesage

the netgear number is 108mbps wireless firewall router wgt624 v2
(default accesshttp://192.168.0.1 user name: admin password : password)

BT voyager 205 adsl router. there is a serial number? 0436032733T and an Ethernet Mac Addr. MAC: 0011F5-0B1FED

thought that might help anyone trying to help kate out with this....it was on another thread re talk talk.

I think if Kate connects up her wireless network how it was originally then types http://192.168.0.1 into the browser bar it should come up with the section which Kate can enter admin, password bit, then change the PPPOA etc stuff - this info would have to come from talk talk though - that just how i got my internet back worked after BT cocked it up. Kate has a connection there and besides the fact she wants to ditch talk talk for bt again - to help the immediate problem would this not enable the wireless system to work - configuring it to work with the talktalk setup???

I can't get into the http://192.168.0.1 address so I assume its like the linksys one and only works with the corresponding router.

Ignore me if thats all gobbledegook......

[Spiceskull]

On my gateway (linksys) it is http://192.168.1.1/index.asp

If that helps...and usually the usernmae and password usually tend to be admin and admin by default...

[CrispDust]

router ips normally are 192.168.x.x. The xs being variable but usually 0s or 1s.
This usually allows access to the wifi set up and the porting to the router.

[katesage]

Thanks Guys

Fingers crossed i will be free of Talk Talk by monday. They emailed me a cancellation form and I sat there online with the guy on the phone filling it in. The MAC code request is in with that, the moment I have the code BT can reconnect me within 5 days.
Funny though, before that I sent a detailed email to their help dep to see if someone could talk me through configuring our netgear, despite being told by 3 advisors this wasnt possible.
Here is my very helpful reply

'Dear Miss KateSage
Thank you for your email.

Unfortunately due to the nature of your query we are unable to help on
correspondence. I advise you to contact our Broadband technical support team on
0871 226 7146 who will be able to resolve this problem for you.

I apologise for any inconvenience caused.

If you have any further queries, please contact us on 0870 444 1820 or via email
to customerservices@talktalk .co.uk.

Regards
TalkTalk Correspondence Department'


Theyre bl**dy brilliant at customer support aren't they???!
Never thought i'd feel homesick for BT!
Thanks Karnevil, I picked up an Orange disk from Tesco yesterday, just in case I'm left with no broadband.
I'll keep you posted, any thoughts on my chances of successful litigation against them for this fiasco?
Kate

[Spiceskull]

I have just realised - our (Vamps and myself) broadband changeover to TalkTalk was due on 25th June, and the chap said to expect the modem and drivers within the week...they turned up today after nearly three weeks, and I had completely forgotten about it...what bunch of incompetents...and I bet it doesn't even work properly...

See the steps I took to get my bank charges back.
Spiceskull v HSBC.
Thank you Consumer Action Group.
Read my blog.

[Andy999]

Talk Talk have to be the most incompetent, useless company I have ever dealt with. I have been with them just over a year and when I tried to cancel, it took nearly twenty phonecalls and emails, three cancellation forms and the threat of going to the media before they supplied the MAC which should have been given within five days. During this fiasco, I was promised seven times that someone would call me back to explain the problems, and nobody ever did.

Avoid this bunch of crooks and clowns at all costs.

[katesage]

I totally agree andy. Sorry not to update earlier but its quite difficult getting on line at the moment, got orange dial up which is fine but takes the phone line so not always possible. thanks for all the advice and support.
Got away from Talk Talk on Saturday but as of today they are still witholding mac codes, got totally lied to again by 'Vinay' , oh yes madam, no madam, my supervisor is not here, but he will call you b4 5pm (mon) to give you mac codes. Did he? did he ****!
BT managed to get around this somehow and broadband became available again on my line yesterday. have ordered and will be back on wireless broadband next tuesday 18th. so even worse time period than we thought.
DO NOT GO NEAR TALK TALK! Not if you are likely to need good service, cos they can't do it. How much do i hate their 'everybody gets star service at the carphone warehouse' slogan for big brother. I nearly threw something at the telly last nite!

[liamarkfin]

We have also had a big problem with Talk Talk. Our modem failed on 5th July, I suggested that they send me a new modem, but they knew best and wanted to test the line etc. By the 12th July, still no broadband and I also work from home and had no option but to use a dial-up service at a cost of nearly 4p per minute. Call to TalkTalk and they were going to send me a new modem (still 12th July), but it would take 7 days??????????

Wednesday 19th July still no modem, another call to TT. The modem was sent the previous Friday, which means it will take seven days from that date (14th July).

Saturday 22nd July, still no modem, an hour on hold to Customer Services and Technical Support and I speak to no-one. There are two annoying things about calling either of these numbers. 1-The automated message that says all lines are busy, please call back later and the phone goes dead. 2-Youv'e been on hold for half an hour, the phone rings and someone puts the phone down on you at their end.

Monday 24th July, no modem and I have no time to contact them as I am using my Dial-Up Connection for work, so it is taking me longer than normal.

Tuesday 25th July(Today): Don't want to speak to any one in India who has no idea of my issue anymore, don't want to speak to any jobsworth in Technical Support as they are about as much help.

I decide to email Charles Dunstone - CEO of Carphone Warehouse. I explain in great detail of my frustrastions with his company and that I want all call charges to all Support Lines for TT paid by them and not me. I also suggested that they should pay the costs of my Dial-Up Connection as it is going to cost a fortune and I am paying for the whole TT Package.

to my surprise, I get a reply from him, saying that he is very sorry and someone is looking into the situation for him and they will be in touch with me shortly.

Sure enough, within an hour of receiving his email, I get a very helpful member of his 'Team' call me, and agree to pay all the charges for which I suggested, he also left me his email address, full name and direct dial number and said that he would be following my issues through to completion.

So, if you want a problem sorting with TT, I suggest you send Charles Dunstone an email and here is his address: dunstonec@cpw.co.uk

My modem turned up about ten minutes after sending my email to him and I sent him a mail to say that it had and that it worked fine, he replied again to apologise for the delay.

The delivery document had Fridays (21st July) date on it, so more lies from TT once again.

Thanks. I feel better now!!!