I actually got the number from TalkTalk! I didn't ask for it, she gave it out. I had to Google what the questions they were asking were, as they were asking things like Press 1 for 21 CN, press 2 for Fixed subscriber (or something like that). It took about 5 goes of hanging up when I got one wrong. If you want it I can dig it out, although I did Google the number at the time and it seemed to be quite widely known. The disconnection / changeover day is today so I will see what happens and update this thread.

Hi, Thanks for replying. I don't think I have been fully clear so let me clarify the entire situation with you all, and see what conclusion you come to. 1. Joined TalkTalk 2 months ago, immediately was getting 0.7MB/s rather than the promised 15MB/s+. Previously was with BT, same phone jack, same equipment, same everything except the ISP where I was getting 25MB/s. I was also getting dropouts between 7pm and 10pm every day, i.e. no internet at all. 2. Reported this to TalkTalk. Firstly they blamed it on line attenuation and settling down, and all this nonsense. 3. A few weeks passed and I kept getting passed off, until I made a complaint with them and asked to leave. They then set up some meaningless "internal complaints procedure" and gave themselves 28 days to fix the issue. I was 1 day outside the "cooling off period" , sods law. They said I'd need to pay the £300+ to get out the contract or wait 28 days for them to fix the problem. 4. During those 28 days I was lied to and cursed at repeatedly. I always remain calm on the phone, but they really tried me. One of the most memorable moments was when I was waiting for an Openreach engineer who failed to turn up, I was told he was "late", then "lost", then "sent to another address by accident" - smelling a rat I rang Openreach and pretended to be from TalkTalk, it turns out there was 'no fault reported'. 5. At this point I had given up, it wasn't worth the stress, and sent them a letter to their Head Office and MD saying I want to be relieved from the contract immediately without penalty or charge. I got back some general letter. 6. I then sent a Letter Before Action, telling them they had failed to provide services and I would not hesitate to initiate a claim if they did not agree to terminate. Didn't hear anything, although yesterday I got a phonecall from them stating they were cancelling my contract but I had to ring them after I had changed over to another provider. Of course this likely a ruse for them to take out the £300. So I suspect I will be taking them to MCOL after all.

Thanks. Just to clarify I am an individual and registered with TalkTalk as such: "The PAP will apply to any business (including sole traders and public bodies) claiming payment of a debt from an individual"

Hi all, Sad (but happy!) to be back on the CAG - as it means another legal issue. For my sins I took out a contract for fibre with TalkTalk a few months ago. Previously I was with BT directly and never had problems. Once the switch was done to TalkTalk it was dire and never worked fully since - dropping connection, slow speed, awful CS, and so on. I initiated a complaint with them internally and they gave themselves 28 days to fix it; over a month later it still isn't fully fixed so I have given up with them. I have written several letters and CC'd them to the CEO but just get boilerplate letters back. All I want to do is leave and move to another provider. TalkTalk have relented here but are saying they are owed the rest of the contracted amount - £300 odd! I am concerned cancelling the Direct Debit will mess up my credit history so I am minded to let them take the funds out, then go to MCOL to recover the funds + minor costs that way via 1982 Supply of Goods and Services Act and their failure to follow. OFCOM refer me to some pointless and drawn-out "alternative complaints procedure" but frankly I have wasted enough time on this petty issue and just want to move on. My question is, given that TT have failed to fix the issue despite being notified within a lengthy timeframe, can I go directly to MCOL and recover costs that way, or will MCOL look down on me for not following OFCOM's useless alternate resolution garbage?

Thanks, done now. Just had a reply by email actually from Knowhow/Currys. I am sorry that we have been unable to resolve this matter to your satisfaction. We have now exhausted our internal complaints process and this is our final position. What we cannot agree on and why We are unable to comply with your request to provide a refund of your Support Agreement. A quotation provided to yourself showed all products and services (A copy of this quotation have been provided by our PC World Business customer services team). As the quotation was accepted we would not be able to consider a refund. Our final position Our final Position will be to refuse a refund, due to the reasons outlined above. Taking your complaint further We are obliged to inform you that you have the right to refer your complaint to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider. You have up to twelve months to do this. Please find below the contact details for a certified ADR provider. Ombudsman Services Website www.ombudsman-service.org Address: Ombudsman Services The Brew House Widerspool Greenall’s Avenue Warrington WA4 6HL We need to advise you that ADR is voluntary and it is not a procedure to which we subscribe. Therefore any ADR decision would not be binding. Can I use MCOL yet?

Thanks. Do I report it to TS nearest the store I bought it from, or where their head office is (Hemel Hempstead)

Yes, they have the card details as I paid for the laptop with my card. Had an email reply from someone after sending it to the CEO/MD's email address. Should I go to Small Claims Court now or try one last time? I really don't mind throwing the kitchen sink at this even if it costs me more than the amount owed, their arrogance is extremely irritating; are there any other methods in addition to Small Claims Court I can look into, eg. Trading Standards, ASA? here's the email: Thank you for your e-mail addressed for the attention of our Chief Executive Officer Sebastian James. As part of the Customer Support Team, your correspondence has been passed to me to investigate and respond. It is concerning to learn that you have cause to contact us regarding your KNOWHOW Support agreement. I can see that our PC World Business team have written to out on the XXXX. As we were not in the store at the point of purchase we would not be privy to any conversation that took place. However, it has been established that the support agreement was shown on the quotation provided to yourself. As the quotation was accepted we would not be able to consider a refund. Again I would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you wish to discuss the matter further. I have no recollection of accepting this quotation, as they state. I remember going in, being asked if I wanted this warranty and I said no, I remember the salesperson nodding in acceptance and moving on. The 'quotation' appears to be a print out from an internal system that wouldn't stand up in court; it's not an invoice and it's unsigned, so what evidence is there I "accepted" it (scanned it and uploaded it above) exactly?

@Bazooka Yes, it says Careplan in her letter. The first time I've heard of it. I can only assume some useless product warranty that they wiggle out of, that only the gullible opt for - I never buy that sort of thing, so I know I didn't agree to it here. The problem will be proving it I guess.

They seem too large to place here, so... I've written a response to the above letter, not yet posted and subject to change: ---- Dear Laura Clark, With regards to your letter dated XXX, I am afraid I disagree with your findings about the Knowhow Careplan “Product” and again state my request for a full refund. May I politely point out that the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 states that it's considered misleading if a trader:- omits material information that the average consumer needs, according to the context, to make an informed transactional decision; hides or provide material information in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner; fails to identify the commercial intent of the commercial practice if not already apparent from the context The Regulations also state that any information must also be displayed clearly - obscure presentation is tantamount to an omission. I would find issue with the way that DSG Retail Ltd have acted here, namely that: 1- The Product should have been discussed with myself prior to being registered alongside the invoice. Indeed, my understanding is that this Product is “opt in”, rather than “opt out” – and no such discussion was ever conducted. I was never asked if I wanted it. I have no idea what this Product is, nor what it entails. The ‘Quotation’ enclosed with your letter has not proved helpful here and doesn’t appear to be a Bill of Sale – nor is it signed by myself. 2- The ‘Quotation’ is patently unclear in how it refers to this Product:- 187417 WMP PREM-600 MONTHLY The layman will have no understanding of what this means and, in my opinion, it is unreasonable to expect otherwise. Even now, I can make no sense of this. Would you please clarify exactly by return, what is “WMP”, what is “Prem 600”? 3- The matter is made all the more polarising as I have received no correspondence from DSG Retail Ltd nor Knowhow at all in the intervening 23 months since being unknowingly-registered for this Product. 4- The payments for this Product have been entered to appear on my card statements as simply: “PRODUCT SUPPORT AG”. What is this in reference to? Generally, the company name is normally entered here. Is this a sister company? Note that “AG” is an abbreviation of “Aktiengesellschaft” - the German equivalent of “Limited” in company law. I can find no record of a German company that has ever existed called “PRODUCT SUPPORT AG”, nor how this can be construed to the layman as being connected to DSG Retail Ltd. Note that processing payments in a misleading manner may also contravene the Terms of DSG Retail Ltd’s agreements with its payment processing company. Would you please clarify who the payment processor is so I can enquire further, and additionally, what exactly is the nature or connection to DSG Retail Ltd and “PRODUCT SUPPORT AG”? Given the above, it is apparent to me that this Product has clearly been mis-sold. I again hereby request a full refund. Be advised that if the matter is not resolved amicably within 30 days of the date of this letter, I will have no other option but to issue a claim in the Small Claims Court against DSG Retail Ltd for the full amount outstanding. Yours sincerely --------------

Thanks. I've written back stating the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, namely: It's considered misleading if a trader does any of the following: omits material information that the average consumer needs, according to the context, to make an informed transactional decision hides or provide material information in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner fails to identify the commercial intent of the commercial practice if not already apparent from the context And information must also be displayed clearly - obscure presentation is tantamount to an omission. I'm not really sure what they call this product (or what it is). It's not an Insurance type product as that's regulated, so finding that out is my priority.

Not sure if I should have signed it or not, it's just says 'Quotation' at the top that they appear to have printed from their internal invoicing system. All I know is, I walked in to buy a laptop, was asked if I needed their extended warranty, said no, I though that was the end of it. I'm also taking issue with the fact it's written simply on the 'Quotation' as 18147 WM/PREM , surely this would be construed as misleading to the layman? And additionally shouldn't the salesperson have covered it in depth if I had agreed to this "service"?

Hi all, In need of some of your excellent advice please. Almost 2 years ago I purchased a cheap laptop from a Currys store through my business, at the time the salesperson asked if I wanted any sort of extended warranty - I always say no, they are a complete con of course. Fast forward to now, I have just noticed that he did in fact sign me up for this at £9.58 a month, without my permission. I rang the Currys 'Knowhow' helpline and requested a refund; the lady said she could only refund 6 months' worth of payments, which I declined as I want a full refund, for obvious reasons. The total is over £200! I wrote a letter instead per her advice, but they have declined any sort of refund as I "signed up to it" and included an invoice (unsigned) from the date of purchase, where it dubiously mentions: 18147 WM/PREM - 9.58 I should have checked it, but I didn't. Naive of me to take salespeople at face value I suppose, but whatever. I am somewhat embarrassed that I/my accountant didn't notice this before now - but I suppose my defence of being a business account with over 30+ transactions a day through it goes some way to explaining it. Should I take them to the Small Claims Court? Or some other method like using my van to block the store entrance? As you can imagine, I am livid, and more than willing to "invest" some money to getting it refunded, as it's a matter of principle.

Thanks.. On Monday I will escalate my complaint with FOS . I have written the enclosed letter to the head office in the hope of resolving it quickly also, it is worth mentioning FOS complaints to them at this stage? I attach it here (haven't sent it yet) Unfortunately GardX closed til Monday now!

Hi stu, thanks. Re: 1) if I do write to the dealer about the Certificate that's invalid/missing, they'd presumably just send me a valid one. Wouldn't it make sense to not ask for it, then use that as ammo to argue it was not applied correctly? I don't want this product after all, it's junk. The dealer is registered but there was no trace of my car, when I checked last. I have no certificate just a few booklets and some terms and conditions and 'cleaning guidelines' that are just photocopies. If it wasn't me but someone else in this situation I'd laugh at the photocopies and what I got for £499... !

Spoke with FOS, left it as saying i'll research over the weekend and give them the goahead once I'm clear, they have all my case details. Only problem is, FOS said they could only tell BMW Finance about the claim, but it's not really to do with them as such as they didn't flog me the cr*ppy extras, it's the dealer Inchcape/Coopers. Really want to find out more about their claim this is added by default to ALL new cars and something the customer must opt out of, no expert but surely there are keyfacts to go through etc? Claim has been backed up by the branch manager too