Hi,

I'm really not sure how to fix my problem with Talk Talk and am reaching out to people here in the hope you might have a few ideas.

I recently switched to Talk Talk after I was promised a "seamless" switch and no interruption to the broadband service in my house. I specifically asked this question during the sales process and was assured this would be the case.

An engineer visited my house 8 days ago and since then the internet hasn't worked.

I have repeatedly contacted Talk Talk and they have said (every day for the last 8 days) that the service will be restored in 3 to 5 days.

I'm obviously deeply unhappy about this and have asked for my complaint to be escalated. Unfortunately, however, this has just provided them with a get-out-of-jail-free card because now, every time I call, they simply say the issue is being attended to by senior management and they can't interfere in that process. It is impossible (I've tried repeatedly) to be connected to this so-called senior management.

I've now discovered that I'm still paying the previous internet provider (PlusNet) even though their service hasn't worked since the Talk Talk engineer visited my house.

I honestly have no idea what to do now. I simply can't live without internet access and the last week has seen me camped out in coffee shops and similar. I'm considering buying a MiFi device but really don't want to enter into a long-term contract for something that Talk Talk promised to provide over a week ago.

Any ideas will be gratefully received.

Please begin by reading our customer services guide. Implement the advice there and then have some more telephone calls with TalkTalk to make sure that you have got evidence of everything that was said.

Secondly, if you have incurred any extra costs or losses as a result of TalkTalk's failure to provide the service which they have contracted for, keep a detailed note of these because you will be able to claim them back.

Unfortunately, the next step will depend on the amount of trouble you want to go to. You could simply begin a complaint TalkTalk and demand that it goes to the communication ombudsman. Unfortunately that will take eight weeks for TalkTalk to go through their internal process – during which time they might fix it, or not – and then after eight weeks they will give you their "final response" and you can then go to the ombudsman. Although the ombudsman will probably find in your favour, it won't necessarily accelerate the provision of the service for you and any compensation award will be pretty mediocre. Don't expect any magic from this ombudsman or any of the other ombudsman schemes.

The second thing you could do would be to issue a small claim in the County Court. In order to do this you would have to serve a letter of claim giving them 14 days. After this you would issue the claim. I would suggest that it would be a money claim and for a modest amount say £100. This will concentrate their minds and you can be certain that once TalkTalk get the court papers, then they are likely to take you more seriously. However, once again this won't necessarily move matters along although it is likely to be quicker in the short run and the ombudsman route in producing some kind of reaction from TalkTalk although in terms of getting a court hearing and a judgement you are looking at over six months. However, the existence of the court papers would probably prompt them to sort out the problem and also to pay you the sum claimed plus your court fees, rather than go to court.

TalkTalk have such a filthy reputation, I can't imagine what prompted you to go along with them. However they are probably simply one of the worst of a bad bunch anyway. As far as I can make out, Zen seems to have the best reputation for customer service – although their router looks disgusting.

If you do decide to sue TalkTalk then we will help you and of course you should include your losses.

I don't understand why plus net is still charging you. Didn't you cancel their service? It looks as if you may have a second problem on your hand and broadly unrelated. Tell us a bit more about this.

Thank you very much for the speedy and helpful response.

I feel like I have very little option but to bring a small claim in the county court. I am trapped in no man's land because the line is somehow trapped between PlusNet and Talk Talk. I know this because I contacted Sky and asked if they could provide me with services. They were very helpful but said there was nothing they could do until Talk Talk finished what they are in the process of doing (I'm not a telecoms expert and am not going to even pretend I have any idea of what is going on)

I contacted PlusNet and told them that Talk Talk would be taking over the line. This was supposed to ensure that service continued up until the handover date from PlusNet to Talk Talk. It seems, from the brief conversation I've had with PlusNet, that because Talk Talk hasn't completed their takeover of the line they are still providing their service. I suspect that whatever the Talk Talk engineer did to the line on the day of his visit is preventing me from receiving their services.

Did you have these conversations on the telephone? And if so had you read our customer services guide first?

If not then please read our customer services guide, implement the advice there and have the telephone conversations again.

TalkTalk broadband worst for customer service, says Ofcom

 

TalkTalk has come last for the second year running in a broadband service report released by regulator Ofcom.

 

The company's customers were the least likely to recommend their provider to friends. It scored poorly for reliability and complaints handling.

 

A company spokesman said that while the "results are disappointing", TalkTalk was rolling out major service improvements.

 

Virgin Media had the most satisfied customers for broadband.

 

TalkTalk said: "We've closed down our call centres in India. We have introduced new online tools to help customers resolve issues quickly and conveniently. And we are launching new Wi-Fi routers to strengthen network reliability.

 

"All these initiatives are starting to deliver material improvement in satisfaction levels."

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-43981652

Hi,

I've followed the advice on the pages linked to and had a conversation with somebody who supposedly works in the CEO's office. I did, rather naively, think that this stood a chance of resolving the problem but I have heard back from them today and they are simply repeating what I've already heard; that it will take a further 1 to 3 days to identify the problem and then an undetermined period of time to rectify the problem.

I have had a further conversation with Sky and they now believe they can somehow fix the issue of the line being "trapped" between PlusNet and Talk Talk although they have cautioned me that this is likely to take as long as ten days. I've decided that this is preferable to being messed around by Talk Talk any further.

I have written to Talk Talk and stated that I expect to be compensated for the period without telecoms services. If Sky are able to keep to their ten-day estimate I will have been without service for three weeks and also paying PlusNet during this period.

Talk Talk's response to this request is as follows:

TalkTalk cannot guarantee a fault free service. There are porting delays with your services which TalkTalk have no control over. We did not mis sell the package on this basis.

 

The customer services you have received including being advised of incorrect time scales for your services being activated as advised is being investigated and dealt with internally.

 

As advised the issues with your services is a porting issue which TalkTalk cannot control. We reply on Openreach to investigate and fix faults as they own the lines.

 

As per TalkTalk's terms and conditions we do not compensate for time, stress, inconvenience, third party costs or business loss.

I am so unhappy about this "service" that I think a small claims action is not unreasonable. What do other people think and do you have any advice.

Any help gratefully received.

Regards,

Chris

TalkTalk broadband worst for customer service, says Ofcom

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-43981652

Thats strange , their radio advert today claims that have the best customer service ?

Thats strange , their radio advert today claims that have the best customer service ?

yes well I'm sure that the advertisement which TalkTalk paid for is the one to believe.

Hi,

 

I've followed the advice on the pages linked to and had a conversation with somebody who supposedly works in the CEO's office. I did, rather naively, think that this stood a chance of resolving the problem but I have heard back from them today and they are simply repeating what I've already heard; that it will take a further 1 to 3 days to identify the problem and then an undetermined period of time to rectify the problem.

 

I have had a further conversation with Sky and they now believe they can somehow fix the issue of the line being "trapped" between PlusNet and Talk Talk although they have cautioned me that this is likely to take as long as ten days. I've decided that this is preferable to being messed around by Talk Talk any further.

 

I have written to Talk Talk and stated that I expect to be compensated for the period without telecoms services. If Sky are able to keep to their ten-day estimate I will have been without service for three weeks and also paying PlusNet during this period.

 

Talk Talk's response to this request is as follows:

 

 

 

I am so unhappy about this "service" that I think a small claims action is not unreasonable. What do other people think and do you have any advice.

 

Any help gratefully received.

 

Regards,

 

 

Chris

well I'm very pleased that you followed the advice here because that means that when you had your latest telephone conversation, you had read our customer services guide and as a result you have a full recording of your conversation. This is a good start.

I see that you are talking about Sky. Have I missed something? Because I don't recall having seen that name mentioned in this thread so far.