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

[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

Edited July 9, 2008 by iis2good
re-read when looking for replys - improved readability

[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 [problem] 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.

[qwertaker]

HI Martin,

I was with talktalk for two years. Not only did I have many problems with them e.g. long connection times etc, but now comes the real bugger:

I called them at the end of my contract to cancel it because I was moving out. I did ask on the phone whether there would be a disconnection charge and they said No.

They then failed to disconnect the service immediately and I had to cancel twice more with them. They now, 4 months later, sent me a bill saying I should pay £62 disconnection charge.

I am refusing and am still in email conversations with them about this issue.

They are claiming that in my contract it states that I would be upgraded to LLU if it was available in my area. Apparently they did so in Feb. 2008, meaning that a whole new contract was started. I was never told about this and I do not believe it is stated as a start of a contract in the small print.

Anyway, the real deal is: they told me there wouldn't be charges now there suddenly are. Am not paying them and am hoping they will finally give in to it.

Otherwise I'd like to go public with this issue. What I really cannot believe is how they treat their long-term customers!

So any suggestions, tips etc?

[student414]

I joined talktalk from my previous address about 10 months ago

and my house got burgled, my laptop was stolen along with their wired modem.

I called talktalk and was told I had to pay £35 for a new modem and the girl I spoke to was very unhelpful.

I moved to my new home on 4th July this year.

The telephone line was transferred within 48 hours and I got my new number.

I was on the free broadband package that comes with line rental and was told by talktalk that my internet would be active on the 11th July.

That day came with no call or broadband so I called talktalk and spoke to somebody from the home move dept.

He advised me that my broadband would be on on the 21st July and that BT would have to come out to do something with the telephone exchange to enable me to have broadband, this would be charged at £130.

 

He also told me that I should not of been charged for the wired modem and that would be credited to my account, the direct debit was due the week after so I asked him if the charge of £35 would not be taken out of my account, he said no it would not.

Direct debit came out and I did not have enough in my bank to cover both the bill and modem that I did not have to pay for so it bounced!

Much to my fury

 

I spoke to them again and they said if I supplied them with a copy of the bank charge letter they would pay me it back (which they did in the end after pestering them for it)

 

So the 21st July came (BT had been on the 7th August to sort the line out), again no broadband so I called them again and was told that my boradband would be active on the 28th July.

I'm a student and had work to catch up on and I really needed the internet.

28th July came, no broadband so again I call and they said that the date would be 4th August.

I told them that I would be cancelling my account if it was on that date.

 

4th August came and guess??? no broadband, the 18th August is your date.

I had pulled my hair out for too long now and told them I'm leaving their service as they are not providing me with one.

I called BT and had my broadband on within 1 week

 

Today I received a bill from talktalk

 

£220! They are trying to charge me £70 for leaving them, £130 for BT sorting the exchange out so they could give me broadband! But I never had broadband from talktalk :-?

£30 is for calls and rental which I do not dispute but surely this is taking the

Does anyone have any advice on what to do about this, I'm thinking of contacting offcom because have they not honoured their contract to me?

 

I'm a student and simply cannot afford to pay for their incompetence.

 

Their call centres are useless, customer services stink, product is below par and all they do is LIE! How can a business operate like they do!

[ANDENA]

Why dont you go on there forum and complain as i did they dont like it and they might sort it out,if not go on consumer direct and complain there,as fsa would be interested in this one good luck let me know how you get on.

[student414]

Why dont you go on there forum and complain as i did they dont like it and they might sort it out,if not go on consumer direct and complain there,as fsa would be interested in this one good luck let me know how you get on.

 

 

Hi Adena,

 

Thanks for the advice, I've just tried to register on their forum and it says I cannot as I'm no longer a customer of theirs (thank God!)

I will try Consumer Direct.

 

Thanks again and I'll let you all know how I get on

[legion2]

Up to now I have been a fairly satisfied tt customer, but today they have driven me to distraction. My landline is acting up, no oversea calls etc.either to or fro. I have been trying to get through to them since 9.30 am -it is now 1pm. No matter which number I dial, as soon as I get through to the relevent (or any) extension the phone clicks off. The only one that I was able to talk to was the sales team. Does anyone have a working system to get through? Has the Co. gone bust?

I am fed up with the problems of trying to get through to big companies, it would seem once they've got your money they wash their hands off you. Is there nothing we can do?

Edited September 14, 2008 by legion2
spelling error

[ANDENA]

I go on their forum now and complain as i am fed up of talking on phone you seem to get more help on their and they do not like the all and sundry to know,try it,it worked for me.

[tumble]

Oh dear , am at whits end with this lot - I have had a fault on my business line for fifteen days and counting. Poetry and more poetry then rhetoric , and promise of call back - I cant stand it no more . They put calls on divert to my mobile but then keep cancelling divert , Im losing a fortune . Ive rang bt to take line back over but this will take ten days and they are saying that talktalk will have to resolve the fault. Surely this is not acceptable . What can I do ?

[ANDENA]

Oh dear , am at whits end with this lot - I have had a fault on my business line for fifteen days and counting. Poetry and more poetry then rhetoric , and promise of call back - I cant stand it no more . They put calls on divert to my mobile but then keep cancelling divert , Im losing a fortune . Ive rang bt to take line back over but this will take ten days and they are saying that talktalk will have to resolve the fault. Surely this is not acceptable . What can I do ?

ANDENA GET ON TALK TALK FORUM AND KICK OFF.also see consumer direct site and complain to them that is what they are there for,you cant carry on like this.

[tumble]

Im doing just that , would anyone know where I stood legally ? Surely they are in breach of some sort of regulations , am tearing my hair out !!!! seriously affecting my mental health. Dont anyone go near this company they are bad bad bad.

[student414]

I contacted Consumer Direct on Friday and got this response today

 

Dear Miss K

 

Thank you for your enquiry to Consumer Direct dated 13th September 2008. Your reference number for this case is XXXXX and should be quoted in all further correspondence regarding this case.

It would appear that your contract with TalkTalk is governed by the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982.

You would need to check the Terms & Conditions of your contract, to see if it stipulates that you would be liable for any cost of upgrading a telephone line following a change of address. If they do, you may struggle to argue against the charges that TalkTalk are pursuing for.

Although TalkTalk did fail on several occasions to provide the broadband connection, the complaint should have been formalised by you in writing, making time of the essence for the Trader to provide the service before you held them in breach of contract, TalkTalk may argue that you may be in breach of contract by transferring the service to another provider. If this is the case, potentially TalkTalk could pursue you for the termination fee and costs incurred regarding the telephone line upgrade.

If not already done so you should send the trader a recorded delivery letter, outlining everything to date making reference to the above legislation. You should state that you feel that they were in breach of contract by not providing the service and therefore they should not be pursuing for the termination fee. You should request that the Trader responds to your letter within 14 days.

If TalkTalk feel that they are justified in pursuing the payment and you refuse to pay, they may take the matter to the Small Claims Court and it would be up to a Judge to decide.

TalkTalk are a member of OTELO, and if the matter remains to be unresolved, you may wish to consider contacting them for further advice. OTELO provide a free and independent service that has been approved by the regulator (Ofcom) and their telephone number is 0845 050 1614.

Thank you for your enquiry.

Yours sincerely,

 

Debra Archer

Consumer Direct Yorkshire & Humber

[tumble]

Thanks so much for that last post . Spoke with Otelo. They cant deal with issues until twelve weeks has passed from initial complaint. Gave me the following add to write to:

 

Customer liason manager

carphone wharehouse

po box 344

unit 19

Southampton

SO3 21NP

 

Also advised to contact consumer direct to see where the sale and supply off goods act can be applied.

 

Thanks

 

Tumble

[tumble]

Posted recorded deliviery letter on 17/9/ to the above add. Following a discussion with consumer direct I was advised to contact trading standards as I advised that this was a business line and I had telephoned and written to talk talk on a number of occassions as I needed a static IP address all prior to the fault being reported. (The account had only been opened a couple of weeks). Needless to say I had got nowhere with this request either.

 

I spoke with trading standards this morning and faxed over authority to deal with the account . They have an email add for talktalk not available to the public. Suprise suprise got a call from Chief executive office who even gave a number for me to call to chase up the problem just a few hours later. Now they are carrying out more tests on the line (YAWN ) which is protocol before they can instruct an engineer !!! Lets see how long this takes.

They have informed me that as this line is registered as a residential number that I cannot claim compensation. I have informed them that regardless of which category it comes under it is still an unacceptable length of time to leave a customer of any description without a phone line. I have stated that it is their lack of customer service in all departments . The instruction to transfer the line to a business line. just like the fault was not dealt with. I have been informed that talk talk business and talk talk residential are two completely separate companies. I was not informed of this when being told "yes marm not a problem" our business team will deal with it . From the onset of the fault being reported I made them fully aware that this was a business line and will claim accordingly.

Any legal eagles out there please get in touch.

 

Martin I have the phone no. and email add to the CEO should you want it .

 

Tumble

[BoSBoY]

ahhhh, just of the phone from TT, this time they advise me to try disconnecting my sky tv from my phone line, and my house phone...

 

mm, i never had to do this with aol..

 

switched to them 3 months back and been having intermittent problems with the internet ever since, mainly at night..

 

i tryed to cancel but the wanted a foutune as i am stuck with an 18mont contract... i still say they misold me the service, but they claim otherwise.

 

shower of bbbbeeeesssss.....

[tumble]

Surely they are in breach of their contract for not supplying an adequate service. This company are so awful , they are walking over their customers without, it appears a care in the world. They need taking to task Make a noise .

Think we need some template letters drafting to help pursue court action.

 

Tumble

[buzby]

You would think - but it is important to actually READ ther terms and conditions of service, and you'll find most service companies have an exclusion clause that means they are not liable if they cannot provide the service, or repair it, in a reasonable time - whether through incompetence or other valid reason.

 

Without the removal of the T&C that allow them to charge whilst not supplying a service, any court action would be ill-advised. The real answer is of course to go to a different supplier, as you always get what you pay for.

[skeandhu]

Hi guys i have just changed address and asked talk talk to swap over my phone keeping same number which they failed to do and my number changed i then had to wait 4 weeks for a broadband connection after my phone was installed . I have just recieved their first bill for 139.87 which includes 112.49 connection fee which i never agreed to pay i can remember the conversation i had with them it goes like this. if we need to send an engineer to your home you will be billed 70 pound connection charge i replied to say if thats the case dont bother as bt dont charge you to connect a phone line i will go with them and they replied just leave it with us we will sort it out . i have spent at least an hour on the phone to the most unhelpful customers services ever and i am now going to write to their head office i think new phone provider beckons any advice welcome

[Nav1g8r]

I have read though the tread and might be able to help.

I "Know a friend of a friend" who deals with TalkTalk on their Broadband tech desk and some of the questions in the thread i can answer.

 

First of all check out samknows.com it is a website that will tell you all you need to know about "free broadband" (It is not really free - you pay in your line rental). If your telephone exchange is listed as unbundled then you will NOT need a MAC code as talktalk plug you into their MSAN (box in the exchange) and that is how you get it free.

 

The problem lies in the fact that IF you don't get the service from their MSAN then chances are you probably won't get it from any other LLU operator in your area. If you try and change providor then it can cost uber money as sometimes BT declare "the last mile" (the bit from your exchange to your house) as dead as another providor owns the line and number and they cannot take it back.

One guy had no service for over 3 months and in the end the solution was that he had TT on one landline and a brand new phoneline with BT installed with the up to 8mb on his line. It cost him £180 for the new line (which BT waived when he agreed to a 24 month contract).

 

 

I know lots more about LLU and installation so just ask if you need to.

[cycling-jen]

Hi guys i have just changed address and asked talk talk to swap over my phone keeping same number which they failed to do and my number changed i then had to wait 4 weeks for a broadband connection after my phone was installed . I have just recieved their first bill for 139.87 which includes 112.49 connection fee which i never agreed to pay i can remember the conversation i had with them it goes like this. if we need to send an engineer to your home you will be billed 70 pound connection charge i replied to say if thats the case dont bother as bt dont charge you to connect a phone line i will go with them and they replied just leave it with us we will sort it out . i have spent at least an hour on the phone to the most unhelpful customers services ever and i am now going to write to their head office i think new phone provider beckons any advice welcome

 

Exactly the same has happened to me - I signed up with them a few months before moving house as they had assured me that moving the service would be easy. Not so - it took about 6 weeks to get broadband after moving and we have been charged the £100 fee for connection of a new line. Before moving I was promised that they would contact me first if it was found that an engineer would need to be sent out, so that I could decide whether to go ahead or not. Guess what, no one contacted me and now we;re being billed for the work. Are they in breach of anything here? SUrely we had a verbal contract that I had the right to veto the work, which they have not lived up to?

 

What I don't understand is why it was necessary as there was a working phone line installed in this house when we moved in. Why couldn't they just take over that line from the previous provider? IS there some telecom-techie out there who knows?

 

Have complained to tt and after a week got an email saying they apologise for the lack of communication but can't waive the charge as it's in the t&cs that line reconnection costs £100 etc. Angry as that isn't the issue in disupte here! Surely they will have recorded the conversation I had with their call centre employee? It didn't sound like he was in India either, he sounded English to me, so there is no issue of miscommunication!

 

So much for tt being cheaper - they were until I had to pay £100 as well as another £30 rip-off charge (twice). After the 18 months are up I'll be switching to BT or anyone else.

 

Sorry for the rant but I hate being ripped off!