TalkTalk

The TalkTalk Saga

I am going through the exact pain.

…I first found out about TalkTalk when they knocked on my door to advertise their services. I did not sign up then, but having checked out their packages I thought they had some very good deals (especially that I make calls to EU countries regularly) and decided to sign up.

I have first arranged to connect both my land line and broadband in January 2007 (Talk 3 International package + free broadband). The provisional date for my land line was set to 13 February and my free broadband on 4 March. My land line went live as stated but I didn't get my broadband until 12 May. 'NOT BAD' for an order placed in January!

Why it took so long? They simply did not process my order; as if I have never ordered a broadband with my Talk 3 International… even though I rang every two weeks to chase up!

It was just the beginning.

I have just moved homes (4 November 2007, now a month ago). I have emailed TalkTalk twice (on 5 and on 9 October of which I have proof). Once via website enquiring about what I need to do when moving homes and, after receiving an email from them, the second time providing all of the necessary information for them to action my request to transfer my details.

I then rang the Home Movers department (some time in mid October) to check if my order has gone through. The Customer Services Adviser said there was nothing on my account to suggest I was moving homes. And then (I am not sure where they were getting the information from but) they said that the email I wrote was sent to a wrong department but my details were allegedly forwarded to a Home Movers department. ………..? How did they know if there was nothing on my account to suggest that I was moving? Also, they said they tried to contact me couple of times. When asked where were they calling they gave me a mobile number which roughly reflects mine. It was completely misspelled, even though I gave them my number to the at least twice during telephone conversations and I also emailed it to them twice.

I requested to deactivate my line at the old address on 4 November because new tenants were moving in. It was not done on time. I still had to pay for the telephone line until mid November when it finally got disconnected, even though I requested a disconnection from 4 November! The request itself (as mentioned above) was made one month before, at the begging of October. How difficult can it be?

As I am trying to transfer TalkTalk services from one telephone number to another, I have given at least 30 days for my order to through (at least 30 days is needed to complete the services transfer between numbers according to TalkTalk website). I have done that. It is now 4 December and I am still without a land line or broadband.

After having spoken to the Customer Services on several occasions (in October again and several times in November) I have finally managed to established with them that I am moving and that I have a new telephone number and that I wish to transfer the services to a new address and that the land line at the new address is clear and active and is ready to be used.

FINALLY, I received a letter dated 14 November saying that 'Soon [I] will be enjoying great savings; and unlimited number of…' blah blah blah… and a CD for my broadband. The letter also states that 'In the next 14 days [I] will receive a Welcome Pack'.

Just to see how things were I telephoned the Customer Services on 4 December just to find out that my whole order was somehow cancelled and my account closed. Further, the new telephone number I gave, according to the Customer Services Adviser, was not 'clear'.

Having received a letter dated 14 November I was convinced I was finally getting my land line and a broadband. Just imagine how shocked I was to find out that my whole order was cancelled and that my agreement with TalkTalk is terminated. I then asked the Adviser why they did not contact me when they decided to terminated my contract to which I received the following: 'It is the customer's responsibility to contact us'.

After having received a letter saying my land line is going live in 14 days, how am I supposed to know that some idiot, out of the blue, decided to terminate my agreement? Had I not called I would never have found out!

…I have reinstated my order and am hoping to get a line up and running hopefully some time soon. BUT, when I got home on that same day, 4 December, I picked up my post which also had a letter from TalkTalk. I could only wonder what it contained… The new letter states that TalkTalk received a request to transfer my service to another provider and that they are treating this as my notice to terminate my agreement with TalkTalk. Now, where do they get this information from?

I rang TalkTalk AGAIN to see if my conversation with their adviser the day before had already overridden this letter but apparently it didn't! So I had to place my order AGAIN. I have also requested A refund for the services I have not received in the past month but for which I was charged. Not all of the amount is being refunded. Only 2/3s of it.

To matters worse, my name is misspelled most of the time even after I rang the Customer Services at least 3 times to correct it.

It is now 5 December and I am still waiting to get my land line and broadband even though I ordered for it to be transferred by mid November at the latest; I have given at least one month prior notice for them to be able to transfer the services.

How BAD is that?

Yet every single time they 'deal with my order', they ask me whether I wish to participate in a customer services survey. That is, how they dealt with the query on that particular occasion. Is this a joke? After so many cock ups I will not only not praise somebody (nothing personal), but I will definitely go complain to their Regulation Authorities when I find out who they are. IF there is one, that is. Otherwise, I'll just go around slagging them off to everyone and anyone. The services are appalling. I

I recommend you think twice before joining TalkTalk because not only will you lose money and be angered and stressed by their stupidity, you will never be able to get your time back.