Talk Mobile

I signed up for Talk Mobile's SIMple Talker sim only plan on the 24th August. It was by far the cheapest 30-day sim contract around, and for just £10 a month it came with 300 minute and 300 texts, a much better deal than any other network can provide.

I'll start with the good stuff. Signing up in the Carphone Warehouse was easy and pleasant, I had no problem switching networks and all worked fine. Their phone customer service is fantastic, I was able to get through to an agent in literally seconds and she was very polite. All worked rather nicely.

Then I got my first bill through. Where I was expecting to pay £10 a month I had been charged £40. This is because my free minutes were 'pro rata' until Talk Mobile decided a full month began, which for them is the 3rd September. Consequently, between 24th August to 3rd September I was only given a proportional 78 free minutes and texts. Unaware of this, I had made over 2 hours of calls and racked up almost £30 of additional charges.

The customer service call center referred me to the Carphone Warehouse store of purchase, where I was shown the small print stating that my minutes would be pro rata until the first month began. While, technically, this puts me at fault, I would expect to have been told by the sales person when buying the sim card that this would be the case. I was not. I was not verbally warned the minutes would be pro-rata, I was not told to check my free minutes beforehand nor to check when a new month of free minutes begins. It was left up to me to read all the small print and make the enquires about what I can use.

Upon recieving my bill and explaining this to the sales assistant in the store, I was told nothing can be done whatsoever as I had signed the terms and conditions. I immediately cancelled the contract out of disappointment. I struggle to understand how Talk Mobile can leave all its customers in the dark about such issues. When I asked the manager if he personally would accept such hidden charges, he was unable to give me an adequate answer.

As a new and small mobile network operator, I expected Talk Mobile to have an understanding and a desire to please its customers. What I got was, at best, apathy. I will be avoiding any involvement with anything related to TalkTalk or the Carphone Warehouse from now on.

I recently became unemployed and joined Talk Mobile to reduce my bill and save money. I have now ended up spending far more than I dare think about due to their malicious practise and soulless concern for the customer. Remember, you pay for what you get; this sim only contract is cheap for a reason!