TalkTalk ordered to stop charging customers for cancelled services

Talk Talk is a killer. Once you had it, you are dead. Service is rubbish, internet slow (Cant download Google), need to wait an hour to speak to a least knowledgeable advisor and so on. Oh God save all the Talk Talk customers.

Thanks

Just thinking of joining them but now will have to think again about it.

I had internet service from Tascali, which was a good price and worked well.

I moved address and cancelled my service without problems.

I did have to call them for a refund, not sure why, but the funds arrived OK.

Only this morning I got some junk mail boasting about TalkTalk's prices and service being staggeringly better than BT's, according to customer satisfaction surveys and awards.

Whom does one believe?

I was with Tiscali and to be fair the service was cheap and good but I then cancelled the service and switched to BT, who said I didn't need to inform Tiscali as it was done automatically. I spent several months abroad and returned to find Tiscali/Talk Talk had continued to take money from my credit card each month and even continued to do so after they acknowledged their error I did eventually get a refund but only after several expensive phone calls, much hanging on and extreme persistence on my part.

After a previous unsatisfactory experience with Wanado (where I only achieved satisfaction by sending a recorded delivery letter to the Chairman) I've eventually learnt that you get what you pay for - I'm now with Zen broadband and can't rate them highly enough.

The TalkTalk spokesperson implies that their problems are limited to an error on a legacy billing system but that is not so. Customers have to speak to TalkTalk staff when trying to resolve problems of any kind. This will usually involve a process of speaking to many people in different locations. Most of these people give the impression their company is a complete shambles and they have no idea how to deal with all of the complaints. They seem to have difficulty communicating with others in their own company and different members of staff contradict each other.

I 'upgraded' tiscali to Talk Talk to get a quicker broadband, as advertised on theri website. Next minute I've a cancelation fee of £259 and tiscali carried on with the old direct debit. Eventually after 6 months of presistent phone calls each time agreeing the refund, I just received a cheque. I even had to put it all in a letter ( no emails !) Tiscali and Talk Talk operate independently and can't see each other's systems ! I'm still awaiting a refund of the connection fee from Talk Talk which never should have applied. Luckily I printed off the order confirmation initially as there Finance dept refused the claim. I've had to post that. I'm wondering now if it's Ofcom's intervention that has spurred action at all.

I'll be leaving at the first opportunity on principle, but will have to see through the 18 months.

Just try moving under talktalk. Wow. I was so glad that after 3 months they have finally processed the change of ownership form to transfer the account to the new client. Nightmare company, hours on the phone, hopelessly appalling customer service. Never ever again. Pay me to use the service and I would say no. No way.

Talk Talk are a disgrace in terms of their level of service. Once you are signed up, that is it, if something goes wrong you will spend literally hours on the phone trying to resolve it. If you try to cancel and leave, they will lie, deceive and use every unethical trick in their armoury to stop you. I am not surprised at their behaviour in charging people for services they have cancelled.

I thought that demanding money for a debt that is knowingly not due was a criminal offence? Just prosecute some of those responsible and lock em up !

That's a good point. If demands continue, once the situation is clearly known, it is, in my view, a police matter. Companies are no different than individuals in their need to obey the laws of the land, so I hope any staff or directors who might have knowingly allowed it to happen are persued by the Police.

I have my own problems with TalkTalk / Tiscali and it is nearly impossible to speak to any representatives to complain without having to use expensive phone numbers, rather than free-phone or geographical ones. I actually think it should be illegal for any company not to have a freephone (0800 **** ) number or at least a low-cost geofraphical landline for dealing with complaints and/or technical assistance. The latter lines often costs most of all, but, in my experience, technical assistance is most often needed to solve problems caused by the supplier's own equipment or services.

To complain to TalkTalk, or even to find details of contracts can involve speaking to many tens of people before getting to the right person. Most of these people appear, from their accents and poor English, to be based in overseas call centres. Each one, in the seemingly endless chain of people you have to contact, demands a number of very sensitive bits of information, such as full address, date of birth, all of which would be invaluable to identity thieves. If you question this, in many cases it seems they already have this information on you and are just checking. It would seem they could quite reasonably ask for partial information instead.

I hope that all companies using such centres take extraordinary care in their data protection, to avoid this information reaching criminal hands, as I don't expect any overseas call centre pays their staff very much by Western standards, as saving money is the main objective.

Anyway, TalkTalk

Forewarned of TalkTalk's (in my case PIPEX which is owned by TalkTalk) tactics of billing after 'migration' to another provider (in my case BT), I cancelled my direct debit with PIPEX on the day of 'migration' (8/6/10). I was also told by BT that details of 'migration' would be passed to PIPEX accounts for its records, so I was also surprised to receive a subsequent demand from a debt collection agency. I have copied all correspondence to the DCA and PIPEX's last letter (21/10/10) finally acknowledges the migration date and will request its finance department 'to have the balance (£42) removed.'

Whatever name these people go by TalkTalk, PIPEX or Tiscali, they should be barred from doing business with the public. If they are not unethical, then they are totally incompetent commercial enterprises. There is an old saying 'pays your money take your choice'.........

I find it absolutely appalling that TalkTalk / Pipex/ Tiscali have been allowed to get away with stealing money from customers for so long with OFCOM doing absolutely nothing!

This systematic theft of customer money has been happening for years. The forums on the internet have hundreds of posts, from people who have been overcharged.

The problem as I see it is that there is no penalty ever applied to TalkTalk, all we get from OFCOM is a hollow threat that if TalkTalk continue stealing from customers OFCOM may actually do something (probably at the same time as pigs fly).

The crimes have been committed, and those responsible (the directors of TalkTalk) should be held to account in the criminal court for this serious and systematic fraud.

Unfortunately I think we will have a long wait before OFCOM actually DO anything to address the situation. So much for “Digital Britain”, it is being undermined by unregulated crooks.

My name is Len and an elderly friend of mine asked me to help him get a broadband deal so he could use the Internet to keep in contact with family in the UK and the USA. I first contacted his current provider Talk Talk to find out there price, this came to £40 per/mth and then started searching and getting prices for his broadband and possibly his phone and TV as a package. When I spoke to Talk Talk who gave me a price for the package wanted that included a special offer to keep with them. I got them to agree not to contact my elderly friend and agreed all contacts would be through myself 7th April 2011 and also agreed the next contact would be the 11th April, where I would talk to them again after I had researched other possibilities, I also said that I wouldn’t be available the next day. However the next day I received a call and it was my friend Jeff, he said he had just had a call from Talk Talk trying to get him to signup there and then. I told him they shouldn’t have contacted him as we had agreed all contacts would be through myself, he said, “they are trying to get me to sign up now and said they can’t now do the special off made to you yesterday”. As I spoke with Jeff it came out that he hadn’t called me but the call was from Talk Talk who never made it known they were also on line and never spoke just disconnected the call. On the 11th April I spoke with Talk Talk who denied any knowledge of the pressure call on the 8th April. I told them I was very unhappy with their behaviour and was advising Jeff to change to Plusnet who offered a much cheaper package, I also asked if there would be a cost at cancelling Talk Talk, I was assured there would be no cost as Jeff had been a customer for nearly three years. As we spoke I was offered a reduced rate for six months if Jeff stayed with Talk Talk, I pointed out that Jeff would be getting a reduced rate from Plusnet that was half what he was offering and that at full rate it was still below there special reduced rate he was offering and I asked how can I trust what you say as you have already gone back on an agreement twice. After this conversation I advised Jeff who has been present at every conversation as they were all made on his home phone, that he should go with Plusnet and he agreed. The arrangements were all made to change from Talk Talk’s phone line and take the offer made by Plusnet for phone and broadband for £28 per/mth. All seemed to be going OK direct debits were cancelled for Talk Talk and started for Plusnet with all dates confirmed by email. The Plusnet broadband came on line and I got Jeff in contact with his extended family in the UK and the USA on Monday 2nd May. Tuesday 3rd of May 11 I got a call from Jeff, Talk Talk had called him and quoted a possible £70 charge for cancelling their phone line and offering him the package now at £27 per/mth, they also gave him the number to contact Plusnet and cancel his new package, he was quite upset by this call. I went straight round to him to stop him from worrying and made calls to Plusnet explaining what had happened and telling them I would be making this complaint, they agreed to give you any help they can. I then called Talk Talk and when I finally got through to customer services and asked for the person’s name I was cut off. I called again and got through this time, I explained what had happened and said that their own agent said that there would be no charge for cancelling, I was told that is wrong and we do an annual agreement that in this case goes from Sept 2010-Sept 2011, I asked why they was using scare tactics and pressure sales on an old man, I was told we don’t do this, the agreement is as I said Sept-Sept the person who said there would be no charge is wrong and as for the agreement not to contact my friend that was made would take up to 28 days to be put in place. I said I thought their behaviour was despicable and that their action was as low as you can get. Finally I said how can you justify a £70 pound charge to cancel this account and the reply was, that is a possible charge that we always quote if someone wants to cancel. I said if this were a possible charge how much would his charge actually be, I was told the charge would be £13.84. I said so the £70 ponds was a scare tactic and told them I would be advising my friend not to pay till I heard from you as I think this is a case of abuse against an elderly gentleman trying scare him into staying with Talk Talk. I also said that I would be advising him to let all his family and fiends know how shabbily Talk Talk had treat him with a view to them not renewing their account and I would also be doing the same.