Hello all, yes I’m writing a blog post! I know it’s been a while, but here I am. And it’s time to share with you a complaint I sent to TalkTalk…
I’ve been a customer with TalkTalk since moving into my first flat with my fiancé back in June 2009. The service you have provided has always been good, great value and I’ve never really had any problems of any kind.
Until now.
On 2nd August 2011 I contacted you by telephone and spoke with a gentleman by the name of Luke. The purpose of this call was to advise that on the 6th of August I was moving home. Luke was very friendly and helpful as he updated my account. Luke mentioned that the area I was moving to was not currently a TalkTalk enabled exchange, but that it was one of your targeted exchanges and they were giving customers here the benefit of cheaper TalkTalk prices.
Luke ran a few numbers and told me that my price plan would come to £19.10 in my new flat, slightly cheaper than the £19.74 I was previously paying. He went over what this price included, line rental, inclusive calls and internet.
He told me that the line would be activated on the 17th August and that the internet would be live about 10 days later. He even said he’d send me a new wireless router with the welcome pack.
Needless to say I was very happy with the service Luke provided. Everything was done with speed and ease.
Then I got the welcome pack. No router was included in this, in fact it was just a simple leaflet outlining your services. Services I’d already been using for over two years. But, right at the back of the leaflet, was a breakdown of costs.
£12.50 line rental.
£21.50 extras.
£15 for broadband.
First off, I have no idea what extras is. But the main problem I saw was the fact my bill had gone from a promised £19.10 per month to a staggering £49.00 per month.
A point made more staggering when you consider that you can get line rental, inclusive calls, broadband and satellite television with a HD package with Sky for £48.50 a month.
So naturally I called your customer services as soon as I received this package, on 27th August. First off, at this point we still had not had our internet service activated. The welcome pack stated it should be turned on around the 5th September, some three weeks after our phone line being activated.
The nice lady I spoke to told me that Luke was wrong, that he should never have offered me that price and they would look into the matter, listen to the call (if they could find it) and possibly discipline Luke for his mis-advice. If it helps I now remember that the call was made at 13:36 on the 2nd August from 023 xxxx xxxx. If you still have problems finding the call I can help, I called from work and so the call is recorded from my end.
I asked what TalkTalk were willing to do, would you honour the price that Luke had offered? I was told no. But that if I wanted to leave you would graciously waive the disconnection fee.
What incredible customer service. A customer for two years and you show no desire to retain my custom?
I work for a large financial services company and if I was to “do a Luke” and mis-advise one of our customers then, subject to an internal investigation, we have to honour whatever we tell our customer. It’s called Treating Customers Fairly. Something that TalkTalk obviously have no desire to do.
Eventually we set up a new account with BT offering the same services as we had with TalkTalk, but at a cost of over £10 a month more than TalkTalk. You see I wanted to remain with yourselves but you have priced me out of continuing with you and in the process have cost me over £180 over the course of my new 18 month contract with BT.
To make matters worse BT tell me that TalkTalk cannot physically offer broadband services in our area. I now believe that rather than tell me you couldn’t offer me a service and see me go to a competitor you were actually looking to take significantly more money from me and hope that I didn’t notice I had no internet.
Then things got even more hilarious as my post this week contained a leaflet from TalkTalk. Apparently I can get phone calls and internet for just £3.25 a month for the first three months. And I could save £199 versus BT’s 18 month contract.
Either this is false advertising or I’ve been lied to by BT and by your customer retention team. Which, if either, do you think is correct? I’d love to hear from you on this matter as I feel I have been forced to leave a service I was happy with.
Up until last month I would have gladly recommended TalkTalk to anyone. But this whole situation has left me incredibly disappointed in your service and I will now be warning friends and family to steer clear of TalkTalk.
Even now I’m getting even more agitated as I try to complain by email, being forced to use an online form rather than just giving out an email address. It’s making me chose a category for my “question”, none of which is “make a complaint”.
I look forward to a prompt response,
Alan Galpin