TalkTalk

[crockers]

Just had the salesman on the phone offering me a deal to move from AOL to their parent company TalkTalk. He has guaranteed me 2mb whereas I am currently getting up to 1Mb due to our distance from the exchange. I asked him how he can give me this speed when all others (BT included) say I am only capable of getting up to 1MB.
He stated that it is because they have some equipment in the exchange (I think he called it local unbundling) and therefore have priority etc etc. He also stated that usually they would offer me 8Mb but because of the distance it would have to be only 2mb.

My questions are - is he telling me porkies to get me to switch ? Has anyone any feedback on TalkTalk ?

Thanks - he is calling me back on friday...the price is very very good....£28.48 inc VAT a month to include line rental, Broadband, and all calls in UK, EU, North America, Australia etc.

 

[Merc Owner 2B]

You'll hear lot's of opinions and answers to this one. Firstly if there were any way to improve network speed then BT would be first adopters.

Talk Talk consistently under perform in the customer service stakes.

My advice............ Walk Walk!

Go to BT Internet. Not the cheapest, but consistently best performing. Depends how put out you'll be when things go wrong and your connection is down whilst the suppliers argue over whose fault it is!

 

[jasonyw]

Yes it porkie. Dont bother to pay extra you wont get any faster. Stay put the speed may pick up at the same price. Mine used to be 2G, it gone up 7G due to BT changing the copper to fibre.

unless you move to Virgin Media or O2 wireless.

 

[verytalldave]

Get what he is promising in writing - on official company letter-headed paper and properly hand SIGNED by somebody who has a responsible post - with a guarantee that if they don't achieve 2mb download speed at your home within one week, then you can cancel the contract instantly.
If they can genuinely do this, then it shouldn't be a problem. If however they waffle around and wont do it, then as others have said - walkwallk.
I have heard cancelling a talktalk contract is like trying to look cool in a G-Wiz. Almost impossible.

Having said all that, I have friends who are with talktalk and are very happy with the service they get.

 

[crockers]

He did say that he would put it in writing and I would have a 2 week trial. If I didn't want to proceed during that period there would be in the letter a specific cancellation number to call.
I'm just puzzled how they can give me a bettet speed than BT on a BT line. Even if they've got unbundling surely the wire running to my house is what's restricting the speed.

 

[verytalldave]

Go to your current ISP and demand 2mb++ download speed as you have been told by another ISP its VERY possible at your address - otherwise you will cancel and move your business ASAP.

See what reaction THAT gets.
A genuine threat of cancellation normally gets their backsides in gear.
I bet it works.


My download speed up to a few weeks ago was between 0.5-0.8mb/s. I moaned like stink and EVENTUALLY they sent an engineer round who managed to repatch me in the exchange. End result - I now have 3.5mb/s.
And I was told quite categorically many times - that I could NEVER get more than about 0.8mb/s because of where I lived. THAT must be the oldest chestnut in the broadband cupboard.

 

[ringway]

There are fools, bloody fools and then there are those that touch Talk-Talk.

I've not got the time to post details at the moment but AVOID at ALL costs.

Customer service doesn't exist.

Try googling talk-talk complaints.

 

[SilverSaloon]

i vowed never to deal with TalkTalk again when i had a problem with them a few years back. i cant remember fully what happend but it was something like i signed up for it when they intrdocued some amazingly cheap/free offer and it never got set up (many others had the same problem all over uk - made the news etc) but when i cancelled it they told me that i still had to pay for the months i had been on contract with & set up fee. i told them to stuff it and try and bill me i never heard a word back from them.

but now, my current supplier, Tiscali has been taken over by TalkTalk. but until it breaks i'll stick with it as it still is the cheapest i can find if i factor in new "installation costs".

 

[Baron_Samedi]

Unbundling won't cure your biggest speed hurdle and this is the long, manky wire between you and the exchange.

 

[grober]

Snake oil salesman alert!

 

[Mr E]

I got the same sales patter when I moved my broadband to TalkTalk. They did not have an unbundled service in my exchange.

You'll only get to cancel by playing hardball - and why should you have to do that?

FWIW the experience is so bad (and recognised internally) that a local forum has been opened, manned by UK TalkTalk staff, to fix / escalate issues in an attempt to retain customers. (Support Forums - The TalkTalk Members Forums to get a flavour of the customer experience)

My personal best TalkTalk experience was being shunted from Customer Services (India) > Sales (UK) > Billing (South Africa) > Sales > Retentions (UK) > Tech Support (India) > Customer Services (South Africa) > Tech Support (India) > Customer Services (UK) > Tech Support - 3rd level (India) > dial tone.

 

[verytalldave]

Doesn't sound encouraging does it ? ? ?

 

[oldcro]

I changed from Tiscali/Talktalk earlier this month to BTinternet and just received a bill from Tiscali for the whole of March. Fair enough the bill was dated the day after the changeover so could have been a error on their part. I spoke to Btinternet and they informed me that Tiscali would have known my ISP had moved from them as soon as my MAC was changed to BTinternet.

Still Tiscali/Talktalk insist I send them a copy of BTinternet's letter confirming I was now with them. So although they knew they were no longer providing my broadband service, this is obviously not enough to stop them charging my account.

After 15 years with Tiscali on dial-up and broadband without any complaints, Talktalk (having increased the monthly charge by £5 for the same service) have driven another customer away by their greed.

With, touch and bargepole spring to mind when I think of Talktalk now.

 

[crockers]

Doesn't sound encouraging does it ? ? ?

No. I'm really glad I bounced this on the forum.

 

[Stratman]

If you do decide to go with them, whatever you do don't pay with a recurring credit card charge. Use a direct debit instead. The reason is that only the payee (talktalk) can cancel the credit card charge, whereas you can cancel a direct debit.

A few years ago I had a conversation with my credit card company that went something like this:-

Me "I want to cancel a recurring credit card charge"

Them "I'm sorry sir, only the payee can cancel it"

lots more of the same........

Me "If I cancel the card will you still carry on paying it?"

Them "No sir, of course not"

Me "Well, do that then"

lots of holding, muzak and voices off......

Them "We've cancelled the charge on this occasion sir"

 

[ringway]

I made a 150 mile round trip to set up a wireless router for Mrs Ringway's Mum.

I called Talk-Talk before setting out on the journey to ensure I'd receive tech help when I got there.

On arrival I called tech support and after spending 40 minutes holding they put down the phone. Called back and spent another 30 minutes on hold and again they put down the phone. Called back again and after spending another 20 or so minutes on hold waiting for support the call centre closed.

Then there is the paper invoices... Mrs Ringway's Mum deals with those and nothing is straight forward. Some promise of cheaper/increased broadband (I think) when the exchange was updated never materialised either.

 

[jasonyw]

I started with talktalk in 2007 and they promised up to 8 Meg, all I got was under 2 Meg. After 3 years they still couldn't achieve 8 Meg, still hovering just over 7 Meg. I am hoping after BT had upgraded the copper to fibre it will at least achieve 8 Meg.

I got a mailshot asking for more money at higher speed I think 10 Meg, I just ignored it.

 

[Piff]

I've had previous with TalkTalk too. When I moved house about 4 years ago they moved my phone service but forgot to move the broadband.
They first blamed me for not telling them I was going to move - the call was to one department who said they would deal with both phone & broadband
They then blamed BT for not carrying out the work at the exchange.
Investigation with BT revealed Talk Talk hadn't put in the request.
Still would not accept responsibility and I got shunted to various call centres around the world, could never speak to the same call centre twice, yet alone the same person.
They still kept charging for the service they weren't providing.
I ended up at the Telephone Ombudsman, won the case, got to break the contract early, compensation, refund of incorrect bills & assistance to move to another provider - AOL.
AOL got taken over by Talk Talk!
Moved to the Post Office. No problems so far, but I do wonder how I will get on if there is a line problem. Our road has poor lines, often crackly enough to fail outgoing faxes.
If I intended to stay here long term, I think I would move back to BT as line may need replacing at some stage.

 

[neilrr]

I had an absolute nightmare getting TalkTalk BB to work when I signed up for their special cheapo deal years ago (read my tale of woe http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/pc-i-t-support-advice-posts/25553-talk-talk-deal.html) but I've got to say once it was all straightened out at the beginning they've been very good.

Don't think I've needed to call them with a problem for years & the last time I did call to ask about adding some service it was to a UK call centre.

They've improved.

 

[verytalldave]

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