Talktalk

[artie]

The Taiktaik broadband contract runs out on the twelfth of Dec.
To say we are less than happy with their service for the last 18 months is something of an understatement.
So I rang today to tell them I didn't want to renew.
Got through to a human surprisingly quickly.
I told her the reason for the call, then the mental gymnastics started, second and fourth letters of the password, phone number, email address. Finally she says ok, so you don't want to renew with us, I say that's right. she says why?
I say I want to let it expire, she keeps asking why? and then eventually says ok, I will disconnect you on the 4th Dec 30 days from now.
I have visions of penalties for ending the contract early , so I say no I want to let it run the distance, just don't renew it.
She says we need 30 days notice if you want to end it on the 12 Dec you will need to ring back on the 12th Nov.
I have neither the time or the inclination to relate the full conversation that followed but suffice to say he supervisor and manager were involved before they agreed to not renew it on the 12th.
It seems that even the simplest thing is geared to wind "one" up nowadays.

 

[Rorschach]

Can I ask what the problems are/were?

We have just switched to TalkTalk from the Post office who were dire.

 

[artie]

Can I ask what the problems are/were?

The problems were losing the net quite regularly on a Sat night which is probably our fav night for being couch potatoes.
numerous instances of slow connection.
These things I believe can happen with any provider, but the real test how they deal with the problem.
Their service agents are the worst I have encountered, they don't even listen to what you say.
I remember spending 90 mins on the phone one Sunday afternoon with a guy who kept telling me the service was working normally, while I was sitting in front of the PC with a download speed of 0.05mbps and couldn't even connect to their website.
On that day I swore I would move as soon as the contract expired.
I hope you have better luck

 

[D_W]

The Taiktaik broadband contract runs out on the twelfth of Dec.
To say we are less than happy with their service for the last 18 months is something of an understatement.
So I rang today to tell them I didn't want to renew.
Got through to a human surprisingly quickly.
I told her the reason for the call, then the mental gymnastics started, second and fourth letters of the password, phone number, email address. Finally she says ok, so you don't want to renew with us, I say that's right. she says why?
I say I want to let it expire, she keeps asking why? and then eventually says ok, I will disconnect you on the 4th Dec 30 days from now.
I have visions of penalties for ending the contract early , so I say no I want to let it run the distance, just don't renew it.
She says we need 30 days notice if you want to end it on the 12 Dec you will need to ring back on the 12th Nov.
I have neither the time or the inclination to relate the full conversation that followed but suffice to say he supervisor and manager were involved before they agreed to not renew it on the 12th.
It seems that even the simplest thing is geared to wind "one" up nowadays.

I believe that's intentional - a way that's not illegal to make it difficult to cancel. Amazon prime is like that. It auto-renews. Without logging in to find the exact date, you have no clue what date it will auto renew and often find out when based on when they take now over $100 out of you.

If you log in 3 weeks early and want to turn off auto-renew, all you get is an option to cancel service immediately. It's probably better now than it was last time I tried it, but I thought I was canceling the auto renew about 3 weeks early until the last second when it notified me that amazon prime would cancel immediately and there would be no partial refund.

Literally cannot cancel comfortably early and still retain the no-cost parts (the kids watch some of the streaming TV, etc). I suppose it's not illegal and I'd imagine they get a lot of people checking back in a day after their membership auto-renews demanding cancellation and their money back, but would also imagine they have a data file on how much more useful it is to them to make members jump through hoops because most people would like to have the membership lapse and then renew it later when they're ready to make an order.

The whole process is made doubly stupid when the "representative" you talk to really has no idea why things are set up the way they are so it's hardly better than talking to a recorded message if you have questions. That's also intentional.

 

[craigs]

You should try cancelling Virgin, i actually had to write a letter and post it to them like a heathen. By the way id go back to them in a heartbeat, I rarely had any issue, but there's just no Virgin where i moved to

 

[AJB Temple]

Virgins are increasingly rare these days.

 

[SammyQ]

Artie? Talktalk? Their so-called "service agents" in Manila, Soweto or Kolkotta?.The ones that CANNOT deviate from their script? The one that EVERY new voice insists that you go through EVERY time? The Talktalk that was SO bad their CEO had to be put in charge of Track and Trace? The Talktalk that has forums with "contented users" answering your query with platitudes, before resorting to personal abuse when you present them.with facts? THAT Talktalk? Nah. Bunch of solitary sexual relief participants.

Sam

 

[AdrianUK]

Artie, you have my sympathy.
To confirm what’s been said, my experience with TT was without doubt and no exaggeration, the worst from any company ever - period. I was auto migrated when TT took over the Tesco internet business, and within the first week suddenly no connection. The offshore Service/tech support is in essence script being read, same script even after speaking to several agents and having to answer sam3 questions each time. On several calls I could hear background noices such as a TV or baby crying which confirms the support are all homeworkers without any knowledge, just the script. Eventually told that BT openreach would need to attend, and if there was no fault found, I’d be charged for the call out, even though previous ISP had been working fine. This went on for several weeks until eventually I contacted TT’ UK head office. I should say here, TT make this very difficult to do, all numbers routed through to there off shore centre and your back in the endless loop of having to answer all previous questions.

However, having some useful networking contacts, I obtained the Chief Execs contact details and dropped a detailed complaint, and my actions if I heard nothing from them within 7 days, suffice to say it was agreed that TT would allow me to leave my contract without penalty forthwith, pay the compensation they offered me to a charity of my choice and return my contract fees for the last 3 months if I dropped my complaint. I will add, this is not the norm, however, I had significant inside knowledge of TT’s operating model that helped.

So, please take note, from what others have posted above, nothing has changed. I understand TT’s pricing is attractive, however there’s reasons for this, one of which is lack of fit for purpose tech and customer support. They have also had a total disregard to customers data integrity in recent years and the previous CEO Dido Hardings ability be open on this and address the issues was woeful. No surprise to me a Track/trace has been deployed so poorly with DH leading it. My view is that the extra I pay for BT or whoever, is worth every penny for the peace of mind that if there is an issue with my service, the customer/ tech support is in place to be effective.

 

[novocaine]

We left stalkstalk a few years ago. Got fed up of being blamed for their feck ups.
Now woth plusnet who habe been nothing but helpful.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Virgins are increasingly rare these days.

Must be all that 'cancelling' going on ....

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Don't forget that the lovely Dido in charge of our test/track/trace built her careeer untangling the worst of TT's nonsenses.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I believe that's intentional - a way that's not illegal to make it difficult to cancel. Amazon prime is like that. It auto-renews. Without logging in to find the exact date, you have no clue what date it will auto renew and often find out when based on when they take now over $100 out of you.

If you log in 3 weeks early and want to turn off auto-renew, all you get is an option to cancel service immediately. It's probably better now than it was last time I tried it, but I thought I was canceling the auto renew about 3 weeks early until the last second when it notified me that amazon prime would cancel immediately and there would be no partial refund.

Literally cannot cancel comfortably early and still retain the no-cost parts (the kids watch some of the streaming TV, etc). I suppose it's not illegal and I'd imagine they get a lot of people checking back in a day after their membership auto-renews demanding cancellation and their money back, but would also imagine they have a data file on how much more useful it is to them to make members jump through hoops because most people would like to have the membership lapse and then renew it later when they're ready to make an order.

The whole process is made doubly stupid when the "representative" you talk to really has no idea why things are set up the way they are so it's hardly better than talking to a recorded message if you have questions. That's also intentional.

I do wonder how much richer a small group of people at Amazon have become as a result of their cynical business practices around un/enrolling from AP. It's got to the point that even lowlife scammers are taking advantage of the cynicism around AP to try and fleece unsuspecting folks: automated call as follows: "we have renewed your subscription to AP please press (expensive, premium rate) keypad button to speak to a (non existent) advisor"

 

[Rorschach]

My mistake, we just moved to Plusnet, not TalkTalk, sorry.

 

[artie]

My mistake, we just moved to Plusnet, not TalkTalk, sorry.

I think you'll be happier there.

 

[Rorschach]

I think you'll be happier there.

I hope so. Seem alright so far but nothing beats the reliability we had from SKY, we had good speed and no outages for years, unfortunately their prices kept going up and up.

 

[DrPhill]

Contact the ISP (internet service provider) that you wish to go with. Arrange to start the contract with them on the day your TT ends. Your new ISP will be happy to do the rest, and TT will have no say in the matter. Instead of talkig at TT (who are motivated to make things difficult) you will be talking to your new ISP who will be motivated to make things easy.....

 

[artie]

Contact the ISP (internet service provider) that you wish to go with. Arrange to start the contract with them on the day your TT ends. Your new ISP will be happy to do the rest, and TT will have no say in the matter. Instead of talkig at TT (who are motivated to make things difficult) you will be talking to your new ISP who will be motivated to make things easy.....

Yes I would normally do that but in this case, I have the alternative up and running already, so TT is coming to a dead end.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Contrary to previous posters I have fairly little problem with Talktalk.

The connection comes down the same wire as all the other similar service providers. There may be some technical niceties behind this but I regard it as not dissimilar to gas and electricity in that respect.

The one major problem was with a failed line when I returned from an extended holiday - within threee days they dug up the path and intalled new cables - all at no charge!

Only slight issue is that although the headline price is good and they commit to no in contract increases, they simply increase the costs of the add-ons.

 

[artie]

Contrary to previous posters I have fairly little problem with Talktalk.

Talktalk or Talktalk business?

The connection comes down the same wire as all the other similar service providers. There may be some technical niceties behind this but I regard it as not dissimilar to gas and electricity in that respect.

Yes thats true but I believe they have their own gear set up in the exchange. What that entails I don't really know.

The one major problem was with a failed line when I returned from an extended holiday - within threee days they dug up the path and intalled new cables - all at no charge!

It's not TT that digs up the path.

Only slight issue is that although the headline price is good and they commit to no in contract increases, they simply increase the costs of the add-ons.

I'm sure lots of people have positive experiences with them. They have won awards, so they say.
Unfortunately my experience was bad.

I should add just so I'm not picking on them. I did have a quite passable experience with TT Business at a previous property from 2007 to 2018.
Their customer interface was in common English always and were quite helpful.

 

[RogerS]

Don't forget that the lovely Dido in charge of our test/track/trace built her careeer untangling the worst of TT's nonsenses.

You left out 'failing to untangle'. What were the losses down to her monumental lack of management? How many millions ?