My TalkTalk Story - by Jay

My photographer friend Jay recently tried to obtain "free" broadband from TalkTalk. The result was the kind of nightmarish customer service experience that is becoming more and more commonplace. Here is his story.

April 2006
What an amazing offer: £20.99 for 8Meg unlimited broadband and telephone, including free national and international calls & no BT line rental, and I can keep my number! This is too good to be true, and there can’t possibly be a catch! Am over the moon and sign up with TalkTalk immediately.

May 2006
The phone part of my line has switched over. Had to pay £39 one-off swap-over-god-knows-what fee – but I’m sure it’ll be worth it in the end.

22nd June 2006
Got my free cheap-o-sucker USB modem and installation CD in the post today. I’ve got a Netgear ADSL router running now, which does the job just as good or better, especially without the compulsive installation of a TalkTalk virus scanner for £29 per year. Also got my new user name and password for the TalkTalk Broadband service. Will use it when the BT credentials stop working.

13th July 2006
My Broadband has gone down – which was to be expected. Must have been BT pulling out and switching me over to TalkTalk. Using my new TalkTalk credentials now, and broadband is back up and running. So far so good. My connection speed is still 2Meg though, but let's not question that.

12th August 2006
Wonder why BT keep billing me £25 for a broadband connection…

10th September 2006
Instead of saving £30 a month, I’m now paying £46. BT keep billing me, and so is TalkTalk. Now my question is: who is really supplying me with broadband?

29th September 2006
Phone BT to ask what’s going on. BT insist they supply me with broadband, and my connection had never been switched. The reason is that TalkTalk never got in touch with BT after I had passed on my MAC code. BT also let me know that both username and password have no relevance whatsoever. They suggest I talk to TalkTalk.

Emailed TalkTalk the same day, only to get a reply 5 days later. TalkTalk insist THEY are supplying me with broadband, and claim BT don’t know what they’re talking about. They suggest I phone them back and ask for a refund.

Phoned BT yet again. After a 30minute wait, I get through to somebody who warns me that if BT pull the plug on my line, I might lose broadband altogether. It shouldn’t happen though if I’m not with BT, but unfortunately nobody really knows. Sense major disaster on the horizon. Am put through to 3 different departments, until somebody can finally confirm that I definitely am with TalkTalk, that BT made a billing mistake, and that I’ll get a full refund. Glad we got that one sorted then! Confidence in BT is restored, and I’m almost sorry I left in the first place.

9th October 2006
Came back home after a week off, only to find that my broadband connection has now GONE DOWN! Exactly the situation I had tried to avoid. Hope of ever getting broadband from TalkTalk is rapidly waning.

11th October 2006
Phoned TalkTalk Customer Services at 8am in the morning to avoid the 3 hour queue I hear rumours about. Get through immediately to a snotty person named Mo, probably in a call centre in Albania. I tell him my whole story, although I can tell he neither listens, understands or cares. Am being told my service is live and to call Netgear Customer Support, as TalkTalk don’t give support to people who use equipment other than theirs. Haven’t been spoken to like this since 5th grade! Decide to reply to the email I got previously, hoping to get a reply from somebody who knows what they're talking about within the next week. It becomes clear at this point that switching away from BT was a very big mistake.

12th October 2006
Decide to write this story in case I’m locked away in a mental institution. The plan is to install their stupid modem and software and play by their rules, to see what they say. To be continued…