Tiscali/TalkTalk final billing problems

[bordercollie]

Along with my usual November 2009 £14.99p monthly bill from Tiscali, I received a letter notifying me that "w/e from Feb 1st 2010 my Tiscali Broadband only a/c was being upgraded to TalkTalk's service (same broadband speed of 2Mb, same unlimited download, no other differences) but a price increase from £14.99p month, to £19.99p month.

 

As I was well outside my Contract period, I immediately phoned Tiscali to cancel the service, and obtain a MaC code from them.

 

After getting a bit of a run-around, I finally got the MaC code, and arranged to switch to BT Total Broadband the same day.

 

On December 10th, 2009, I received the "Activation Letter" from BT Broadband, notifying me that my Broadband service would start by midnight on December 18th, 2009.

 

The same day- December 10th, I phoned up Tiscali's dedicated Cancellation phone line to confirm the cancellation of service on December 18th, 2009, and was told a Cancellation Notice and Final Bill for the period, December 1st-Dec 18th, 2009, would be shortly sent out to me.

 

I started BT Broadband as arranged at midday on December 18th, 2009, and lost the Tiscali service immediately- my free webspace- myspace.tiscali.co.uk went off air immediately.

 

Then at the beginning of January, 2010, I received a Bill from TalkTalk for a total of £29.98p, for the period Dec 1st-Dec 31st, 2009, plus Jan 1st-Jan 31st, 2010.

 

Using TalkTalk's 'Contact Us' online forms (which sucks as you can't keep a copy of your Complaint which you send to them- deliberately??) I contacted them 7 separate times, and had differing replies which varied from "You must have overlooked to cancel your contract when you received your activation letter from BT" and "Yes, you did cancel your contract on December 10th, but BT failed to send us a separate notice that they had deactivated our Broadband service on December 18th, so we assumed you were still receiving our service" to "Your Bill is indeed incorrect- you only owe us for the period Dec1st-Dec 18th 2009, 18 days, which is a total of £8.75p" (I totally agree that this is what I do owe)

 

Since January 6th, 2009 I have actually received 4 Bills from Talk-Talk, 2 x for £29.98p and 2 x for £14.99p. I have also received 3 automated phone calls asking me to pay the Bill "or my Broadband service will be suspended or disconnected..." Really???, please go ahead....

 

Today's latest automated phone call was demanding £29.98p so I used the 'speak to an advisor' option on the call (as Talk-Talk was footing the phone call cost) and the Indian lady who answered the call, told me that although her computer said I owed them £29.98p, if I paid her the £8.75p for the period Dec 1st-Dec 18th, 2009, there and then, she would mark the account closed.

 

As I have dealt with Talk-Talk 6 years ago, and took them to the Ombudsman who awarded me £200 compensation for a string of broken promises and lies in respect of charging for Broadband which I didn't have, I didn't trust their accounting system, so I asked her to send me a Final Bill out confirming that the £8.75p was in 'final and full settlement of my account' and as soon as I received it, I would pay it immediately.

 

Surprise, surprise, this lady from Talk-Talk Collection Accounts Dept said she was unable to send out a Final Bill for this agreed £8.75 as "I had to pay it to her first, before her computer system would let her change the outstanding balance from £29.98p to zero..."

She could not also guarantee me that this would be the end of the matter.

 

I told her I was very unhappy with the matter, and asked her to provide me with a written "Final Response" to my dispute with her Accounts and Billing Dept, as I intended to immediately refer the matter to the Ombudsman for an independent assessment.

 

She refused, and said she could not provide this, nor did she know where I could get a "Final Response" from.

 

Advice is needed for-

 

1) Did I act reasonably in the circumstances?

 

2) Does anyone know the contact details for Talk-Talk's High-level Complaints team, along with a name?

 

3) Should I do, or have done, something different?

 

Talk-Talk.....should be renamed "No-Talk-Talk"

 

Border Collie of Scotland

[denzelhp9]

Yes you did as much as you could.

I have had exactly the same experience. To-day I received a final notice for payment of nearly £50 for January,February and March 2010.

 

I migrated to BT on 18th January, one month later than yourself. Bt told me the change over is automatically done and the previous ISP is informed.

Of course Talk Talk denies being told, now this is not my problem as BT did inform then.

I agreed I owed 17 days Jan1-Jan17 IE £8.22.

This like you was agreed.

Then the automated 'phone calls from Lithuania I found out, telling me I owed more.

This happened three times and three different people said 'exactly' the same thing, like reading from a script.

I sent them a copy of BT notice regarding them taking over from 18th January. Guess what? They denied getting this letter.

I have since had a letter from the director of customer services, telling me my internet would be disconnected on 24th March 2010.

As I have been supplied by BT since 18th January this was a joke.

Anyhow I sent TWO copies of BT paperwork plus a personal letter to director, by RECORED DELIVERY. I have proof of delivery at least-no response yet to this letter.

The FINAL demand letter was dated 18th March 2010 so the two crossed in the post.

In this letter they(Talk Talk) threatened to send the debt to a collection agency.

 

If you need to contact them(TT) use this number:

 

020 3302 8416/17/18/19 there are four numbers there, and it will be charged local rate.

 

Get in touch with your local Trading Standards Officer for advice.

 

Ombudsman in last resort.. hope this cheers you up?

[paternoster]

Liked Tiscali until taken over by TalkTalk and prices raised. Gave notice and tried to go to AOL but they messed up 5! times so went to BT for line and Orange for Broadband. My advice - stick to BT for line, even if a little more expoensive because at least you can change ISP at the drop of a hat without having no BB for 4 weeks. Anyway then TalkTalk really got going and charged me £380 on my credit card !! for cancellation of new contract which I had refused to go on, (even though they said charges wouldn't go up). They have admitted their mistake in writing twice and promised to refund but 3 months down the line and no money. Just given them 48 hours notice and then I'll issue a District Court Summons through the Government website (Money Claim Online) for the money, interest, my time, and court costs. My further advice - get away from TT and never pay these charges by credit card - card company not really interested as I had "authorised" the charge.

[denzelhp9]

Hello

I resolved my problems a little while ago.

I e-mailed Charles Dunstone (Chief Exec) and within the hour I had a mail from their senior complaints manager and the whole thing cancelled.

I claimed some compensation for the distress it caused me and I eventually received £50, with apologies. It took ages but it has been sorted.

Trouble is that TT use several sources for chasing their so called debtors.

I have always used BT line and I agree this is the best way.

I still see complaints about TT.

Go to the source I say-e-mail the BOSS.

[questioning]

Hello

I resolved my problems a little while ago.

I e-mailed Charles Dunstone (Chief Exec) and within the hour I had a mail from their senior complaints manager and the whole thing cancelled..

 

Hi,

 

What email ad did yiou use for Charles Dunstone, would you be able to private message me the email you used please?

 

kind regards Q.x.

[monniotc]

Hello

I resolved my problems a little while ago.

I e-mailed Charles Dunstone (Chief Exec) and within the hour I had a mail from their senior complaints manager and the whole thing cancelled.

I claimed some compensation for the distress it caused me and I eventually received £50, with apologies. It took ages but it has been sorted.

Trouble is that TT use several sources for chasing their so called debtors.

I have always used BT line and I agree this is the best way.

I still see complaints about TT.

Go to the source I say-e-mail the BOSS.

 

Hi,

I have a similar problem. I cancelled TalkTalk when I moved house in December. I've paid them what I owe, but they keep demanding ever-increasing amounts of money. Today I received a demand for £180 from a THIRD debt collection agency threatening court action. They never reply to my letters. I keep getting calls from call-centre operatives who read from a script. I've a good mind to sue them for damages. Could you PM me with the CEO's email as well please?

[PMCT]

Hello

I am having similar problems with TalkTalk - as I speak I have been holding on for more than 20 minutes to speak to another 'agent' who will probably also be unable to explain why my bills bear no relation to the deal I signed up to. Any chance I could also have the CEOs email? Perhaps deluged by emails from very dissatisfied customers he will do something to improve matters. I notice that to complain to the Ombudsman (Office of the Telecomuunications Ombudsman) you need to allow Talk Talk 8 weeks to resolve the issue, meanwhile of course paying their inflated bills with no prospect of refund. Thank you.

[questioning]

Just seen your post, put your complaint in writing and send via recordable means, if they are not going to resolve your problem then ask for a deadlock letter, once you receive this you do not have to wait before going to OTELO. I thought Talks_ _ t say in their t's and c's you have to wait 12 weeks before escalating to otelo,

 

Have they just blatenly over charged you, or are you suffering from hidden extras?

Edited August 18, 2010 by questioning

[questioning]

Hi,

 

What email ad did yiou use for Charles Dunstone, would you be able to private message me the email you used please?

 

kind regards Q.x.

 

yep I have emailed charles too, same thing within an hour i had email from senior complaints from CEO office and its all under investigation.

I'll post the conclusion, lets hope its to my satisfaction.

Anyone wanting an email for charles, have a look at google, its quite easy to find his email add, and Dido's too, how ever she is away at the moment.

 

Best advice I've ever had was to start at the top.

So thanks for that, its especially helpful when the companies staff don't understand you, and no matter how hard you try they still don't grasp it, but if the penny drops..... you get CUT OFF.

[terri.lennox]

Hi, i am having some problems with TT and was just wondering if i could have Charles Dunstone email address please. thankyou.

[Mr Government]

I emailed Dido Harding with my complaints against talk talk, you can google the name to get the email. This worked for me and my dispute was settled within 12 hours

[Guest TalkTalk Offical Company Rep]

Hi All,

 

In regards the CEO this is not Charles Dunstone (TT Group Chairman) but Dido Harding (TT Group CEO)

 

Im sorry to hear customers have experienced such issues and we are more than happy to investigate into individual queries. If any customers do want us to invesitgate further you cna either Tweet us @TalkTalkCare or register on the TalkTalk Members Forum.

 

 

 

Alternatively if you do wish to reigster a formal complaint full details can be found in the TalkTalk Customer Complaints Code on the TalkTalk Website. http://help.talktalk.co.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/2022

 

Regards

 

Mark

TalkTalk Online Community Department

[Mr Government]

I find it very amusing that as soon as I post the name Dido Harding on several threads, all of a sudden a talk talk rep appears. Its nice to see them checking the forum, but it would be better if is was not to deflect attention away from Dido Harding, if everyone started contacting the CEO direct, then they might take action to improve the whole customer service experience.

[locutus]

I do have to say the TalkTalk members forum is great support and I'd try that before escalating my complaint to the CEO. Even if they fail to address things it at least shows you've tried everything to sort the problem before contacting the CEOs office.