This is a personal rant about UK broadband, phone and TV provider TalkTalk. I’ve been in dispute with TalkTalk since 2010, or 2007 if we include the time TalkTalk has been over-billing me for my Internet service since it took over Tiscali.
I understand service prices go up. That’s not the problem. What is the problem is that TalkTalk have increased my bill from £9 per month to £25 per month for a below standard ADSL connection.
TalkTalk’s own website (not listed because I refuse to send any link love) says I can have TalkTalk Plus which includes phone, broadband and TV for £24 per month. That’s £14.50 per month for the package and £9.50 for line rental. So why the hell are they charging me £25 for Internet only!
After several long phone calls of complaint during the past two years, I have been given a £30 rebate and offered another £10 to cover a rebate that should now be around £380.
We can only refund when contacted within 6 months of an issue being noticed.
Today I had a chat with a woman at TalkTalk’s Executive Office. She told me she could refund me for the last 8 month’s of over-billing. Not good enough. I’m owed for 2 years over-billing. She said: “We can only refund when contacted within 6 months of an issue being noticed.”
They were notified of the issue over 2 years ago. She would not agree with me that the issue was raised before August 2011.
In that one statement she has implied agreement that there has been some over-billed going on. You will see why this is important in a few paragraphs.
Despite the time elapsed between August 2011 and now being nearly 16 months i.e not 8 months like she wanted to refund me for, I played along with her and listened as she briefly cited call notes by previous call handlers. She seemed to skip a few notes. She didn’t know I knew the content of the note made in August 2011 because it was read to me last time I phoned. I asked her to read it to me.
The call note from August 2011 references a previous complaint about this issue. I had her by the short and curlies. But she wouldn’t agree. I can’t believe the bull spoken during the call.
She explained the reason my Internet connection fee is so high compared to most other TalkTalk package fees. Seemingly, my Internet bill is determined by:
- The length of the cable between my house and the exchange.
- The number of Internet users connected to the exchange.
- The cost for TalkTalk to use the exchange.
This is why I pay £25 per month for ADSL running at up to 164kb/s down — if I’m lucky and it’s a sunny day — instead of £24 per month for broadband, phone and TV.
I’d love to know why they keep increasing my broadband bill when the number of people joining the exchange must have increased over the years I’ve been with TalkTalk. More connections should equate to lower cost.
TalkTalk’s ad slogan should be: we screw up your billing to give your wallet a rest and bank manager a heart attack.
Next stop: the ombudsman to complain about all of this and BT to get a better deal.