Does #TalkTalk care?

[Tim Lund]

I've been having one of those repeating nightmares recently with TalkTalk, which you can read all about here

Does @TalkTalkCare?

I naturally think about it when I see people in the Queensthorpe Road pocket park flogging TalkTalk broadband services, and next time I'm going to butt in on any conversations they get going with potential customers. I'll be asking them to go back to whoever is paying them and explain that this is a very difficult pitch, since there's this lunatic making it impossible for them to do their job. The idea is to generate bad publicity for TalkTalk, so I'll use my mobile phone to record any conversations, and have my camera too, should any passer by be interested in helping with getting a better quality photo we could offer to the local press.

[owlwise]

My phone line has been dead for over 24 hours. Although I reported it to TalkTalk yesterday I've received no updates from them so far...

[Tim Lund]

I just tried following the OfCom guidelines about how to complain about a broadband supplier, and found myself in a parallel universe of TalkTalk run Forums where every one is happy



How much time does anyone have to go through all the steps before I can start counting the eight weeks before I can "take my complaint to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme ", "stalemate" having been encountered - by whose definition?

It's not as if other companies can't manage to supply a decent service.

[leenewham]

I had loads of problems with them and wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. Same with Npower who were downright criminal.

My dad has with Talk talk too and has had all sorts of problems with them.

So, no, I don't believe they care. They offer big deals, that's their business model. They don't care about service.

[topofthehill]

Suggest you Google contact no for TalkTalk''s CEO Dido Harding and email or phone that number. You should then be put in contact with their Complaints Department. Otherwise you'll be forever listening to call centre staff in India reading from scripts which have absolutely no bearing on the issue, promising "escalation " and call backs which never transpire.
Once you get to the Complaints Department, they are actually, and surprisingly,, quite helpful - at least that is my experience.
That said, if I did not need the same business email address, which I have had for some 20 years, (tiscali days) I would steer well clear of Talk Talk.

[Rachael]

I'm in a similar situation with Virgin Media. Approaching eight weeks now with my complaint but who decides what stalemate is? At the moment we are arguing about the fact they have no record of my written complaint, even though it was tracked and signed for two weeks ago.

These companies are overselling and underproviding, with no consequences.

[Tim Lund]

Thanks for the support, guys.

It's getting a bit surreal on the TalkTalk forum

I'm trying to post external links, but they keep removing them, even when I spell them out so no bot could follow, e.g.

"lund dot co dot uk slash contact slash"

Does that count as a link?



I'm waiting to learn what it takes to verify an external link

Seems like some - an OCE, whatever that is - will use the information should they choose to.

Excellent customer service!

[Rachael]

That really is Big Brother-ish. At least the Virgin Media forums are full of people complaining. And Virgin reps do respond, although with the usual platitudes and scripts.

[stuart]

Yes Rachael you are right. Virgin might be bad but they are not in the same class as TalkTalk. TalkTalk are special.

Frankly Tim - you have a choice - end the contract now or stay with the most justifiably derided ISP in the business. Leopards are not going to change their spots anytime soon. Why on earth sign a contract with a company with their reputation? You only got what anybody who checked their reputation would expect. Anyway non-provision of a contracted service should be a good start if you wish to avoid penalties.

Why are they so bad you might ask? It is down to long standing CEO Dido Harding who has ruthlessly pursued a policy of outsourcing everything that can be outsourced to the lowest bidder in order to offer low headline prices. So there is little integration between the non-TalkTalk Indian CS staff and the companies providing (or not providing) the infrastructure. Plus TalkTalk was a combination of a myriad of different competing minor ISPs who had poor services and would have taken a miracle worker to integrate in the first place. A double whammy.

That's why bits under the TalkTalk branding have gone awol from time to time. Within the industry their security is viewed as a bit of a joke. It has long been suspected that their CS contractors' staff have been selling customer data to scammers. Something TalkTalk have long denied but are now - in the aftermath of the October catastrophe and closer scrutiny - now beginning to begrudgingly accept.

This is the company that makes BT Internet (and Virgin) look good. Though I wouldn't recommend them as an alternative. Sadly last quarter's bad churn figures show not all TalkTalk's ex-customers are heeding this advice.

BTW Tim, have you Googled Dido?

Stuart

[Tim Lund]

Stuart - I wasn't responsible for the original decision to go with TalkTalk, and it's not really mine to change, but, in consultation, I will be doing so.

I'd not actually Googled Dido Harding, although I knew she was close to the Conservative Party.

It is interesting, in its way, just how bad a service can be.

[Hissing Syd]

I've been with TalkTalk for six years, always found them great - fantastic speeds, phenomenal value for money. Convinced my parents to go with them, and my Dad (aged 81) also has had only good experiences with them.

Every time I've needed to speak to them or have had them ring me, my hackles have gone up, as I know I'm speaking to a call centre and I'm always short of time (and patience). Yet on each occasion, by the end of the conversation I've left feeling surprisingly satisfied.

They'd been offering me a free SIM card for the last two years, but I demurred until finally, sick to the back teeth of horrendous service from EE aka Orange, I took the plunge. Now, for the first time since moving to Sydenham, I have a full, clear, decent signal - and no mobile bill for a year.

Sorry you're having such a rubbish time. I've not read your blog link at the top, but I'd suggest calling them direct if you can - apologies if I'm missing the point though.

Just offering an alternative experience to counterpoint - but whether it's what Chinese or Curry House you favour, or what ISP you think is good, everyone will have a view for or against, especially online, where venting is de rigeur. Hope you get it sorted soon!

[_HB]

I'm also with TalkTalk and have been for a few years having had generally bad experiences with most of the other providers including Virgin and BT. No issues with the performance of the network but then I don't do anything that would place a huge load except for the odd bit of Netflixing or whatever.

As ever with these services, your opinions will be coloured by what happens when something goes wrong. And clearly TalkTalk have done a rubbish job of sorting out Tim's problem (his internet problem, that is ). But they're all much of a muchness in my opinion.

To answer the OP: No, TalkTalk doesn't care. And neither do Virgin, BT, EE etc etc

[Robin Orton]

I write in defence of Virgin Media. We have been with them for years, and although there have been problems, they have usually been sorted reasonably promptly. We don't play games online or download masses of video, but for email and the web it's been fine.

[Rachael]

I write in defence of Virgin Media. We have been with them for years, and although there have been problems, they have usually been sorted reasonably promptly. We don't play games online or download masses of video, but for email and the web it's been fine.

I think the thing with Virgin is that when it all works, it is great, and their customer service for routine issues is really very good. My problem stems from them overselling in my area (which will not be the same as yours, Robin). Their normal lines of customer complaint can't help me. This is a problem that will escalate if they continue to oversell, which seems to be the pattern. They've now offered me penalty-free cancellation. It has taken six weeks to get to speak to the person would could authorise that.

[Pally]

I write in defence of Virgin Media. We have been with them for years, and although there have been problems, they have usually been sorted reasonably promptly. We don't play games online or download masses of video, but for email and the web it's been fine.

Same here re Virgin

[Rachael]

Apologies to Tim for hijacking his thread.

[Tim Lund]

Rachael - I feel no particular sense of ownership of this thread, so no need to apologise.

The service my Dad had had from TalkTalk was acceptable up to when he moved house - which is why I assumed the change over would be problem free. OTOH, another family member has been locked into another TalkTalk nightmare, but didn't summon the determination to switch. Instead he, in his own words "emailed Baroness Dido Harding", and had someone respond, and the problem was fixed within 48 hours. The nightmare, in that case, followed the lines Stuart suggested, with TalkTalk taking over an AOL account, and offering some amazing deal, but it ended up in there being no phone service at all for a period of weeks.

Following Stuart's comment about churn rates, I tried googling for some independent comparative data, but didn't find anything easily - any chance of a link?

[Tim Lund]

This is quite amusing



So there is one part of TalkTalk which will only use phones, and another which will only use Twitter.

Joined up customer service it is not!

[stuart]

Following Stuart's comment about churn rates, I tried googling for some independent comparative data, but didn't find anything easily - any chance of a link?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/02 ... customers/

Some other more recent security updates on TalkTalk:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/08 ... isit_data/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/09 ... ce_breach/


Stuart

[Tim Lund]

Following Stuart's comment about churn rates, I tried googling for some independent comparative data, but didn't find anything easily - any chance of a link?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/02 ... customers/

Stuart

Thanks a million - but is there a table anywhere showing proportion of customers moving from one ISP to another, and if so which? I'm looking for a Markov chain transition matrix here