I was left without broadband for WEEKS after TalkTalk blunder – simple check you MUST do to avoid it
A PROJECT MANAGER was fuming after his broadband went down for weeks due to a major blunder by TalkTalk – and then he ended up paying more.
Paul Barnard, 55, first contacted the broadband provider in December to cancel the internet on a property he used to own in the Peak District.
But TalkTalk erroneously cancelled the line at his home in Derbyshire instead, with the broadband and phone line outage kicking in the following month.
The outage meant Paul’s elderly father, who lives alone in Suffolk, couldn’t phone him for weeks.
Paul rang TalkTalk to raise the issue and his line was reinstated just over two weeks later, while he was compensated £112 for the period when he was without service.
Paul was then told he would be able to sign up to a new contract 30 days after the service was reinstated, which he did.
But when he recontracted, the order was not fully processed due to yet another error which left it “stuck” in TalkTalk’s IT systems.
Mr Barnard’s case was also incorrectly flagged as unresponsive, meaning his new order was not processed.
The Sun understands TalkTalk has now addressed the technical glitch in its system to make sure another customer isn’t hit with the same error.
But the mistake meant Mr Barnard was being charged £37 a month for his broadband deal for several months, despite agreeing to pay just £23.
That’s an extra £14 a month, which over the course of a year would have left him paying an extra £168 if The Sun hadn’t got it resolved.
Paul was then stuck in a back-and-forth with TalkTalk to get them to correct his bill for more than two months.
Each time he spoke to TalkTalk, sometimes for up to 90 minutes, it cancelled the incorrect order, meaning he continued being charged the wrong amount.
Mr Barnard said he had to contact TalkTalk six times to get the issue rectified, which it now has been after The Sun stepped in.
He was put on the correct £23 a month contract on April 17 and has been refunded £162 of what he overpaid between January and then.
TalkTalk has also offered him a goodwill gesture of one free month of broadband, which he has accepted, meaning his refund is worth £185 in total.
But the palaver has left Paul simmering.
“It was stressful because I’m busy with work and I was having to spend an hour every couple of weeks trying to get them to sort it out,” Paul said.
“If you could get straight through to someone then it would be fine, but you can’t.
“You [keep getting] transferred, you have to go through it all again each time and it just got my blood boiling by the end.”
A TalkTalk spokesperson said: “We apologise for the inconvenience Mr Barnard has experienced, which was initially caused by a technical error preventing this new price from being applied.”
To avoid ending up without broadband, always double check which contract or line your supplier is going to cancel.
How to contact our Squeeze Team
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To get help, write to our consumer champion, Laura Purkess.
I love getting your letters and emails, so do write to me at squeezeteam@thesun.co.uk or Laura Purkess, The Sun, 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF.
Tell me what happened and don’t forget to provide your phone number so I can ring you if I need more information. Share with me any reference number the company has given you relating to your case, or any account name/number if you’re a customer.
Include the following line so I can go to the firm on your behalf: “I give permission for [company’s name] to discuss my case with Laura Purkess at The Sun”.
Please include your full name and location in your email/letter.
How to complain to your telecomms company if you’re not happy
If you want to complain to telecommunications company more broadly, first contact them to let them know what your problem is and give them chance to rectify the issue.
If this doesn’t resolve your problem, you can raise a formal complaint.
Contact the provider in writing and say you’re making a formal complaint and explain how you’d like it to be resolved.
Make sure to provide as much information and evidence as possible to back up any claims you’re making, such as that you haven’t received the service you pay for.
Take screen shots of your devices if you have slow download speeds or make a note of times you tried to make calls that failed, for example.
You can escalate your complaint to the an alternative dispute resolution service if you’re still not happy.
For example, Resolver looks at cases against some telecoms firms such as BT.
The regulator, Ofcom, doesn’t currently have the power to resolve individual cases, but reporting a firm to Ofcom can help build up a bigger picture.
The regulator can then investigate companies if it receives significant numbers of complaints against them.
It can pay to know your consumer rules too.
Consumer expert Scott Dixon revealed in The Sun last month how he saved £100 a year on his broadband bills in a matter of minutes by complaining.
How to get cheaper broadband if you're on Universal Credit
MANY people in the UK are unable to afford internet access - here is help available if you're struggling to make ends meet while claiming Universal Credit..
Several internet companies provide special discounted rates for customers who are on Universal Credit or other benefits.
BT offers a basic phone and broadband package for households that claim certain benefits.
You could be eligible to get the cheaper broadband deal if you get one of the following benefits:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Pensions Credit (Guaranteed Credit)
- Employment and Support Allowance (Income related)
- Universal Credit (and are on zero earnings)
The monthly phone line rental costs £5.16, and includes free weekend calls for up to an hour to 0845 and 0870 numbers.
It also comes with a call allowance of £1.50 and a £10 monthly price cap.
You can add broadband to the BT Basic line for £10.07.
The price cap means that no matter how many calls you make, the most you’ll pay each month is £15.16 or £20.07 with broadband, if you keep with the eligible calls included within the price cap.
If you make fewer calls it will be less and you can choose to have either monthly or quarterly bills.
Virgin Media also offers a cheaper deal for people on Universal Credit.
However, the £15 a month Virgin Essentials offer is only available to existing customers – but it could be a good option if you’re already signed up and are looking to reduce your costs.
It is a 30-day rolling contract so you can switch back to your usual service when and if you’re ready to.
The broadband deal doesn’t come with a phone line, and there’s no way of adding one, so this probably isn’t the right deal for you if you need a landline for emergencies.
Other cheaper options include Hyperoptic’s Fair Fibre plan, which offers benefits claimants money off broadband packages, and customers in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire could get a good deal with KCOM.
It’s important to shop around when you’re looking for a new broadband deal as other internet packages could be more suited to your needs.
You should use a price comparison website to find the best fit for your budget.