back to article TalkTalk silenced over anti-BT comparison

BT has scored a minor victory over TalkTalk, after it had a trio of complaints about the latter's advertising upheld. BT had objected to an ad punting a TalkTalk phone and broadband package, which claimed users could save £154 over 18 months compared to BT. TalkTalk was not comparing like with like, complained BT. It claimed …

COMMENTS

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  1. R J Tysoe
    WTF?

    Value?

    I wonder where the added value is that Talk Talk thinks it is adding? Is it having my wife in tears from constant phonecalls to them trying to get them to stop our TV contract? Their customer service is the worst I have come across.

    1. My Alter Ego

      8 month saga with us

      We had a 2nd ADSL line using Tiscali business. We got shot of them in April 2010 and they continued to bill us. They then threatened to cut us off after we cancelled our direct debit. Only in February did we finally get a letter saying they'd return our money.

      At this stage we'd completed our complaint to Otelo, and they've said that Talk Talk have 8 weeks to give our money back plus a good will gesture. I'm going to frame that letter, and also use it as an example why nobody should use the bastards.

      It was hilarious listening to the Otelo guy trying to be diplomatic about how shit Talk Talk are.

      One word of advice, always CC complaints to the company secretary, they're apparently *supposed* to mention any correspondence in meetings. Even if it isn't, they will be required to reply to it.

  2. Whitter
    FAIL

    Ineffective corrective/punitive measures

    "Must not run ad again in current form"

    i.e. You got away with lying. Again.

    Fine them the difference in sales from baseline over the promotion period every time a campaign gets pulled. T'would be even better to force them to run a "we lied" campaign with the same budget and coverage as the lying one. None of the 'retraction on page 6' for a front page story that the papers get away with.

  3. Elmer Phud

    They are all at it anyway

    It seems that BT must be a bigger threat to others than they would admit.

    Just about all the adverts use BT for comparison and not any other provider.

    The usual scam is the small print that says 'as compared to BT's most expensive product'.

    A bit like the current 'get Sky phone real cheap (if you've already got an expansive package form us already)'.

    Not only do they all lie about broadband speeds they also tell big porkies about pricing.

    1. Shane Orahilly
      WTF?

      Who would you use instead?

      After all, BT is the most popular telecoms provider in the UK, who wouldn't use it as a benchmark? If you want large-volume growth in your customer base, you go for The Man, you don't set out for a terminal war of attrition with the little guys.

  4. Dr. Mouse

    The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits

    "Most attempts to solve the problems with government IT have treated the symptoms rather than resolved the underlying system-wide problems. This has simply led to doing the wrong things 'better'"

    This sounds like most of the companies I have worked for.

  5. pctechxp

    @R J Tysoe

    A friend of mine had this issue with Tiscali and unfortunately he had agreed a recurring transaction on his debit card so in the end he had to get his debit card number changed.

    Same company, same old tricks, different name.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Talk talk got busted for bending the truth did they?

    Is this the same talk talk that was recently ordered to give back £2.5 million they took from 'billing issues' they had with 62,000 customers?

    Or even the same talk talk who inherited my old Pipex account and now provide a service which drops more frequently than Mr Big's soap in a prison shower?

    Apparently they have 4.2 million customers. I had no idea that as a nation we were that stupid....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Yep...

      I came via Pipex also - and Nildram previous to that. Changing my static IP means quite a lot of hassle so I'm sort of stuck with them.

      Service hasn't degraded at all, but what does drive me mad is the constant drip of emails from TalkTalk Business warning me I'm on a 'legacy package' and suggesting I upgrade to a slower non-Annex-M connection for a mere £5 a month extra.

      Not sure if its a scam to get out of contractual obligations or just incompetence.

  7. Almo
    Black Helicopters

    The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

    Isn't Plusnet owned by BT? So isn't this just 2 complaints from BT?

    1. Dog Faced Boy

      @Almo

      Yep Plusnet is owned by BT. I'm a Plusnet customer but what I find funny is that I get better support from Plusnet than what I ever did with BT and their service is cheaper with less problems than BT.

      I think Plusnet are treated as a seperate company, apart from when legalities are concerned (such as the ACSLaw debacle)

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