TalkTalk still the most whinged about telco

TalkTalk has retained its tarnished crown as the telco consumers complain most about, according to Ofcom's sums. The communications watchdog continues to receive oodles of gripes about the nation's providers, an average of 360 a day, and TalkTalk is the most unloved with 0.8 complaints per 1,000 users on its landline services …

[Steve X]

telecoms regulations

"stop breaching telecoms regulations by issuing bills to consumers for services that have not been provided. "

Sorry? Is "breaching telecoms regulations" Ofcom newspeak for "fraud"? . Maybe instead of asking them nicely to stop, they could have hauled their CEO into court? Or would that have been too much like hard work for that bunch of regulatory incompetents?

[Patrick O'Reilly]

Not just whinged

We're no longer fans of them here in Ireland, especially in Waterford

[Ralthor]

+1

Damn straight. Ofc we thought the were wankers from well before they said to their workers... "here have some breadcrumbs and then fuck off"

[JMcL]

As the man said, don't expect customer service to improve anytime soon, since they've cynically canned almost 600 support staff that actually knew where the UK is. Wankers

[The Alpha Klutz]

there's something inherently slimey about most telcos tbh

WE GIVE U GUD DEAL U SIGN NOW!

[Field Marshal Von Krakenfart]

We love you long time

I see you are getting marketing messages from the Philippines already; can you imagine what the level of service will be like when you are dealing with the night shift in the call centre in the Philippines?

[My Alter Ego]

Whinge, really?

I tend to think of whinging as annoyingly complaining for little or no reason. From experience, there's plenty to complain about when it comes to Talk Talk.

[Reading Your E-mail]

Whoopsy

Oh Crap, I'm on Talktalk and 3UK

[<spez>]

whoopsy too

+1 on that.

thankfully out of contract...... but no cheaper alternative (or near)

i guess you pay for what you get.... never needed to complain here in 2 years...... touch wood.

[SnowCrash]

If a legal firm tries issuing bill to clients for services that have not been provided i am pretty sure that they lose their license. Why are telecoms providers (and for that fact most utility companies) treated so differently?

Or is it just a question of getting as many of your mates appointed to the regulatory body as possible, thereby ensuring that profitability isn't affected and screw the actual customer.

[Andrew Moore]

Strangely enough...

they are not particularly popular here in Ireland either.

[Anonymous Coward]

Talktalk

Time to do the Walkwalk?

[Joe Chapman]

TalkTalk took money from my account after they I canceled with them and still owe me.

I was originally with Tiscali, then TalkTalk bought them and wanted me to move to the TalkTalk billing system. I told them I didn't want to and that as a result they would just end my contract without a MAC. I had got fed up of having no service (both technically and customer service) so I decided to try to leave anyway.

I spent literally several hours on the phone to various countries. First stop was some kind of guard/vetting person in I think Phillipines. Eventually I got through to South Africa where they couldn't find me on their system as it only gave the name of one person in the household, not me, for the phone, not broadband. I was then informed I needed Tiscali billing and was put through to someone else. That person was sat close to the person that put me through to them. They still couldn't help. I spoke to the manager. I eventually got the cancelations department who tried to stop me from leaving first by telling me I'd been with them for years so why would I want to leave, then he got nasty and insinuated that I might stop my direct debit (even though my contract was up anyway). I wish I had. I pleaded with him and got a MAC. So then I left but TalkTalk took money from my account. So I spent more time on the phone and eventually got through to the "billed after cancelation department". Oh dear, not a good sign if they've got a department for such things! I explained to the person, who was quite good for a change, she agreed TalkTalk were at fault but they'd have to send me a cheque because they could no longer bill anyone from the old Tiscali billing system. TalkTalk have not returned my money.

This is not whinging - I've been robbed.

Joe Chapman, Oxford.

[Sarah Davis]

glad to see they're getting the recognition they deserve.

I was with them for a short while. As soon as I was switched over I couldn't phone any mobiles, including my own, from my landline. They said it must be the phone which had been working fine before I joined them. I left (not without a load of grief) and went back to BT, and magically i was able to phone mobiles again.

Talk Talk really are crap, in every department. You'd think there were laws against such ineptitude in a service.

[John Tserkezis]

there's something inherently slimey about most telcos tbh #

Not wrong. The most complained about sector in Australia is, guess what, Telecommunications.

Kinda like all the telcos are trained at the same spot.

[Anonymous Coward]

Same people, same problems, same causes.

I've worked for both 3UK and TalkTalk, in the guts of the backoffice, around their respective launches. Interesting places.

3UK was summarized by one lark as "This chinese fella has a heap of money to spend, we may as well fill our boots". They had amazing problems at launch, and continued to do so long after. The 3UK management were described as "the Orange B-team"... Harsh, but fair.

A few years later, I came across the same people pulling together what was to become TalkTalk. Some of the juniors had become seniors, some of the people had left, and a few new people were thrown into the mix from Carphone. I tried to offer a few lessons learned, but no one cared. "We've done this before!", they crowed. "It's a reference design!", they bleated.

[Anonymous Coward]

well...

they are the cheapest and 2nd biggest in the UK.... what do you expect.

Want the best connection, the best customer service, the best whatever, its probably not going to be the cheapest.

I'm a great beleiver in 'you get what you pay for' and this is just another example of that.