TalkTalk: 9,000 broadband customers did the walk walk last quarter UK ISP TalkTalk has confirmed 9,000 customers abandoned its broadband services in the first three months of fiscal '17 ended June – and that overall group sales were pretty much flat on the prior year period. The provider did not release the exact turnover for the period - that comes at the half way point of the year - but it …
So... let me get this straight. One single person is awarded, as a salary, 20% of the entire profit margin of a national company?! That this person also apparently knows so little about the security of the service their company provides is really just a follow-up back-hander to that initial slap in the face.
How about TalkTalk cut her salary down to something even vaguely sensible (say 500k) and re-invest the other 2 M in their IT and security infrastructure?
I was a bit miffed recently when my father-in-law's TT-supplied router died, but TalkTalk refused to issue a replacement until he renewed his contract for another 18 months. This seemed very unfair to me, but guess that was how they prevented him doing the "walk walk"—for now at least.
Go to Trading Standards and whatever they call their Citizen support mechanism this week and discuss unfair contract conditions. TalkTalk will run a mile when they realise they'll end up with another hit there because they're already not in their good books.
That being said, if they press you for a renewal, surely this is the time to exit (again, with help of the above if they try something)? They cannot charge you for a service you cannot use as THEIR kit is broken - you would be entitled to block payment, and I'd like to see them take you to court for that one, so I'd see this as a golden opportunity to dump the idiots and go somewhere where they have a vague idea what service looks like, like one of the independents.
Oh, and numbers are by law portable, so they can't try that one either..
"They cannot charge you for a service you cannot use as THEIR kit is broken"
I'd not be surprised to find the router is a "welcome gift" so they have no responsibility for repair or replace, especially if it's out of any warranty period so his FiL would have to buy one or get another "free" one with a contract renewal.
Is it me or does anyone else find their "street chuggers" overly agressive?
They jump out in front of you and just won't take no for an answer. Aberdeen City Council have allocated community wardens to keep an eye on them due to reports from the public.
Surely the service should sell on it's merits .... having idiots straight off the dole queue forcing it on general members of the public ain't going to help one bit.
"He seemed a bit surprised when I said that."
Probably the only ones they can successfully recruit have no idea to start with and then get put through an induction that tells them how wonderful the company is. Take it as an opportunity to explain at considerable length, and clearly audible to passers by just how dreadful the company really is. Ensure that the name TalkTalk is mentioned at sufficiently regular intervals so the passers by are in no doubt who you're talking about.
"I laughed in the guys face and told him that any company that gets hacked three times in a year shouldn't be touched with someone else's bargepole. He seemed a bit surprised when I said that."
I was in the exact same situation not long after the last hack, The guy just gave a wry grin and shrugged. Obviously it was just a job and he knew that at least some of the people he stopped were "no hopers" in terms of a sale.
Is it me or does anyone else find their "street chuggers" overly agressive?
Oh hell, yes ! (Cardiff)
They won't take no for an answer, assume you're with one of the "big four" and assume that you only want to change ISP because you want a cheaper service.
Sometimes, I enjoy watching their brains dribble out of their ears when I try to explain that I've got a TalkTalk Wholesale line at home. (AAISP Home::1) and it's so much better than the crap they're trying to foist on me.
They jump out in front of you and just won't take no for an answer.
Easy. Call the police and report harassment. Even if they don't come (unless they happen to be patrolling the area I don't think they will), the idiot in front of you will know he/she is on borrowed time because repeat reports WILL draw the police.
> Is it me or does anyone else find their "street chuggers" overly agressive?
I've found in such cases, yelling "NO FUCK OFF AND STOP BOTHERING PEOPLE!" as loudly as you can will often get a round of applause from passers-by
Particularly when it's street evangelists accosting people.
I did it when my contract expired. Went to SSE[1]. They handled it all and I didn't even have to speak to anyone at TT. TT still haven't sent a final invoice and they terminated my email and on-line account so I can't get it that way. I'm tempted to complain to the regulator about that as a final 'put the boot in'.
[1] Because their offer included a free upgrade to fibre.
PS: Ignore SSE's coverage website and ring-up - the line tester thingy only works for BT lines but the website doesn't actually explain this. D'oh.
"TT still haven't sent a final invoice and they terminated my email and on-line account so I can't get it that way. I'm tempted to complain to the regulator about that as a final 'put the boot in'."
I'd recommend you do put the boot in before they set debt collectors on you for payment of an invoice you never received.
Attack is the best form of defence when dealing with this lot. Don't forget this:
TalkTalk and Tiscali UK fined £3 million for breaching consumer rules
I'd recommend you do put the boot in before they set debt collectors on you for payment of an invoice you never received.
That advice applies to ANY ISP, telco or mobile phone service.
Make damn sure they've agreed that you don't owe them any more money, and get that in writing. Preferably in triplicate. In blood.
I'm tempted to complain to the regulator about that as a final 'put the boot in'.
Search the Communcations Services Ombudsman. Check to make sure that your complaint fits their acceptance criteria, then lodge your complaint. You'll at best get a few quid of compensation, but so long as they accept your complaint is within their terms of reference, TalkTalk will be hit with a case fee of about £450.
Usual grounds for acceptance is the failure of the company to resolve the complaint eight weeks after you first tell the company about the problem, or if there's a dispute that has reached a dead-end, in which case you can either wait until the eight week deadline, or demand a "deadlock" letter.
i also walk walked, but am still getting a monthly bill. Shame i cancelled the DD the day they chose not to explain themselves.
They can still screw you over that way. Notify them by recorded letter that they are in error, and simultaneously file a formal complaint with Trading Standards so there's at least a record of you having terminated it or they can take you to court over unpaid bills.
I went smoothly and happily to Zen Internet, but my old tiscali email (aka talktalk) still keep coming in. As I can't log onto my TT account, of course, I can't do anything about it, so that's a great email to give to sites who insist on my email so they can spam me. Very handy. Thanks, Dido!
Make that 9,001
The straw that broke the camel's back was the abysmal offer of "Free Upgrades" that were anything but upgrades and which turned out to have monumental strings attached.
* WankWank health check - er... no thanks
* WankWank mobile at attractive rate - sorry but that means I have to use WankWank and the rate is anything but attractive
* WankWank phone service to include Anytime Calls upgrade for free and no new contract required.. Great! - Until you actually tried to get it then it's "Oh no Sir, not on your package. Yes, we SAID you wouldn't have to take out a new contract but we had our fingers crossed see, so what we promised doesn't count and you'll have to take out a new contract.
Well, fuck you very much, WankWank.
That all came after a round of FTP problems to the web space I had. I was repeatedly told by WankWank there was nothing they could do for my "email problem" as it was a "legacy account"(Screaming.net) - Strangely, I eventually DID get that resolved but only after finding someone with a similar problem in one of WankWank's online forums and pointing the customer service droid at the post.
To rub even more salt into the wound, I got a call from the WankWank's Customer Disservice people a few months later, asking if my "Email Problem" had been fully resolved.
Wankers.
Has the author been watching Mrs Brown's Boys Headpones Recommended - Not suitable for open plan/shared offices
I don't see much point jumping ISP while BT Openreach only offers me crap twisted pair wires for FTTC, which cap speed via variable LCR attenuation and crosstalk, so significantly worse than the 'estimated' speed; new modulation tech. won't properly solve this!
BT Openreach must get their fingers out and roll-out FTTP a lot faster to replace half-arsed FTTC already!
"BT Openreach must get their fingers out and roll-out FTTP a lot faster to replace half-arsed FTTC already!"
Are you prepared to pay for them to dig up the road and whatever else lies between you and the nearest point where they can connect to existing fibre maybe even lay more fibre from the exchange if necessary? If not, who do you think should pay for that? And who should forego their FTTC installations whilst you've commandeered a gang of diggers to do that?
"I don't see much point jumping ISP while BT Openreach only offers me crap twisted pair wires for FTTC"
If you're with a smaller ISP (Mine is phone.coop), they'll ride OpenRetch until the fault is actually fixed - including instances where the linesman says "It's not fixed but it's the best I can do", then closes the ticket as fixed instead of flagging it for further attention.
If You're with the Big 5 and BTOR contractors pull this you have 2 shows of getting it resolved (No show and shit show) without going through _years_ of repeated callouts (Been there, done that, it took 8 years to get a wet drop cable replaced. The linesmen kept rotating through the least bad pair on the cable and closing the ticket. Once 50V was applied to a marginal pair it would fail pretty quickly thanks to electrolytic action but recover a little when left idle for a few months)
They'll also make sure that BTOR show up when they're supposed to or have someone onsite within 4 working hours after a no-show. If it's TT you could wait up to a week for a rebooking (TT had mandatory 8 day delay for FTTC install no-show rebooking and BTOR failed to show up 11 out of 13 times (the 12th time someone turned up to "fix your broadband fault" and left in a huff when told he was supposed to be installing a FTTC circuit)
Hate to throw a spanner in the works, but I cannot fault TT.
Consistent DL speed just shy of 40 meg, phoneline, TV box thing, FTTC, sim and all for just 21.00 GBP / month for the last 2 years (after careful placative chat with the lovely Rhona from SA).
- And a wee man came to my house last year and replaced the kaput router FOC - no quibbles.
Yes I ignore the calls from the Indian 'helpdesk' puroporting to fix my winux blend of machines.
Another walker here.
Had a fault open with them for over a month. Getting peak speeds of 3Mbps. They would never admit to the issue being over subscription. constantly telling me i'd get a call from a manager but never did.
I wrote a script which ran a speedtest every 5 minutes and graphed it. 1 day after having a pop at them over twatter, i got told i could leave my contract. Still had 19 months left on it
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