Billed after disconnection

[Jaymaycee]

I moved to a new provider on 10/03/23.

TalkTalk were informed of this by the new provider. I received an email from TalkTalk confirming the move on 03/02/23. My contract with TalkTalk ended on 12/03/23. I was informed in a further email from TalkTalk that there would be a charge of £1.86 for leaving my contract two days early. The move duly took place on 10th March and my TalkTalk service was disconnected on that date. I was informed by TalkTalk that the next bill following disconnection would be my final bill. Instead the usual monthly bill was generated on 11/03/23, including the £1.86 early termination fee but also charging me for a further month’s service from 11th March to 10th April. I immediately contacted TalkTalk customer services via online chat and was told to disregard the bill, and any non-payment charges applied later. I was told that the matter would be raised with the relevant team, and that I should receive my final bill in ten days’ time. I have a transcript of this conversation. However, nothing has changed. TalkTalk have continued to ask for payment of the ‘outstanding’ bill and their latest email demands immediate payment and states that debt recovery may become involved. Also, on checking my account, the next monthly bill is about to be generated. My account clearly states ‘disconnected’. I have also paid the £1.86 owed for leaving my contract two days early, and have returned my TalkTalk router. I’ve received no acknowledgment or receipt for either. I’ve spent over two hours talking to several customer services agents, but nothing is resolved. I cancelled my direct debit after I was again told by another agent to ignore the outstanding bill, because as far as I’m concerned I owe nothing more to TalkTalk and am not prepared to pay for a non-existent service, and anyway I would have thought billing for services not received was in breach of Telecom regulations. I understand that these bills and reminders are computer-generated, but it’s pretty unpleasant to receive them. Why is TalkTalk’s billing system playing catch-up in this way? It’s particularly annoying when I believe I did everything I could have done at my end to ensure a hassle-free move! 

[Jaymaycee]

Many thanks - it’s all clear to me now. I’m afraid I’ve probably added to the confusion by paying the £1.86 early leaving fee and ignoring the rest of the bill sent in March. Unfortunately the advice I was given seemed to justify my indignation at being charged for an extra month! Hopefully everything will be sorted out in due course. Thank you for unravelling the details for me. 

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Happy to help. 

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Hi @Jaymaycee

Thanks for your post, and information given.

As you say you left our service on the 10th March the bill is usually produced on the 11th, however it is actually prepared days before (while you where technically still with us) the billing system does not take into account that there is a transfer going through which is why the bill arrived. 

We would usually advise to pay this and we refund it, but the live chat agent has advised you not to pay,  so that will be upheld and the bill cleared in the next 24 hours.  As the balance still shows at this moment you will receive another bill in the next few days please disregard this.  A final zero balance bill will be received 11th May.

Sorry for any confusion. 

[Gliwmaeden2]

Very unsettling and you are wise to get this sorted out at the earliest opportunity, @Jaymaycee. Just have to get through the next couple of days  - hopefully it will get attention on Tuesday. 

[Jaymaycee]

 I really hoped that by letting TT know I was leaving in good time (end of Jan/beg Feb) it might avoid this sort of thing happening, especially as checking online brings up rather a lot of reports from ex-customers continuing to be billed for months if not years after they had left TT! Yes, the next bill will be issued ‘on or around 11th April’ and the current outstanding bill was issued on 11th March and due to be paid by 17th March. This is the transcript from 11th March, which led me to believe that everything was fine so following this I cancelled the direct debit (after paying the early disconnection fee) assuming that the ‘final bill’ would just be a statement showing my account was clear! 

Montes|09:37 AM

Hello Judith Good day, you have reached TalkTalk Customer Service and Billing. This is Montes, I hope you are doing well. I can see that you wanted help with. Is that correct?

You|09:38 AM

Yes

Montes|09:39 AM

Thank you for confirming! and for me to assist you further, can you please tell me more about your query?

Montes|09:40 AM

Hello, Judith. I just want to check if everything is okay as I haven't received a response from my last post to you?

You|09:40 AM

I changed to another provider on 10th March but have received a bill which appears to be charging for usage after that date

You|09:40 AM

up to mid-April?

Montes|09:42 AM

I appreciate you explaining this to me, Judith. I'm truly sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for letting us know about your query. I will do my utmost best to sort this out for you. Please allow me 4-5 minutes to review your account. I appreciate your patience.

You|09:44 AM

I have already paid for my usage up to 10th March. I’m also aware that as I left my contract 2 days early there will be a small charge incurred for those 2 days. I’m happy to pay that but not for any further period

Montes|09:46 AM

Thank you for providing me this additional details, Judith. I am still reviewing your account. Please bear with me.

You|09:46 AM

OK

Montes|09:50 AM

Thank you for patiently waiting, Judith. Upon checking with your account, I can see that the account was fully disconnected and was taken over by the other provider on 10/03/2023 and your billing cycle starts every 11th of each month. So there's no bill should be generated. Nothing to worry, I have already escalated this to my supervisor and you do not need to pay this bill and if in the furture there will be a late fee added for not paying this, then rest assured that we will waive that for you. You will get a final bill 10 days after the account has been disconnected and this will offset the charge you've got now. I will make sure that I will properly document the account about this to avoid problem.

You|09:50 AM

Thank you for your help

Montes|09:51 AM

You're most welcome, Judith. I can assure you that you do not have any other bill pending here. I hope you are happy and satisfied with how we assisted you today, Judith. Or is there anything else I can help you with aside from this?

You|09:51 AM

I also still need to return my TalkTalk router

Montes|09:52 AM

Sure thing, Judith. Please allow me 2-3 minutes to process a returns bag for you.

You|09:52 AM

That’s great - many thanks

Montes|09:55 AM

I'm glad to know that I have sort out the confusion going around with your bill, Judith. I have also sent a returns bag and you will be getting this within 7-10 business days to the address that is registered on the account. I just want to confirm, is this address here your current address?

You|09:55 AM

Yes

Montes|09:55 AM

Perfect, you will be getting the returns bag within 7-10 businessdays and it includes the address where you would send the router back,

You|09:56 AM

Thank you

Montes|09:56 AM

You're very welcome, Judith. You have been a very patient customer and it's a pleasure to chat with you. Again, this is Montes from Customer Service and Billing. If you have the time, it will mean a lot to me if you could answer a few questions on how I have assisted you today, Judith. You take care and please stay safe. Enjoy the rest of the day.

[Gliwmaeden2]

If you were able to see that another bill is being generated, @Jaymaycee, and yesterday was the 8th, it means that LAST month's bill was also generated BEFORE the switch date. 

Talktalk always bills a full month ahead, as they don't know whether you will change your mind. They can't just bill the few days ahead in advance. 

The subsequent bill would then normally have returned, pro rata, all the money due to you for the excess days. It's returned to My Account, from which you would need to reclaim funds using the Direct Debit details that should have still been in place. 

Only after that bill is sorted out is a further bill issued for £0.00, at which point it is safe to cancel the Direct Debit. 

What is important here is that the advice you were given by the original agent gave you the wrong impression. That transcript is important, and that's what needs to be checked. Not your fault if it was misleading and I will highlight that when I escalate this thread. 

The chasers that Talktalk are sending out would be normal for Talktalk's usual billing practice. 

You are not the only customer to have felt baffled by the process. The important thing is to get this sorted out as quickly as possible and avoid getting a negative report on your credit rating.

Your usual DD day would probably have been 17th April  (you are on the same cycle as me) so you should have a few days in hand before they chase further. 

[Jaymaycee]

OK, thank you. 

[Gliwmaeden2]

Forum staff will not be back until after the holiday. 

Don't do anything further, @Jaymaycee, before Arne has had a chance to take a look and get back to you about it.