I was charged after being told there was no charge

[GarethJones97]

I spoke to TalkTalk’s live chat regarding the broadband box on the outside of my property being deteriorated and in need of replacing as rain water was getting inside it. I provided images on the box. The Live Chat agent said they need to run tests to see what was causing the issue. I reiterated there were no issues with my service and running a test was not required as the physical box outside my house needed replacing. I believe a language barrier  was causing confusion and I was getting nowhere so I ended the Live Chat. I later received a text/email stating an Engineer appointments had been booked and there may be a £75 charge if I missed the appointment. I started a new Live Chat and explained that I did not requested this appointment nor was it communicated to me during the original Live Chat. I explained I would not be home at the date/time they had set up the appointment and did not want to incur the £75 charge. The agent explained the engineer would not need access to my house and it was all external. I also checked if there would be a charge for the engineer coming out, and it was confirmed there would be no charge. When the engineer arrived, he explained he was there to enter the property and run a test to identified the service issue. I explained that was not the case and the box needed to replacing outside. He was not appear if this and said he had a spare “BT” box in his van and it wasn’t the correct box but “it’ll do”. He replaced the box ad again there was no mention of a charge. I later received a bill from TalkTalk for £75 Engineer Visit. No only was a told on two separate Live Chats there would be no charge, but I’ve been charged for an appointment I did not ask for and a box that looks awful / not the correct one. I phoned TalkTalk and they said they would “investigate it”, as if I’ve lied about being told via Live Chats there would be no charge. TalkTalk said they’d get back to me with the result within two working days, but that has passed and I’ve not heard back from them. Unfortunately, I am now having to try TalkTalk Communities to get the £75 charge removed as it is illegal to charge once you’ve said there is no charge. It is also not my fault if your Live Chats agents are not sufficient in English to correctly assist customers issues. I will finish with warning potential new customers to avoid TalkTalk as they will illegally get as much money out of you as possible.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Hi GarethJones97

Thanks for the pictures, FYI the master socket is found inside the property, the engineer report does state it was replaced, however the rest of the report shows the fault was outside so the charge is incorrect, your account is showing that credit has been raised. 

You can request a refund by logging into My Account. 

Regards

[ferguson]

The support team here will look into this further for you when they are back online from Monday.

[GarethJones97]

I have received the following email from TalkTalk:

 

The email states “Following the visit, the engineer made changes to your master socket”.

Below is the photo of before and after of what was replaced:

 

I believe this is the “master socket” that was changed as it is the only thing that was changed and the sole reason why the engineer was called out. I even included the photo of the old “master socket” in my original Live Chat when explaining my issue... to which the agent confirmed there will be no charge. 

However, now the issue has been fixed by the engineer, I HAVE BEEN CHARGED???? It is simply illegal to lie about there not being a charge and then charging. I will not be accepting 50% of the charge as per the email.

[Gliwmaeden2]

It MUST be your Talktalk landline number, even if you don't use it, as staff use this to identify your account, @GarethJones97.

Additional information can go in Private Notes at the end of the Personal Information area. Then scroll down to SAVE CHANGES.

Staff will respond after the weekend. 

[GarethJones97]

I’ve updated my profile with my name and mobile contact number. I could not find a section to include an alternative number. I don’t have access to my landline. I have phoned TalkTalk today as I did not get a response regarding my initial case. I asked what the outcome of the initial case was but they didn't have an answer. A second case has been escalated today. I have to wait another two working days to find out the outcome… that’s providing TalkTalk actually get back to me this time.

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi Gareth,

We generally only arrange engineer visits for faults with the service, anything like this should be reported directly to Openreach (Report damage, vandalism or a health & safety issue | Openreach). Can you please update your community profile to include your:

• Name
• Telephone number
• Alternative contact number

We'll then look into this further. Please do not post this information on this thread. Once you've updated your profile please post in your topic to confirm it's updated.

Thanks

Chris