Talk Talk Refusing my One Touch Switch to Virgin Media

[UnhappyJohn]

I hope the support team sees this and responds.

I am currently being billed monthly for two broadband contracts.

Back in October 2024, Talk Talk was unable to install full fibre for me so I decided I would switch to Virgin Media. I spoke to Talk Talk support before doing so and they advised me that only Virgin Media could request my Talk Talk account to be closed, (see the attached e-mail jpeg).  So when I signed up to VM, I requested a One Touch Switch. The VM service was installed on 15th Nov 2024, but Talk Talk continues to bill me monthly.

VM has told me that Talk Talk refused the switch because I am still in contract. According to OFCOM rules, OTS  is allowed if still in contract with previous broadband supplier, so why has Talk Talk blocked the switch?

I know I am still in contract with Talk Talk but why was my One Touch Switch refused instead of billing me for early termination?

I am a retired person and I cannot afford to pay for two broadband contracts.

Please would support sort this out for me and stop the monthly billing?

Many Thanks

[Gliwmaeden2]

After all that, @UnhappyJohn, as you have already switched to Virgin, I suppose the only thing you can do now is contact Talktalk directly yourself with the full details of phone number and account number. 

It can't be done through the forum. 03451 720088 should be open again 9am - 7pm tomorrow. 

I can't think how getting Virgin involved again at this stage will help.

You are basically needing to ask to cease the Openreach line and cancel the Talktalk service, but you are now in the territory of 30 days' notice and sorting out the billing, which does take a while to wrap up to get to a final bill for £0.00.

It might be worth pleading a bit, given that you didn't understand that you still had a phone number associated with the account. Explain to them that that's why thy hadn't heard from Virgin directly.

Hopefully they will be flexible once you've explained the scenario, but I'm afraid it's going to be up to the particular agents, how it's dealt with. 

Have your Virgin information to hand too - any sort of verification / proof that you moved to Virgin when you did that proves the date etc.

Hoping for the best for you!

[UnhappyJohn]

Thank you for that.

I disconnected my TalkTalk router 2 months ago. Virgin did not touch the copper wiring; they fed the optical fibre through the same pipe in my garden that the old copper cable was running through.

I have rarely logged into the TalkTalk website as they always email me when bills are due, but I've logged in now and indeed I do see a phone number in my package, even though I don't have phone calls included in my contract. In fact I don't think I've actually seen my TalkTalk contract, as I did not sign up with TalkTalk originally; I was with Shell Broadband who later sold my contract to TalkTalk.

Thanks again for your help with this.

[Gliwmaeden2]

Are you able to log into My Account or check old bills, @UnhappyJohn?

The number used to always show up there in connection with your account. 

OR

If you are still connected via the BT mastersocket, you could borrow a handset and dial 17070. The associated phone number should be read back to you. 

Similarly, if you are still able to actually use the Talktalk line with a router plugged in at the master socket, use Talktalk wifi and then try to reach Service Status Dashboard from the forum pages. You get to My Connection. It should recognise your account from there, and display an associated phone number.

You don't even need to be logged into My Account for that. 

This is assuming that Virgin didn't physically remove all the wiring, which they may have done.

Even from your Virgin supply, you should still be able to sign into your Talktalk My Account to find that phone number. 

[UnhappyJohn]

Thanks for all that help. Much appreciated.

On Talk Talk it was fibre to the roadside cabinet then copper from there to my door.

I asked TalkTalk if they could upgrade me to full fibre but they said it wasn't available to me.

Whereas Virgin Media offered to run fibre straight into my house. That's the only reason I signed up with them. They didn't mention there would be problems switching from a copper line to fibre into the house.

How do I find out the phone number associated with my copper line? I tried various services such as ukphonebook.com but they say no phone number is associated with my address.

[Gliwmaeden2]

We don't pay separately for our landlines, @UnhappyJohn: they are the means of delivery for the old ADSL (copper only) and Fibre to the Cabinet [FTTC] which retained copper after the cabinet, into the house.

Did you try registering your billing in My Account, once you were moved over to Talktalk?

Regardless of whether or not you used the landline, it would still be associated with your account, when you had that service. 

If you had full fibre [FTTP] you would still need to contact Talktalk directly yourself, according to this:

 

See the full description of cancellation processes here:

https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Articles/Cancel-your-TalkTalk-service/ta-p/2204737

It's not clear at what stage you moved to full fibre.....

Unless the infrastructure was all changed with your Talktalk connection, you were still on FTTC when you tried to switch.

Once you use One Touch Switch, while it's supposed to work with Virgin, any mismatches cause problems and you are again advised to contact Talktalk directly:

 

That's from this page:

https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Articles/All-about-One-Touch-Switching/ta-p/3054650

Things are further complicated by being formerly with Shell, as forum staff are limited in what they can offer by way of support for now. Usually you are asked to contact the Shell Migration team. Ask for them here:

https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Articles/How-to-contact-TalkTalk-Broadband/ta-p/2230529

Best to do this on the phone, not Chat, when it involves cancelling an account. 

Let us know how you get on. I'll make sure that this is still in the queue for staff attention in case you have more problems with it.

[UnhappyJohn]

Thanks for the fast reply.

There was a BT phone number on the copper line many years ago. I haven't had a landline phone in the house for maybe 10 years.  I was moved to Talk Talk by Shell media and did not pay for a landline number with them. So I did not request for a landline number to be moved to VM.

I'm not even using the copper anymore. I've got fibre cable running straight into the broadband router. 

What is a FTTC customer?

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Hi UnhappyJohn

Did VM request to take the landline number off us?  or have you moved to a data only package. 

We did not recieve any contact from VM regarding this as you where an FTTC customer, the number would need to be requested to start the transfer.