TalkTalk trying to charge for Engineer visit agreed to be free of charge whatever the outcome

[MyLastResort]

It is now 3 months since I made the huge mistake of switching to TalkTalk.

I have had endless problems with the WiFi performance of the router that was providing poor WiFi speeds to my devices in my 2 bedroom flat (as recorded by TalkTalk's own speed tool), along with multiple DNS lookup failures showing in the router logs for TalkTalk domain addresses and other addresses, and also router settings mysteriously changing by themselves (which seem to have stopped since WiFi optimisation was switched off though I was advised on here that WiFi optimisation could not change MAC filtering settings -  newsflash it seems as though it did).

This debacle of appalling customer support from both the telephone support and the webchat team (not support via this forum which was almost instant and helpful) has gone on for weeks - where I have spent nearly 10 hours on calls and web chats with no resolution (calls dropped on multiple occasions after 30 minutes when put on hold "for 3-5 mins" and the agent never returned, support case closed after 24 hours due to no activity - BECAUSE TalkTalk did NOTHING!, a formal complaint about the support team's ineptitude and regarding the issues with the router closed with a message that they could not assist me with DNS lookup failures ON THEIR router and that I should hire my own networking consultant to sort things out)

As part of this process on February 24th I spent 2 hours on a web chat with the support team. during that chat the supervisor agent decided to replace my router and send out an engineer to look at the issues. At that time it was made clear that there would be NO CHARGE for the engineer visit which I had them confirm. 

When the "engineer" arrived (I put in quotes as allowing him to use the title engineer is an insult to all professional engineers) I asked him about the DNS lookup failures and the strange MAC filtering issues. He confessed to not having a clue as to what they even were and that he had never even logged into the router admin webpages. He was thus utterly unsuitable for such a visit. In fact he made me speak to his "team coach" about the issues until he told me he had to leave for his next call - BEFORE HE EVEN INSTALLED THE REPLACEMENT ROUTER - which I did easily after he had gone.

Yesterday my account "latestbill" page showed that I will be charged £50 for this "engineer" visit despite me being assured there would be no charge and despite the fact that the person they sent was totally unsuited to be able to help anyway having almost zero networking knowledge himself.

I called TalkTalk yesterday and spent yet another hour on the phone being passed from one department to the technical team. After explaining over and over and waiting on hold to get some answer from a superior I was eventually told they would "waive" the £50 charge and it should show online within 48 hours. I was furious at them saying "waived" - this charge should never have been put on the bill in the first place and was illegal.

Today my "latestbill" page still shows that my next bill (to be taken from my direct debit) will be taken on 5th April including this charge of £50 for an engineer visit. However the account balance at the top of the page seems to show that my account balance is without the £50 but I do not know if that is the balance for the next month and nothing to do with this bill. 

At this point I have no confidence in ANYONE I deal with either over the phone or via webchat so would like confirmation TODAY that this illegal charge has been reversed off my account and will not be taken from my bank account on the 5th. 

This is not the case of a difficult customer complaining and TalkTalk acting "nice" and doing me a favour. I have the webchat transcript from 24th February where it was absolutely clear there would be no charge and I got the agent to confirm again to be sure.

This kind of incompetence and frankly illegal behaviour is not acceptable. Neither is the case that there appears to be no way of getting any resolution to such matters in a simple and time efficient manner.

Please confirm that the charge has been removed from my account and that there will be no unauthorised and illegal extra debit from my account.

Please also give me a direct route to speak to someone in the UK capable of actually dealing with this matter should I find in a few days that the amount is still charged despite all assurances to the contrary.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

No problem.

[MyLastResort]

Thank you for the clarification.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

@MyLastResort

The amount taken will be the amount shown at the top, under outstanding balance, The credit was raised on the day your bill was produced, so the direct debit hasn't been presented yet. 

The bill shown in My Account will not change  as Gliwmaeden2 has correctly advised "Once a bill has been made up, it cannot be changed, its just as though you had received it on paper through the post. "

When your next months bill is produced you will see the credit raised and what was taken on the 3rd April. 

Regards

[MyLastResort]

Thank you.

I can now see the outstanding balance has the £50 removed but the bill is STILL shown as including it and is presumably what will be used to take my Direct debit.

Can you confirm that the £50 WILL NOT be taken from my account on 5th April -  as that is what the bill section is still saying and the previous post implied that once created the bill cannot be changed?

If £50 extra IS taken from my account on 5th April how to I get it repaid? I am NOT prepared to leave a credit on my account for a month for TalkTalk to benefit from so will require it to be repaid immediately as per the terms of the Direct Debit Guarantee.

This is not me being petty, this is me fighting against a large company being utterly incompetent and bullying its customers. The recent report on customer satisfaction across all broadband providers shows that I am not alone.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Hi MyLastResort.

The charge has been removed from the outstanding balance, If you log into My Account click on your bill  you will see the updated account balance.

Regards

[MyLastResort]

Thank you for your response and advice.

Where can I check the "transaction history"  please? My concern is that I cannot see anything on my account page that shows a credit or reversal of the charge.

Despite being told on the phone that this would be done I have experienced several times already that an agent will tell me they will do something on the phone to get rid of me but not actually do it. 

[Gliwmaeden2]

Once a bill has been made up, it cannot be changed, @MyLastResort, just as though you had received it on paper. 

However, check in Transaction History for the credit.

If it was added far enough ahead of the Direct Debit date, the £50 won't be taken. If too close to the DD date, the total amount couldn't be stopped, but can go towards the payment of subsequent bill(s) or claimed back via My Account,  @MyLastResort.