Unexpected charge for TalkTalk Engineer Visit

[Brian291]

Following loss of broadband service I had a TalkTalk engineer visit on 10th March.  I understood that there would be a charge if problem was with in-home wiring etc.

I did not receive a written report of the engineer's findings but he told me verbally that, whilst his findings were inconclusive, he had made an adjustment to a "tight" connection in the back of the BT master socket.  He also suspected a possible router fault as the router took a much longer than expected time to sync.  He said that he would not replace the router at the time but TalkTalk would do so if problem recurred.  I was therefore not expecting a charge, however my latest bill shows a £50 charge for the visit.  Can someone explain this please?

(As of today my broadband download speed according to the router is just 4Mbps; it should be nearer 34Mbps.  I have logged another fault this morning; of course this may or may not be related to previous fault.)

[Arne-TalkTalk]

You should be able to request a refund within the next 24 hours

[Brian291]

Thank you Arne

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Hi @Brian291

Sorry for the delay, We have now received the report:   

"Engineer has resolved the fault located at the DSLAM / G.fast unit.The fault was fixed by performing lift and shift." 

This indicates the 1st engineer charge is invalid as the issue should have been detected at that point. 

A credit will now applied to the account for the charge, the fault is not covered by auto compensation policy, however a gesture of good will for the problems will also be applied to the account. 

Again, sorry it took so long. 

Regards

[Gliwmaeden2]

I'll re-escalate this to make sure that it's in the workflow again, @Brian291.

We've hit another Bank Holiday, however!

[Brian291]

More than another week has gone by and I have since received another bill for monthly package but still no refund for the disputed charge is showing in my account.  Please expedite this.  I think it has gone on long enough.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

We haven't received it yet, Ill chase it up today.

[Brian291]

Arne, have you found the latest engineer report?  Cannot see anything in my account yet and another bill due in a few days.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

I will check the latest engineer report, and come back to you. 

[Gliwmaeden2]

I'll re-escalate this thread for you, @Brian291.

If the charge is refunded by Talktalk, it won't show in your bank account, but will be a credit in My Account (transaction history).

You can then put it towards further bills or organise the refund to your bank account from there, using the same banking details as for your Direct Debit. 

Staff will reply during the week (Monday to Friday).

[Brian291]

I did update this post last week but it seems to have disappeared into the ether. A TalkTalk engineer attended on Easter Monday, confirmed the router was faulty and replaced it. We now seem to have fully functioning broadband with very good speeds – thank you.

However, we still have the issue of the charge for the previous visit when the engineer said he suspected a possible fault with the router but did not change it. Whether he didn’t have one with him or couldn’t justify replacing it at the time I don’t know but either way a charge should not have been raised. This disputed amount has since been debited from our bank account so we need it sorted please.

[Brian291]

Yes, the router is connected to the master socket.  I chased up your faults team this morning and the Openreach engineer attended here about 50 minutes ago.  At the time the broadband was not working at all.  His test kit synced at about 39Mbps I think he said but the TalkTalk router would not sync at all.  As I write this the router is working BUT over the last day or so it has been coming on for periods of an hour or two and will then go off for many hours.  The Openreach engineer's opinion was a faulty router which is what the TalkTalk engineer told us he suspected on his earlier visit (that you are trying to charge me for).  I trust that a replacement will be sent without further delay and the charge for the previous engineer visit cancelled

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Ok , with the previous engineer report showing a rewired extension, is your router  connected to the master socket? 

[Brian291]

As I said before I reported a fault on 31st March and was told there was a problem on the line and that an engineer was on the way to the exchange.  The fault tracker shows it as still in progress.  I suspect that a remote reset of my router was carried out overnight as the internet was interrupted during the night (according to my smart speaker) and this morning was syncing at about 35Mbps but after going out for several hours we have come home to find the internet down completely with the amber light flashing on the router.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Have you spoken to our faults team there may be another fault causing the slow speeds. 

[Brian291]

Thanks.  Personal Information correct.

[Gliwmaeden2]

It would be the information in Personal Information that needs checking: landline number or account number if need be. SAVE CHANGES if there are any.

[Brian291]

I have checked community profile.   There doesn't seem to be much there apart from badges, photos and activity (posts, likes etc).  I don't see anything wrong.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Can you double check the details in your community profile are correct 

[Brian291]

When I log in to router it shows 4Mbps download and 5.1Mbps upload.  TalkTalk Fault Status checker shows fault still in progress.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Last line test shows =

Sync Status In Sync

Downstream Speed (MBPS) 37.3

Upstream Speed (MBPS) 7.5