A month

[Matthew271]

A month ago there was a car accident outside my house. The police closed the road off, Open reach came out and put a chain saw through the telegraph pole which got knocked down.

it ripped out the phone lines for everyone in the street that was getting service from it.

one month on and Talk Talk still can’t give me a date on when Open reach are coming to put a new one in the ground and I have been without the internet for this time. Having to use data on my phone, I’ve used £25 from Tesco in that time.

the accident also ripped out my to aerial cable which was attached to the phone cable, that’s cost me £80 to be replaced.

I’ve paid my February bill to talk talk even though I’ve had no service.

how do I get compensated? For How much?

can I get out my contract penalty free and join Virgin? They are currently the only people able to supply me with internet and a phone line.

I have also contacted Ofcom. I’ve spent in total an hour on the phone to Talk Talk in three calls, have got no firm answers and neither do they ring me back. I’ve been with them 7 years this April

[ferguson]

OK, that link also advises that compensation normally takes a minimum of 30 days after the resolution of the issue to be awarded, but there have been delays to that timescale recently. I know ....

[Matthew271]

I totally understand it’s not Talk Talk who come out to fix the new pole which got knocked down. Frustratingly Openreach we’re putting a new wire into the shop a few doors down today from an adjacent pole.

Thank for the help. I will have to wait for Talk Talk to compensate me or give further details

[Matthew271]

Sorry I didn’t see that and still can’t but if it’s just to inform of the daily figure awarded I was aware.

I struggle to follow the format with the layout of the threads here sorry.

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi Matthew 27,

I'm really sorry about this, I know it must be incredibly frustrating and inconvenient. We are really in the hands of Openreach and to be fair this type of work can be delayed by issues outside their control too.

Regarding compensation, this will be covered by automatic compensation so you shouldn't really need to pursue it. Apologies again for any inconvenience

Chris

[ferguson]

Chris previously posted a link to the compensation policy back in Message 4 which is largely self-explanatory. Have you actually agreed to cancel your service with TalkTalk and if so when from? Did the loyalty team confirm that in the circumstances this would be without penalty?

[Matthew271]

What a farce this is turning out to be.

I ring up today to cancel my contract, no problems. Spoke to someone from the uk, we understood each other, was a clear phone line and no delay and thus not being constantly interrupted.

I refused to accept the terms on the termination ie, don’t cancel my direct debit. Talk Talk can’t bill me for something I haven’t had.

he transfers me to billing for pursuit of compensation. 10 minutes of saying pardon, can you repeat that, being put on hold, answering the same questions and then he says to get compensation he needs to transfer me to technical and to hold the line.

20 minutes and no one answered so I hung up, that was another 55 minute phone call from my mobile phone.

I rang back and got to spoke to someone who could hear me clearly that I couldn’t understand fullly and interrupted me often as well before the line went dead.

7 years a customer to be dealt with like this and to think they put me through to the loyalty team. What an absolute farce. Not once Have I paid my bill late or missed a payment.

I will be going back to Ofcom and CiSAS about this, I tried raising an Industry level complaint only to be put on hold and guess what, after 10 minutes no one came back on that as well.

I have taken a contract with Virgin who contact me through various means and my service goes live tomorrow, so far no regrets.

Thanks for the help here on the forum. I’ve got more out of a few replies than nearly 3 hours on the phone now in total.

Is there another method to pursue the owed compensation please? I really don’t want to be put on hold anymore

Email would be excellent

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi Matthew,

Just a quick update, unfortunately the expected completion date has been pushed back to the 14th, I'm sorry about this. They've asked us to check for an update on the 11th so I'll check then and get back to you.

Chris

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi Matthew,

I'm sorry about this but the expected completion date has been pushed back to the 7th. I'll pick this up again on Monday morning and check for further updates. Apologies again for how long this is taking to get fixed

Chris

[Chris-TalkTalk]

No further updates yet, I'll check again this afternoon

Chris

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Apologies. We will check this again later on this afternoon to see if there are any further updates on this.

Thanks

[ferguson]

OK, well if you really do want to switch make sure that you get confirmation from the loyalty team that you can do so without penalty, they can be contacted on 0345 172 0088. 

[Matthew271]

Thank you

I will be highly surprised if someone turns up with a new telegraph pole tomorrow and even if they do, I can’t see an engineer being able to climb it for a few days anyway seeing as it needs to be cemented etc.

I really don’t want to have to leave Talk Talk, this is my second complaint in 7 years and due to everyone else BT etc using the pole, it has to be Virgin. They told me 3-5 working days yesterday as I have the white boxes already in my living room.

However, they off a much faster line for the same price, plus well, I don’t even have a line still.

quite remarkable that when the car hit the old pole, it snapped and fell to the road. The car was a complete mess but Thankfully the driver and his passenger walked away with not even a scratch.

[ferguson]

I understand the position is that if TalkTalk have been unable to fix your service after 30 days you can leave without penalty. It looks like you may be just on the cusp of that period!

If you are prepared to sit tight for that extra day it may be worth persevering. For one thing, there will invariably be a lead-in time before Virgin can supply a service. And you can console yourself  in the knowledge that you will be entitled to substantial compensation when the fix is completed. 

[Matthew271]

Thanks for the reply and please accept my apology for getting back with delay.

I have read the link regarding compensation but still none the wiser and I’d like to know if Talk Talk are in breach of contract given the time I have had no service. I appreciate it’s not entirely their fault as they rely on Open reach who in turn rely on contractors to carry out work for them.

I just want to make sure I’m not in breach before I switch to Virgin and the compensation side of this as well that will be confirmed, how much and when. I appreciate it’s hard to tell as the fault is still live

im still waiting for Ofcom to get back to me

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi Matthew27,

Thanks for updating your profile

I'm sorry to hear that this is taking so long to resolve, I know it must be very frustrating and inconvenient. The last update says that this is with the Contractors and the expected completion date is 02/03/2022, so hopefully you won't be without service for much longer

Regarding compensation please About your automatic compensation credit. If you'd like like to discuss leaving you will need to speak to our Loyalty Team, they'll be able to discuss this with you.

Apologies again for any inconvenience but hopefully you won't be without service much longer

Chris

[Matthew271]

Hi. I have done that. Thank You

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Hello,

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