Nonsensical Response to Outage Report

[opticfibre]

My broadband had failed today so phoned a TT number (08700878777) to get help.  The 'machine' asked me what was the problem - no internet - and replied that the best way to get help was to report it on the TT website!! 

It's hard to believe that such ridiculous replies to a common problem like no internet  aren't filtered out in some way, would anyone agree?

[Thabile-TT]

@opticfibre thanks for your response just to confirm you had an issue with the broadband I just need to check are you still experiencing an issue with the service so we can run the necessary checks with you.

[opticfibre]

That's a useful tip, thank you.

[Thabile-TT]

Hi there @ferguson thanks for the support.

[ferguson]

The contact options are in the link at the bottom of my post. If you use chat, once you have told "Sara" what your issue is "she" should connect you to the appropriate department where a real person can help further. I usually just type "speak to agent" to speed things up. 

[opticfibre]

I do understand the forum responses are from real people! 

So am I right in thinking that soon there won't be any TT Support people helping in the forum, just customers like myself?

And when you say:   " . . . anything more than general advice. . . . will be via the usual contact channels.", this is what I was referring to; the usual channels appear, and I may be wrong, to be virtual, eg "sara".  Not human, right?

My wife and I are showing in Accessibility Preferences as having hearing and cognitive needs.  How does TT Sara know that, so I can talk to a person?

It does seem that things are weighed against older people.

[mandisa1-TT]

Thank you so much for the support @ferguson 

[ferguson]

Any responses you get here will all be from "humans" as they always have. There just won't be anybody from TalkTalk here, which means that anything beyond the realms of general advice will need to be pursued directly with customer services via the usual contact channels. 

[opticfibre]

So from what I understand, neither the 'new'  peer to peer support, nor the Sara 'Chat' will give me the option of speaking to a human, is that right?

[mandisa1-TT]

Thank you @Gliwmaeden2 

[Gliwmaeden2]

If you go to the community forum menu, Help with your Service takes you to a list of message boards, one of which you have already posted on, @opticfibre.

At the top of every department board there's this message:

https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Home-Phone/Community-Peer-to-Peer-Support/td-p/3147548#M167679

I couldn't post the link in my signature yesterday after many attempts gave intermittent success with how that functioned.

I'm currently on holiday and not going to spend more time trying to add the link today.

There will not be forum staff support on here from this weekend onwards so keep a note of the contact details for reaching help by phone and Livechat going forward. 

https://help-centre.talktalk.co.uk/Billing_and_Payments/Something_else/How_to_contact_TalkTalk_Broad...

It looks like staff can support you with the current issues meanwhile. They will be on here daytime only, c 7am - 5pm until Friday. 

[mandisa1-TT]

Customer is on FTTC @Gliwmaeden2 , I will be able to access your account and assist you with your query, are you at home to proceed @opticfibre .

[opticfibre]

Oh, and just reading the messge under Gliwaeden2 post about "peer to peer" support.  I'm sorry, I don't understand what this means, nor can I find the link mentioned.  My wife and I absolutely rely on the internet and it is very important that we can get hold of someone to help if there is a problem, bearing in mind our vulnerability and lack of technical know-how.  If there's a way, now or soon, to contact or better talk to TT easily and explain the problem then we'd very much want to know what it is.

[Gliwmaeden2]

@mandisa1-TT, 

The number that @opticfibre called was actually the number for rearranging or cancelling an Openreach engineer appointment. It's a rather expensive 0870 number. 

https://help-centre.talktalk.co.uk/Network_and_connections/Fix_a_problem/Your_Openreach_engineer_app...

@opticfibre, if you are simply reporting a service issue, the number to call is 03451 720088,  or if you have Full Fibre, 03451 720074  - these are free from Talktalk landlines, or normal landline rate from a mobile.

Open from 9am, Monday to Saturday. 

[opticfibre]

OK, well, I hope this example of "non logic" can be looked into and a sensible answer substituted.  My internet did return, whether by my intervention or not I don't know.  Thank you.

[mandisa1-TT]

Hi @opticfibre Our automated phone system is designed to guide customers to the quickest support path, but in situations like yours, the logic clearly missed the mark. Thanks again for highlighting this — it genuinely helps us improve the support experience for everyone. Let us know if you are still having issues with your internet and we will look into your query.