issues with service and pricing

[methos707]

I've recently moved in to care for my elderly mother and help her manage her bills etc and have noticed some issues with the broadband service we are getting, and also have some concerns about the billing.

Firstly, regarding the service ..  having monitored it over the last 3 weeks, download speeds are generally around 25 Mbps (which is kind of acceptable) but upload speeds are rarely higher than 1 
Mbps, often closer to 0.2 Mbps which makes anything interactive such as video calls  or connections to remote services almost impossible. Also the service seems to regularly drop out completely (at least once every night, often more) and require a reboot of the router before it comes back.

My second issue is with the price we are paying.  Having looked around at other offers it seems fairly routine to find packages for around £20 per month completely inclusive which offer similar if not better download speeds, and upload speeds of up to 7 or 8 Mbps. Having checked, these packages from other suppliers include the line rental in that ~£20.  Why is our bill more than 3 times this amount? 

The breakdown of service on our bill is as follows:

Plus Broadband & Phone : £29.50

Line Rental : £18.95

Fibre Large: £15

a total of £63.45 per month for a service which is almost unusable ....

Can you please advise whether anything can be done about this before I switch to a different providor ... my mother is elderly and has been paying this huge £60+ montly bill out of her small pension for several years ... i would really appreciate your comments on both the service issues and the extremely high pricing.

Many Thanks

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Hi @methos707

Sorry that you are having problems. 

Based on your breakdown of price, Your mother will be on a Very old package as you are paying separately for line rental. 

Best option would be to call the loyalty team on 03451720046 or 03451725157

They will be able to see what options are available

Sorry for any inconvenience caused 

[methos707]

ok thanks for pointing that out - interestingly there seems no way on the website to select any different tariff or offers.   I do have a power of attorney registered so i will get that set up with Talk Talk and try to get through to that loyalty team.

[fr8ys]

I can't comment on the performance, Support staff will need to look into this, but regarding the price, this is because your mother's contract has not been renewed and left on a legacy contract. After any promotional period has lapsed the price goes up the current full price and will stay that way unless a new contract is negotiated.

Staff here cannot negotiate contracts but if you call and speak to the Loyalty Team on 0345 172 0046  you will get a much better price.

Might also be worth mentioning the exorbitant price you have found your mother has been paying. You might get something better out of them. Your Mother will need to speak to them first and ask them to deal with you due to GDPR requirements, unless you have registered a power of attorney with them.

Opening Hours can be found here - https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Articles/Our-update-on-Coronavirus/ta-p/2468300