Talktalk has the poorest customer service in the world.

[andrew57]

I have been trying to contact Talktalk since last year to replace a defective fibre! Despite numerous emails, countless 'chats' on your supposed helpline, nobody wants to take responsibility for it. Openreach came out on 2 Nov 2023 and said it needed replacing . The chat system on Talktalk is infuriating as you go over same information time and time again and you are just passed on to some other department. The promises of help and support make me want to vomit with frustration! Why reare you so useless when it comes to fixing one of your own defective cables. If changing providers was easy and quick I would be long gone. This is my last attempt before contacting CISAS (which I suspect is unlikely to provide a solution but at least I'll feel better having logged a complaint).  

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi Andrew

When I said, this type of scenario, I just meant in a situation where Openreach identify that work needs doing on there network but it isn't service affecting.

If the condition of the cable does deteriorate affecting your service then we can then arrange an engineer visit to investigate.

If Openreach have already checked the cable and decided that the repair work isn't urgent then I would think that it isn't in danger of snapping, but if you feel that the condition of the cable has worsened then you can, as I said before, report it directly to Openreach.

Chris

[andrew57]

Thank you again for your response. I really appreciate it.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'this type of scenario'? I was acting on the advice of Openreach who told me that the cable needed replacing! The fact that the cable is 'working' is irrelevant as at any moment due to it's frayed condition it could fail, thereby losing me my broadband and more importantly the 40m long suspended cable could injure somebody who happens to be walking below it! I shouldn't have to report the exposed cables to Openreach as a health and safety issue as they've already said it needs replacing. In my industry preventative action has always been a much more cost effective way of dealing with faults. Prevention rather than cure! Thanks anyway for all your support but I can see my next post will be along the lines of............ 'Help! my cable has snapped. I've lost my broadband and my postman who was walking under the cable at the time has been strangled!'

[Chris-TalkTalk]

OK thanks. We generally wouldn't ask Openreach to replace a cable in this type of scenario. We can book Openreach engineer appointments if there is a fault with the service. The engineer will then carry out tests to find the cause of the fault and carry out corrective action.

If you consider the exposed cables a health and safety issue then you can report this directly to Openreach. There are contact details here - Health and safety | Openreach

If it's not a health and safety issue and it's not affecting your service then I'm afraid it's really just a case of waiting for Openreach to get around to fixing the cables, unfortunately this type of work tends to be lower priority and therefore can take longer to be fixed

Chris

[andrew57]

Thanks for your response. 
It occasionally cuts out but the main reason for my concern is the state if the cable and that Openreach said it needed replacing last November. The cable is split and wires exposed!

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi andrew57,

Line test is passing, are you experiencing any problems with your service?

Chris

[KeithFrench]

I told you who owned the cables in my first post.

I will re-escalate this for you now.

[andrew57]

Surprise! surprise! Here we are on 22 Feb 2024, 3 months since Openreach visited my property and said that the fibre cable was faulty and needed replacing. I have had soooooo many messages telling me that I am such an important customer and 'we want to help you'!

What a load of BS from a second rate company who don't give a toss for their existing customers! It'll interesting what the next comments are going to be..................let me think of a few classics???

Talktalk doesn't own the cables

We aim to respond within 5yrs. (excluding Bank Holidays of course!)

Please update your Personal profile

You can always try the Service Centre on 0345 172 0088. (Ha!Ha! That's a whole new post..... what a joke!)

We wil escalate this matter to the Support Team.

Talktalk is a joke and the more blogs I read the more I don't need convincing!

btw the cable is still frayed and open to the weather and needs replacing (whoever owns it)

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi andrew57,

Sorry to hear that you're experiencing problems with your service. Could you just give a brief outline of the problems that you are currently experiencing and we'll be happy to look into this for you

Chris

[KeithFrench]

This forum is setup so that people like me, in addition to TalkTalk's excellent support team on here (they do not work to scripts) can try & help customers.

I have escalated this for the support team to pick up after they return on Monday, but I added the service centre number, just in case you wanted to try them beforehand. If you have had all this hassle before, I would suggest that you wait until after the weekend now. The support that this team can give, makes it worth the wait.

[andrew57]

Thanks for your reply. Why is it that somebody not employed by Talktalk bothers to respond whilst Talktalk remain elusive when it comes to after service? I think that just proves my point. Yes I know they don't own the cables and frankly I don't care who 'owns' the cables........Talktalk use them to provide my broadband and charge me a monthly premium for the privilege. Thanks for the Service Centre number (the title is a misnomer) but I'm done phoning them only to be passed on to somebody else who equally has no interest in resolving the problem. As I said earlier this is the last attempt to contact Talktalk then I will log a complaint with CISAS before leaving and finding a competent provider. 

[KeithFrench]

TalkTalk doesn't own the cables, Openreach does. However that does not solve the problem for you, so I have asked one of TalkTalk's support to pick your thread up and investigate it for you.

They aim to respond within 48 hours (Monday - Friday) excluding Bank Holidays, but if more urgent you can always try the Service Centre on 0345 172 0088. The posts are responded to in time/date order, oldest first.

To save yourself time, please make sure that your community profile includes your first & last names, broadband phone number & if possible an alternative contact number. This can be done by clicking on your Avatar picture then click on "My Settings" followed by:-

Personal Profile > Personal Information

Otherwise, TalkTalk will not be able to tie up your forum username to your broadband account. Only you & TalkTalk have visibility of your details.