Sudden unasked for downgrade to fibre 65!

[pavlf]

Hugely annoyed this evening to find that the service I asked for and received last week, after waiting for some weeks for engineers to come and install the fttp, the 500mbps service, has been downgraded to fibre 65! Which is what I was on before!!! I got an email saying I requested this. What? 

Apparently I've removed my £12.95 discount and gone with fibre 65 rather than fibre 500. 

I began to move to another ISP a month or so ago because my contract was out. It was a better deal. Talktalk then called me and offered me a comparable deal, although I had to wait a bit longer. I accepted their deal, with a decent discount and everything went fine. The connection was up and running right away, and then suddenly today I'm back to the old speeds - at which point I see an email from talktalk explaining I've downgraded myself.

I'm seriously unimpressed with this. It's saturday night, I've got stuff to do tomorrow and I've got a hugely busy week at work next week.

Thanks a lot,

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Thanks for the update. 

[pavlf]

It's back to 520mbps. So in total I spent around 60 hours at the lower speed. The error was corrected quite quickly I'd say. As soon as everyone was back at work on the Monday morning it was sorted. Aside from the stress and hassle getting to someone who could sort it out, I'm quite satisfied with the resolution. 

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Im sorry for the trouble caused, let us know the speed test when you can.  If they don't call or cant get through they will try again

[pavlf]

Hi, it's been at 65 all weekend. I called customer service on Saturday and was told my old deal had gone, but that I'm being put back on to 500 at a new more expensive rate with a few months free in lieu of the hassle. It was due to go live on Wednesday. I got an email an hour or so ago saying 'congratulations your full fibre has gone live' or something. As I'm at work now I can't check, but I did check my account which does indeed show that I'm back at 500. So I assume the switch has been thrown earlier than Weds.

It's sorted now, but that hasn't been without a huge amount of hassle - 'getting in touch' is a really frustrating experience to be honest. Someone was due to call me today at 14.00 but as I'm at work that was no good. Cancelling this call was Kafkaesque in itself. 

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Hi pavlf

Im confused your account is showing as FF500 , what does a speed test show? 

[pavlf]

I'm considering my options at the moment. I wouldn't mind about being back to 70mbps so much, but my ping is ludicrously high, it was never as high as it is now when I was on my old contract - it's between 90 and at worst 105! That's shocking. 70mbps is ok for my needs over the weekend by that ping is no good at all. 

[Gliwmaeden2]

While still in a cooling off period, you have the right to revert to the out of contract status, @pavlf.

This allows you to leave with 30 days' notice etc but of course all this would be at the more expensive rate than what you should have been paying over this period. It depends whether having 3 free months makes it worth your while staying. 

Talktalk has behaved most strangely, appearing to set up Fibre500 and then simply reverting you to Fibre65.

Staff on the forum cannot set up the contract for you. They can check the notes to see exactly what happened. 

You could start the Complaints process (see the link at the foot of any TT page).

The Ts&Cs are also linked there. Check what it says about Talktalk's responsibility for providing the agreed service. 

[pavlf]

One and a half hours into my exchange with talktalk customer service and I'm one seriously unhappy customer. 

The deal I was on, the one I signed up for, the one talktalk called me to offer in order to prevent me switching to another provider is now no longer available. So I have to move to a different contract.

I've now been offered a contract that costs more, I've been given a few months free to compensate, but the truth is that I wouldn't have stayed with talktalk on this deal.  The previous deal was slightly worse than the one being offered by another company, but I thought it would be less hassle to stay with talktalk. 

So, I signed up for 500, the account went live, one week later without my asking for it, that contract was cancelled and I was moved onto 65.  I get in touch and after an hour I'm told that the deal I was on is no longer available. My understanding here is that talktalk have broken my contract with them. I signed up for the 500 deal. I was on the 500 deal, then they switched me to a different deal. 

I've been with talktalk for many years and had no real issues. This experience has made me reconsider. I got a letter yesterday offering me 1000mbps for £7 a month less than I'm paying talktalk for 500. 

What would you do? 

[pavlf]

Thanks for replying. I'd be less bothered if I could speak to someone right away, but there's no one to talk to right now. And of course, Saturday is a day not at work, so the thought of going through the 'press three, or hold for one of our reps' scene is more than I can take! 

I can understand mistakes, they are part of life. But when it's in such a difficult environment where humans are so difficult to reach, and you're dealing with a large company, it's really annoying. 

I the other thing is it's such a senseless change! Who would downgrade their contract from 500mbps to 65mbps whilst paying exactly the same amount of money? The milkman would wonder what was going on if I told him I was happy to carry on paying £6 a week but only wanted one pint a week from now on. 

[Gliwmaeden2]

Some of what has been going on with Accounts and packages in recent times has been most bizarre, @pavlf.

Staff will not be back on here before Monday. You can reach phone support on Saturday and Chat over the weekend. Opening hours  are displayed near the foot of this page:

https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Articles/How-to-contact-TalkTalk-Broadband/ta-p/2230529

Check also the Ts&Cs, linked at the foot of any TT page. You would have a cooling off period if you had actually chosen the Fibre65 and even your chosen package would have a cooling off period.

It is their mistake. Sorry to hear that you are having such a problem and hassle thanks to someone making a dreadful muddle. 

[pavlf]

Just to add, after spending a little while looking at my account, it now seems that I've agreed to a deal that locks me into a contract paying MORE than I was paying before for exactly the same service I had for the last two years for another 18 months. What sane person would actually do that?!

I didn't ask for this. I never spoke to anyone about it. I sent no messages. I clicked no links. Now I'm paying more than I was going to be paying Vodaphone for a 500mbps service for 65mbps. 

I don't have time for this at all.