If they try to get you to switch, tell them to get lost (Talk Talk)

Member Name: worst_trip

Product:	Talk Talk
Date:	22/05/09 (148 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Phone and internet service works OK

Disadvantages: Pushy telesales staff; switchover may be handled incompetently

Being, like practically everyone else in mainland Britain, thoroughly cheesed off with the extortionate cost of the phone service we were receiving from BT, one evening last autumn when I was cold-called by an operator from TalkTalk / Carphone Warehouse, I jumped at the chance to change service provider to TalkTalk.

This was a big mistake.

If you're reasonably happy with your phone and broadband suppliers, I would strongly advise you to leave them well alone. Paying a couple of quid more each month for a service you know is already set up and which reliably works is far preferable to entering into a contract with TalkTalk who in my experience, will promise you monetary savings that don't materialize, and worse, who supply shockingly bad customer services.

We previously used BT for our landline, and Tiscali for our broadband service. TalkTalk offered a combined service providing broadband plus their own line rental - which I think cost slightly less than BTs. The vast majority of costing on our phone bill isn't made up from phone calls - as I use the phone very infrequently - but line rental, so this seemed like a good deal.

The transfer of phone service went OK but in our case the promised 'automatic, you won't have to do a thing yourselves' switchover of internet service that we signed up for was botched by TalkTalk. The new TalkTalk broadband service was installed on time but we ended up paying two different companies for our broadband internet for over four months - TalkTalk, as well as our exiting service provider. Despite becoming aware of this problem quite early on, we were were simply unable to cancel the old internet subscription, because our old supplier insisted this was something our new supplier should have sorted out, whereas TalkTalk insisted that the cancellation had already been processed by them. This impasse between internet service providers went on for months - with us paying for two services simulatneously, one of which we weren't using. During this time we made a series of increasingly irate calls to TalkTalk customer services, who invariably fobbed us off, assuring us on each occasion that 'I've sorted out that problem for you now' - whereas in fact nothing was being done by them.

I believe that this problem arose due to TalkTalk's failure to effectively cancel our subscription with the previous broadband company - I believe it was TalkTalk's mistake. Because of this cock-up the 'cheaper overall service package' we were sold by TalkTalk has turned out equally, or in fact slightly more expensive than staying with BT and our previous broadband company would've been.

I am signed in for an 18 month contract with TalkTalk - I have good broadband service in general - though the speed of connection for some reason tends to slow down dramatically after 8-9 pm in the evenings - and no complaints about the phone service; it is TalkTalk's customer service department who are completely hopeless in my experience.

The only good thing about switching to TalkTalk is that I can now quickly and effectively fob off the TalkTalk touts one often meets in the high street and in supermarkets. Due to my experiences I have advised everyone I know to avoid this company if they're approached by them, like the plague. Switching to TalkTalk provides no tangible benefits, but can be a terrible hassle.

If you enjoy arguing with people in call centres, in protracted disputes that can go on for up to six months, I predict that subscribing to TalkTalk will give you ample opportunities for indulging this hobby. Otherwise, don't upset the status quo - stick with whichever phone / broadband company you're already with and choose a quiet life.

Summary: Not recommended