To be livid with Talk Talk on behalf of my very elderly parents! (advice welcome)

[4c4good]

Dad 96, very frail, very poor health. Mum 80. Exhausted carer. I live an hour away and work fulltime.

They rely on their landline for essential things like making hospital appointments, social services issues and to contact people to fix things, as well of course to keep in touch with family and friends.

Three weeks ago, Mum reported interference on the line, and what seemed to be a crossed line. They were promised an engineer would call on the phone at a certain time. No-one called - no surprise.

Problems worsen. Line is intermittently unavailable, or incoming calls go straight to voicemail. Mum says she can't access voicemail though I am not 100% clear this is the case.

They now have no dial tone at all, and nothing has happened with Talk Talk. I have reported the problem and was told they wouldn't speak to me as I am not the account holder ( after keeping me waiting 20 minutes)

Meanwhile a series of mini disasters happens. Their loo breaks. There is a minor insurance issue with the car. This happens when they had intermittent service and incoming calls were somehow lost - the upshot being they had been flushing the loo with pails of water for several days until I intervened and got it sorted. Mum can just about receive and make calls but not retrieve messages - on her ancient pay as you go mobile after some tuition so they are now back in touch with the world -but in a haphazard way.

They have one of those emergency bleeper phone line alarm things and this equipment was checked by the provider on Monday and the engineer was sure this wasn't causing the problem.

Now I need to get this sorted with Talk Talk. I recall a thread on here where a Talk Talk community champion or some other interesting title came on and offered help and a link to some kind of complaints forum. I've been on the website and see there is a 'memembers area' (sic) - which I assume will need account info to register with, which I haven't got tonight. Well they are certainly tools, and can't even spell, let alone run a decent service.

Can anyone link me to that and/or provide any assistance?

How dare they treat my parents like this!

My joy with Talk Talk was when they took over Tiscali. I negotiated a new contract and then got a letter from Talk Talk saying congratulations! We've bought Tiscali and you're now our customer and we're going to give a fantastic new package. Except the package was 50% more per month than the contract we had agreed.

They tried to get out of it by claiming to be a different company. I quoted the legal position. I tried to reason with them. I threatened to cancel my contract (you can't madam. You have this for the next 18 months). I threatened the papers. Nothing.

So, I got Guardian Money on it. They were lovely. Most of my email went in the editorial so I think it was fairly easy as well as interesting so it got coverage. Even then Talk Talk tried to bargain with me but I wouldn't budge. I have a contract. You have to honour it. No, I don't want the more expensive contract for less package. They relented but were "unable" to confirm it in writing. Even after all that! Nobbers.

Hi All,

With respect to my earlier post i did offer the OP support and assitance with their issue.
by advising they visit the TalkTalk Members Forum where we can raise a fault and progress this matter to resolution.

HTis is evident form the extract below.

"With regards the fault this can be reported and managed by the Members Forum. We can conduct line testing and various checks into the issue. Progress of a fault is possible by a non account holder and should we require any account holder confirmation we will informed the poster (this is necessary should we need to send an engineer to the property as this can only be authorised by an account holder)."

It seems to be the case that the general offence has been taken to my suggestion that calling TT and pretending to be the account holder is fraud. Knowingly accessing someone elses account using falsified information is fraud. There is no other way to describe this. It breaches Data Protection and is illegal.

As we can assist a non account holder in relation to faults such suggestion as to call up and pretend to be the account holder is not necessary. In the above case the OP is free to report the fault and have the issue investigated.
so there neednt be any reason to attempt to subvert Data Protection checks in order to resolve the loss of service. As a representative of TalkTalk we actually have a duty to inform customers of this should it be brought to our attention, which I have duley done so upon being made aware of the suggestions in this thread to attempt to access someone elses account. I am unsure how this constitutes being a jobsworth as it is an obligation of my employment to address such issues as an Online Community Executive.

With regards elderly or vulnerable customer groups this is taken into consideration. Anyone who feels they constitute this group as an account holder can request Care Level 1 on their account. This gives a dedicated number to call for fault reporting in order to reflect the urgency of a working phone line (such as in cases where medical assistance is necessary) and a seperate process for fault resolution exists.

Any customers eligable for Care Level 1 can request this is applied to their account. A standardised letter is sent to the customer to complete and return and the care elvel status is updated within 28 days.

4c4good - With respect to the issue of the Network divert to the mobile we can investigate this via the TalkTalk Members Forum and setup the Divert correctly so that all calls to the home phone are diverted to a Mobile. There is also a compensation policy detailed on the TalkTalk Website in regards to total loss of service faults which we will be happy to apply once the issue is resolved.

For reference the TalkTalk Members Forum can be accessed here:

www.talktalkmembers.com/forums

Regards

Mark
TalkTalk Online Community Executive
TalkTalk Online Community Department

I feel somebody needs to go on a course...

Mmmm so sorry to hear all this 4c4. Great post KatieM.

Mark from TT no you haven't helped, you have given less information than the MN posters. And I am guessing none of them are a TT "Online Community Executive".

"PM me 4c4 with the details and we will have a team with your parents at 9am tomorrow" would be helping.

This is what TT should have done days ago.

Hope you get things sorted out, your poor mum and dad :(

I'm an ex customer - I paid to get out of my contract with them I was so desperate!

BTW I didn't need an email to post on the forum.

I am interested what MNHQ think as Talk Talk are in their family-friendly hall of fame. The OP is classic "sandwich generation". She has dependent children and elderly parents and is responsible for both.

Not much evidence of family-friendly so far...

Oooh I'd love to get my hands on Talk Talk. I'd sort 'em out!

A course on basic spelling and grammar, perhaps?!

Just FYI, TalkTalk have just bought Pipex, and my parents (early 60's and very technologically switched on) are having the devil's own time with slow, unreliable broadband at nearly three times TalkTalk's advertised price...

Mark, Mark......:( :(

Here's a hint. Don't talk to your customers in that way, even if you are sure you are right and they are wrong.

This is what you should say..

"I'm really sorry to hear about these issues - from the content of your posts it sounds like we have not managed to deal with this very well at all. Please do contact me personally [insert details] and we can go through everything in person, on the phone. I would hope we would resolve this before the end of the weekend. We will of course compensate your parents for the inconvenience.

Sorry people have taken offence at my explanation about impersonation - it was meant in good faith, as no one wants any resolution of a problem held up while identities are sorted out or investigated. I didn't mean to sound high handed, sorry.

I do hope we can demonstrate a better level of customer service from now on and thanks very much for allowing me to comment on this."

No defensiveness. No chips on shoulders. Just a polite apology and a bit of sincerity and service :)

TikTok

As a Customer Service Manager in a previous life, I'm alternately amused and horrified by the responses from Talk Talk's alleged 'Online Community Executive'. (Overblown job title, anyone?) I totally agree that someone needs some retraining in conflict resolution and effective communication.

Sorry you've had issues like this, OP, I know it's difficult getting on with the DPA bureaucracy that some companies like to use as an excuse not to deal with problems. I would also recommend skipping up the management levels if possible, you will find someone who cares about customer relations and will resolve your issues.

You are good TikTok

Good customer service is dead simple Mark:

1. Be polite.
2. Apologise when you get it wrong.
3. Don't patronise your customers
4. Fix problems as soon as you become aware of them
5. Explain clearly and simply what is happening and why
6. Tell people how long things will take.
7. Learn from your mistakes

When I've trained employees on excellent customer service I've rarely had to point out 1-4 or 7. Quite shocked that it should be necessary to do so to an apparent HERO (Bernoff & Schadler, 2010)

ROFL at the most inadequate response from TalkTalk ever. Why bother to be on forums like this if you can't do anything beyond saying, 'here's a website'.

Mark, you need to a) apologise for the the problems the OP is having and b) so something to try and resolve it. As it is, talktalk just look massively inept. (So much so that I am actually wondering if this is a proper talktalk person replying and not a wind-up by someone who wants to trash their reputation further....)

I would say, based on the hours I have spent on the phone to them it is a genuine Talk Talk reponse.

Ha. Yes, genuine.
I wasn't going to post this (VERY VERY LONG!)
but I thought you would like to see Talktalk my Talk Talk experience:
After months of hassle, I finally gave up and sent this email to Charles Dunstone in October last year, having left Tiscali/Talk Talk in July.

Dear Mr Dunstone,

May I call you Charles? I feel like I know the customer relations department intimately.
It certainly feels like we have been in a toxic relationship for a number of years that I am failing to extract myself from.

When I moved house in February 2007 and took up Tiscali Broadband , I was offered it with free line rental. However I was continuously charged for line rental, and eventually told that it was not possible to obtain on my line, and I shouldn?t have been sold it. I was emailed by --- as below:

06/12/2007 12.27 PM

Dear Ms XXXXX,
Thank you for contacting Tiscali Customer Support.
I am writing to confirm that you cannot receive our Free Line Rental package, however , we will be crediting your account every month to prevent you from being billed for any Line Rental fees.
Kind regards,
------

This never happened and in March 2008 or so after numerous emails and phone calls I finally got a cheque to cover a year?s period of line rental and an apology from ---- in Tiscali High Level Complaints.

Time went on (until March 2010) and I realised I had better chase up that refund again, (I was actually owed 2 yrs line rental at this stage) only this time I was told No.
No discussion. (Well I tried to discuss it, and copied in the emails I received from Tiscali promising this service) But no, apparently it just was not possible-because I had received a refund covering 12 months line rental.
And after this 12 months (according to ------ Customer Services management): ?it is down to the customer if they wish to remain with Tiscali on tariff including the line rental charge?
Nice to have this in writing 2 years after the original email-this was never mentioned in any communication to me.,
From what I can make out, Tiscali are in breach of their contract. I have a guarantee in writing from Tiscali promising to credit my account every month. There is no time limit in it.
Naturally it couldn?t go smoothly.
Here is the email communication that has been passing from myself to Tiscali/TalkTalk since September.

02/09/2010 04.49 PM
I asked for my MAC code back in July, and received it.
I successfully migrated to SKY on the 26th July, and have had Sky phone and broadband since then.
See copy of email received from Tiscali/TalkTalk:

"Dear MS XXXXXX ,
Your MAC (Migration Authorisation Code) request has now been processed.

MAC: LBWR1264434/IH09T
Telephone Number: 02073527638

You may use this MAC code to switch from Tiscali to other service providers who support MAC migrations.

Your MAC code will remain valid for 30 days and expire on 2010-08-08 . Tiscali will not cancel your account until you have given your MAC code to another service provider and they have successfully migrated your service. "

Today I received a letter telling me that you have notified BT to remove the broadband service from my line on the 14th September!

As this was clearly done back in July, can you explain this?
I have been out of contract for a number of years, as I had a Tiscali Broadband contract.
I received a Termination letter from TalkTalk dated the 12th July telling me that my "Broadband account and all associated email addresses will cease after 30 days from the date of the letter".
You have not provided a service since the 26th July.
I paid my final bill on the 20th August. I do not expect to receive any more bills from Talk Talk.

kind regards XXXXX

The response:
Response (-----) 04/09/2010 02.35 AM
Dear Ms. XXXXX,

Thank you for contacting TalkTalk Technical Support.

I apologise for the inconvenience caused to you in this case.I assure you that we will take care to resolve the issue at the earliest.

I gather from your e-mail that you would like to cancel your broadband account.

I understand your concern, however, it is not possible for us to cancel your broadband account, since we do not have the necessary tools. Believe me, if it was possible, we would definitely have arranged the service the way you wished because nothing would please us more than satisfying our esteemed and valuable customer. However, we have certain limitations with our tools that do not allow us to modify the service patterns at our discretion.

You need to contact our Broadband Cancellations Team on 0845 077 4488. Calls are charged at local rates. Lines are open 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday. They will be in better position in assisting this concern.

Also please visit the link given below for detailed information :

uk-tiscali.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/uk_tiscali.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=438

For any further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Kind regards,

TalkTalk Technical Relations

My response:

Customer (XXXXX) 04/09/2010 03.28 AM
You clearly did not read or were unable to understand the contents of
the email.
My broadband with Tiscali ceased on the 26th July.
I no longer have Tiscali Broadband or phone.
I have a termination letter dated 12th July from Tiscali/Talk Talk.
I NO LONGER HAVE A CONTRACT WITH TISCALI
So why did I get a letter telling me that you have notified BT that
you will be removing Broadband from my line on the 14th September?
IT WAS DONE ON THE 26TH JULY. I DO NOT HAVE A PHONE LINE WITH TISCALI,
I DO NOT HAVE BROADBAND WITH TISCALI.
PLEASE ADJUST YOUR RECORDS TO SHOW THIS,.

Response
(----) 08/09/2010 02.43 AM
Dear XXXXX,

Thank you for contacting TalkTalk Customer Support.

I understand from your email that you are concern about your broadband cancellation.

I admit time delay in answering your e-mail due to certain unavoidable technical circumstances.

I realize that you have been greatly inconvenienced by this situation. Believe me, if it was possible, we would definitely have arranged the service the way you wished because nothing would please us more than satisfying our esteemed and valuable customer.

I have checked the records and found that you broadband and telephone account is cancelled from our end and also will make sure that no letters will be send herafter to you.

I once again apologise for the inconvenience caused to you.

Kind regards,

TalkTalk Customer Relations

On the 18th September I sent this, because I had received yet another bill:

18/09/2010 10.45 am
I have now received a bill for Tiscali Line rental.
See below for previous communication.
PLEASE SORT THIS OUT.

On the 24th September I received this reply:

24/09/10.50AM
Dear Mrs XXXXX, (Note, I have now been addressed as my mother!!)

Thank you for your email the contents of which have been noted.

Please accept our sincere apologies which may have been caused as a result of the issue which you are experiencing.

I can advise that if you wish to fully cancel your services, you will need to contact our Cancelations Department on 0845 077 4488 for further assistance. It?s still showing your phone line is active with us.

I hope this is a satisfactory explanation. Talk Talk does take these issues seriously, and it is always our intention in customer relations to bring the concerns of our customers to a satisfactory conclusion.

If you have any further issues, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We thank you for your patience and assistance in this matter.

Kind regards,

----
Talk Talk Customer Relations

So I replied with this: at 11:43 on the 24th September.

That number cannot possibly be active with you as I have been a SKY phone and broadband customer since July 26. I have already received a cancellation letter from Tiscali on the 12th of July.(Reminding me that as my phone account is leaving Tiscali I will not be able to have Broadband on it.
I also have an email sent to me on the 6th September telling me that my broadband and phone account is cancelled at Talk Talk end.
I have no wish to line TalkTalk's coffers further by spending time on hold (up to an
hour on my last attempt)at 10p per minute to confirm what I was sent in writing by TalkTalk in July.
Please amend your records immediately.
XXXXX
The response on 27/09/2010 02.11pm

Dear Ms XXXXX

Thank you for your email, the contents of which have been noted.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience as a result of the issue which you are experiencing.

I have investigated this issue to our provisioning team to cancel your service down. Your reference number is UKHD00003812118.

In order for us to investigate a refund, we request that you send in a copy of the first invoice you received from your new provider showing your services active with them. This information is needed in order for Tiscali to investigate the migration of your broadband and to process the exact date you went live with your new provider. Once this has been received we will investigate a refund if applicable and the clearance of any remaining charges.

You can attach this document as a PDF format in reply to this email. If you are unable to do so please send your first invoice to the address below via a letter.

Tiscali Customer Relations Team,
PO Box 15323,
Birmingham,
B46 9BW.

I can confirm your account is now fully cancelled. Once we receive your first bill as advised we will escalate this issue to our Billing Department.

It remains your responsibility under our Terms and Conditions Agreement to ensure that your account is cancelled once it has been activated with a new provider.

I hope this is a satisfactory explanation, and I do apologise for inconvenience caused. Tiscali does take these issues seriously, and it is always our intention to bring the concerns of our customers to a satisfactory conclusion

If you have any further issue, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We thank you for your patience and assistance in this matter.

Kind regards,
----
Talk Talk Customer Relations

So I sent my first Sky bill,
And received this reply on the 29th September.

Dear XXXXX,

Thank you for your correspondence, your comments and queries have been noted.

Please accept our sincere apologies which may have been caused as a result of the billing and cancelation issue which you are experiencing.

Thank you for forwarding the copy of your invoice from Sky, I have escalated a request to our Finance team for the outstanding balance of £10.99 to be cleared from your account, this is for September invoice, and also a refund of £28.98 to be issued for payment received for Augusts invoice excluding calls, as they were made in July.

Please allow 72 hours for our Finance team to investigate and if approved your refund will be processed within 5 working days.

I can confirm the full cancellation of your account is currently still being worked on. To confirm again your reference number is XXXXX

I hope this is a satisfactory explanation. Talk Talk does take these issues seriously, and it is always our intention in customer relations to bring the concerns of our customers to a satisfactory conclusion.

If you have any further issues, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We thank you for your patience and assistance in this matter.

Kind regards,

----
Customer Relations Team

And to my surprise I received a refund on the 11th October.
I was delighted and thought that was the end of it.
Not so.
End of October I received another bill. I thought must be a mistake, because my account was cancelled. Fully. As described in the last email.
But it appears not, according to Tiscali/TalkTalk.
Today I received a reminder letter from the Collections department. For the sum of £9.56.
REF RL1/XXXXX
THE COLLECTIONS DEPT? I?m now being chased by the collections department.
I am owed approximately £260 for 2 years line Rental not to mention the time and inconvenience to me writing and attempting to contact TalkTalk, the phone calls (22mins x10 = £2.20, 60mins x10 = £6.00) , and The collections department is Chasing me???????

I?m sure you can imagine my frustration.
I have spent hours communicating with TalkTalk.
The last phone call I was put on hold for 22 minutes, and then it disconnected. I have spent an hour waiting to be connected before I got that refund. It costs me money every time I attempt to speak to a human. And I haven?t actually managed to get through to one. I have missed lunch breaks trying to sort this out, so TalkTalk have also been responsible for me not eating.
I am continuously told that TalkTalk takes these things seriously.
I really don?t believe that.

Could someone once and for all put an end to this.

Regards

I had a response from Sean in High Level complaints, who to his credit did actually try to phone me a few times, but it was better for me to communicate through email.

I emailed him:
"Thank you for your attempts to call me.
Due to the nature of my work, I find it difficult to make personal calls during the day, so email is better for me.
I have had a number of hang up calls from Talk Talk in the last couple of days, (no message left but I googled the number)-I presume this is more chasing for the alleged outstanding debt.
I think my email was fairly clear.
What I would like is repayment of the 2yrs line rental, and some communication between the various departments as to termination of contracts, in particular mine.
I have sent a hard copy of the email with a covering letter to Ofcom detailing the poor service and bill harassment. I have also lodged a complaint with Otelo, as I have had no sense whatsoever from Talktalk since February (attempt to reclaim line rental) and then July (attempt to leave TalkTalk)"

He replied:
Dear xxxx

I have looked at your account and can see that there were a number of credits applied to your account totalling £204.72

From what I can see this is correct please can you let me know if you agree with this or not.

There is an amount that is still showing as outstanding of £9.56

Yours sincerely

Sean Kelly

I replied with this:

I agree that there have been credits to my account.
What I disagree with is that it is the correct amount.

I will try to explain (again).

I changed to Broadband with Tiscali in June 2007.
I also changed banks and set us a new direct debit. I did it online, and Tiscali sent the details to my bank so all was set up ok.
However Tiscali requested the DD from the old account, didn?t get paid, (as it was closed) and cancelled my broadband for 24hours for non payment.
I phoned up and eventually got it sorted out, and was upgraded to broadband with free line rental, to stop me leaving.

Unfortunately the free line rental was never added to my account, (I do not know why, but apparently this was not possible to do) After many many phone calls and emails, I finally received this email:
06/12/2007 12.27 PM

Dear Ms XXXXX,
Thank you for contacting Tiscali Customer Support.
I am writing to confirm that you cannot receive our Free Line Rental package, however , we will be crediting your account every month to prevent you from being billed for any Line Rental fees.
Kind regards,
xxxxx xxxxxxxxx
(See what that is: An agreement from Tiscali to credit my account every month -with no time limit on it?a written contract)

In any case this never happened and in March 2008 or so after numerous emails and phone calls I finally got a cheque to cover a year?s period of line rental and an written apology from xxxxx xxxxxxx in Tiscali High Level Complaints.
So I plodded on until earlier this year, and I realised that I was well over due a credit for my line rental. I attempted to sort it out then, but was given the brush off by a customer service agent called xxxx xxxxxx.
Remembering how long I had to fight for the previous refund, and frankly being weary of being given the run around, I decided to leave. (I presume this is part of the Talk Talk customer service practice, just tie the customer up in knots, and eventually they will give up)

On July 26th, my broadband was seamlessly transferred to SKY. I continued to receive bills from TalkTalk (Why am I telling you this again?)

On the 29th of September after many emails to Talktalk (of which you have copies) one of your Customer service agents xxxxx xxxxx emailed me:

Thank you for forwarding the copy of your invoice from Sky, I have escalated a request to our Finance team for the outstanding balance of £10.99 to be cleared from your account, this is for September invoice, and also a refund of £28.98 to be issued for payment received for Augusts invoice excluding calls, as they were made in July.
Please allow 72 hours for our Finance team to investigate and if approved your refund will be processed within 5 working days.
I can confirm the full cancellation of your account is currently still being worked on. To confirm again your reference number is UKHD00003812118.

So Finance apparently investigated and deemed me worthy of a refund. I received this on the 11th October. Followed by another bill.
I don?t know why I seem to have an outstanding amount of £9.56 ?as my account was to be cleared ?and apparently the finance team approved my refund as I had overpaid.

(I appear to have a fee on the last bill for a returned payment. Not my fault .....TalkTalk insisted that my account was closed on a few separate occasions.)

So August 2007 to July 2008 = 47 months of service.
48 x line rental of £10.99 = £516.53
527.52-£204.72 (already credited) = £311.81

There was so much messing around with my account, I can?t tell where the credits came from except for the approx 12 months line rental issued by cheque from xxxxx xxxxx.

So I am owed £311.81 from Tiscali for line rental + my time and money spent trying to sort all this out.

That?s where we are now.

I look forward to your earliest reply

Regards

Then last week I received this, (with a couple of "I am still looking into this for you" emails first)

Dear xxxx,

I have requested for a refund of £219.80 for you.

As soon as this is done I will contact you again

Yours sincerely

Credit paid to my bank account shortly afterwards.

I decided I had won as much as I could and left it there.

I think my eyes are bleeding Melty.

Talk Talk are the Kafka of telecommuications. Truly.

Holy hell, the longest post ever!!

Just to say, please get you DParents to ring TalkTalk and cancel Voicemail! That is the only way to be rid of it, I know this because it gave me the horrors with my father having it. I always thought he'd had some sort of accident, but it was always revealed to be - - he'd not pressed the off button after making a call

I was with Shite Shite - a truly awful experience. Problems with broadband were legendary and went on for months. Only finally resolved when in desperation, we arranged to move to BT ( i know they can also be hopeless) and finally was put in touch with Shite Shite second line customer services (based in Bolton I believe). Who informed me that everytime I had called first line customer support (lost track of number of times) it had never been logged as a fault - even though we had sod all broadband because line testing maintained all was working. Eventually (after I agreed to pay if fault was at our end but really so I could prove we had no broadband) an engineer was sent out - he confirmed we had no broadband access - and provided another router (we were on number 5 by then). Which lasted a week!

By then we had transferred to BT who cam out and realised the wiring was faulty and finally sorted the problem. Incidentally, the internet failed on Sunday (heart sank), rang BT - who had engineer out by 0830 Monday morning - faulty box replaced and internet restored by 0845.

Good luck!

My parents are with talk talk. My mother has dementia, my father is her carer. They should KNOW this, my poor Dad has spoken to them numerous times about getting the account changed into his name (it took them MONTHS to do this). Despite this they alledge they called my mother who agreed to tie them into the contract for another 18 months and they wouldn't back down .

Dad is on count down to get rid of them. Each time he spoke to him they have told him to do things online and they should KNOW that he has no internet access as he requested it be taken away because my mother was using it to harass people. Apparently there is no other way to do things .

Their care of vulnerable people is shocking and a disgrace and it doens't even save them any money because they have to get called back so many times. Must be more cost effective to deal with things properly first time!

Dad has spoken to numerous people who sound very similiar to Mark, how do they train them to be like that? Surely no one is that much of a numpty naturally?

It happens when you have a terrible culture. One where people don't care and have no pride, influence or decision-making capability or authority.

Not treating disabled people well is illegal but it's civil law and who has the money or time to sue?

It's also piss poor to provide one method to set up an account and then insist on using another to manage it.

eBay employ the same type of person, that could be a consolation or a cause of deep concern

Just read this thread with this face -->

Some wonderful service from Talk Talk there! I hope more people read this to see what they think is acceptable!

OP I hope something gets sorted soon, and hope your parents can move from Talk Talk to a decent service provider! I know understand why my dad quit Talk Talk..

Sorry. [blush
They are truly awful though.
They were fined a couple of million recently for (i think ) bill related stuff.
Or harrassing customers who had left or similar.
Interesting that Mark could take the time to be rude in his post, but not to try and contact the OP to sort it all out...

Evening all. We've seen this thread and have been in touch with TalkTalk.

They've asked us to post up this statement from them:

"Hello 4c4good. Firstly, we can only say how hugely sorry we are to hear about the problems your parents have been having and we want to apologise to you and to any other Mumsnetters who have experienced issues.

"We absolutely want to get this resolved for you as quickly as possible and our CEO's office will be able to work on your case as a matter of priority over the weekend; please could you email [email protected] with your parents' telephone number and name(s), as well as the best contact number to speak to you or them on so that we can investigate this. We've asked MNHQ to pass these details straight on to us.

"Again, please accept our sincere apologies about the delay to getting this sorted and the fact that you have had to escalate this.

"Please know that we are absolutely committed to customer service and to being a family-friendly company."

Damn, I should have said what I wanted to ask TalkTalk earlier: "Why, once a fortnight, regular as clockwork, is my broadband up and down like a 'whore's drawers', necessitating my calling a confused person on the Asian Sub-continent, all of a sudden the problem resolves itself as if by magic?"