..to be FURIOUS that both TalkTalk and BT have been billing me?

[fasterthanthewind]

I am beyond outraged.

Here's the history:

Jan 2013 finally get fed up of TalkTalk terrible broadband service and decide to switch to BT

28 Jan call TalkTalk to cancel - get long spiel about sticking with them etc. etc. Stick to guns, say we are leaving. Am told a) don't need a code to transfer over; b) don't cancel DDebit as they will need to make a 'balancing payment'

31 Jan BT starts messing about with our line - make a total pigs ear of it, so that for some days we have neither bb nor phone line. BB only starts mid Feb, but phone sorted quickly.

1 May suddenly realise that the bills I am getting from TalkTalk relate not (as I'd thought - stupidly) to my mobile, but to the landline, and that they are STILL billing us for line rental and an (obviously entirely unused and unusable) call package. Email them about this - they say no notification was received in Jan, but will cancel now, and that I should send BT bills to prove double-billing thing.

At this point DS gets ill, and I get distracted.

This weekend get YET ANOTHER bill from them.

Today call them. Stay on the line for AN HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES, which will have cost me I dread to think how much - 0870 number.

Finally speak to a Customer Service Manager who says, essentially
a) since they have no notes on the conversation on 28 Jan I cannot have rung to cancel (what else would I have talked to them about for 11 minutes??!)
b) that they have continued to provide me with a service and that my account is therefore open and I should pay (but they didn't provide me with a service - no calls since 3 Feb (not sure why 3 Feb, given 31 Jan transfer, but that's what bill says)
c) that it's my responsibility to make sure that they bill me correctly, and they don't have to refund further back than 3 months

So I reckon they owe me £109.04 - plus the cost of this crazy phone call today.

After a great deal of negotiation, they 'offer' me £91.78.

AIBU to say I will not 'accept' this - they MUST refund me, as they have charged me for a service I
a) cancelled; and
b) couldn't receive, since BT were providing it.

NB we have kept the same phone number throughout, so they must have given BT some info, so that BT could take over the line - so some part of TalkTalk has def known all this time...

So - AIBU??

And more importantly, what do I do now???

In future, I guess it's good practise to phone your bank and cancel any direct debits yourself when you cancel a service. Not something I've ever done but I may well do it in future.

KobayashiMaru and it was Talk Talks's responsibility to cancel the account as requested. Especially as they apparently managed to transfer the phone number to BT.

Yes definitely reclaim your direct debits from the bank so you have your money back and cancel the DD. Then go back to talk talk -in writing and by recorded delivery - explaining everything that has gone on. Expect them to whinge a bit and then back down.

In a few months time expect to go through the whole thing again when they try to bill you £200 ish for having the temerity to cancel your order. It'll end the same way, but as you've cancelled your DD at least they won't get your money.

Always cancel your DD's yourself! Never trust a company to do it for you. They'll say a final DD will come out on X date - once said payment has been taken out, CANCEL IT. You can do it all online now and you don't need to give a reason, but they can't be trusted to cancel them themselves (I speak from experience!)

If it were me, I would skip out on the final £20 just to get it all sorted, but I hate dealing with stuff like this. If you want to go for the full amount, go for it, but is it really worth all of the stress?!

I also agree that their twitter accounts are far more helpful than their call centres!

I feel your pain...we've just had a 3 week saga with them with NO service...they were adamant we had service and kept making us jump through the same hoops time and time again.

Personally Id ditch the £20 but I can see your point...I wonder how much money they spindle out of people every year with their shennanigans?

I'd certainly complain to ofcom.

Look up the ceo's email on line and email him direct. Might sound extreme but it works!!