...to expect to not be charged a cancellation fee for cancelling my dead brother's phone account?

[MrsThierryHenry]

Yes, I'm absolutely serious. My older brother (OB) passed away last year and when it happened my younger brother (YB) asked TalkTalk for details of our OB's most recent phone calls to help us work out what had happened. The only way we could get this account access was to change the account into YB's name, which he did. Having found out what we needed, YB closed the account and paid the outstanding bill. Then TalkTalk claimed that as the new account holder my YB would have to pay a cancellation fee of around £70.

My YB explained that he had not signed a contract when he'd taken over the account so he couldn't have known about a cancellation fee. Call me silly but since the circumstances of taking over the account were so unusual we expected to be treated with a little ummm...consideration? Well, the man he spoke to insisted that even if he'd not been sent a contract by TalkTalk he should have known about it - well, nobody at TalkTalk had ever mentioned such a thing, and he was hardly going to get that info from my OB, now, was he?

Eventually YB sorted out the situation with TalkTalk, who I presume apologised for being such insensitive mongrels and promised to cancel the cancellation fee. However what they didn't say was that they'd passed the account to a debt collection agency. TalkTalk then had three weeks within which to call off the debt collectors. But they clearly didn't as I picked up a threatening letter which arrived at my OB's address this week, threatening the usual nonsense about county court orders and sending bailiffs round. Once again my YB called TalkTalk who rather sheepishly admitted that actually they owed HIM money.

Now please. Am I being unreasonable to expect that when someone dies their phone company should have a policy of treating the relatives with a little sensitivity?

YANBU, but all companies these days seem to have outsourced customer care to a blooming flow chart from which call centre employees have neither the training, experience nor authority to deviate.

Sigh.

no. this is completely ridiculous. if you can bear to, write a formal letter of complaint (even if they refund you the money).
have they heard of customer service?

so sorry for your loss.

Unfortunately there are a lot of companies - not just phone companies that are really nasty and have no idea of how to handle grieving relatives.

God grief, how bloody insensitive of them! Sadly though, it probably had a lot to do with the fact that the computer that took care of the account, hadn't got the facilities to unusal circumstances information. Just shows you, in this computer age, they ain't all they're cracked up to be. Sorry you've had to go through all that, but glad they saw sense in the end.

I agree with missorinoco by the way, if you can bear to complain I think you should. It's appalling.

No surprise to me. Surrey County Council passed my friends debt to the debt collectors. Turned out the had double charged her. They were chasing her for £3.47
How insensitive of talktalk.Thes things would make you, well, turn in your grave !

That's appalling but sadly not surprising. So sorry to hear that you and your brother having to deal with all this nonsense while going through what clearly must be a very difficult time.

It doesn't suprise me to be honest. When my mom died i went to the bank with my dad to close her accounts and we were told that she had to come in to the bank in person to do that! We explained that she had died and she was insistent that my mom went into the bank herself, a clear case of her not listening to what we were saying.
So sorry about your brother.

{shock] at Babysamrocks' post!!

My 3rdDS was killed in 1992 whilst playing on his bike outside our house. I was so skint when I was buying his bike that I took out a small loan with local loan shark. Yes I know - but sometimes needs must.

He called for his payment the day after the accident and said 'your sons death is not my problem, you still owe me the money.'

At the time I was so frightened by him that I managed to get the money together and paid him off. How I wish I could see him now - I would committ GBH.

So sorry for your loss MTH - my heart goes out to you - but I dont know of a company nowadays who has any idea of customer services or compassion

shabster agree - customer services, like, what is that !!!!

how awful at a bad time people like this make things even worse and harder to deal with.

Definately a snotty letter is in order

Definately a letter to them that is shocking.

They just have no idea at all do they?

It was like the man who had been a member of the AA for about 40 years and had never needed to call them out, he passed while away from home and his family contacted the AA to pick up the car for them and they said no as he is dead he is no longer a member although the AA did eventualave to eat a large oiece of humble pie and say the cocked up.

It's unbelievable what companies get away with.
Shabster and BabySam - I'm stunned! I don't know what to say.

Maybe we will write to them, actually - it's my younger bro who's beein dealing with them and he's v busy with his PhD so probably hasn't thought of that. I might just write a letter for him to send.

Thanks so much for your support, and I'm sadly glad to see that we're not the only ones. xx

Mrs TH - I would like to set up some kind of help line for people who have been bereaved and then had shoddy treatment like this.

Would love to contact these idiots and scream and rant at them.

After DS was killed my husband struggled to go to work and eventually his boss made him redundant (said it was because he had a job where he had to face the public and he kept crying)

Within a couple of months we had missed mortgage payments and a few months later the bank repossessed the house. I know - they are in their business to make money but even with us sat in front of them pleading for their help there was no compassion, or advice.

This was many years ago and I am much stronger now - I phone people like NTL and British Gas just to have a row with them. I will never, ever forget the treatment I got from certain people and I hope their bits drop off.

That was a menopausal rant wasnt it??

DH is in telecoms (not TalkTalk). He says you should formally complain to OffCom and also indentify from the TT website which dispute people they use - they have to be registered with someone like OPERA (offcom rules).

He says its just call centre people being silly and the customer care dept should drop on em like a ton of bricks.

themoon66, lets hope some customer service training comes out of it then!

I had a nightmare with Talk talk last yr (not as bad as some stories here, though) but they tried to charge for a service they didn't provide, then threatened me with debt collectors. Took ages to sort out, but now whenever dealing with any call centre I write down the name of whoever I'm speaking to, and make notes of the conversation. For when I have to complain, later.

Shabster, that's awful. You poor thing. I don't know what to say. I am amazed at how many human beings choose to forget just how human we all are, and instead treat people as shittily as you and your husband have been treated. I am really, really glad for you that you feel that you are stronger - that sort of thing would floor a lot of people. What an amazing woman you must be.

I spoke to my bro today about making a complaint - bless him, he'd rather just draw a line under the whole matter, understandably. However I think I will take it further - thanks themoon66 for your advice on Ofcom, etc. I'll send a letter to all concerned and, I reckon, to the Chief Exec of Talk Talk.

Annakey; I'd heard other stories in the past about TalkTalk having a bad reputation - you're apparently in good company.

Thanks for your thoughts Mrs TH - 'what goes around comes around' is the only thought I have on our situation.

For many years I was mentally and physically quite ill BUT - in the words of Robbie Williams 'I didnt loose my mind it was mine to give away'

Proud of myself for becoming a very sarcastic, strong, loyal woman - it has taken a long time - but NOBODY will ever hurt me or my family again.

Thanks again

Sorry for your treatment from talktalk do complain to them. Even if they included something in their training.

I have a theroy (sp) about this, because they pay such poor wages that they employ a lot of younger people who have not experienced a loss a relative so do not understand about compassion towards the people who are dealing with theses things at very stressful time.

You should go on Watchdog and humiliate the bastards. How shocking! You could actually threaten them with this...

Nicmac - I second that

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

I will come along and carry any banner you want me to.

omg how awful

i used to work for a differant mobile phone provider and in these circumstances we would never charge, not even the remaining bill. We did have to ask for a copy of the death certificate. Some people found this hard but its suprising how many people make up deaths to try and break contracts etc.

definately report to offcom.