I'm coming back, need a little help.

[#1]

A quick update:
My complaint is now being dealt with by Ofcom and the Adjudicator, as Talktalk have failed to respond to any of my complaints.
On top of that, Talktalk took £300 from my account via my debit card 2 days ago, AFTER I asked them to remove my payment details from file, and they confirmed they had done so.
This is a fraudulent transaction, and as such I have reported it to my bank, who are investigating, and I also reported it to the Police.
The police have been very reluctant to get involved, saying it is a civil case, however I record every call with Talktalk, and I can prove beyond reasonable doubt, that Talktalk promised my payment details had been destroyed.
I refused to take no as an answer from the Police, and eventually they agreed to pass it on to the E crimes dept.
An officer called me yesterday confirming he was looking into my complaint.
This is going to drag on forever it seem's.
On a plus, my PlusNet service is perfect!

[#2]

I'd be more inclined to go via small claims.
I don't see ofcom taking any action and I think the police are right in it being a civil case.
Which adjudicator have you gone through? I'm not sure if TalkTalk use CISAS or Ombudsman Services. I suspect it's the latter.

[#3]

No, I didn't mean Ofcom are handling the complaint, they gave me the 'to do list' to follow for the complaints procedure.  They have actually been very helpful.
The service linked to talktalk is these guys  www.ombudsman-services.org they seem helpful, but have been very slow so far.

The reason for me reporting the transaction to the Police, was due to talktalk telling me explicitly that my payment details had been destroyed.  Then a few days later money left my account with no warning, no explanation, and no receipt.
The only way I found out it was talktalk, was by Natwest checking the transaction.
In the eyes of the law a crime has been commited, I don't care if the bank say it's not true, talktalk told me my info was deleted after my request, they had no authority to take any money from my account, I can prove this, yet they used a fraudulent representation to the bank to take my money.
I spent 40 minutes arguing this with the Police who kept telling me to go to the bank... my point was, if I had taken money from some body in the way talktalk have, I would be arrested and charged.
So why can large companies get away with it?
I also reported the possibility of my ID being stolen and used to gain a Talktalk account.
No doubt nothing will come of it, but at least I tried.

[#4]

The ADR process is generally quite a time consuming one.  We use CISAS, so I'm not sure of the timescales for OS. CISAS raise a case to us, which we have 2 weeks to either settle amicably, or supply a defence. If we supply a defence, it will then take 4 weeks for an adjudication, at which point we would have 2 weeks to comply with the decision.
The reason I suggested small claims is that I don't feel that they have a leg to stand on and if your claim is reasonable, I'd expect them to settle without needing a court appearance.

[#5]

Thanks for that information James, it's most helpful.
Regards the money they have taken, Natwest are happy to refund it, and claw back the payment.
I have supplied all the supporting information I have regards my complaint to the Ombudsman, and they have said they will handle it for now, and said they will be in touch within 28 days, giving an update, or resolution, which ever happens first.

[#6]

Hi Devonian
Glad to hear you are back getting a good service again, sorry for all the hassle you have had to go through with talktalk but you seem to be getting on top of it at last but for me and I guess many others on the forum it has made fascinating reading following the story through and through.
Hope you manage to finally get it all resolved soon.

[#7]

Looks like we both arrived back around the same time - glad it's working out well for you as it is for me
Like you I've been round in circles with the lack of support and honest answers from TT. I see there are still posts being made by former TT members and have yet to get a satisfactory answer as to why.

[#8]

Thanks Mushy.
Mav, I think we both know the answer to that mate

[#9]

Quote from: Jameseh

I'd be more inclined to go via small claims. I don't see ofcom taking any action and I think the police are right in it being a civil case. Which adjudicator have you gone through? I'm not sure if TalkTalk use CISAS or Ombudsman Services. I suspect it's the latter.

James, if money has been taken unlawfully, and it seems it has, it's fraud - simple - a Police matter.

[#10]

Get that - My take was for getting the recompense he deserved.
Just don't see much happening from the police being involved as the bank has returned the funds.

[#11]

The Police should still take action against TalkTalk for illegally taking the money, the fact that it's now been returned is not really relevant, they acted fraudulently, especially as Devonian has notified them that he is in dispute with them about what is owed, they had no right to take any money. If you have notified a company that you are in dispute with them about any money supposedly owed, It's also illegal for them to send debt collectors around. I'm not sure which bit of legislation covers that, but I'm sure Devonian's legal relative can tell him so he can let us know for future reference.

[#12]

Good Grief!
Well, I went to talktalk because PN couldn't help me with problems I was having with nuisance calls comming in all the time. My phone went live with talktalk on 5th of december, contacted PN to ensure my fibre would remain with them. Then other day I get this following email from plusnet
A reminder about moving your Home Phone from Plusnet

This is a reminder about your recent request to move your phone line and call plan to another company.

We're really sorry to hear you're thinking of leaving us. We're treating this as a request to end your telephone service agreement with us.
So before your telephone service moves, there are some things you may need to consider:

• Possible cancellation costs if you're still in contract with us
• You may need to arrange for your Plusnet account to be closed
• Potential loss of your broadband service with us
• Loss of your Plusnet email address if you have one
• Potential loss of other services you have with us such as caller display, call barring and voicemail
Just one call

To discuss any of the above, or any concerns you may have, just call us on 0800 432 0200 or 0345 140 0200.

This move will affect: 01xxxxx

You don't need to do anything to continue with moving your telephone service. You service will move on 21/12/2012, unless you've asked for a later date or you've already cancelled your order. You shouldn't have any interruptions to your telephone service.
If you wish to cancel this order, please contact us at least 3 working days before it's due to complete to allow us enough time to stop the order for you.
If you're aware of this order and you're still planning to move your service we'd like to thank you for choosing Plusnet and we hope that you'll consider us again in the future.
Kind regards,
Plusnet Customer Support
http://www.plus.net/
Email ref: E1010

Naturally, I was a little concerned and asked what this email was about as I had already been moved to talktalk with my phone. I had this response via the ticket system:


Thanks for getting in touch to check an email you have received.
Having checked your account we can see that a request to transfer your phone line out to your new provider was received, however, the confirmation of this product was only received on 18/12/2012.

Had the line been cancelled before the order had been completed by your new providers this would have resulted in your line being cancelled.
This has now been completely cancelled on our systems.

We trust this answers your query in full and we apologise for any confusion caused.

Please feel free to get back in touch Online if we can be of any more help.

Kind regards,

So I thought awesome! My phone is now with talktalk and fibre remains with plusnet.
Yesterday I notice that my DSL light on the openreach modem was off and I had no internet.
I called plusnet and they said that talktalk placed cease on the line and it was beyond the point of no return...
I phoned talktalk and get the usual thing where the people you speak to have absolutely no clue what you are talking about and got passed from department to department and getting cut off multiple times. Eventually got through to someone who understood me but they said there was nothing that they could do as the request came from another provider called PLUSNET!!!
Confused? Read on...
A couple of hours later, I get a call on my mobile to say that the landline to the house isnt working, they cant dial out without getting a 'This number has not been recognised' and trying to call the landline number from a mobile resulted in a message something along the line is out of order.
Another call to Talktalk inform me that my account, including phone, had been cancelled.
Thinking twitter was the way to go I messasged them, and had a reply from 'Em'  who helpfully asked me to fill in a form ONLINE before they could continue via twitter, but she then said she cant do anything but get the CEOs office to contact me ASAP. Ive not heard anything, and I do wonder if anyone is in work on Monday.
I then get a call from someone at plusnet around 5 or 5:30pm, informing me that it wouldnt be a problem for them to get my phoneline back up and running which should be sometime monday and my broadband back soon afterwards. I had to drop the call as I was expecting a call from the hospital around that time regarding a family member whom is critically ill - we're fearing and have been told to expect the worst.
The whole saga combined with the family emergency has caused me to break down on the bus to my friends place (where I am currently using the neighbours BT wifi hotspot while I am there - in case you're wondering how Im online)
Since I couldnt sleep, and plusnet have 24/7 support I decided to give them a call a short time ago. I was then informed that there was no way I could have my phone up and running by Monday let alone any broadband AND it would cost me £50 for the privilege since I now don't have a physical phoneline!!!
I'm already at my wits end, having spent a lot for xmas, and then unexpected buses, taxies, phone topups etc back and forth to the hospital I have a small fund left in case I need to make that emergency journey (I hope I dont, touch wood). The £50 fee will instantly take me overdrawn leaving me with no cash over christmas, no internet which incidentally we use skype to call family that lives abroad. Fortunately I was advised by chap working these early hours to call back at 9am when the house moving team(!) come in to work they have more power apparently and might be able to waive the charge. Fingers crossed!
And all of this is because of talktalk!
Beware of them. Well its now 7:15 and Im gonna try and get at least a little sleep before I make this call to PN. Will post back with any updates

[#13]

Despite your warnings lemmings will sadly still jump off the Talk Talk cliff and live to regret
Very sorry to hear about your family member

[#14]

Well quick update,
Plusnet have reprovisioned my line, although for some reason I'm in a new contract with them but its the only way I can get a working phoneline. I guess I would have been in a new contract anyway if I switched to unlimited fibre which I had planned to do.
They have told me it should be Monday when my phone is up and running (understandable since its Saturday) and already I have a new phone number (one good thing - no more PPI calls!). Broadband can take another 7 days to get running because of the Xmas period.
This is a lot quicker than talktalk quoted which is 16th January.
I have also called Barclays and asked for a refund under the direct debit scheme, as far as I am concerned talktalk have completely failed to provide any sort of service of a reasonable expectation. Barclays initally said theres nothing that could be done, I asked her about the direct debit guarantee and quickly got put though to another person who was more than helpful, very chatty. When I mentioned what had happened and as soon as I mentioned the words talktalk her reply, as Mrs Brown might say, was 'With Pleasure'. Sounds like she may have had previous talktalk experiences. Anyway I should have a refund showing in my account just after christmas with a block preventing talktalk from setting up any new direct debits.
Fingers crossed this is the last I'll hear of talktalk 😃

[#15]

Thank you for relating your experience - I hope everything else goes well for you in the next few days.