Yes, TalkTalk still sucks

A couple of weeks ago we received a letter by TalkTalk stating that our broadband service would go live on 18 February. But the 18th came and went yesterday without them even bothering to send us the broadband router and login details.

Called the customer service and was passed around a couple of times. Finally a lady told me that the new live date would be on the 23rd of February. I demanded to know from her why didn't they send me a letter or text message and she could not answer me. I also asked her why have I been billed since 18 January when they have fulfilled their obligation.

And here's the kicker.

According to her, broadband is 'free' and therefore I have not been charged with it. I have only been billed for 'free inclusive' calls, and because broadband is a 'free add-on', I should not expect to complain about it.

What a lying bitch. When I called in December (yes that long ago), I asked to be signed up for TalkTalk Essentials (yes, I am a stinker, but I really do not need more than 40GB a month - at least not yet). Now according to TalkTalk's own website and promotions - TalkTalk essentials includes:

Fast broadband: up to 8Meg
40GB monthly download allowance
Evening & weekend calls to UK landlines
FREE wireless 'G' router

Don't believe me, here's a screengrab:



When I applied back in December, the salesperson told me that I would not be billed for January, until my broadband connection is active. So who's lying? I do not know, but it is clear that from the moment they delayed our phone line connection that TalkTalk is an incompetent company and that they have an active policy to misled future and current customers.

So there, I am actually paying TalkTalk for not providing me the service they promised. Liars? You bet there are. Unfortunately for us, we can't do much about it as broadband in the UK are pretty much still in the stone ages.

Moral of the story? I wish we had cable in our home and we were still with Virgin Media. From my 2 1/2 years experience with them I know that Virgin pretty much sucked, but my problem with them has always been their incompetency rather than any policy of attempting to lie to their customers, and I rather be with an incompetent company than one trying to steal from me. It would be great if there was a broadband provider that is neither, but this is the UK. You can't expect much.

In a couple of years time traditional phone lines and fixed broadband would be dead thanks to LTE, and so will companies like TalkTalk. I can't wait.