TalkTalk call divert

[Merlin5]

My mum's landline phone went down twice for about 3 or 4 days in the space of 3 weeks last month. Each time, it was to do with a cable outside that their engineers eventually fixed. During that time, I asked them to divert calls to her mobile phone so that anyone calling her landline can still get through to her. On her itemised bill, there's about 20 consecutive instances of her mobile phone number with charges against each. Obviously they've charged her for each diverted call.


I spoke to TalkTalk the other day, some call centres in India and the Phillipines. So far, they've not offered to remove the charges and were supposedly going to get back to me. I'm aware that call divert is normally a chargeable service. But in the case of a fault at the service providers end, it's absolutely necessary that she's able to receive calls. Surely it's unreasonable to charge her?

 

[Raumarik]

They have a service agreement with your mother, if redirection of calls isn't part of that then surely this is an extra and that's why they've charged. Phone lines are allowed to be down for days before they typically have to start coughing up compensation etc.

Doesn't mean they won't write off the charge as a good will gesture but to expect it is a bit much. If only you could get through to a UK call center you'd probably have had it done already.

This is one of the reasons I've avoided TalkTalk tbh.

 

[Merlin5]

They have a service agreement with your mother, if redirection of calls isn't part of that then surely this is an extra and that's why they've charged. Phone lines are allowed to be down for days before they typically have to start coughing up compensation etc.

Doesn't mean they won't write off the charge as a good will gesture but to expect it is a bit much. If only you could get through to a UK call center you'd probably have had it done already.

This is one of the reasons I've avoided TalkTalk tbh.

Well I think it's disgusting that they can charge customers for problems at their end. I don't think it's too much to expect them to do call divert for free when the service my mum is paying for is not useable because of a fault with the service provider.

I've now read their compensation policy.

If a fault on our network stops you receiving incoming calls totally, we'll divert them for you. The cost of any diverted calls will also be credited to your bill after the fault is fixed.

I'm going to go for a refund though. No, they're not allowed to be down for days before coughing up.


If we can't fix your service(s) by midnight on the first working day after you tell us about the fault, you can claim a refund for the period that your service(s) remain unavailable.

The refund is calculated by taking the number of days the relevant service(s) are out of action (starting from the first working day after you told us about the fault) multiplied by the daily cost of the service(s). E.g. if your call and broadband plan costs £19.99 per month and your services remain unavailable for 4 days, we'll pay you £2.63. The amount will be credited to your next bill or the one after, if it can't be added in time.


I've already signed my mum up for a BT account, so TalkTalk is history anyway, but I'd like to try and get something off the bill if I can.

 

[Merlin5]

I got them to knock off those call divert charges and reduced the bill by £21. Can cancel with no cancellation charge too as she has been out of contract for a while. I win!