TalkTalk Free Broadband fussy about telephone number?

mrochester · 17 Nov 2008 at 21:17

My aunty is an ex-telewest customer with cable phone number. She switched to BT, and straight over to TalkTalk, carrying over her cable phone number. I have been battling on her behalf for nearly a year now to get the free broadband she should be entitled to.

To cut a long story short, it has now come to a letter of complaint to the chief executive office. My aunty received a phone call last week from a woman who said 'it's your phone number that is the problem.'

So with my aunty's agreement, they've gone ahead and changed her phone number. Now to me, that's essenially TalkTalk saying there is a problem on our system with your current number, we'll have to change it to get around this. So in my eyes, my aunty should be refunded the £100+ she has paid for broadband that she should have been getting for free since March 2007.

What are everyone elses thoughts on this? Do we have a case against TalkTalk since they've admitted the phone number was the problem? On the millions of occassions I have asked 'why can't my aunty get free broadband?' shouldn't they told me the answer many many months ago now? I can't help but feel TalkTalk are to blame here.

Thanks for any input.

Michael.

pennywise · 17 Nov 2008 at 21:35

I would have thought without seeing this that there would be some sort of problem with telephone numbers being switched from cable to PSTN since they're two completely different technologies, even if they're in the same area code, but it would be interesting to see what the true answer is (if there is one).

mrochester · 17 Nov 2008 at 21:43

pennywise said:
I would have thought without seeing this that there would be some sort of problem with telephone numbers being switched from cable to PSTN since they're two completely different technologies, even if they're in the same area code, but it would be interesting to see what the true answer is (if there is one).

It could be, but her ex-cable number definitely became a BT number, so there shouldn't have been a problem. And regardless, that would still be a problem at TalkTalks end, since the exchange is unbundled, which I believe means they take full responsilibty for the provision of service from the exchange (is this correct?)

muon · 17 Nov 2008 at 21:45

mrochester · 17 Nov 2008 at 21:46

ghost101 said:
Depends if her exchange is LLU. Otherwise talktalk charge you.

It is, and has been since March 2007. Hence I want a refund for 10months of £15pm, and a good will gesture of £5pm for 12 months, since she has been wrongly denied access to free broadband for 19 months now.

muon · 17 Nov 2008 at 21:48

mrochester said:
It is, and has been since March 2007. Hence I want a refund for 10months of £15pm, and a good will gesture of £5pm for 12 months, since she has been wrongly denied access to free broadband for 19 months now.

Yeh sorry, read that after i posted, was hoping you wouldnt see my post

. I understand your compaint though, if free broadband should have been automatically given on the package she's on, then its their fault.

mrochester · 17 Nov 2008 at 21:51

ghost101 said:
Yeh sorry, read that after i posted, was hoping you wouldnt see my post . I understand your compaint though, if free broadband should have been automatically given on the package she's on, then its their fault.

Haha sorry, was too quick to reply!