Solitary chicken - need advice

[soapdragon]

We are currently with TalkTalk ; in spite of the recent hacking scandal have been reasonably happy with them However, over the last three days we have noted that we have either not been receiving e mails that we know have been sent or have had significant delays in receiving e mails (12 hours plus! )

 

This delay has been causing probs given that OH has just taken on a temp 3 month contract and information about this (including where he is supposed to be and when) is not coming through. I spent almost 2 hours on the 'phone to TalkTalk this evening, inc calling back as they cut me off, and could get no info from them as to when the prob would be resolved - there is no info AT ALL on their website regarding a prob in spite of the fact it has been on going for at least 3 days . For a communications company they sure are appalling at communicating

 

They told me to refer to the website but still no info and they could not give me any idea when the 'outage' would/might be resolved. OH is expecting an e mail to tell him where he should be on Monday am and at what time but TalkTalk say things may not be resolved until Monday evening so he stands to lose a days work as well as be embarrassed (to his new bosses) by the failings of TalkTalk. He has sent a text to the work mobile that was passed on but, given that its late on a Saturday, may not get an answer before he needs it.

 

There is no way now we will stay with TalkTalk but I wondered who would be a better bet....there being so many other providers out there! It would be great to have a UK based customer service (during my conversations this evening I could hardly hear what the operator was saying as they were clearly in a huge room in the Indian subcontinent with loads of other people talking at the same time.)

 

Can anyone recommend a reliable company, please, please

[mullethunter]

I'm not being melodramatic here, but I have never heard of anyone who's been with TalkTalk having anything good to say about them.

 

We're with BT (have infinity broadband) and I'm afraid they're not great either. If everything's working they're OK, but if you have a problem they're an absolute nightmare to deal with. We had no internet for 5 days after our hub stopped working (it was only a few weeks old) - it was so difficult going through the web help and then call centres to get it sorted. Would not recommend I'm afraid.

[soapdragon]

Aggghhhh! Should OH not get his e mail regarding where he should be and when on Monday he not only risks losing the days pay but the whole 3 month contract....major, major disaster. We are tearing our hair out. I did threaten to sue TalkTalk for the whole cost (thousands) but they 'were not able to comment' He has sent a text but no reply (it is the weekend after all and, if an e mail has been sent and not come pinging back then I imagine that new boss assumes it has been received!)

 

We cannot even e mail each other as the e mails just ping back with a non deliverable status message.

 

Customer service is so important there must be one company out there who can get it right

[sarahjayne]

We've been with plus net for years, we have had a problem twice and both times have spoken to uk call centres and an engineer has been out to fix problem within a day or 2. I would recommend them.

[HarrisonFamily]

We also have used plus net over a year and no problems, when it came to renewal I even phoned them and they gave be there latest deal for new customers - so I would recommend them but talk talk NO NO NO !!!!

[Cinnamon]

You would need to look at your local exchange & see who you are able to go with. We, being out in the sticks, have a choice of BT or nothing

We did speak to Talk Talk once (they called us), who swore blind that their network covered our area. We signed up, it didn't work. Had the devils own job getting a refund back & any sense out of them - never ever again!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Oh, there's nothing more frustrating than not being able to get emails when it's important . Could you ask a friend to email the new boss? It might not look very professional but in the circumstances would be understandable.

 

We've been with Virgin for decades now and am generally very pleased with them. You do sometimes get a call centre in India - not always though and the UK staff are all really good. We've probably only had an email outage once or twice in all that time and it didn't last very long.

[Cat tails]

Telling you which provider I have, is absolutely no use to you. But I would like to say that I never have of will use any email adress of a provider. Considering you can change provider quite easily, but then you also change email adress.

It's hard to change it to a the right one with everyone. Even if you send your change of adress. People will still be using the old one, years from now!

 

That's why I use Gmail. With that you are almost guaranteed being able to send and receive at all times!

[Ursula123]

We are with BT, when we changed to fibre optic broadband they sent a new hub unfortunately it was faulty,with it being a bank holiday weekend I didn't expect to get an engineer out but I phoned 1st thing on the Saturday morning and had an engineer out by 2pm who changed the hub.

 

When my 12 month contract came to an end I thought I would shop around to see if I could get a better deal, like car insurance etc. I telephoned Sky who my niece recommended as she uses them and has had no problems, I asked if they had an incentive to make me change and was told 'that's the deal take it or leave it' not even an introduce a friend bonus for my niece. I called BT saying I was looking around for a better deal and they offered me a £24 per month infinity broadband deal for £10 for the next year.

 

Never had a problem with BT email.

[Geoid]

But I would like to say that I never have of will use any email adress of a provider. Considering you can change provider quite easily, but then you also change email adress.

It's hard to change it to a the right one with everyone. Even if you send your change of adress. People will still be using the old one, years from now!

 

That's why I use Gmail. With that you are almost guaranteed being able to send and receive at all times!

 

Taken the words right out of my mouth! I also use GMail, I have changed providers, moved house etc etc many times over the years, but my email address has remained the same. Google also spend a lot of money on security, so your emails with them are likely to be safe!

[mullethunter]

Me three but hotmail (same address for 17 years now).

[Cinnamon]

Yep, I use Gmail too.

Took me a while to get used to it, as it is quite different to Outlook, but I love it now.

[Cat tails]

My work uses Google for everything. My work mail is hosted by Gmail too. Ideal, because I only have to work with one interface!

[soapdragon]

Have now opened a G mail account which I will run in tandem with TalkTalk for a few weeks till we work out how/when we can get out of their contract. Still not getting e mails vis them.......OH has managed to sort tomorrow's location via text but doesn't have his temp contract yet which worries me rather! Still, they can send it to me tomorrow on G mail

 

Please, please don't ever use Talktalk; they have NO idea what is going on and the bloke that I spoke to in India thought the prob was just with us and was nonplussed to hear that its all over UK. In 21st cent taking over 5 days to fix prob is not acceptable....mind you some postings on their website from other very very irate customers have had us in stitches. I wouldn't be in Dido Harding's shoes for anything!

[Lewis]

You would need to look at your local exchange & see who you are able to go with. We, being out in the sticks, have a choice of BT or nothing

BT own the exchanges and wiring but you can receive any providers service down their lines - TalkTalk, Post Office, Sky etc.

 

Make sure you ring up and make a complaint not just call with an enquiry as they have to follow up complaints until resolution; you should also get a credit for the loss of service you've experienced.

I spent a year working in Service Delivery and the Complaints department of an ISP so know all about the problems people face. Usually the delays with engineers are with BT Openreach and the providers hands are tied if Openreach won't give them an appointment...

 

We're with Virgin Media fibre optic at home and never had a problem but when I was with Virgin Media at Uni it took them 12 weeks to install our internet!

[soapdragon]

Thanks, Lewis. I have already told them that I want compensation for the service that I paid for and didn't recieve and they have told me that they will sort this out once things are back to normal - I am guessing because it may be some time yet

 

Still, I am merrily mailing away on Gmail now so feel more 'in control'

[Cinnamon]

You would need to look at your local exchange & see who you are able to go with. We, being out in the sticks, have a choice of BT or nothing

BT own the exchanges and wiring but you can receive any providers service down their lines - TalkTalk, Post Office, Sky etc.

 

 

In our situation the box in the village only has a small capacity & BT have taken all of the slots (there is a technical term for this, but I can't remember what it is!)

So until BT upgrade the box to one with a larger capacity, no other providers can get their services into our village.

I'm not bothered anyhow, as our contract is up for renewal, but we want to move next year so don't want to get locked in to another year long contract if we can help it

[Charlottechicken]

I am also with gmail and like others have said, it's a consistent contact, even if you move house etc. Looking to change provider though as I 'm with Talk Talk and keep getting calls allegedly from microsoft about my computer, and I keep replying with "what computer?" Phone then gets slammed down by the caller!

[Olly]

I think you'll get those calls whoever you're with, Charlottechicken!

[Charlottechicken]

Mmm, never got them with BT/AOL combo, and Talk Talk have had data stolen three times in the 12 months I've been with them.

 

They have also increased prices about three times in 12 months too, so I'm not a happy bunny

[Geoid]

I can recommend Virgin Media as a brilliant internet service provider. I know people have mixed reviews with them, but the service I had has been excellent. Installation was quick, two people turned up at the scheduled time, drilled into the pavement and the wall, and I was up and running in about 30 minutes! Only had 1 problem when the internet dropped out, rang the call centre (which was in India) call was answered immediately, told them of the problem, they did a line test there and then, apologised and said it would be sorted within 24 hours. 20 minutes later, the same call operator rang me back and said there was an engineer on site and the problem will be fixed within 2 hours. 2 hours later, problem solved!