Moneysupermarket.com is offering internet users the opportunity to take advantage of an exclusive broadband deal. Rob Barnes, Head of Broadband and Mobile Phones, takes a look...

Click here to read this article.

Click 'Reply' to have your say...

---

Community

WARNING!

This is NOT the Market Leading broadband at all as there is no such thing. Broadband is broadband and is the same from virtually any supplier. This is a marketing gimmick to promote one supplier over another and is NOT the sort of thing I would have expected from Moneysupermarket.

TalkTalk is - at best - another "also ran" in the broadband space and their mother company is one of the worst for customer services yet.

If MS is going down the route of promoting one supplier over another it looses any "unbiased" approach whatsoever. This is NOT giving a good service to the clients - it is merely promoting one less than perfect supplier over others and quite frankly I am disgusted with MS for doing this.

If you value your business and you depend on broadband service, then TalkTalk is NOT the one for you - trust me, I'm in the business and I know from whence I speak.

SHARK!

---

For every positive action, there's an equal and opposite government plan.

We work hard trying to get specific and bespoke rates from all our suppliers across all of our operations - this is not an approach which you can accuse us of being biased, this is simply getting the best opossible financial deal for our customer base. If we cannot approach key suppliers in the industry on behalf of our customers without being accused of being biased then I am not sure what we can do.

I agree that TalkTalk appear to have some issues with customer service - however the piece we wrote was based on price (which is after all what we are here to do) rather than service. The information was correct and also showed COMPARISON to other key brands in the marketplace. Customer service is subjective to each individual - we provide the ability to place reviews against all our suppliers and do not look to push any particluar suppliers over another.

---

Rob Barnes
Head of Broadband & Mobile
moneysupermarket.com

I'm sorry. That simply doesn't wash.

TT not only have a poor customer service record, they also supply a sub-standard service across the board. You only have to check out any comparison site to see them languishing near the bottom! The only way that TT are market leading is in the number of dissatisfied customers locked in to overly long contracts.

While I support you getting deals for users, the original comment surrounded your description of what was on offer as a mis-leading statement. The danger with any site that makes recommendations is that the kick-backs from suppliers offering "exclusive" deals detracts from the impartial "big picture" view that such sites must maintain if they wish to remain credible!

Taken in the context of the service provided by TT, even £3 a month is too much!

Am I correct in assuming then that we should not try and broker price discounts for our customers and then allow them to choose whether they want to go ahead with the provider in question...

---

Rob Barnes
Head of Broadband & Mobile
moneysupermarket.com

If you check my reply, I didn't say don't broker deals. Just don't big up something that is a truly awful product just because customers will save £2 a month for nine months and then be stuck in an 18 month experience of poor broadband.

That is NOT what I stated.

My concern is that MS has made an unqualified statement using the term "Market-Leading" which is impossible. The only people who can provide any benefit over another supplier is the company who OWNS the infrastructure. TalkTalk does not and as such is only able to provide a service over an existing BT service line. This does not make them a "Market Leader" as they are only able to provide a service equal to BT's.

This is misleading and technically inaccurate marketing which is why I am so incensed.

Virgin Media and BT are the only people who OWN their own networks. Anyone else either has to offer an LLU service (which no-one in their right mind would endorse) or they have to run over someone else's cables.

You need to take into account every facet of the package which also includes Customer Service and I'm afraid that there is no way that you can truthfully state that TalkTalk offes something even close to the definition of "customer service" in any language.

SHARK!

---

For every positive action, there's an equal and opposite government plan.

The problem is that up to 8MB is ONLY available on exchanges that TT have unbundled. ALl other are pegged to a maximum of 2MB. Furthermore AFAIK a charge of £10 per month applies on these exchanges. So it is not a very good deal and the 18 month contract is far more than most ISPs want. Added to the fact the whole thing undermines the independance of this site. It is a bad deal.

OK I take on board your points about the headline which could be misinterpreted with regards to Market Leading - this was aligned to the price point not the service

---

Rob Barnes
Head of Broadband & Mobile
moneysupermarket.com

TalkTalk may well be cheap, but is it any good ? Their customer service is lousy, with no UK based call centre, and their corrections to faults almost non-existent. I've been without email pick up for weeks and they can't be bothered to do anything about it.

My computer service professional has more problems sorting out TalkTalk glitches than almost any other provider, with Tiscali a close second. Of the popular providers, he recommends Virgin time and again, with PlusNet for the professional user.

You get what you pay for in this life !!

Hello all,

My name is Stephen, you may have seen me around the forums of MSM and other Broadband sites. I would like to offer any help I can to assist in the resolution of any of your concerns and issues.

PeterL - I would just like to confirm that we do have a number of advisors and call centres in the UK as well as our offshore contact centres. In general our customers do feel that we provide a good service however I don't dispute that some customers may have had a bad experience. We work very hard to address a issues that's are raised.

PLC - That's is correct we only have our own equipment in 70% of BT exchanges and as a result are only able to offer an IP service to customers connected to one of these none LLU exchanges.

Landshark - I have offered my services before, if you have any issues or concerns with your TalkTalk connection please do contact me.

As a general comment if anyone has any issues or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Stephen Fell
Online Community Executive
TalkTalk
www.talktalkmembers.com