Twee:

Are not Talk Talk and Orange part of the same company anyway ?

If this is the case - I would not expect to be "fined" for transferring ....

No - HORRANGE are a fully owned subsidiary of France Telecom - TalkTalk are an independent PLC,quoted on the LSE

Are not Talk Talk and Orange part of the same company anyway ?

If this is the case - I would not expect to be "fined" for transferring ....

jeff_s_62 - its highly unlikely that the door knocker was actually a TalkTalk employee - more likely he was an agency employee working on commission based on successful switching - such persons don't give a tinkers cuss about accuracy - they just want your signature!!

The utilities forums are full of tales of woe regarding people who have been promised the earth on a utility switch by doorstep callers,only to find out later thats its all b.....s**t!!!

Andrew,

If talktalk knew that orange would be charged a disconnecting fee by openreach then why didn't the sales rep who called at my house inform me that there would be a connection fee of £30 payable to talktalk and a disconnecting fee of £29 payable to orange. If they had informed that it would cost £59 to move from one supplier to another then I wouldn't have bothered. Which is obviously why they don't inform you to start with.

Either the sales reps are ill informed or they don't want to inform you properly. Either way its going to cost me more money

Hi all,

A MAC code is only used when switching between BT resellers. As no physical work at the exchange needs to be carried out the costs are low.

When you move to a LLU reseller a MAC code is not required as you moving to a non BT product. Due to this an Openreach engineer is required to carry out the physical changeover at the exchange. A fee is charged to the previous supplier for disconnecting the service and a further charge to the new supplier. It is this charge that Orange are passing on to the customer.

If you are leaving TalkTalk we do not apply a disconnection fee unless you are within contract.

Andrew

Jalexa:

BREWERDAVE1:

...The problem arises when you move from a BT line to a fully unbundled line (llu) - ...

So there is more than one type of LLU? Possibly this explains if only I could understand it

As I "understand" it , ISPs can install their equipment in the BT exchange purely for B/Band leaving the voice line with BT - for instance my daughter has got an "unbundled" line for B/Band with O2 but remains with BT for calls/rental.

HOWEVER, financially it doesn't seem to make much sense (ie not much profit!!) so TalkTalk,Orange and Sky in particular appear to be driving the market to fully unbundled lines where they control line rental,calls and BB.

I agree that Ofcom has generally been a waste of space as far as controlling the telecom market is concerned.

BREWERDAVE1:

...The problem arises when you move from a BT line to a fully unbundled line (llu) - ...

So there is more than one type of LLU? Possibly this explains if only I could understand it.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/broadband/dsl_facts/LLUbackground.htm

Does Ofcom believe the average man in the street understands that and did I hear they might be a quango for the chop?

Can't happen soon enough IMHO.

The problem is that Talk-Talk have become much too "Big for their Boots"

The now are the name behind many previously good independant ISP's

Such as Pipex, Nildram, AOL, CarPhone Warehouse .... the list is endless........

The problem arises when you move from a BT line to a fully unbundled line (llu) - you get charged by Orange who are just passing on the charge from BT who physically disconnect you at the exchange, then reconnect you to TalkTalk's equipment.

Don't think that you will get anywhere with TalkTalk - they will argue that the cease charge is between you and Orange.You might have more luck trying to get your connection charge from TalkTalk creditted - but don't hold your breath!!

Thankyou Jalexa for your reply. You are correct the charge was for ceasing my broadband without a MAC code. I will be taking your advice and filing a formal complaint against talktalk and try and claim back the £29.07 charged to me by orange. Do you know where i can obtain the talktalk complaints procedure from?

As to why talktalk didn't obtain the MAC code, or advise me to obtain the MAC code, I don't know, they are obvoiusly full of s**t and most of their sales staff don't know what they are talking about.

If anybody out there is thinking of switching to talktalk, don't bother and avoid like the plague.

jeff_s_62:

. Now I have had a bill from orange for £29.07. When I rang to ask what the charge was for they told me this was the price BT had charged them for moving my mac code from orange to talktalk.

I don't think Orange have charged you for your MAC, they have charged you for ceasing your broadband without a MAC. There is no charge for the issue of a MAC.

What you should have done is obtained your MAC from Orange and then supplied that to Talk Talk. This is a complicated subject but I think the Talk Talk LLU explanation is typical Talk Talk b*ll*cks.

[an aside for the Talk Talk CS lurker, am I right or am I right?]

On the face of it you have been misadvised by Talk Talk. You should obtain the Talk Talk complaints procedure and submit a formal complaint to Talk Talk strictly in accordance with the procedure, stating your grievance and what you expect in remedy. If you remain dissatisfied, on "deadlock" or after 8 weeks, whichever occurs first, you will be entitled to ask the Talk Talk ADR (alternate dispute resolution provider) to investigate the complaint. That would cost you nothing but Talk Talk (I believe) would incur a hefty case fee regardless of the outcome.

You should pay Orange as they are entitled to charge for a cease without a MAC. Be aware that Orange are also entitled to charge you for a month's service in lieu of notice. It is right that Talk Talk charged you a connection fee if that fee is mentioned in the point of sale info you responded to and in any order confirmation.

You are not alone BTW, I have just been charged by BT for a cease even though I used a MAC. I suspect this might be a not uncommon problem, a "scam" almost. Just about to tackle BT on the issue.

A few months ago I moved from orange to talktalk.I asked if they required the mac code from orange and was told that they would sort all that out and I would have to do nothing.I was charged a connection fee of £29.99. I still checked with orange that my account was closed when the switch over took place and they confirmed it was. Now I have had a bill from orange for £29.07. When I rang to ask what the charge was for they told me this was the price BT had charged them for moving my mac code from orange to talktalk. I then contacted talktalk to see why they hadn't sorted this out, they told me they didn't need a mac code from orange as the talktalk was an LLU account. Does anyone know if this is correct? and if so why are orange trying to charge me. Any advise would be much appreciated.