For the record i did get this sorted in the end.

1stly, my last attempt at the customer services did actually clear my balance (around 6th time lucky) and then an hr afterwords i got an email from the CEO office thanks to someone giving me the email addy, saying that it would be cleared as well.

Still, I am back with sky now, my service is back up to the standard I expect and I am happy again.

For light users and gamers the talktalk service is fine, better than sky infact in terms of pings for gaming, however I still after this fiasco could not bring myself to recommend them as a company to any friends. Their customer service is generally poor, their cold callers - at least in my experience - flat out liars and even when i WAS a member i was unable to subscribe to their online forum as my account number and phone was never recognised.

As all the other main posters on this site will verify - Every other major provider visits this site to check to see if there are any negative posts about their company and they will normally try and address the problem head on with the disgruntled client. It may only be the odd 1 or 2 out of potentially hundreds of problems but it is a proactive approach by the company and I would like to think that the results leave the client happy and either ready to continue on with the company or at least satisfied that they have been heard and dealt with on a 1 to 1 basis.

Talktalk are the exception to the rule.

Talktalk do visit this site to look for disgruntled client but only every 6-8 weeks. In my opinion (and I would probably think in everyone elses who is on this forum regularly) talktalk is the most complained about company on this forum and yet the rep that visits this site will only ever recommends that the disgruntled customer visit their own forum and "join the queue". This method from what I remember of people who have tried it is about as useful as trying to phone talktalk to get the problem resolved...never ending wait to get a telephone menu that leads you to nowhere and results in further frustration. Very little chance of speaking to someone who is on the same continent as you and even less chance of them actually understanding and dealing with the problem you face them with

Why oh why oh why oh why can Talktalk not just have someone patrol this forum once every 2-3 days...its takes 2 minutes of the working day and if they come across a problem then answer the problem directly and do not send them to a forum where they are yet again a faceless number waiting to be dealt with - if ever!. Nothing speaks of excellent customer service like a head on 1 to 1 proactive approach.

Pull your finger out Talktalk and deal with the people

I "joined" TalkTalk last July and weeks later when my broadband was supposed to be online, it wasn't. They insisted that my adsl was activated but it wasn't. I then found out that they had actually connected a local shop instead of me!! I received bills in the hundreds of pounds.

I did NOT pay these, in fact the instant I received the first one I cancelled my direct debit so they could not take payment.

I had to make numerous phone calls at my expense and I wrote numerous letters to try and sort it out but they would not believe me!! On one occasion they actually insisted that I was calling from the phone number they had connected (the shop) but in fact I was phoning from my mobile!!!!

Eventually I was threatened, over several months, by a debt collection agency, with a court case. I had to write several letters to this company, eventually telling them I would welcome the court case as it would give me a chance to expose the incompetence of TalkTalk and that I would have local papers there for a story. This produced results. I finally received a bill showing a zero balance.

What a CRAP service!

Alexandra

Mike,

I would first contact the regulator (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/) - Whatever you do - do not ignore the bill

Pay it and complain

Talk Talk are notoriously bad at customer help (I went through a similar ordeal 4 months ago... lies, lies, lies)

Whatever they tell you - note down (time and person spoken to) - and keep ALL emails

Should I pay and try to get it back, or refuse to pay?

I do not want it to affect my credit rating but it appals me that a company has sales people who deliberately miss-sell a product to get a sale and are not obliged to stand by their word.

In December last year I was approached by a cold caller to try talktalk, I was happy with Sky however the sales person persuaded me to try talktalk. He promised a superior service, and said i had nothing to lose as it was a risk free trial and if at the end of a free month trial i was not totally happy i could be put back onto my old service, with no loss of service and no fees.

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This it turns out was a total fabrication. After having trouble with my connection, I asked to be put back after 2 weeks, however talktalk informed me this was something i had to do & on phoning sky because i was not with BT any more i had to be disconnected and then reconnected. I had no broadband for 2 weeks, and sky had a 30 pounds reconnect fee.

To add insult to injury i have received a bill of 19.69 from talktalk, however this is totally opposite to what the cold caller said.

I phoned customer services who promised to squash this bill and said i would not hear from them again, only to get a letter warning me that i still had an unpaid bill. I spoke again to customer services who informed me the cancellation of the bill was rejected.

Please advise on where to go from here. I would like this matter to be resolved, I find it totally unacceptable that as a company TalkTalk feel it is good practice to have cold callers promising a free no strings trial, with no loss of service if you want to go back to old provider after a trial, and that talktalk will do ALL the leg work for this, when none of it is true.

Should I pay the bill or am I right to stand my ground.

I would love to be able to get help off their support forum, however I cant as it has never recognised me as a customer when trying to sign up - even when i WAS a customer.

Please help......

cheers

Mike