BBC Watchdog: Taking Talk Talk to task

[Tony]

When Talk Talk, a Carphone Warehouse company, launched its pay-as-you-go mobile service in 2005 it offered free calls forever between all Talk Talk landlines and Talk Talk mobiles.

But in September, Talk Talk began contacting customers to say it was closing down its Talk Talk Mobile service and offering to move those customers to a new service called Talk Mobile.

However, it means more than just a simple name change to Talk Talk Mobile customers. That different name means those free calls promised with the previous service have gone, such as free calls between Talk Talk landlines and mobiles.

On top of that, customers were advised all of their outstanding credit on their phone would be lost if it wasn't used by the cut-off date. This credit can run into hundreds of pounds for some customers.

In the studio we met two customers who had been affected by Talk Talk's recent decision and were angry about the loss of their credits. After "Watchdog" got in touch, Talk Talk changed its policy and said it would now be crediting their landline accounts with the same amount as their mobile credits. That will also be the case for all other affected Talk Talk Mobile customers.

Talk Talk admitted to Watchdog its letters to customers were confusing and poorly worded, and apologised for that. Here's the company's full statement:

Talk Talk statement

"A small number of mobile customers have lost credits through a billing transfer process. To ensure they're treated fairly and continue to receive best value, all of these customers will be contacted and advised that they will receive a credit on their landline bill by the end of October. We apologise to these customers for any confusion we may have caused.

"Talk Talk admit its letters to customers were very confusing and poorly worded. Teh company apologises for that and says a small number of mobile customers lost their credit balance due to the billing systems being upgraded. But good news. Since Watchdog's been in touch, they've had a change of heart. They say all their mobile customers WILL have any credit remaining on their account refunded to their landlines."

Have you experienced any similar problems? If you have any experiences with different companies please send us your stories so we can investigate.



Taking Talk Talk to task