TalkTalk signals U-turn over Tiscali deals
A change of heart has helped Tiscali customers left worse off after merger with TalkTalk. Miles Brignall reports
The home phone and broadband supplier TalkTalk has been forced into a U-turn after telling customers of the recently merged Tiscali that it would not be honouring contracts offered prior to the takeover.
As Guardian Money revealed shortly before Christmas, the merger of the broadband and phone giants, originally announced in May 2009, has resulted in a big price increase for some Tiscali customers pushed on to the higher TalkTalk tariffs. Some broadband-only customers face costs rising from £14.99 to £19.99 a month.
It was initially thought most of those affected were out of contract. However, in the past two weeks, TalkTalk has been telling customers who had recently signed new agreements it would not be honouring those struck with Tiscali salespeople – even if it was just a few weeks before the known-about merger. Some say they were told by TalkTalk staff that the fact they had signed an 18-month contract at an agreed price was "meaningless" as they were TalkTalk customers now.
One such customer is new mum Sarah* Gladwin. The bank manager, who lives in Richmond, Surrey, was contemplating leaving Tiscali and finding a better deal after reading our original article.
Out of contract and free to take her business elsewhere, she called the Tiscali sales team in late December and was offered line rental, broadband, and free calls in the evenings and at weekends – its basic phone/internet package – for a very attractive £12 a month, with the first three months free.
She had to sign up for 18 months. "I was very happy with the deal. Confirmation came by email the same day and later by post. Both stated that my Tiscali package had been successfully upgraded, as per my order. We received a new wireless router in about three days. All great, or so I thought."
A few days ago she received a letter welcoming her to TalkTalk and saying that, in future, she would be paying £18.50 a month. Other readers have contacted Money complaining about the same thing.
"Obviously, I didn't want to pay nearly 50% more, so I phoned them to say 'no thank you, we'll continue with our agreed contract made last month'. But the call centre did not understand. It offered me three months free after speaking to a 'supervisor'.
"I explained I already had an 18-month contract with three months free, and a cheaper monthly fee, but all she kept saying was 'we're Talk Talk now'. After 45 minutes, I gave up," says Gladwin. A second phone call elicited the same take or leave it response.
"How can you deal with a company that treats its customers in this way?" she says.
TalkTalk originally said it wanted to streamline its complicated range of tariffs down to one. "Our aim, at the end of this process, is to have one clearly understood set of prices. That will mean no one is paying more than the TalkTalk tariff and is fair to everyone," it said in December, seemingly unaware its colleagues at Tiscali were offering different deals to retain customers.
Consumer law expert Dr Christian Twigg-Flesner at the University of Hull says telecoms companies and financial services providers rely on "unilateral variation clauses" to allow them to vary prices in this way.
"Most of the banks have these in their terms to allow them to change interest rates and the like. However, in this case, customers might be able to argue the company was misrepresenting its offer.
"But, as a consumer, you can't force a company to honour a deal. Unfortunately, English law is reluctant to hold companies to contracts as long as they give the consumer the chance to opt out," he says.
After Money raised the issue with TalkTalk the company had a change of heart, and says it will now honour the contracts with Tiscali – albeit with a rather complicated billing arrangement.
A spokesman says: "Customers who signed up with Tiscali or altered their package between September and December* 2009 will be offered six months service at half price when they sign up to a new contract with TalkTalk. Those customers who want to stick with the original deal they signed, can do so. They will have to pay the TalkTalk tariff, but their account will be credited, up-front, with the difference, meaning they will pay nothing for the first few months."
He explained the company's recent downturn in customer service on the poor weather, during which just 25% of its staff were able to get to work at its Preston and Warrington centres.
"It caused us big problems in terms of answering calls and it came at the worst time, but we are now back to normal," he says.
Meanwhile, the regulator Ofcom may have had a hand in the about- turn.
"Ofcom is aware of this issue; we are monitoring complaints and we are in touch with TalkTalk," it says.
Miles Brignall
The Guardian, Saturday 30 January 2010
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
A change of heart has helped Tiscali customers left worse off after merger with TalkTalk. Miles Brignall reports
The home phone and broadband supplier TalkTalk has been forced into a U-turn after telling customers of the recently merged Tiscali that it would not be honouring contracts offered prior to the takeover.
As Guardian Money revealed shortly before Christmas, the merger of the broadband and phone giants, originally announced in May 2009, has resulted in a big price increase for some Tiscali customers pushed on to the higher TalkTalk tariffs. Some broadband-only customers face costs rising from £14.99 to £19.99 a month.
It was initially thought most of those affected were out of contract. However, in the past two weeks, TalkTalk has been telling customers who had recently signed new agreements it would not be honouring those struck with Tiscali salespeople – even if it was just a few weeks before the known-about merger. Some say they were told by TalkTalk staff that the fact they had signed an 18-month contract at an agreed price was "meaningless" as they were TalkTalk customers now.
One such customer is new mum Sarah* Gladwin. The bank manager, who lives in Richmond, Surrey, was contemplating leaving Tiscali and finding a better deal after reading our original article.
Out of contract and free to take her business elsewhere, she called the Tiscali sales team in late December and was offered line rental, broadband, and free calls in the evenings and at weekends – its basic phone/internet package – for a very attractive £12 a month, with the first three months free.
She had to sign up for 18 months. "I was very happy with the deal. Confirmation came by email the same day and later by post. Both stated that my Tiscali package had been successfully upgraded, as per my order. We received a new wireless router in about three days. All great, or so I thought."
A few days ago she received a letter welcoming her to TalkTalk and saying that, in future, she would be paying £18.50 a month. Other readers have contacted Money complaining about the same thing.
"Obviously, I didn't want to pay nearly 50% more, so I phoned them to say 'no thank you, we'll continue with our agreed contract made last month'. But the call centre did not understand. It offered me three months free after speaking to a 'supervisor'.
"I explained I already had an 18-month contract with three months free, and a cheaper monthly fee, but all she kept saying was 'we're Talk Talk now'. After 45 minutes, I gave up," says Gladwin. A second phone call elicited the same take or leave it response.
"How can you deal with a company that treats its customers in this way?" she says.
TalkTalk originally said it wanted to streamline its complicated range of tariffs down to one. "Our aim, at the end of this process, is to have one clearly understood set of prices. That will mean no one is paying more than the TalkTalk tariff and is fair to everyone," it said in December, seemingly unaware its colleagues at Tiscali were offering different deals to retain customers.
Consumer law expert Dr Christian Twigg-Flesner at the University of Hull says telecoms companies and financial services providers rely on "unilateral variation clauses" to allow them to vary prices in this way.
"Most of the banks have these in their terms to allow them to change interest rates and the like. However, in this case, customers might be able to argue the company was misrepresenting its offer.
"But, as a consumer, you can't force a company to honour a deal. Unfortunately, English law is reluctant to hold companies to contracts as long as they give the consumer the chance to opt out," he says.
After Money raised the issue with TalkTalk the company had a change of heart, and says it will now honour the contracts with Tiscali – albeit with a rather complicated billing arrangement.
A spokesman says: "Customers who signed up with Tiscali or altered their package between September and December* 2009 will be offered six months service at half price when they sign up to a new contract with TalkTalk. Those customers who want to stick with the original deal they signed, can do so. They will have to pay the TalkTalk tariff, but their account will be credited, up-front, with the difference, meaning they will pay nothing for the first few months."
He explained the company's recent downturn in customer service on the poor weather, during which just 25% of its staff were able to get to work at its Preston and Warrington centres.
"It caused us big problems in terms of answering calls and it came at the worst time, but we are now back to normal," he says.
Meanwhile, the regulator Ofcom may have had a hand in the about- turn.
"Ofcom is aware of this issue; we are monitoring complaints and we are in touch with TalkTalk," it says.
Miles Brignall
The Guardian, Saturday 30 January 2010
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
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