MY EXPERIENCE WITH TALKTALK. I switched from my previous Broadband provider to TalkTalk on 14/7/22. My reasons for switching were: 1) my previous provider was going to increase their monthly cost by an unreasonable amount. 2) I was getting nothing more in return for the unjustified price increase. After using a comparison website, I decided to go with TalkTalk. - THIS WAS A BIG MISTAKE AS I SHOULD HAVE DONE MY RESEARCH FIRST ON TALKTALK BEFOREHAND!!! I started to receive update emails telling me that my service would go live on 29/8/22 and that “Fast Broadband Speed Is Coming!”… After receiving my TalkTalk router and setting it up, I performed a Speed Test… I was receiving a download speed of 0.96 Mbps and an upload speed of 0.43 Mbps!!!! This is utterly PATHETIC!!! - Also at this point, I’d like to point out that TalkTalk “Guarantee” a MINIMUM speed of 7 Mbps to (strangely, and again, quite pathetically!) 1 Mbps…! For those of you unfamiliar with such slow Mbps speeds: Simple web pages will not load correctly or fully. YouTube videos will constantly buffer. Netflix movies are unwatchable. You’ll be lucky if you can get the app to load at all!! I was NOT even getting their ABSOLUTE MINIMUM that they “Guarantee”… So these are the first & second issues right out of the box, day one! - Incredibly slow speed and a speed LESS than what they guarantee, and NO WHERE NEAR the upper end (7 Mbps) of what they “Guarantee”! I then attempted to contact their Customer Service Line (I’m putting their number here for convenience, because if you DO make the same mistake I did and decide to go with TalkTalk, you’re going to need it… A LOT! 0345 172 0088). This was also a terrible experience and nothing short of vastly frustrating and awkward. - You initially get through to an automated service… The problem is, it’s voice recognition based. I can tell you this system DOES NOT work well or is even remotely effective! The system does not recognise what you are saying, who you are, what your mobile # is, and the reason why you are calling… Eventually after going through this highly frustrating and unreliable system, you get through to a person… This is where the frustration increases substantially!!! - Firstly, they are based in an office / call centre most likely NOT in the UK… Secondly, it’s one of those ridiculously noisy call centres where the ambient background noise is deafening!! Whatever ‘training’ that the staff there have, it is completely inadequate and ineffective. - There’s more to customer service than just saying “Sorry” and “I apologise” 100 x on a phone call with a customer… After just about managing to fight through the Customer ID / Security Checks which involved me repeating myself multiple times, I told the TalkTalk person what the issue was (VERY slow speeds). I’d like to point out here, that this is the third issue: A completely shambolic Customer Service call centre that has to be accessed through a highly frustrating, barely functioning voice recognition system… The TalkTalk person on the phone told me that there is usually an initial 7 - 9 day period where the line “Settles Down”, and if the slow speed persists they will send an engineer to assess the external street box equipment… This is nothing short of a lie!! - I have been informed by an 18 yr veteran of telecommunications that a line will either do 1 of 3 things: 1. It will either work very well. 2. It will either work very poorly. 3. It will not work at all. - It will CERTAINLY NOT change its status / performance after having a “Settling down” period!! It is what it is!! - And in TalkTalk’s case this line worked very VERY poorly!! BE ADVISED: Being told to wait for a “Settling Down” period is TalkTalk’s way of stalling their customers from cancelling their service… If its poor speed from day 1, its always going to be poor speed. - The following backs up that statement… Again, here, Im pointing out that this is issue number four: There IS NO settling down period. This is fictitious. Even if it was an actual legitimate ‘thing’, it was completely ineffective and did NOTHING!! After foolishly waiting for the “Settling Down” period to complete, shockingly, my Broadband speed Mbps had NOT got any better at all! So, unfortunately, I was forced to call TalkTalk’s frustrating and useless customer service number again… After once again having to deal with the numerous repetitions on my part due to their useless voice recognition system, just to get through to an actual person. Then deal with the customer ID / Security questions with all the background noise and a TalkTalk person with a VERY ‘heavy accent’, making it almost impossible to understand what they were saying, I managed to book an engineer. - This engineer was going to inspect the equipment in the street for faults… On 03/08/22 I receive a TalkTalk email titled “Our Engineer Has Resolved The Issue” (Also a similar message sent to my phone via text)… I conduct a speed test… …… 0.63 Mbps Download Speed… Congratulations, TalkTalk! - You managed to make your already abortionate performance even worse!!! Id like to point out here that this is issue number five: - They sent an engineer, said that the issue had been fixed when it really wasn’t fixed at all! Which does raise 3 questions: What, exactly, did the engineer ‘fix’..? AND, did TalkTalk even ACTUALLY send an engineer in the first place or are they lying..?! If they are not lying, why wasn’t the problem fixed, because the email I received said it was…..!?!? Another frustrating phone call to TalkTalk for me… GREAT! This time, an engineer is arranged to attend the inside of my property on 17/08/22 between the hrs of 07:00 - 09:00. Now, if you think things are bad so far, they are about to get A LOT worse..! So, on the above date, I arrange to take the day off work so I can be home and finally have this problem fixed… (Also, as Im self employed, this involves losing a day’s income for me…). So, Im sat there on the sofa from 06:30 hrs waiting for a ring of the door bell or a knock… At 08:12 hrs I receive a TalkTalk text message saying “Hello. ‘Bradley’, your engineer is on the way and due to arrive between 07:00 and 09:00. Please make sure you are at home between these times. Thanks. Talktalk.” Now I’m thinking “Excellent! Anytime now…” … It gets to 09:00 hrs… No ring or knock at the door… At 09:11 hrs I receive another TalkTalk text message… “TalkTalk Update: Hello, we're sorry we missed you when we came out to do a repair. To arrange another appointment with our engineer, just go to our online Service Centre talktalk.co.uk/bookengineer, or reply to this message. We have to charge you for the missed appointment and you'll see this on your next bill - to find out more, see our terms and conditions talktalk.co.uk/engineerterms”. I WAS ABSOLUTELY ******* LIVID!!!! AT NO POINT DID ANY TALKTALK ENGINEER COME TO MY PROPERTY!!! I received NO knock at the door! I received NO doorbell ring! NOTHING!!! Oh, yeah… This is issue number six… … You see, there’s a little trick that various engineers use to “lighten their work load” for the day when making house calls… They get close enough so that their work tablet is in job geo-fence range, barely ‘brush’ your front door (certainly DON’T ring the doorbell because that will be loud and the homeowner will answer the door, and the engineer will actually have to do some work!!!), get back in their vehicle and enter into their work tablet that there was no one home… Oh well, on to the next job….!!! I instantly (at 09:12) get on to TalkTalk customer care (which, again, is great fun, highly dynamic and really professional as I’ve previously described…!) and tell them what has happened and to get the engineer back here IMMEDIATELY!!! IM FURIOUS!!!! ….. TalkTalk put me on hold for 31 minutes…. No updates…. No info…. And that’s where I give up, end the call and they lose a customer! - They don’t call back and obviously the engineer doesn’t “return”… I then and there select a different Broadband provider to switch to after only being with TalkTalk for 24 days!!! ABSOLUTELY SHAMBOLIC ACROSS THE BOARD!! I have been charged in 24 days of “Service” with TalkTalk the following amounts: £ 31.48 (Initial “monthly rate” £ 19.95, plus “charges since you’ve joined” £ 1.58 and a “one off charges” £ 9.95?!) £ 59.95 (Engineer call out fee who never turned up!!! Plus, normal monthly rate!!!) £ 180.73 (‘Contract Breakage Fee’, WHICH I WOULD’NT BE BREAKING IF THEY WERE’NT COMPLETELY INCOMPETENT AND DIDN’T HAVE ASTOUNDINGLY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!) £ 272.16 TOTAL…. In 24 days…! I, THE CUSTOMER, am paying £ 240.68 purely because of THEIR SHORTCOMINGS!!! How is this right?! Their level of incompetence defies belief!!! I can summarise my experience with TalkTalk and describe them by the words: Horrendous. Unprofessional. Dishonourable. Unorganised. Low Grade. Dishonest. Embarrassing. Infuriating. But there is somewhat of a happy ending to this story… My new Broadband provider is supplying generous and highly satisfactory Mbps right out of the box on day 1. No need for a “Settling Period”. No need to call customer service. No need for engineer call outs that don’t really do anything or even turn up….!! For those still reading, I cannot stress enough to stay away from TalkTalk. I am in the process of copying and pasting my experience on as many forums, comparison sites, review sites etc. as possible. - Consumers need to know!