Conundrum

RobH1

Well-Known Member
Your thoughts please chaps on this one.

I have been, and am currently with TalkTalk for b/band/phone and my contract is due for renewal in Jan when I shall be out of the country. No problem with this as it reverts to a 30 day rolling contract and I shall make a decision on my return in March.

I have been broadly satisfied with T/T for 11 years but this latest security debacle coupled with a current 15 hour delay in receiving emails (one week now) is sorely trying my patience. Under normal circumstances I have patience but at the moment the lack of service is causing me problems.

At the forefront of my mind, I greatly miss the sport that used to be offered by the BBC, particularly Motogp and a bit of European Soccer (ITV), now moved to BT. I understand that to get these programmes I have to have another box which would make redundant the HDR Fox T2 which I've owned for over five years.

I have been wary of BT because of all the scare stories regarding continuity of service and delays in fixing faults, unlike T/T who have provided me with a stable service (16 Mbs) and have been exemplary in sorting the few problems I've had. The phone service is excellent, blocking calls etc.

Are any of you with BT for b/band, phone and TV ? (I only need the sports pack). Can you report your experiences?

I know that T/T retentions will offer me a great deal, and am confident of securing an even better deal with BT as a new customer. (similar to the latest Black Friday deals.) But I value stability and continuity of service.

Any advice appreciated.

Rob
 
I changed from TT to BT in Aug/Sep this year when we moved house.
I'd been fairly happy with TT for many years (and they were fairly cheap) so intended to move with them thus avoiding exit problems. However, all they could offer at the new house was a 2-4MB download, no fibre (we'd had a reliable 10MB at the old house. BT could do fibre with 30MB!
So I ordered the BT system. Rang TT to cancel and the girl said
"We can do fibre"
Me: "Well that's not what the bloke I spoke to a day or two ago said, and it's not what your website tool says."
Her: "If you go to the Openreach website it would have told you it's available ...."
Me: " ......? Why on earth would I do that? You said no, twice. I'm gone."
And then they didn't cancel it and I ended up paying another month rental.

So we are with BT. Not very happy with the price (the new customer bonus isn't much in practise), and it's not been 100% reliable with occasional router resets, but I'm locked in for a year or 18 months, so it'll have to do. Plenty fast enough most of the time at least. We initially had a 40GB/month contract as I went through our likely useage with the sales guy and he reckoned we'd need 30. After about 6-7 weeks it was clear we would be bouncing the limit all the time, so I upgraded to unlimited which is extra of course. Phone calls are not as cheap as TT either (we have inclusive anytime).

Despite the security fracas (and I don't believe any large company is watertight) I'd have been happier/wealthier staying with TT if they hadn't cocked up the fibre thing, but in the middle of a very sudden house move (contracts Tuesday, packing Weds, moving Thurs) I couldn't take the hassle of trying to reverse the process again.

When the BT contract expires I'll have another look and also consider the likes of Plusnet. But of course we have no interest in sport, so no ties to BT in that respect.
 
Something I think is worth remembering is that whether you leave TalkTalk or not, the damage has already been done, i.e. leaving TT won't recover your private details that have been leaked to the 'baddies', so unless you think TT are more likely to be attacked in the future than their competition , I think users might as well take a look at the compensation they are offering in December, i.e. phone call package upgrade etc. before making a decision. I would agree that this is exactly what TT would want and I would never admit it to them (they need to be kept on their toes), but if you want something back, a package upgrade maybe as good as it gets.
BTW
I am a TalkTalk customer, I have never worked for them or any company associated with them
 
Thanks for both replies.

Ezra, I think it is highly likely that T/T, in light of their recent problems, will be the most secure provider out there for a while at least, once they've sorted themselves out. The cock up over the email situation appears to be taking an age to sort and they do not appear to acknowledge that they have a problem.

I know that with their compensation package, I will be £7.50 month better off, so it's a consideration certainly.

Mike, I realise there may be teething problems with a new service and I'll do some more research to see how new customers fare, but I need some feedback from someone who has been with BT for sometime (preferably with the sport pack) to see if it's worth the hassle.

Cheers both.
 
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