Customers left speechless by phone giant’s ‘maintenance’

TELECOMMUNICATIONS giant Talk Talk has wreaked havoc across Farnham in the past month, leaving a number of homes quite literally lost for words. Several dissatisfied customers have contacted The Herald after maintenance work last month has caused crossed lines, no internet service and an inability to receive calls. Talk Talk is the consumer telephone business of the Carphone Warehouse plc, with customers hiring line rental from British Telecom (BT). Jane Gates, of Burnt Hill Road, told her personal tale of woe. "Over four weeks ago we had a letter from Talk Talk saying that due to changes to your broadband network, a British Telecom engineer will be upgrading your line. Consequently, services will be unavailable for a short period on the day, with the maintenance scheduled for March 16. "Since then I have had no incoming calls. Sometimes you pick up and somebody else is speaking on a crossed line, and I have had no broadband. "When I phone BT, they say it is Talk Talk's fault, and I've been into Carphone Warehouse who have said that we are the highest priority, and that they are ever so sorry and that everybody knows about it. "It's ever so frustrating, especially when I am not able to answer calls. They keep telling me that I am important to them, but this has been going on for over a month," she added." Stan Burton, also of Burnt Hill Road, relayed a similar tale. "It is horrendous. I have been abroad, and I came back on Wednesday to find out that I can't send emails, and nor can I contact my son who lives in Botswana. "We got a nice letter from Talk Talk last month, saying that they were improving the server and that my service would benefit as a result, but here we are." Confusion has reigned in his household, with several mix ups over telephone numbers. "I have got approximately 10 calls from a young lad who wants to speak to Jake. "It gets to the stage where he says: 'you must be in Jake's house. What are you doing there? "I went into the Carphone Warehouse, and they told me that there were 80 people having problems, and that CEO Charles Dunstone is aware of the situation." Brendan McEnhill of Park Road tells a similar story. "We have had nearly a month of no incoming calls, and we have asked them to transfer calls to my mobile. "I've been on to Talk Talk constantly. Once I was asked if I wanted to speak to an engineer and after waiting half an hour was put through. 'I can't hear you,' said a voice at the other end of the line. 'I'm in Cape Town', he adds. All the time they're saying how important my call is! "I also rang OFCOM, and while speaking to them another voice cut in and said: 'What are you doing on my line?' "The adviser said that this was the first time he had ever heard a three-way conversation, but at least he was able to advise the two of us what to do. "But it's maddening," he added. A BT statement said: "Openreach, a BT business, provides a service to maintain, repair and improve the network from the exchange to customers' premises on behalf of all service providers and we strive to ensure all work is carried out as quickly and efficiently as possible with minimum impact to customers. While we do not know the cause of these problems at this stage, we would apologise if any work has had a negative impact on customers' service." Meanwhile, The Herald understands that several customer's lines have subsequently been repaired - including Mr McEnhill's - with a spokesman stating: "We are taking this seriously and speaking to the customers involved. We are currently arranging for the customers to be called now, if they haven't been contacted already." With regard to the scale of the problem, he continued: "I think if there had been a problem of that scale I would certainly have been informed about it." Speaking immediately before The Herald went to press, he added that Mrs Gates was of an immediate priority, with her line set to be corrected "within an hour". "I've heard that one before," she replied. Have you been affected by the maintenance work? If so, what are your experiences? Are claims of 80 affected houses exaggerated? Please contact The Herald on 01252 899220.