Why won’t TalkTalk let me cancel my care home dad’s phone bill?
MY FATHER, 92, was admitted to a dementia care home early last September. I have Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).
I rang TalkTalk to cancel his account but they refused because I wasn’t the account holder and didn’t have his password.
I was passed around, each time explaining that my father had no memory of even having a TalkTalk account.
They were intransigent. So I stopped the payments from September 23, thinking he would be charged for one more month, then his account would be closed.
But TalkTalk continued to charge my father and in November a letter was sent to my mother’s address from a debt agency, demanding payment of £99.50.
I tried again to cancel his account but failed. Eventually, after several phone calls, I was told the account would be closed on January 3.
I have sent copies of the LPA, with a doctor’s letter confirming my father’s diagnosis, to TalkTalk and the debt agency, with a request to direct all further contact to me, not my mother.
But my mother recently received a bill for £128.50 — the previous charges, plus a further £29 up to January 10.
There is still no confirmation that the account is closed.
On December 21, I received a text from TalkTalk saying they had been unable to contact me and would close the complaint in 14 days if I didn’t contact them — even though they had spoken to me the previous day.
R. H., Hants.
Yours isn’t the first letter I have received complaining about TalkTalk in such circumstances.
TalkTalk admits that when you rang on september 11, the call was not completed correctly.
When you made contact again, the LPA had yet to be registered with Talktalk (not surprising, if they hadn’t carried through your previous request properly).
At this stage TalkTalk says your request as an emergency welfare case was registered and a ‘cease order’ was placed. so why did your mother get a further bill?
TalkTalk says it refunded £70.50 to cover charges since the Power of Attorney was received.
You agreed to pay a final bill of £58. Apparently the september bill for £29 had already been produced before you asked to cancel, and there was also a final month’s cancellation notice charge. I don’t believe you should be paying a penny, given how you’ve been treated. This is just poor customer service. IN JANUARY 2017 we were persuaded to move to Green Star Energy, which said we would save £400 a year. We told the rep we met while out shopping that we had smart meters.
Green Star did not communicate with us in any way until August 2017, when we received an estimated bill for nearly £700. A month later we received a second invoice for £850. I queried the extra £150, as this seemed excessive in summer.
We have been trying to resolve the issue but the only communication we have had is a further invoice for £1,400.
N. B., Cardiff.
Green star energy — which has since been taken over by shell energy — based its initial estimates on usage figures provided by your previous supplier.
shell energy apologises for the delays in addressing your concerns and has credited your account with £75 as a goodwill gesture. You moved your electricity account from shell in october but it still supplies your gas. MY BROTHER-in-law died on September 24 last year and we wanted to get the money back from his car insurer, Autonet.
We sent a death certificate on October 8 and the policy was cancelled. On October 15 we received a cheque for £510.89, made out to his executors. We returned this, because we did not think we could deposit it as his account was frozen.
On November 28 we phoned the company, to be told a new cheque would be sent to his widow. On December 4 I called again but gave up after 15 minutes on hold. I called again on December 14, to be told the money had been returned to the account that had paid it. On December 16, I received an email asking for my brother-inlaw’s address and date of birth.
On December 20 I received a copy of his bank account showing that £524.61 had been paid to Autonet on September 24.
Mrs C. J., Newport.
THIs was a straightforward misunderstanding but it highlights how companies need to put as much effort as possible into making things simple.
Autonet followed standard procedure in sending you a cheque made out to the executors of the deceased person.
It is normal practice to set up an executor account into which such cheques can be deposited and from which bills can be paid.
When you asked for an alternative form of payment, Autonet sent the money to your brotherin-law’s bank account — but it showed as ‘Atlanta-1’, so you didn’t spot it.
Autonet says in future it will make sure it tells people to look out for this name when it is making repayments. It has also sent you £75 and some flowers as a goodwill gesture.