Why did PC World cut off my broadband without asking me?
H.J. writes: I work as a photographer. My landline and wi-fi connection have been fraudulently migrated from my service provider, MacAce, to another company without my agreement or authorisation. The person who apparently requested the transfer gave my address and the line is now with TalkTalk. YOU have had the same phone number for more than 30 years and it was known t o al l your customers.
Suddenly you lost that number as well as your broadband connection and were forced to work from an internet cafe. You even started to receive bills from TalkTalk s howing your address but someone else’s name.
But TalkTalk is an innocent party in this. I found the migration request came from the Currys PC World store in Enfield, North Lon- don. At first, Currys PC World said: ‘A full investigation into the issue was conducted which concluded the issue was due to external factors outside of our control.’
But when I asked it to explain how something that happened in one of its stores was outside its control, it gave a new statement: ‘We are sorry that Mr J’s broadband service was transferred in error. This was due to a mistake in setting up a transfer for a different customer.’
The Enfield branch had your details because you bought a fridge there several months ago. You then had to complain because the bill included an extended warranty you did not want.
Armed with all this detail, you have been in contact with MacAce to restore your service. TalkTalk did nothing wrong but has offered £50 to make up for the inconvenience.
Currys has contacted you with an apology and £100 in compensation, which you have accepted.