TalkTalk won’t transfer contract

Last autumn we moved house, having arranged in good time to transfer the TalkTalk broadband and landline telephone service to our new home.

We had been happy TalkTalk customers for many years. On arrival we found a telephone message saying our services would be connected in two weeks’ time.

This coincided with our going on holiday so we asked to delay the commencement until we got back.

Someone from TalkTalk rang and explained it was too long a lag time.

The best solution was to cancel the existing order and arrange for a new contract to start on the new date.

TalkTalk was supposed to call me about this the following day at 2pm but no one did.

I rang it only to be told that TalkTalk would not deal with me because I had cancelled the contract.

My strong protests served no purpose. JC, SOMERSET

The reason TalkTalk had been able to call you initially was that the person moving had not cancelled their account.

You were not keeping your old number and presumably had given TalkTalk this one.

TalkTalk said it can take over a working phone line but, if it is active as the one at issue clearly was, to do so would be tantamount to it taking over someone else’s service. This would be the case even with another TalkTalk account.

Meanwhile, the previous owner had called, asking you not to use the phone. Your calls, he said, were being billed to him.

After that you decided to move to another, albeit more expensive, supplier, who later told you that the phone line to the house had been split into two in some way. This may well explain why there had still been an active line for the previous householder.

TalkTalk then claimed a £144.88 cancellation fee from you and threatened to damage your credit rating if you did not pay.

You tried and tried to resolve this yourself but couldn’t.

TalkTalk explained to me that, when it placed the home move order, there was a lack of availability at the exchange so it could not transfer your services on the date you initially requested.

TalkTalk said it tried to call you back but didn’t manage to reach you.

Perhaps by then the real account holder had cancelled the service.

Due to the new order not being placed and the home move order having been cancelled, a fee was applied which, it said, given the circumstances, shouldn’t have been.

A TalkTalk spokesman said: “We have apologised to Mr C for any inconvenience caused as a result of this issue. All outstanding charges have been waived and the account has been closed to his satisfaction.”