My 84-year-old parents, who have significant disabilities, had their TalkTalk landline cut off without notice in August.
We eventually had to sign a new contract to get the service restored and were assured that they would keep their phone number of 60 years.
A week before the installation, my father was informed that the new contract had been cancelled and that he would have to set up another more expensive one.
TalkTalk then claimed that because that contract had been cancelled, they would lose their lifelong number.
MH, Birmingham
You wrote to me in late September, by which time your parents had been without their landline for a month. Your mother, you said, was distressed because she was unable to make her daily calls to her 91-year-old sister.
TalkTalk told me that the problems began in August 2024, when your father requested an upgrade to a full-fibre data-only package, which does not include a landline. Your father, who has Parkinson’s, has no memory of applying for the upgrade, and TalkTalk admitted that the loss of a landline may not have been made clear enough.
Because of a “technical error”, the landline service was only terminated in August, 12 months late. TalkTalk, energised by media attention, managed to restore the landline with a new number three days after my contact. It promised to retrieve the original number and offered £100 in apology. That was early October.
Instead, three weeks later, the line cut out again. A customer service agent claimed your parents would have to cancel the latest contract – which includes both landline and internet – and take out yet another one. This, it turned out, would scupper any chance of getting their old number back.
Back I went to TalkTalk, which discovered that it had, for reasons unknown, requested a disconnection of the newly restored line. Once again it reconnected the line and upped its goodwill offer to £150.
By now it was early November. Within three days the line had cut out and your parents were told they’d exceeded their credit limit. They don’t have a credit limit.
You, meanwhile, found they had been charged £75 for calls during the weeks they were without a landline. This time TalkTalk blamed the mistake on its previous errors, the sum total of which had got everyone confused and your parents cut off again.
TalkTalk once again restored the line and the number and upped its contrition to £200. And so far, it’s working. “We understand how crucial a landline service can be, and we’re disappointed that our usual processes weren’t followed,” a spokesperson said.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions.
