TalkTalk fined £3m for overcharging customers

TalkTalk and its subsidiary Tiscali UK have been hit with the largest ever fine given to a British telecoms provider after incorrectly billing over 65,000 customers...

What does the adult film company Vivid Entertainment and the telecoms provider TalkTalk have in common?

Well, not a lot as it turns out. However the sum of three million pounds does have some resonance for both. In the former’s case, this was the fee that the blue-movie makers were reported to have offered Pippa Middleton to star in one of their ‘films’.

And in the case of the later, three million pounds was the level of fine issued to the telecoms provider for incorrectly billing thousands of customers.

It’s understood that the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister – and owner of a derriere with over 10,000 fans on Facebook – declined the offer from the X-rated company.

But unfortunately for TalkTalk, they had no such option when it came to their lofty levy...

Cancelled services

The three million pound fine issued by Ofcom is the largest ever for a British telecoms provider. The regulator hit TalkTalk – along with its subsidiary Tiscali UK – with the fine after it continued to charge over 65,000 customers for broadband services they had already cancelled.

The case stretches back to 2010, when Ofcom issued the provider with a warning after receiving over 1,000 complaints from customers who had cancelled their service with TalkTalk, but had continued to be billed. The regulator told TalkTalk to sort out their billing system by 2 December 2010 or they would face a financial penalty.

Yet, while TalkTalk and Tiscali UK did claim to crack down on incorrect billing, Ofcom still received almost 3,000 more complaints between December 2010 and March 2011 from wrongly billed customers.

As a result, Ofcom slapped the £3m fine on the operator – an amount the regulator said reflected the seriousness of their actions.

Bad record

TalkTalk has not had a great couple of years. The company was last month rated as the worst broadband provider for customer service – coming bottom in an Ofcom poll. And in further research from the regulator, the telecoms giant also emerged as one of the slowest providers of broadband.

TalkTalk blamed this bad record on the integration of Tiscali UK into the business back in 2009. The provider said the billing errors arose after it attempted to move all customers onto one broadband platform.

Indeed, this isn’t the first company which has let standards slip as a result of an amalgamation. The Spanish bank Santander has become a frequent offender on the customer service front after it took over Alliance & Leicester back in 2008.

However like Santander, TalkTalk has been taking steps to clean up its patchy record. Before Ofcom even issued the fine, the provider had already shelled out £2.5m to customers in refunds and goodwill payments.

TalkTalk also said that Ofcom now receives three times fewer calls about them than it did back in 2009 and that their current customers are far more loyal and satisfied than they were 12 months ago.

Other broadband traps

Now, obviously the way to avoid getting stung by incorrect broadband fees is to always thoroughly check your internet bills and keep an eye on your bank statements to ensure no rogue debits are made.

However there are a few other cunning broadband traps that you should watch out for...

‘Up to’ speeds – As I reported earlier this month, the difference between the speeds advertised by broadband providers and the actual attainable speeds can be very large. In fact, according to Ofcom the average actual broadband speed in the UK is just over 45% of the advertised ‘up to’ speed, with Karoo emerging the provider that most inflates its rates.

In response to these misleading rates Ofcom has now demanded that providers issue customers with a range of speeds, rather than one maximum figure. Customers are now also able to ditch their provider within three months of taking out a new contract if their actual speed is significantly lower than the advertised rate.

You can check the speed of your connection by using a tester such as this one from broadbandchoices.co.uk.

Location, location, location – Your location has a huge impact on the speed of your broadband. If you live near a telephone exchange, chances are you’ll receive a lightning fast service. However if you’re out in the sticks, you could find your connection crawling along at a snail’s pace.

There are a few things you can do to boost the speed of your connection. Head over to The most unhappy broadband customers for some tips and advice as well as a run-down of the slowest broadband locations.

Monthly download limits – Most internet deals will come with a monthly download limit. In fact, even if your connection states that it is ‘unlimited’, it may have a fair usage policy attached to it – which will involve a cap (especially for mobile internet).

This is why it’s vital you get the right package to begin with, as if you exceed the limit, you could be hit with pricey rates.

Most average internet packages will offer a 15 – 20GB download limit. This should be enough for most people. However if you frequently use online gaming or download audio and video a lot you may need more.

Being too loyal – Loyalty certainly doesn’t pay when it comes to broadband. A study carried out last year by broadbandchoices.co.uk found that many consumers are paying over the odds for their connection simply because they are sticking with the same provider for a long period of time rather than switching onto new cheaper deals.

Like any service or utility you should always be checking up on the most recent broadband rates and switching when necessary. Head over to broadbandchoices.co.uk to find the current top deals and read Switch your broadband in five easy steps for some advice on changing suppliers.

And finally, to find out how to complain to your broadband provider successfully read this article.

Have you been overcharged?

If you’ve been overcharged by your broadband provider, let us know about it using the comment box below...

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