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Mistaken Migrations?
(19-06-07) - PlusNet has accused rival ISP TalkTalk of breaking industry rules by “hijacking” customers, and has reportedly called on Ofcom to investigate the issue.
In its online blog, PlusNet (www.Plus.net) said that in recent weeks it had seen an increase in calls from customers complaining that their broadband connections had suddenly stopped working. No faults were found on the lines, but PlusNet did discover that it no longer owned the customer’s assets in the BT system.
Upon further investigation PlusNet said that the common factor in each of these cases was that the customers had recently switched their home phone provider from BT to TalkTalk (www.TalkTalk.co.uk) - but not their broadband. Other providers have also reported similar cases.
Chris Eagle, BroadbandChoices.co.uk commercial manager, said: “This is a very serious issue. Whatever the reason might be for these mistaken migrations, customers will find it difficult, and even costly, to migrate away from TalkTalk’s unbundled network again, possibly having to enter into a new contract if they return to their previous provider.”
PlusNet also claimed that the customer service department was advising potential customers that they did not need a MAC code to migrate to TalkTalk, who would “take care of everything”.
A spokesman for TalkTalk told BroadbandChoices.co.uk that because it used a Next Generation Network (NGN), similar to BT’s 21CN that “broadband services can be transferred between one provider and another without the need for a MAC code, as detailed by OFCOM in General Condition 14.”
Despite saying that TalkTalk “doesn’t connect anyone to our unbundled network unless our records show that they have ordered TalkTalk broadband,” he added that the provider was taking the allegations very seriously.
“We are working with our industry partners to address these concerns and will undertake a full investigation of any issues raised with us,” he said. "TalkTalk currently operates at significantly below the industry average for alleged incidents of this kind and we are working with our industry partners to address these concerns and will undertake a full investigation of any issues raised with us."
PlusNet said it had recorded around 20 cases in June and estimated that TalkTalk was “poaching” up to 2,500 customers from other ISPs each month.
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