TalkTalk chief again admits trouble and strife

The chief executive of Carphone Warehouse has again admitted that the company is struggling to meet demand for its 'free' TalkTalk broadband service.

Charles Dunstone told the BBC's Watchdog programme this week that he had underestimated demand for the service, which is dependent on the customer signing up to an 18-month mobile phone contract: "We got it wrong. I didn't realise that free broadband was going to have the effect on people it has."

Mr Dunstone insisted that his company was finally getting on top of the problems. In a statement sent to Computeractive, the company said that Watchdog was "capturing frustrations that increasingly belong to the past".

The statement added that the BBC hadn't reported that TalkTalk had cut the average time customers had to wait to be connected to the service to less than six weeks.

"We’ve made no secret of the extent to which TalkTalk’s success has exceeded our original expectations and placed demand on our call centres. We’ve openly acknowledged that there have been service problems for a small proportion of customers," the statement continued.

The company also said the programme didn't reflect "the overall scale of achievement of TalkTalk’s free broadband or the quietly satisfied majority of our customers".

Dunstone was given credit for the fact he has been open about the problems the company has suffered and Carphone Warehouse is not the first internet service provider (ISP) to initially have bitten off more than it can chew.

"This isn't the first time an ISP has been taken by surprise by the popularity of a new service they have offered," said Brian Ahearne of the Internet Service Provider's Association.

Dunstone has freely admitted in the past the company was overwhelmed by the response to its 'free' broadband offer and flagged up the negative publicity the company had been given in a blog posted at the beginning of September.

Mr Dunstone said: "I hope people will appreciate that what we did was for the best for all consumers, and while giving birth to free broadband was painful, it is now turning out to be a beautiful child."

Reports suggest that TalkTalk had allowed customers who signed up but had not received a broadband connection to cancel their orders, although a company representative declined to comment on this when questioned.

However, a Computeractive reader who has been waiting for four months and gone through four MACs to get his broadband connection told Carphone Warehouse he no longer wanted its service.

He has had no problem cancelling the contract and the company apologised to him for the problems he had suffered.

Consumers made to wait an unreasonable length could cancel contracts under the Sale and Supply of Goods and Services Act. They can also contact the ombudsman Otelo if they feel Carphone Warehouse will not let them cancel their contract under these circumstances.

When Computeractive called its office, we found that the automated call answering system now has a channel dedicated to complaints about TalkTalk. The organisation will need information such as the dates that a person signed up with TalkTalk, when they first complained and what response they received. TalkTalk is obliged to abide by its decision.