Your questions answered about the Tiscali deal
Last week we announced our intention to purchase Tiscali to make TalkTalk the leading home phone and broadband company. It’s been quite a week for everyone involved and we remain just as excited about welcoming Tiscali to the TalkTalk family. While it has helped reassure Tiscali customers about the immediate future of their broadband service, it has understandably led to people wanting to know more about what happens next.
The first thing to make clear is that we don’t own Tiscali yet. We've reached agreement to acquire Tiscali's UK operations. We need EU approval before completion.
Last Friday we posted a link to Charles’ blog entry inviting customers to comment or ask questions about the deal. The scale of response took us slightly by surprise - so far, we’ve had over 1,300 comments and questions, which we’ve been reading and passing to relevant members of the team. We aren’t able to answer all of them until the deal is completed, but rest assured they have all been read and will all be addressed in the coming weeks.
There are some common questions and themes, which we’ve summarised, with answers below. In the meantime, thank you for your comments.
Many thanks
Wendy Becker
Most common questions:
Will we get to keep Tiscali TV?
All services will continue as normal.
Will Phorm will rolled out to Tiscali customers?
Phorm is not currently available to TalkTalk customers. Any introduction of Phorm will be communicated in advance and, as previously stated, this will be on an opt-in basis. There are no plans to introduce Phorm to Tiscali customers.
What happens to the other brands in the Tiscali stable - Pipex, freedom2surf, Nildram, Bulldog, Toucan etc?
Customers of all these brands will become part of the TalkTalk Group.
Questions about contracts:
Are contracts to Tiscali still binding after the acquisition?
Yes, all contracts will remain following the acquisition.
Will TalkTalk Group be taking on the Tiscali Business Network?
Yes, the business network, along with the Pipex Business and Nildram customers will be run by Opal, TalkTalk Group’s business communications company.
How will billing work? Will Tiscali customers be billed by TalkTalk?
Current arrangements remain in place for the time being. We’ll let you know before we make any changes.
Questions about products and services:
Will I get to keep my email address?
Yes, we want to make things as simple as possible - your email address remains the same.
Will I get to keep my dial up account?
Yes, we plan to continue to provide dial up accounts for the immediate future. If this changes, we let you know in advance and provide an alternative.
Do we continue to use the Tiscali technical support numbers or a different one?
Yes, please use existing support numbers.
When will TalkTalk Members’ forum be available to Tiscali customers?
The TalkTalk Members’ Forum has been very well received by TalkTalk customers. We’d like to give Tiscali customers access to real-time service information too, we will let you know our plans following completion.
For further updates, please refer back to the Tiscali page on our website www.talktalk.co.uk and, of course, this blog.
Update, 28 May 2009 - Thank you to everyone who has responded with questions or comments. We've answered everything we can through this blog entry and the main FAQ - however, we cannot answer any further questions about products, service or pricing. Please feel free to continue to send us your questions and comments - we do read them all - but please be mindful that we'll only be able to answer them after the deal is complete.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Re: Your questions answered about the Tiscali deal
Following the merger, please can you improve the way we access our Tiscali bills? It's currently a very long winded procedure, and doesn't contain enough information either.
Further, as I know you're aware, the Customer Service needs to be massively improved as it was previously non-existant!
Re: Your questions answered about the Tiscali deal
My question is slightly more complex:
I'm currently with Virgin and came across this news because I am looking to switch. Talk Talk is currently unavailable in my area whereas Tiscali is. Talk Talk's plan is more attractive than Tiscali's. When you have finalised your purchase, how long will it be before Talk Talk's plan is available in the areas currently only serviced by Tiscali? If it is going to be many months, it is probably worth my while to switch to Tiscali now and swap to whatever better deal you come up with later. If it is going to be quite quick I may be better off to wait. What do you think?
Thanks, Kathy
Re: Your questions answered about the Tiscali deal
Re: Your questions answered about the Tiscali deal
Will Tiscali broadband cutomers be offered the opportunity to convert their current Tiscali package to a Talk Talk package during the period of the current Tiscali package??
The Talk Talk broadband and phone package (Essentials) looks quite interesting.
Re: Your questions answered about the Tiscali deal
Hi,
My main question is as a Tiscali Customer i have always had a resonably good service, but if anything did go wrong the Tiscali Customer Service & Faults line was/is Terrible, (to say the least) and to add insult to injury the cost of contacting them was very expensive considering the amount of time you needed to be on the line before getting anywere (30 mins plus is not unusal and then you need to call them 3 or 4 times before getting anything sorted out).
I note that with Talk Talk the Customer Service, Billing & Faults number is free to call, Will this be the case for us New Tiscali customers??? if so from when.
Re: Your questions answered about the Tiscali deal
They said I would have to sign the contract, which I did and that I would have to pay a further £29.99 connection fee which I was less than happy about. They had very genuine looking literature and a very genuine looking contract for me to sign.
Were they con men taking advantage of the situation or is this true?
Re: Your questions answered about the Tiscali deal
Re: Your questions answered about the Tiscali deal
Re: Your questions answered about the Tiscali deal
There's certainly isn't a problem moving across to TalkTalk as long as your contract has expired. However, the TalkTalk 'free broadband' product has been changed to the Essentials package, which includes phone and broadband in a bundle for £6.49 per month (plus line rental).
Thanks
TalkTalk blog team
Re: Your questions answered about the Tiscali deal
Thanks to everyone who's asked questions about how things are going to work, following the completion of the acquisition of Tiscali this week.
In terms of enquiries about things such as billing or customer service enquiries, then, for the time being, you still need to go through Tiscali as usual. The FAQ posted on the Tiscali website is below, for reference. As and when things change, we let you know via the Tiscali website andof course via TalkTalk.
FAQ - 8 July 09
What will happen to my service? Will it be stopped?
The good news is current services will continue as today - there will be no disruption and no hassle for you.
Will I get to keep my email account?
Yes, we want to make things as simple as possible and your email address remains the same.
Will my bill change? Will prices go up?
Tiscali customers will continue to be billed from Tiscali, with no changes to your bill.
Do TalkTalk now own Tiscali?
Yes, Tiscali is now part of Talk Talk Group.
Do I need to complete any paperwork?
No, all customer contracts will remain unchanged.
Where do I go for more information?
We will continue to update this website with further information. So continue to check this site.
Why are you doing this deal?
Combining Tiscali and TalkTalk allows us to give millions of customers even better value and together we will lead the way in UK broadband.
Do I still contact Tiscali with queries about my account?
Yes. Tiscali customer service is still the place to go for queries regarding your account.
What is TalkTalk Group’s relationship with Carphone Warehouse?
TalkTalk Group is a wholly owned division of The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC. TalkTalk Group provides home phone and broadband via TalkTalk and AOL Broadband; business to business communications from Opal, and runs its own Next Generation Network which covers 80% of the UK.
Where can I find out more about Talk Talk?
Take a look at the TalkTalk website.