Fines threat to TalkTalk over customers' false bills

The regulator said it had received more than 1,000 complaints to date this year about TalkTalk and Tiscali UK, which are both part of the same group.

Ofcom has found both providers breached regulations by issuing bills for services that had been cancelled by customers.

Both have been issued with a legally binding notification requiring them to comply with the rules by December 2 or face a maximum fine of 10 per cent of relevant turnover.

Ofcom has also ordered them to refund all consumers who were billed for cancelled services since January 1 this year, stop debt collection action and any legal proceedings against consumers and take the necessary steps to repair the credit ratings of those affected.

One customer complained that she switched her landline from TalkTalk to another provider in January but continued to receive bills, in spite of spending more than an hour on the phone in an effort to fix the problem.

TalkTalk's customer records showed that it demanded 109.77 from the woman for the cancelled service. Another customer cancelled her account with Tiscali UK in February 2006 but received a bill from debt collectors for the cancelled service. The woman paid Tiscali 609.97 for services she did not receive.

The regulator's director of consumer affairs, Claudio Pollack, said: "Ofcom is determined to stand up for consumers and take action against companies that break the rules. This is unacceptable which is why we have ordered them to clean up their act or face the consequences."

The TalkTalk Group said: "We identified an issue with the cancellation process for ex-Tiscali customers caused by an error on a legacy billing system. We are resolving this by migrating all ex-

Tiscali customers on to one network and billing system which will allow us to process cancellations much more effectively.

"TalkTalk Group has co-operated fully with Ofcom's investigation and we apologise for the inconvenience caused to this limited group of former customers."

Robert Hammond, spokesman for consumer watchdog Consumer Focus, said: "It is shocking that it has taken the intervention of the regulator for TalkTalk and Tiscali UK to play fair with their customers.

"How hard can it be to stop billing someone when they have cancelled their service? This is the very basics of customer service.

"To threaten customers who have done nothing wrong with debt collection and legal action is beyond the pale.

"Companies seem to put a lot of effort into winning new customers and then fall down on looking after them once they are on the books."