If you’re with TalkTalk, they might have quietly increased your bill by £1 a month, without explicitly telling you, because they’ve started charging for Voicemail Plus, which used to be free.
It happened back in August, but people are only now starting to notice as their bills start to roll in. I know it’s not a huge amount of money – but it’s the principle and it all adds up!
TalkTalk quietly increasing broadband prices
There was an update on TalkTalk’s blog which said:
“We’re making changes to our Voicemail service which takes effect from the 1st August 2019. If you’ve got standard Voicemail activated on your account you’ll be charged 2p each time you dial 1571. You’ll still be able to save 10 messages which will last 20 days however if you remove voicemail from your account any saved messages will be deleted.
Voicemail Plus allows you to record your own personal greeting for your callers. Save up to 30 messages and even check messages from other phones. This will now be charged at £1 per month, voicemail plus customers won’t get charged the 2p per call for using 1571.”
But here’s the thing. TalkTalk’s schtick is that it won’t increase prices when you sign up – it’s their broadband price guarantee (I wrote a blog post about it!). But what’s happened here, is that an add-on that was free, is no longer free. So although officially your broadband price is the same, your bill has gone up.
In the small print, they say that if it does increase its prices, it will tell you DIRECTLY. As in, not via a blog on it’s website you’re unlikely to see.
Here’s how they explain it:
We guarantee your broadband price plan will stay the same throughout the duration of your contract. However when your contract has ended or other services such as our legacy packages, calling rates and boosts are subject to change. We will, however, notify you of any changes by contacting you directly. For more information about all of our products and services and what we charge.
TalkTalk not telling their customers about the price rise?
Online people are angry that they are spotting this price rise in their bill without being told directly by TalkTalk.
Another TalkTalk customer said on Reddit:
Cheeky b*ggers quietly increased the total of our bill this month. Logged in to the account page and saw that they’ve started charging for something that was previously free.
Got them on the chat and they have reversed the charge and taken it off the bill for the future. I’d encourage you to make a formal complaint to them for adding new charges to a bill without consent.
However – someone else said that the notification from TalkTalk about the price increase had been snuck into the standard ‘your bill has arrived’ email – rather than sending a separate one about the price increase.
Bad form, TalkTalk!
Checking your bills
This is another reason to check your bills once in a while. I’d love to tell you I’m good at this, but it’s something I’m working on improving.
It’s easy to get a good deal once a year or whatever – and then just ignore what’s going out until you need to look at it again.
But you can’t trust companies not to rip you off! This time it was just £1, which isn’t the end of the world for most of us, sure – but it could have easily been £10.
Getting your money back from TalkTalk
If we’re being honest, most of us don’t use voicemail on our phones anymore anyway. So it might be worth considering turning it off if it is going to cost you.
Like one customer said, if you contact customer service and complain, they’ll likely refund you the extra money.
Below is a step by step guide which explains how you can add/remove voicemail:
Turn voicemail on
- Activate your voicemail service in My Account (TalkTalk’s dedicated online customer portal) – if you don’t have My Account, follow its guide to registering.
- Log into My Account
- Click the box next to Voicemail or Voicemail Plus
- Then select the Update button at the bottom of your screen
- Select Confirm to save your changes
Turn voicemail off
Repeat the steps above, removing the tick next to Voicemail and Voicemail Plus.
More broadband guides
If you’re in the broadband-reading mood – got a few more good ones for you.
- How to legitimately get out of a broadband contract for free
- Why you should NEVER pay for broadband upfront, even though it’s cheaper
- How to get the best broadband deal – ALL the tips and tricks
Are you with TalkTalk? Did you get a direct call or email telling you about the price increase?
If you know anyone with them, spread the word because there will be lots of people who won’t be checking because of its price guarantee, but will find themselves out of pocket.