I'm another angry LineOne email user whose password is now apparently 'invalid'.
I prefer to use Outlook Express on a laptop with Firefox, but also access emails on another computer using Outlook and IE, and on my iPhone. I can borrow a computer with Chrome.
No emails arrrived after 19 May. On the evening of 23 May I finally got through to Live Chat and briefly was able to login to TalkTalk webmail using Chrome. This lasted a few minutes before it locked me out again. As I am not a TalkTalk customer I can't reset the password using MyAccount, it doesn't recognise the email address, though I've had the same email since 1997. All that weekend's messages seem to have vanished from the server.
The Live Chat operative agreed to escalate it to the faults team. He allocated a ticket number and assured me both the login issue and the messages lost from the server would be rectified. Here is a copy of an extract from out chat session:
| Satinderpal: Thank you for staying online with me. The fault ticket has now been created with reference numberINC000013592209. Please allow 24-72 hours for the investigations to be completed by the network team. You will receive text message update as soon as it is available after investigations. When the team contacts you back with resolution, you will be able to raise the issue that time to check for login issue. Satinderpal: Please do not worry, missing emails and login both will be resolved soon.
The next day, emails from that morning dropped into my inbox and all seemed well, although none of the older messages between 19 and 23 May arrived. On Saturday 28 May I got a text in the morning saying it was fixed. I tried to login and couldn't, it was back to the original problem of 'invalid password'. I texted back, as suggested, saying NOT FIXED. No response so finally on Monday 30 May I got onto Live Chat again and was told to ring the faults team. I rang, and was promised that a 'faults manager' would call my mobile on Tuesday 31 May. It's Friday morning and they haven't called yet.
I don't want a happy voice telling me they understand how inconvenient this is. I don't even want apologies, and I certainly don't want promises that nobody at this wretched company can keep. The fault ticket number is reproduced above, in the extract from the first chat transcript on 23 May. I want an explanation of what has gone wrong: is this a technical problem with TalkTalk's system, or have the company decided to orphan or close all these old LineOne and Tiscali email addresses without the basic courtesy of letting the user know? I have not changed my password, I cannot reset my password, it is completely untenable to be left without use of my main email address for two weeks, with the real potential for severe embarrassment and financial penalties for apparently ignoring messages through no fault of my own.
I will be writing to the CEO and will happily back other affected customers who are willing to make a very public complaint via BBC Watchdog. I know that if I broke so many promises to my customers I would no longer have a job. It's an absolute disgrace. |