A major telecoms firm has apologised to a Spalding man after an embarrassing mix-up over an offer of superfast broadband to its customers.
Alan Long was left “disgusted” by TalkTalk Telecom after trying to sign up for its Fibre Medium broadband service – only to be told the offer had “ended a long time ago.”
Mr Long (58), of St Thomas Road, contacted the firm after receiving a letter offering existing TalkTalk Telecom customers an upgrade to the new service which it claims is four times faster than standard broadband – for an extra £10 a month with free set-up.
He said: “As a TalkTalk customer, I asked to be notified whenever fibre broadband became available in Spalding so I could upgrade to it.
“I received a letter from TalkTalk at about 2.30pm last Wednesday and roughly one hour later, I rang them and said that I wanted to take up the offer of the upgrade and free set-up.
“The adviser I spoke to asked me when I received the letter and I said about an hour or so before the call.
“I was then astonished to be told that the offer had ended a long time ago.”
Mr Long said a TalkTalk supervisor also confirmed the offer had been withdrawn and that any upgrade would cost an extra £10 a month, with a £30 set-up charge.
He added: “I’m disgusted that this letter would have been received by many others in the Spalding area who wouldn’t have been very happy to be told this offer had actually ended.
“It would have come as a complete shock to them to learn that the contents of TalkTalk’s letter weren’t worth the paper it was written on.
“The small print in the letter said the offer could be withdrawn at any time – but within an hour of receiving the letter?”
A TalkTalk Telecom spokesman said: “The information given to Mr Long was incorrect and anyone in Spalding who received our letter is entitled to have our new broadband service.
“We apologise for the mistake and would urge people to call us.”