While I'm in ranting mood: if anyone else is suffering unwanted direct marketing calls -- in my case, mostly from Toucan Telecom -- you should make sure you're registered with the Telephone Preference Service.
If you are, and have been for at least 28 days -- say, eleven months or so -- Toucan's complaints procedure is listed on this page (scroll down). Be very firm in demanding to speak to at least a Customer Service Team Leader. First-line Customer Service Advisors are polite but ultimately not effective.
Note that before a complaint can be escalated all the way to the Office of the Telecommunication Ombudsman you must complete all the stages of Toucan's procedure. I'm one step away.
(Linkage: Otelo's 'How to Complain' page; crucially, keep a detailed record of your dealings with the company.)
[update, 2-Sep-2006: just to be clear -- you're most likely one of dozens of people a month who arrives at this page having googled for 'Toucan Telecom'. This is the personal weblog of Jonathan Sanderson, a TV and web media producer. I am not a customer of Toucan; I do not use any of their products, and thus cannot offer an opinion on whether they're any good or not.
It's more than a year since I had any contact with them, having had my complaints dealt with by their senior call centre staff. However, the comments below suggest that they continue with the sales techniques that annoyed me so much.
I've updated the link to Toucan's complaints procedure; the other links above appear not to have changed. Particular thanks to those of you who've left comments offering helpful suggestions, and to everyone for keeping your comments factual and personal. I've not had to censor any... yet. :-) ]
Oh thank god, im not alone. i had a horrible feeling i was being stalked by a telephone orientated serial killer. twice a day they called and twice a day i would get mad and ask them to leave me alone. im so sick of them!!!
Neither front line staff nor TLs are the people who directly deal with it, so you are really wasting your time as I can guarantee that after the Super has apologised to you, they will ask the agent to just go ahead and do exactly what they would have done in the first place and e-mail the relevant department. But sometimes I guess it makes people feel better to speak to a different person, and give themselves an inflated sense of their own importance.
You may well be right, Jimbo, but in this case at least, I haven’t had any further phone calls from Toucan. That’s a marked decrease from about half a dozen a week. ‘Inflated sense of my own importance’ perhaps, but it does seem to have worked.
15 call’s in the last week the tps and bt cant do anything
AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh pass the cyanide!
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh kill me from those horrendous peolple who hav got faces like sour dogs who look like they have just eaten 100 sour lemons
I’m not sure what the screaming is about, but aaaanyway: for the record, the above post - and this other blog post - are the fifth and sixth Google hits for a search on ‘Toucan Telecom.’ Yow.
Carpet bomb the Qunts!
Unfortunately I myself have fallen victim to the Toucan terrorists, I’m too scared to answer the phone now for fear of hearing those pre-programmed voices going on and on and on and on and on and on and on, please somebody stop the voices!!! Aaaaarrrggghhh!! Twice, three times a day they hound me trying to sell their product, what can I do to stop them calling? I used to be quite sane.
It’s good the know that I’m not alone. They are a right pain & now it’s recorded messages. Why don’t recognise they recognise TPS.
toucan are ridiculous,,6 times per day most of the time i cant even understand hat they say…i work nights but we need our phones plugged in just in-case…..
You lucky munters! i’ve been having these calls for SIX F*^$ing MONTHS now and no amount of swearing will stop it!
my wife suffered at hands of toucan terrorists…my simple solution to any phone pests is to have a loud whistle next to phone at all times, so when they call for the umpteenth time..blast’em….it works believe me..if your not sure try it with a pal first the result is stupendous..i did this 3 weeks ago and presto..no more calls from toucan. Good luck Dan
Is it worth while joining their service???… I guess it maybe too late to ask as my boyfriend has already signed up yesterday…. Im very doubtful… please comment…
As I would have thought was clear from the original article - but apparently not - I have no idea how good Toucan Telecom’s products are, nor whether their customer service is helpful. I am not a customer of theirs, and wouldn’t dream of becoming one, since I object to their marketing tactics very strongly indeed. If the traffic to this page is any guide, I am not alone in that opinion.
Googling ‘Toucan Telecom’ is informative, however; you’ll find a variety of opinions.
bt bt bt only name and high charges people try to accept the change the revolution rather than just saying not intrested be broad minded….
ASDBGG
be broad minded go for other companies bt is overcharging thats it nothing else
be broad minded go for other companies bt is overcharging thats it nothing else
Toucan pestered & pestered. Put my details with T.P.S., went quiet. Next thing I knew B.T. was sending an account transfer letter, moving my account to Toucan!! I am in the process of reporting to OFCOM.
5 calls in 4 mins! no one there. then a person from tt, so i put the phone down. they then called back and said “are you asleep?” so i put the phone down again. another call and the missus answered it and wa basically threatened. they called back again and we ignored it… LOOSERS!!!!
I have been searching recent complaints about the ISP Toucan. My complaint is Toucan are capping people without there knowledge I have been capped three times for going over 2 gig in one particular week and have received a service slower then dial up for this, even though I have paid without argument through direct debit each month and I feel toucan service is at none conformance. To many hidden factors and a very poor customer service. I can only suggest if you are looking for broadband take heed there are many competitors out there giving a much better service I?m sure. Stay clear of Toucan
At last toucan called me up and gave me the sevrice that I always wanted and thanks toucan for always being there .
i think toucan is doing very good joband e-mail from most of the people is misleading about toucan.in this short span toucan has done a tremendous job.
toucan i love everything abt toucan since it is providing such a unique package to save lots of money since its far more betta than BT
Well I can see alot of emails from most of the people misleading and I use to think that way but after I got toucan I swear it has stand up to the expectation it makes
Well, you seem to have a lot of ‘very famous’ customers of Toucan replying JJ.
I think the point isn’t that the service is crap, it’s the lack of listening when you say, for the LAST 12 MONTHS!!!, thank’s for the call, but I’m not interested.
I don’t want Toucan, I’m happy with my current provider. Why, then, do Toucan KEEP calling me to ask if I’ve changed my mind? Arghhh!
Yes. Curious, that: the four comments between Ron and Alan above all arrived within a few minutes, and all came from the same IP address. Which, more than likely, means the same PC. Remarkable.
You mean to say Freddie isn’t taking a break from the test and catching up on the latest news and views at The Daily Grind? Or old Rooney, passing the time on his PC whilst his metatarsal heals? Shocking ;)
I live at home and have been called by Toucan about 5 times now. Earlier today I received another call which I asked to speak with the manager - after complaining to him down the phone he said to me a “bokachoda” which in Bengali means “fck you stupid fcker” (translation obtained via a website)
We’ve been registered with the TPS for about 3 years now and we’re getting fed up with it - all I want to do is get this to end.
Forgot to mention that he also gave me a false address to complain to - one listed in Birmingham with the number 0127 94209** (last two numbers removed)
i’ll tell you all how to get rid of the telemarketing thing. it’s really simple
SIGN UP FOR TOUCAN TELECOM…!!!!!
You can’t be 10851 serious?!?
Toucan Telecom. That should be added into the dictionary as a new swear word.
My method of dealing with telesales folk is just saying not interested as soon as you here either the indian voice or the silence as your call is being connected. However I recently changed from BT to TalkTalk so took the call as I thought it might be related. When I realised that it was Toucan I mistakenly said to the lady that I had already changed from BT to TalkTalk and hung up. Within a minute I received a call from a chap saying that his collegue and told him that I’d left BT as they were too expensive.. which i had never said, and told him that it had nothing to do with that and hung up. within 10secs the phone rang again and he shouted (really shouted) down the phone all the details about toucan he could get in before i totally lost my rag. unbelievable, do those kind of sales tactics really work on some people????? they didn’t call back.. for a week. Arrrgggh! hopefully TPS will kick in soon.. maybe someone should set up a company who calls all their workers just as they sit down for tea after a long days work???
I am ex-directory but they found me, and I have been pestered by Toucan. My wife answered and this guy said thatI had arranged to be in to recieve their call. Lies, all lies. Their constant calling is annoying so we let them ring answer phone or disconnect the line. I am glad to hear they are not competitive and their pestering is verging on harrassment. I know they have to live, but not this way please!
I am ex-directory but they found me, and I have been pestered by Toucan. My wife answered and this guy said thatI had arranged to be in to recieve their call. Lies, all lies. Their constant calling is annoying so we let them ring answer phone or disconnect the line. I am glad to hear they are not competitive and their pestering is verging on harrassment. I know they have to live, but not this way please!
what a complete bunch of tossers its like having a f*ing bat phone
just as your peacefully watching your fav tv program .or running to the loo.it rings “hello did you know you could save a lot of money by swapping from your btline”.blarr blarr blarr
bastards
what a complete bunch of tossers its like having a f*ing bat phone
just as your peacefully watching your fav tv program .or running to the loo.it rings “hello did you know you could save a lot of money by swapping from your btline”.blarr blarr blarr
what a complete bunch of tossers its like having a bat phone
just as your peacefully watching your fav tv program .or running to the loo.it rings “hello did you know you could save a lot of money by swapping from your btline”.blarr blarr blarr
HI ALL - TOUCAN IS A DESEASE - KEEP AWAY! they had crap customer service, now they have NONE! they sacked 90% of there staff already!
How refreshing to find i wasnt alone in this, i have been plagued for almost a year on and off. the rude operators from the offshore call centres tyold me they’re just doing their job etc etc, then promised to remove me from their list, nothing happened, spoken to the uk based numbers again, mor apologies and false promises. they also wont give out a head office number so you can take the matter further they just give you an address. It may not be news to anyone but if it does help…. Toucan are owned by IDT Telecom based in london T : 02075496000 now… they are reluctant to do very much and will try and put you back through to ther normal toucan cust service number, just insist that you want to speak to someone higher.
I find the tactics they use to be appauling, you answer the phone to a silent call. now im not elderly or infirm or suffered a bad experience re dodgy phone calls but it does become a worry for those who are or who have.
as we speak im seeking advice on taking legal action to stop these idiots phoning me…. anyone else interested ?
why are theese idiots so persistant
Since my last entry….. august 25th, fingers crossed….. i threatened them with legal action, i said i was recording their phone calls and making logs of the names of the staff calling…. since then….. BLISS!!!!
im not counting my chickens just yet but i havent had a call since and from the 10 times a day lark, im fairly satisfied! everyone, try the number i posted and ask for regional managers, ooo and the legal department they dont like that one. Also ask for a name of who is in overall charge of the offshore operation, and get his name i was told Simon Soloman is in charge of the indian call centre, get a message sent to him or even better if you keep phoning them requesting to speak to him, or just “because you want a chat” their switchboard get very annoyed! dont like to be on the reciving end eh!
good luck!
haaaaaaaaaaaa toucan is one good company only they dream for this
They called me once. It wasn’t a long conversation. After the opening spiel, they asked:
“Tell me sir, what telephone service do you use?” “NTL”. “Oh, I’m so sorry for troubling you sir.”
I wouldn’t for a second dream of encouraging people to lie, as I genuinely use NTL. But it got rid of them for me.
If you send Toucan a letter along the following lines it will be forwarded to their data compliance people and the calls will stop. I did this and received a written appology. It seems Ofcom have been pressing them to clean up their act too….. NOTICE UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998 AND THE PRIVACY AND ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS (EC) REGULATIONS 2003
A few months ago I received a telephone marketing call from your company. During this call I informed your representative that I did not wish to receive further telephone marketing calls from your company.
On the evening of 02 August 2006, I received a further telephone marketing call from your company. I again informed your representative that I did not wish to receive further telephone marketing calls from your company.
Please take this letter as further notice that I do not wish to receive marketing calls from your company. Any further telephone marketing calls from your company will be reported to the Information Commissioner and/or further action may be taken under the above regulations.
Please also take this letter as notice that I do not wish to receive any further marketing from your company by post or by email. Any further marketing post or email received from your company will be reported to the relevant regulatory body.
I do not give your company authorisation to pass my personal details to any third-party (other than that required by law) and I hereby rescind any authorisation that may have previously been given.
Please confirm that this letter has been received and that you will action the above within 28 days. If no reply is received, I will report any marketing communication received from your company after 30 days from the date of this letter….. :)
My wife and I have had at least a dozen calls in the last year, probably many more. Why do these morons think anybody cares about their product which I would never buy in a million years, come hell or high water? I now get abusive with all sales calls - so the Toucan Terrorists have created a mad-man out of a previously mild-mannered individual. I seriously would kill if I could get my hands on any of their sales staff
AND THEY ARE STILL AT IT!!!!! Desparate for bank details and passwords so be careful!!!! BT treated me as an idiot when I complained.
After registering with TPS in the summer I thought I would challenge Toucan for phoning me when they called last week. I asked that they remove my number from their list with immediate effect or I would make a formal complaint. Pleased with myself I hung up the phone. They called the next night, and the next night. They didn’t call on Sunday!??!?! But they did on Monday and on Wednesday. AND Today where I asked for an manager and told him that if he did not remove my number I would sue Toucan for harassment. He told me …. they have 30 off shore call centres and once the number has been highlighted they can’t differ between whether they should or shouldn’t call!??? I have to tell everyone to remove the number… Surely this can’t be correct. Is he feeding me a line??
I wait and see what happens tomorrow
please for gods sake toucan tries their hardest its a dog eat dog market out there and dont need saddo’s like ye slammin them off