TalkTalk frustration

Since yesterday, my sister June's phone has been out of order, except that the Talk Talk answering service kicks in and offers to record a message. She rang from a neighbour's place to let me know and ask if I would contact TalkTalk her service providor to inform them, although she was aware of a breakdown at the local exchange, from a recorded message issued by the help line service.

My recent experience of Talk Talk on this count has been unsatisfactory. They do not accept any request concerning a phone line from a third party, only the account holder. You can inform them of a problem, but they will not accept a request to instigate line testing procedure from anyone else, because of the liability that testing will lead to repair charges if lines or equipment are damaged within the account holder's property.

As my sister is in her mid seventies and she is not a mobile phone user, this policy to my mind places her at risk, when her phone goes dead. If she was unable to get out of the house to phone and had a fall she would be unable to raise the alarm. Not good. I used TalkTalk's complex and unfriendly electronic help system to report the problem, but so far, no acknowlegement only frustration.