By Grace Gausden For This Is Money Published: 08:54 EDT, 23 May 2019 | Updated: 11:46 EDT, 23 May 2019 Young Money Blog alerted This is Money to the email which was overcharging customers TalkTalk has apologised for a marketing email which offered customers a 'one click' renewal of their broadband contracts – something that would cost £153 more than if they renewed through their online accounts. Clicking on the button within the email would have locked customers into a £33.50 a month deal for 18 months on their Faster Fibre Broadband. However, the same deal was available through customers online accounts under the Renew contract button for £25 a month instead – a saving of £153. This is Money was alerted to the error by Iona Bain of the Young Money Blog. Bain tweeted about the incident after receiving the email that promised to save her £45 over 18 months and noticing the massive price difference between the online deal and the 'one click' offer. TalkTalk responded by saying: 'We do apologise for this e-mail, our marketing team is now reviewing this.' A TalkTalk spokesperson added: 'While most of our rivals have continued to increase the premium loyal customers pay, TalkTalk has already taken a stand on this issue. Two years ago, we restructured our business and have closed the gap between what new and existing customers pay. 'We are also one of only a few providers that reminds customers that they'll soon be coming out-of-contract, offering better deals than our standard out-of-contract pricing.' After clicking on the email to 'Fix Your Price with One Click', customers might expect to find a landing page or a review summary but instead one click was all it took to sign up to the new deal. Both the Advertising Standards Authority and Ofcom are now investigating the email. New prices: TalkTalk said their marketing team is now reviewing the email that was sent out A spokesperson for the Advertising Standards Authority said: 'Email marketing claims are covered by our rules so it's likely our team will consider what you've sent us is in remit. 'We would expect them to abide by the general rules about truthfulness and misleadingness. If any customer of TalkTalk has concerns that they think an email is not upfront and clear, maybe through ambiguity or omission, they can lodge a complaint.' In its results today, TalkTalk said that persuading customers to switch to its faster but more expensive fibre broadband service had helped cut losses. Pre-tax losses the year to April were £5 million, but that was far better than a £100 million loss a year before. Underlying profits were up 17 per cent to £237million. TalkTalk said that about 150,000 new customers signed up in the year, down from 192,000 during the same period a year ago- of those new customers 71 per cent took out contracts for high-speed fibre broadband. TalkTalk 4.3 million customers and boss Tristia Harrison it should benefit from new Ofcom rules forcing all broadband providers to tell customers when their contract is coming to an end – and warn them of better deals. An Ofcom spokesperson added: 'We want everyone to get a fair deal and understand how frustrating it is to find you could be paying more than you need to. None of the major providers, including TalkTalk, have been making it as easy as possible for people to find the best deals for their needs. 'So we've stepped in to force companies to give customers the information they need, when they need it. We're also talking to providers about their practices as part of our ongoing review of broadband pricing.' The watchdog said it cannot resolve individual complaints and that if customers have a complaint, they should take it to their provider first. If customers are then unhappy with the outcome from their supplier, they can take the complaint to an independent ombudsman, in this case, the Communications Ombudsman, who will look at the case and make a judgment on it. Ofcom recently announced new rules that said broadband, TV, mobile and home phone firms will have to tell their customers when their contracts are coming to end as well as alert them to the best deals. Whilst TalkTalk claims it already notifies customers when their contract is due to end, it recently came under fire after it announced that some broadband customers were set to see their bills rise by up to 11 per cent. Advertisement Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.
TalkTalk is being investigated by Ofcom and the Advertising Standards Authority over a marketing email that offered customers a “ two - year ” renewal of their broadcast contract at a price £ 153 higher than if they paid though their online accounts . The company has apologized for the email and is investigating the matter .