A FAMILY'S broadband nightmare has cost them £261 in phone bills and made them take legal action.

But now, after the Examiner intervened on their behalf, it looks as though their battle is finally over.

Keith Wood, a 40-year-old kitchen and bathroom fitter, and wife Geraldine were offered a broadband deal from Talk Talk, part of the Carphone Warehouse group, back in May.

As son Jonny, 15, was about to enter his GCSE year at Rawthorpe High School, they thought it sounded like a good deal.

They were told they could get free broadband after an initial connection fee of £30. So they signed up to an 18-month contract.

Mr Wood, of Rawthorpe, said: "The rep claimed that we would be paying less than £20 per month for the service and it would be a lot cheaper than BT. Wrong."

It quickly became evident that it would not be plain sailing.

Mr Wood said: "We were supposed to be connected to broadband by June 16 - but as of yet we are still waiting.

"We have rung Talk Talk, on average, 25 times a month to find out why we haven't been connected, only to be told we are through to the wrong department.

"We have now spent £261 in the last three months calling Talk Talk to try and get to the bottom of this."

Mr Wood said he lodged written complaints with all the group's head offices.

"Eventually we were told there was a fault on our line and that it would be rectified within 48 hours.

"That was over two months ago.

"We have wasted countless evenings and weekends waiting for them to call as they promised.

"But no-one calls when they say they will."

Mr Wood said the family was at its wits end, so decided to take the matter further.

About seven weeks ago he told the company he was going to sue them through Huddersfield County Court.

As he was walking to the court he got a call on his mobile asking him to delay the matter for a few more days.

Four days later there was still no broadband.

So Mr Wood returned to court.

He took out a summons against the company and when it failed to respond within a fortnight, Mr Wood says the court made a judgement against them.

But still Talk Talk failed to provide broadband.

Mr Wood added: "We just want out of the contract and to get all our money back.

"We want to get Talk Talk out of our lives so we can go back to a company for a service Talk Talk simply aren't capable of delivering."

The Examiner challenged the Carphone Warehouse about the situation and got the following response:

"We have contacted the customer and resolved the issue.

"Due to an initial complication with Mr Wood's phone line we regret that his service was never connected.

"We apologise for any inconvenience that may have been caused and we have arranged a refund of Mr Wood's costs."

Mr Wood has now received a letter saying that all the costs incurred will be repaid.

He has also spoken to a different broadband service provider and is set to be connected by November 4.