I switched from one Orange phone plan to another, at their suggestion. It's OK - a bit stingy as all mobile phone plans are - but as good as most. Trouble is, I now receive two sets of texts from them: one relating to my old plan and one to the new. By and large they actually seem to manage the account OK although I'm not 100% certain all the time, but I'd like them to stop the incorrect messages as it can be confusing for an old feller like me.

So I check the website. Nope, they only answer questions they're all geared up to answer online, so if you've got any othere issue - tough. So I phoned - great there's a 25p charge but what the hell. The call centre lady listens to my problem and proceeds to outline the benefits of my new plan (in painful detail). She won't be stopped and insists on ploughing through every single feature. I explain again that I know the details of the plans, I'd just like them to stop texting me with incorrect information about the plan I used to have. She responds that according to her records I'm on the 'New Dolphin' plan. I say 'Yes, I know. That's why I want them to stop with the OLD-Dolphin texts.' She stops to think for a bit and then says, 'but the new Dolphin plan is very good, do you know what the benefits are?' I give up, thank her and hang up.

Just now, her supervisor calls back. 'Do I know the benefits of the new-Dolphin plan?' I explain that I have the benefits engraved on my soul in words of fire. 'Has that answered my question?' I say that they're not even close to understanding my issue which is that I still get texts about the wrong plan, but that since they never actually distinguish between NEW and OLD in the texts (they just call it the Dolphin Plan) it can be confusing. BIG MISTAKE, the supervisor takes it upon himself to start explaining the differences. I ask him to stop. What I want to know is why I get texts about a plan I don't have. He laughs - 'Oh, everybody gets advertising!' I take deep breaths and calmly point out that this isn't advertising, it's regular misleading information and instructions relating to the old plan. He asks whether my questions have been answered and I reply that the call doesn't seem to be getting anywhere at which point he hangs up on me.

It's odd. I try very hard to remember my time on a public counter facing people who weren't at their best and my starting point is polite, bearing in mind that the person I'm addressing isn't my problem - they're normal people doing a difficult job in trying conditions. The two I spoke to today did their very best to persuade me that they were the problem and probably caused it personally.

OK - Rant done. Happy New Year Teh People.

I must admit reading that made me feel frustrated too, I can't imagine trying to explain that myself.

I thought I did a fairly good job (maybe not so good in this thread). TBH I don't really care. I would like them to stop sending me texts saying 'to get your 64k of free data, just top up by £299 before the end of the month' but they are only occasionally annoying.

What was REALLY annoying was that they were SO intent on spouting the sales pitch for the different packages that my actual problem didn't seem to figure in our conversation - if you can call it that. The supervisor actually made less sense than the call-centre person. He got angry with me for interrupting his run-down of the package features.

It has been about as odd a query as I can remember, apart from talking to out and out scammers on the phone. I think I've accepted that there really is no service to be had unless you are fitting in with what the phone company wants to sell.

Just had the runaround from TalkTalk trying to get compensation for the two weeks they failed to provide a service for. The indian guy didn't seem to understand the difference between compensation and not being charged for what I didn't have !

'Hello I'm calling about compensation'
 Let's see you had no internet for two weeks so I'll refund the two weeks charges.

'That's not compensation'
Yes, yes, two weeks so you get back (whatever the amount was)

'But that's just a refund of charges for the time I was without service, not compensation'
Yes I compensate you for two weeks.

'No, compensation is something extra as an apology for poor service'
That's what I give you.

Much explaining later and getting nowhere I was passed to a manager who eventually (after much arguing again) gave me the two weeks refund, plus £30 and a months free internet.

I'm surprised you got anything apart from the 2 weeks!

How did you argue the fact that having no connection caused you some sort of issue? Loss of business etc?

Well, there was the £30 phone call to support...

I'd already learnt prior to phoning that you had to be persistent and lay it on a bit thick otherwise you get fobbed off with little more than an apology. Some were reporting six months free net, free netflix for a month etc. on top of the refund for lost service.

The key fact was the english support guy on the support forum saying to phone customer services once the issue was resolved and apply for COMPENSATION, not a REFUND (the refund for loss of service should be done automatically, not after you phone to claim it !)

So yeah, went on about being a long term customer, missing important e-mails, unable to pay bills online and losing out on half a months gaming subscriptions....On top of that the lack of decent customer service was prompting me to cancel and switch provider unless they offered an incentive to stay.

Don't know if it's just talktalk but fibre seems a bit sketchy compared to ADSL, since having a service it has gone down about 10 times in the last month, usually only for a few minutes but this morning was off for an hour (the whole of Lancs. was affected though not just me). On ADSL I'd only lose service once or twice a year, and never to the point of needing to phone tech support.