I'd originally signed up with Nildram about 10 years ago and through a series of three or four takeovers ended up being a TalkTalk customer.

I won't list all the varied problems I've had with TalkTalk in the last couple of years, just the ones since November.

In November my package was unilaterally "upgraded" and I abruptly lost service. TalkTalk at first told me it was a regional outage and to give it 24 hours. They then told me it was my router. I replaced my router with a spare. They then decided it was my line and BT would have to visit. Five days later, while still waiting for BT to visit I discovered that they had withdrawn my fixed IP address for which I had paid. I called tech support again and was told home users don't get fixed IP addresses. Nothing I could say would convince them I'd ever had a fixed IP address.

I gave up trying and registered with a Dynamic DNS service.

Last week two things happened: first I noticed my fixed IP address had been restored. No explanation, no notification and absolutely no apology or offer of a refund for the downtime when they'd taken it away. No explanation of why they thought it was a line problem or a router problem and were unable to diagnose what they'd broken.

Then I got a paper bill, the first in over 10 years because I've always been on direct debit. In bold type it informed me that "This bill costs you £1.90 each month. Switch to on-line billing and save over £22 a year." So I have to actually take steps to stop them charging me for a bill I never wanted and never had in the past. Not happy.

Then, last weekend, while doing the on-line grocery shop, up pops a screen telling me that "Your WorkSafe settings prevent access to [Waitrose]. This website is categorised as "Drugs, Tobacco and Alcohol" and has been blocked by your account holder."

I was pretty angry at anyone presuming to control which web sites I can access but I reckoned it must have something to do with the "upgrade" so I logged into MyAccount. When I went to check/change the settings I was told the service was unavailable.

They can do nothing right. The people you get to talk to either don't understand what you tell them or pretend not to. They will repeat the same useless and irrelevant claims over and over. Sound quality on the tech support lines is an issue too. It is a uniquely frustrating experience for the £25 a month they charge me.

In the last hour I got my MAC code and I've pulled the plug on them. I don't expect to regret the decision.

UPDATE: I switched to Andrews & Arnold, for the same money (not cheap @ £25/mo, but I didn't want cheap—I wanted excellent). I've been with them almost exactly two years now. What an unmitigated delight they have been! I am very happy, except I wish I'd made the switch years earlier.