TalkTalk's customer disservice

Last night was nightmarish. Medication upset my digestive tract which produced painful pockets of wind that kept me half awake. Everything I worry about, consciously or unconsciously surfaced and awakened anxiety. I felt out of control, unable to get to sleep. When I finally dropped off after an hour away I slept late, missing the GP 8.00am phone queue to book an early appointment, rather than wait five days for one I have booked. I sent a text message to Ashley to ask if he could help me troubleshoot our lack of landline phone connection. He has a lot of experience and understanding of telecoms issues. Once he found that he couldn't get through on our established number he went into action with an inquiry which revealed that TalkTalk has not released our landline number for switch-over. 

The TalkTalk operative he got through to alleged I had cancelled the instruction to end the account, when my complaint about TalkTalk service was resolved before Christmas. The message received from TalkTalk about my complaint gave me no opportunity to acknowledge and confirm just a phone number to call and resume discussion about closing the account, which I had no reason to respond to. 

TalkTalk is obliged by law to switch over if a customer requires it. I arranged with their returns team to mail their equipment back to them and done so already. There is no excuse. On the basis of not being able to reach me by phone, Ashley lodged a complaint BT could pursue with TalkTalk to relinquish control of the number. It will take another four days for this to take effect. That's twelve days we have been deprived of our landline. Ashley made it clear that it was urgent 'for medical reasons'. He thinks it justifies making a complaint to OFCOM for compensation. I couldn't have got this far without him.

This is not the first time I've had issues with the quality and clarity of communications from TalkTalk. It was one of the reasons why I decided to close my account in the first place. I've decided to contact the BBC 'You and Yours' consumer programme to tell them the story. I need to gather the relevant evidence in preparation for an OFCOM complaint in any case.

Exhaustion plagued me through a morning of intense phone conversation. I went out and walked for half an hour to clear my head, then prepared veggies for lunch while Clare cooked a savoury dish with a block of tofu - weird bland stuff, but improved by her treatment. I slept soundly in my armchair for a hundred minutes after we'd eaten and finally felt less fraught and clear headed. Then we went for a walk in the park together until dusk. It's been unpleasant, bone chillingly damp all day, but I need the exercise to cope with what I'm going through.

After supper I wrote a detailed review of the medications I'm prescribed and their impact on me to send to Dr Jordan. I have an appointment next week, but can't be sure I'll be able to mention everything that has an impact on me, so nothing gets forgotten in our face-to-face interview. It took me a couple of hours to piece together what I needed to remember and express it clearly. So tiring. Bed time already.