A video…

I have two outstanding games on video, this one from about …. let me see….about 10 weeks ago… enjoy. Ill post the other one over the weekend.

Despair….

The last 10 weeks have been an absolute nightmare, i’ve been without my faithful sidekick, whom I thought I’d never miss. This sidekick is like an addictive drug, you only realise how much you’re reliant upon it, until it’s been taken away from you for sooo long.

I’d been given an ultimatum, “you’ve become too attached to you’re sidekick, either find a cheaper substitute or get rid of it altogether !” – bit harsh really, especially when you’ve come to love someone or something so much over the last 13 years. Bloody hell, i’ve had my sidekick for as long as i’ve had my eldest.

Then when you tearfully say goodbye to your faithful companion and get the cheaper model, do you understand why paying that little bit more was always worth it in the first place.

So, what soppy bollocks am I babbling on about ? My internet connection, thats what ! 13 years with BT and never a problem. Then the old credit squeeze hits home and the £60 / month we were paying to BT looks a bit sharp. We (or more like I !) looked for some cheaper alternatives, and the one that stood out was a £21 / month phone plan with free calls and free internet access via TalkTalk.

So signed up we did, with the 12th September being the day we said goodbye to “old faithful.” Line went dead around 4pm, 10 minutes later the phone line sprang to life, but no internet. The next 4-5 weeks was an absolute nightmare, I must have made over 25 calls to an Indian call centre to get this sorted, at times waiting 30 minutes plus to get through, only to have to ring another number to speak to someone.

“have you tried this ?” “Have you tried that ?” “have you changed your wires ?” – “YES YES YES, how many more times, it’s not the bloody equipment, and it’s not me, can someone please sort it out for me”

I got the same old questions, same old promises, same old “Have a nice day and thank you for calling TalkTalk” – eventually I got fed up with not being able to complain to an English based representative of TalkTalk that after 7 or 8 weeks I contacted the ombudsman who intervened on my behalf. 1 day later i got a call from an English based rep who has kept me abreast of events and at least had the courtesy to call me back when he says he is going to.

In the meantime, i’d decided to withhold payment until the service i’d signed up for materialised. This only complicated matters with all sorts of potential problems that non payment of bills provide.

Hopefully when they sort out my compensation matters, I might be able to look back on this annoying episode and chuckle, but somehow i’m not so sure I will.