After a pretty fraught telephone conversation with a telephone/broadband company, I hope 'Catters will allow me to let off steam here...

Yesterday afternoon, I was caught on the hop by a sales rep for a combined telephone line/broadband service opportunity and, in an uncharacteristic fit of stupidity, signed up for what seemed like a good deal. This is something I normally never do and, on reflection and after the rep had gone, I decided - for various reasons - to cancel the deal.

So this morning, I phoned the appropriate number on the back of the contract - 7 days to cancel so I thought I'd do it straight away - and talked to a woman in the Cancellations Department. Fifteen minutes later, after being interrogated, obfuscated, sidetracked, blocked and persistently questioned about motives, reasons, given alternatives if I did X, Y or Z, the contract was cancelled!

Not to put to fine a point on it, what a fucking company! I expected a bit of questioning and some persuasive talk to get me to reconsider - but not the 3rd degree. In the end, after a little fine language on my part (thanks for the lessons, Spaw), I said that I absolutely refused to answer any more questions and that I wanted the contract cancelled there and then, and it was finally done.

As usual, these conversations are recorded "for training purposes" - and I hope they have fun playing it back. I added, before saying goodbye that, as the conversation was being recorded, they might like to know that, in view of their attitude, I would never - not in a million years - ever contemplate using their service in the future. Not even under torture.

What is really shitty about their attitude is that, if I hadn't been an old, obstreperous, foul-mouthed musician, i.e. abnormal, I might just have allowed myself to be browbeaten into not cancelling.

For the benefit of UK readers, the company was Talk Talk.