My password was changed a day or two before the above. I found out when my p'word was rejected. I also contacted TalkTalk and they confirmed the change after they verified my identity. They asked me for my password and I was askied why it was so complicated and would I like an easier one! They gave me a temporary password and then talked me through reinstalling my original. Hey presto it worked. I still have problems sending emails on Talktalk with username and password often not accepted for a day or two then they are.

Hotmail is a nono sometimes like right now - it worked a few hours ago.

Their technical line kept me on hold for 4and a half hours yesterday as my son's line had gone dead and his b'band packed up a fortnight ago and no promised call backs. The cost of that call from his mobile would have been prohibitive.

I reconnected and this time chose sales and lo and behold, through virtually instantly. They refused to put me throught to technical untill I mentiones a very high up person in TalkTalk and threatened to report them. I got through but another 1hr wait.

Their customer service is appaling. My parents, on south coast, were so badly treated that it was only on contacting the "contact" it got sorted, within 15mins. It had taken 4 months!

I have found their staff lie, mislead, make up things on the spot, don't understand technical difficulties and some of the advice given makes me cringe as a systems engineer for 30 years.

I live a mile or so away from Carphone Warehouse head office and any more problems that is where I will go personally.

Has anyone else had their talktalk broadband password changed without their consent.

After a long list of problems with talktalk, now this!

I went to log on one evening last week and was not able to connect. A message was displayed saying invalid username or password. I was prompted by assist & go to phone the password retrieval line. The password read out to me (by a voice not dissimilar to the 1471 voice) was not mine. Anyway, unable to contact customer services, i tried using it. This too failed. Then, realising, that their systems are a complete and utter mess, I tried using the password they issued me when i first signed up. This too did not work.

Anyway after 2 hours of being on hold then being disconnected repeatedly, i finally got through to tech support, who, after confirming my identity, then asked me for my password. With this i was disgusted, but i had no option but to give it to them. The guy said no it wasn't that. So i explained the above, and was told that my original first issued password was the right one. I explained that none of them work. I explained about the password retrieval line, so he tried that, then he told me that the one given on that was the right one, and i should use that. 'Why has it been changed? I wanted to know. 'It's a technical issue that a lot of customers are experiencing' i was told. Miraculously, the mysterious password then worked. I was still not given an explanation or apology for that matter. Oh, and by the way tech support could not even tell me how to change it back again, not that it would have mattered, as it had reverted back to my proper one the following day.

Put it this way, there must be a reason I can't contact customer services, even a week later. They are either extremely busy, or they do not exist.

A bit drawn out, I know. Sorry. But to me, a password is personal and should not be changed without consent, or asked for. I know of no company who would ask you to supply your full password.

So, anyway, I'd like to know if anyone else has had similar experiences, and if so, what are they?