Free: why they are the worst internet service in France and why you should avoid them at all costs

So after I wrote that nice summing up of my time in France post, I thought it was only right I should write a post about the trouble that Free have caused and are still causing us even though we've been out of the country for three months.
So we subscribed to an internet service with Free for 29.99 a month. This came out of my French bank account by direct debit. The service they provided was patchy at best, with us not even being able to get internet connection in our living room when the Freebox was in my bedroom. Bear in mind our apartment was only 62m squared. In order to cancel your subscription with Free, you have to fill out a form at the beginning of the month you want to be your final month and send it to them recorded delivery (costing you 5 euros anyway) and then they acknowledge they've received it and your account should be closed at the end of the month. You then have to wait to pay a 49 euro closure fee, which I thought was pretty ridiculous but there was no getting around it so we resigned ourselves to paying it.
Anyway, the end of April came and we sent off our actual box, got the receipt for that and went on our way back to England. Then, in the first week of May, I received an email saying that they couldn't take the direct debit out of my account to bill me for May. I responded saying that they shouldn't be billing me as our account should be closed, to which they sent another email saying they'd never received anything about closing the account. So we had to get Louise's mentor teacher involved (who is the loveliest woman on earth) who then repeatedly attempted to contact them on the phone and got nowhere. She then sent copies of the receipts, and after waiting to hear from them they billed me for June. So we sent the letter again. They then finally acknowledged the closure of the account, but said it would be closed from the 1st July, and that we still had to pay May and June. Which we obviously were not going to do. Nathalie attempted to contact them on the phone again, to no reply.
I then received another email from a company that deals with unpaid utility bills in France, saying that we had to pay the bills for May and June or they would take legal proceedings. So now, Nathalie has had to send ANOTHER letter to this other company, with further copies of the receipts, hoping that they will finally deal with it all. I was also told they wouldnt attempt to take the direct debit of the 49 euro closure fee out of my account so I could pay it online, but guess what, they've still attempted it. So now I'll probably have another fee hiked up on top of that.
It's all been pretty stressful and horrible. I would say to anyone going on a year abroad in France to avoid them at all costs, they may look like a good deal but their service is pretty shitty and also they are clearly crooks that want to extort as much money out of you as possible. It's the last thing you need when you're moving country.