British Telecom

It is almost enough to make me drink.

Last week, I finally was signed up for phone and broadband services.

On the 24th, I received a letter through the post from BT (British Telecom) informing me that I had a line problem and that I needed to call them in order for my broadband order to be further processed.

I made a foray into their menu system that night. Finally reaching the service desk, the incomprehesible young man informed me that he had to run a couple of tests and would call me back.

Of course, that part never happened.

So, this morning bright and cheery, I started the attempt to wend my way through their menus in order to make sure that I will get on line at some point in my life.

The first call resulted in talking to three people in different departments, none of whom was right. The last one attempted to put me on hold, and I was disconnected.
The second call was similiar to the first, with the except that the first person was sure that I had to talk to the center that handles service member accounts. The woman there was incredibly nice, but only deals with barracks dwellers. Not me, she forwarded me on to the service desk which landed me back into the menu system.
After that – I just menu’d my way to the Broadband orders, then asked to be transfered to the service desk since my attempts to direct dial were not working.
The last call was the real winner – I got the nice individual in tech services checked out the line, informed me that there were no faults on the line (not a split line) and that it was totally and completely functional for my broad band. He had no clue as to why I was sent the letter in the first place, but gave me all the information I needed to verify my order was on track.

And then the penny dropped.

I placed the order for both on the 21st. On the 22nd, the broadband people tried my line, and found out it didn’t work. No kidding, it was not scheduled to be activated till the 24th. Meanwhile, they generated a letter which went out on the 23rd. I receive it on the 24th and start to call them.

But I have a line now, and no one can figure out why I am calling. None of the call center people were aware that some times the order processing people sent out letters.

End result? Almost 3 hours, 8 calls, 23 individuals – and none of it made any difference!

If I had done nothing, my order would have been processed without incident, since the people in the fullfillment department never talk to the order desk, services, or tech.

Socks

Heel flap on the first braid sock.

Audio Books

Started The Darkside by Deutermann.

Arches

-Holly