Customer Disservice

Another week has gone by, and we have yet to receive our little 3 year old, Lanes’, PR card.  I tried calling about it again, but all the agents were busy. Apparently, Thursdays and Fridays are their less busy days.  The automated voice also says that the call can be terminated if the caller is abusive. 

The last thirty five times I called, I wondered what morons were abusing those call agents, but now I'm beginning to wonder if I will wind up being one of those people. I saved the number on my phone today, since I think I'l be calling many many more times. When will we ever see this card?

Besides running around like a contestant on ‘The Amazing Race’ to complete and hand in some stuff (that was a result of someone else’s negligence) for Lanes’ PR card, I found myself fighting battles on behalf of my hassled better half, P.  One month after having made a shipment with a courier company, P got an invoice asking for a payment for it. I won’t name the company, but let us say its logo is brown and its initials spell out the opposite of down.

Customer service was of no help, insisting we deal with the franchise instead. Apparently, the parent company has no control over franchises, but it was frustrating that they want the customer to solve problems for them. Since P had the credit card statement as proof of payment, he just wanted to inform them of the accounting/billing error.

I was adamant in writing one of my (in)famous complaint letters, so I took over the phone call since I noticed a vein dangerously protruding out of P’s temple. The customer service rep was useless, and I allegedly had the manager on line. She announced that she has no last name, you know like Cher or Madonna, but I got her extension.

She kept insisting that we go to the store and try to see what happened. I refused since it was not our error and I had no time to waste on that. Then she said if I had time to talk to her on the phone, I had time to go to the store. I think this company should incorporate an automated voice saying calls can be terminated for abusive language.

Any old how, it was very annoying, but I felt happy that I could write a nasty letter. There is nothing like it. If the right hand doesn’t know (or want to know) what the left hand is doing in such a big company, there really is something wrong.

We are still unclear if it is a genuine error made by the franchise (the folks there had better phone skills) or some sort of ploy to double charge. I haven’t felt like being irritated lately so I never called the franchise back about it. I only hope they sorted it out, just in case it affects our credit history or something.

Meanwhile, we are all on cold/allergy number 108. The assistant manager and head maintenance man, who I call ‘Mr. Condensation’ came door to door to check all the apartments. One of the walls in our apartment has been vibrating a lot lately and I brought it to their attention. I just wanted to make sure there were no pipes there.

Mr. Condensation came up with some cockamamie story about how it’s the vibrations from heavy vehicles going on the road. Even the asst manager had to raise an eyebrow, since the vibrating can go on for a few minutes at times. He suggested I move around my wall sconces so that the sound won’t bother me, and he said he would help with that. I declined since it would mess up the symmetry of my décor, and that just doesn’t sit right with the anal part of me (92%).

Like 98% of the bathrooms in this building, water pools at the back of our toilet, and Mr. Condensation quickly announced that it was due to, well here’s the part where he earns his name, condensation. He is the same bright spark who said our ceiling was leaking due to condensation but it turned out to be a leaky pipe.

I told the assistant manager they can do what they want, but to note that I have informed them about the issues I am aware of, so I have done my duty. Mr. Condensation came up with some theory about the cold water in the toilet clashing with the warm air in the apartments. His final decision was to turn down the heat to the building, always a good idea in winter, so that there is less hot air and all the apartments would have dry bathroom floors.

Having had several bath mats ruined by ‘condensation’, between you and me, my final conclusion is that all the hot air in the building is floating between Mr. Condensation’s ears. I am also happy to write a recommendation for him to get a job in customer service for that courier company. He will be the perfect fit. His hot air would balance out their frigid cold attitude.

And it’s not just that. When we first moved here, P had subscribed to a mobile phone service that charged for everything. As immigrants, we had no choice since we had no address, no PR card, no credit history, and thus we had no choice.

If they could charge P for every time he turned his phone on and off, he would. He has since swapped carriers and is very happy. Then, every month there are some extra question marks on our phone bill (it’s bundled). P has to call it in and every month we are given an apology and a credit. It’s a good thing P has a sharp eye for numbers.

The first month, I took it for granted that we were charged what we owed and nearly paid it in good faith. Luckily, P wanted to double check the figures since it seemed off(and that is why he is the finance guy). I hate to admit, I pay for things blindly. I also think 2+2 is 5, so therein lies the problem. If only we could get a credit for the time we waste as customers, clinging onto the phone.

Any old how, things continue as usual. P is finding some positive feedback after downgrading his resume and going with a temp agency. It’s a good thing, since he was close to adding words like ‘flambéing’ to his resume—and he is no chef. He did however, for the first time since I’ve known him, make a potato curry, which I begrudgingly had to agree was not bad at all.

Lanes is looking a lot like how she did was she was a wee baby after her new hair cut. When the hair stylist realized how fast her hair grows, he went to town with the scissors. Luckily, Lanes thought it was funny. Her favorite past time right now is pretending to be a wolf (and I’m her dinner).

As for me, my main goal is to get P and Lanes sorted out in their respective lives, and I have this blog as the one ‘me’ thing. Will catch up again next week…