Wednesday, 25 August 2004
Phone Fun
It's raining again; this August has been more like April, as far as "A" months go. In that spirit:
My phone has been in for repairs for over a month. The resident idiots at my local Phone House (a retail chain) sent it to Bouygues Telecom. This despite the fact that I'm an Orange customer, and my phone isn't tied to any particular company; it should have gone to the Phone House service center. Obviously the quintessential "Friday job": the guy who took my phone was leaving for vacation.
So, when I got an invoice from Bouygues several weeks ago, the woman at the store told me to decline it. My phone would be sent back, then (correctly) sent out to their own repair people. Problem is, three weeks later and I still don't have it back, despite several phone calls to the main customer service number and visits to the store.
On one of my later visits to the store, the same woman who told me to decline the invoice had a very insightful comment. "Oh, that's normal. It's vacation time, you know." Gosh, thanks for nothing. I'd maybe expect a slowdown, not a full month with no news at all. Of course, the guy who took my phone hadn't thought there'd be any problem in getting it fixed within two weeks.
I finally called Bouygues directly. After telling the woman there my situation (practiced at it as I am, after reciting it several times to Phone House people), she asked me for my Bouygues number. She hadn't listened to a word I'd said. One small earful from me later, she started listening. My phone should be back at the Phone House by early next week.
I'll have to send it out again for real repairs, seeing as how absolutely nothing was done this week. Obviously all my calls and visits to Phone House were in vain. Despite their promises to follow up with Bouygues, no record of that showed up when I called directly.
Sometimes, I really, really can't stand the French.