The sad, sorry saga of the telco and me

Oh, how I hate my telco provider!

Swap, I hear you say, but I've fired two before this one and can only conclude they're all as crap as each other.

I'm not going to name mine - they're not getting any oxygen on this far-reaching platform! - but let's just say they have a tagline along the lines of Thrive On. I don't even know what that means. And never mind thriving, how about you just work?? For any telcos looking for a line, you can have this one for free; We Just Work.

It all started back in January when Mands and I sold our business and I was charged with unraveling the contract. There are so many instances of incompetence I barely know where to begin, but let's start with the paperwork.

Having completed the ream with the help of a staffer at the shop who conceded no-one would be able to find all those numbers on their own and providing authorisation from Mands, I left it with them to be faxed (yeah -  progressive, right). Months later when nothing had happened, I went back to the shop to discover said paperwork had been popped in a drawer with a post-it note asking no-one in particular to fax it as that staffer had headed overseas for an extended break. Lucky them!

Once it finally went through, in about September, it triggered a visit from a technician who said he needed to change the modem. Fine, I said. (What would I know?) A few days later I popped back to the shop to say the old system had been disconnected - so what plan I was on? They didn't know. In fact, it was about then they revealed that the new modem was ADSL and should be coaxial. I was losing my veneer of politeness. The guy suggested that rather than pay for another technician, I could install it myself. WTF? They put the wrong one in and it's not as straightforward as he suggested as I had no idea where the port was and we now have so much stuff using the net - security, TVs, boosters - that would all need to be recalibrated. I signed up for the technician.

I was talking to Mands, who'd been hanging out to shut this account down for months. It'd been another couple of weeks so I said to go ahead the following Monday as it may expedite things. They cut me off.

Back to the shop I went. I asked if they all try and look busy when they see me coming - and was told I'm just one of many but yes, sometimes they do a quick paper, scissors, rock. I was so furious they gave me a dongle to access wi-fi until it was sorted. I got home and it didn't work. I made Elle take it back to the shop the next morning - they'd put the wrong code in. (Actually, she pretended she was my EA and said she was scared to come back without it being fixed... I don't know why.)

Eventually, a new technician arrived and installed the correct modem. The same day another arrived via express post. It's all or nothing with these guys. I was instructed to return the ADSL and second coaxial modem to the shop - which I did.

I also had to get our data guys in to reconfigure everything as the technician said he didn't do that sort of thing - of course not.

So I've now spent about 120 hours trying to get the billing resolved as I was charged - for everything!! I managed to get a few chunks credited back,  it should be more but they've worn me down. Business and Personal departments don't speak, I've used the complaints service, I've waited on the phone for hours, not received promised calls back and yet, they keep sending me emails with subject line "How did we do?". I'm yet to fill one in because I've wasted enough time - but in the right mood, I could be tempted!!

Karma and a life hack

When I was having radiation therapy, I had to drive to the hospital every morning for four weeks. No biggy, except for the traffic and a particularly snarly bit involving two roundabouts and a bridge in between.

To keep this simple, coming in from the east, you need to change lanes in the first roundabout (on the bottom of this image) to get onto the bridge and, my god, some people will do anything NOT to let you in!

On the morning in question, a young girl in a hatchback coming in from the west refused to let me in, leaving me stranded midway around the 'bout'. Next to pull in, was a tradie, who also barred my way before the next car finally let me in.

Approaching the second roundabout, right ahead of me, the tradie rear ended the young girl's hatch back. As there's no where to stop on a bridge, she hesitated for a bit, then popped her hazard lights on, proceed directly through the next roundabout and pulled over. The tradie hung and left and drove off. No chance she'll ever see him again.

That's the karma bit.

So it got me thinking what would you do in that situation - being rear ended in traffic with nowhere to go? I figured if you have a reversing camera, you throw your car into R and take a photo of their licence plate with your phone.

There's the hack!

Photo of reversing camera screen

The Vote

Is it just me or do you also have some level of discomfort voting on what other people are allowed to (peacefully) do with their lives?

As some of you know, Geoff and I have been together for over 30 years and chose not to get married - but can you spot the key word? - chose.  I'm not crazy for the institution for me personally (although I do love a wedding!), but I have the choice. My gay friends don't.

Some people have wrongly assumed that being in a same sex de facto relationship affords all the legal benefits of being married anyway. My understanding is it doesn't. If a woman is on life support, it is possible that her family - perhaps because of prejudice and a lack of acceptance -  can bar her lesbian partner from access.

As one of my gay friends points out, the issue is far bigger than marriage. The question, he says, is  just subtext for 'Are gays okay?' - Yes or No.

Worse, some are using the platform to voice anti-gay sentiment. A (gay) FB friend posted a screen grab from a No page that said 'Bring back gay bashing' - bad enough, but made worse by the 5 Likes it had. Seriously - that's frightening. If you're the parent of a young gay person, that'll send a cold bolt down your spine.

It also strikes me that the people publicly campaigning for the No vote are those who stand to lose the most - power, standing, authority - and that's older and middle aged white males. First of all it was those uppity women who wanted equality (still trying...) and now, god dam it, it's the LGBTIQs!! And let's not even touch on race or disability.

Here's an idea; let's assume people are equal. Wow, eh? That's right - no boxes, no labels, just people. Because at the end of the day, we all have a mother, friends, enemies, feelings, varying talents, beliefs, weaknesses and faults. We all need shelter, food, water, to have purpose and be loved. It's pretty basic.

I do also believe in religious freedom - just don't inflict it on everyone else. If your beliefs prevent you marrying someone of the same sex, then don't.

Elle and I had a conversation about the issue of florists (for example) refusing to do flowers for SSMs because they don't support it. Initially I though that was probably okay - until you substitute black people for gay people - then realise how not okay that is.

Nor am I buying the argument of 'tradition'. Marriage is a relatively new concept, designed to control women and broker power and property. It's also evolved dramatically since its inception so I'm not sure which 'tradition' we're talking about. If we were that committed to 'tradition' perhaps while we're at it, we should get women back in the kitchen and financial dependent on men. That sounds like fun - not.

And frankly, I'm appalled at the argument that sexuality has some baring on the ability to parent. There are some pretty shit and often 'accidental' heterosexual parents out there and when you compare that to how much commitment and effort it takes for LGBTI peeps to become parents, well, you'd have to think they've given the subject quite a lot of thought. Yes, there are exceptions to every rule, but my point is simply that sexuality doesn't, in its own right, make you a better or worse parent.

I agree that some behaviour on both sides hasn't helped the case. I blogged some time back that slagging people off and name calling doesn't elevate anyone's argument - about anything - so I despair when I hear people who were voting yes are now not voting because they feel bullied by the Yes campaigners. It's not cool.

But, if like me, you feel #awkward about having a say in others' lives, don't let it stop you voting. The big fear at the moment is that a lack of participation by the yes camp could be the undoing of the vote. So tick and post people, tick and post.