Why can't life be simple?

I just can't believe how complicated life can be at times - I don't know why I can't believe it, because if things can go wrong then they do. Simple things become mountains, mountains become unclimbable and so on.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that we were paying a lot more than the advertised price for our broadband - smaller package more money, bigger package less money - well I'm not stupid and going to pay more than I can get away with, so I requested the change - great - get confirmation - I would be paying less, and they'd send a engineer round to sort things out - no great shakes - easy peasey! Not a chance...

Saturday afternoon, not a good time, but they did turn up and left - leaving me internet-less - it'll be sorted in 24 hours they said - humph - no! Monday still the little blue light failed to flash - angry, but carefully polite, phone calls from me - job's worth people on end of phone - telling me the obvious - 'that my modem wasn't working' - as if I didn't know that already! Plus at the end of the umpteenth call the woman, after telling me that there was nothing they could do but send out a new modem - which would probably arrive sometime next week if I was lucky actually asked if 'there was anything else she could help me with' - the mind boggles, as if she had actually sorted out one problem and was ready and waiting to sort out the next - where on earth do they get these people?

Then along comes Gerriant, the Welsh wizard of Virgin Media, a man that actually does ring you back when he says he will, and sends round a lovely young man who 'noticed immediately that it was the wrong type of modem' - well I never, surprise surprise, who'd have thought that anyone would be daft enough to install the wrong type of modem - I can't imagine.

Upshot is, well obviously as I am posting this, the lovely young ex-naval man, brought me the right modem - and it works! But why oh why do I have go through this scenario - it isn't the first time and I don't suppose that it will be the last - all I want is people to do what they say they will, turn up on time and be efficient.

News Flash ................................. the dishwasher had just stopped working............................. they don't work after five, so tomorrow I will start the whole process again!!

Question - why do they play that awful music at you when they put you on hold? Perhaps they hope that you will hang up rather suffer?

I am now just wondering how long it will take this time, will he bring the right part etc etc - would it be quicker just to buy a new one - but then there is the problem of getting rid of the old machine - Ce la vie!

PS If you ever get to read this Richard Branson then you'll know what real people suffer at the hands of your employees