As I had not been contacted by anyone since my call on Saturday I decided to call up and find out what was going on.
After being played back a series of prerecorded and sometimes garbled electronic information I got connected.
Me: Hi there I am trying to get an update on my new connection as no one has contacted me since Saturday
Her: Yes Sir. Did you not get an SMS yesterday?
Me: Yes, but it only told me my case was escalated. Still no one has called me to tell me what is going on
Her: Sir you ordered your connection on the 9th December and after three weeks it is automatically escalated
Me: That is interesting as it was only escalated after I called on Saturday
Her: Yes Sir there is a problem with their being not enough ports available.
Me: Thankyou I am already aware of that. However How can this happen when the system is checked in the main office whilst you are filling out your application? Can you give me an estimate of when I will have a connection?
Her: No sorry sir, there is an internal issue.
Me: So should I ring back in 3days? 3 weeks or 3 years? To find out what is going on?
Her: You will be connected as soon as possible.
Me: Can you give me an estimate?
Her: No, sorry.
Me: Okay so I’ll call back next week.
Now I am no rocket scientist but I know one of a few things.
a) Monopolies are a really bad thing for the consumer as you have no choice but to put up with naff service
b) helping the customer by telling them what is going on – goes a long way
c) connecting a couple of wires in an exchange is not difficult especially when you want it to happen!
