Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Phone System Infiltration

So, nasty weather in Auckland today causes all sorts of problems. Excessive wind and rain that never stopped causes all sorts of problems for the electricity companies. At home the power has gone out - no clue when it's coming back on. With dinner-time fast approaching it's time for some action. So I ring the faults line for our electricity supplier, the "friendly" automated call filter kicks in. Press 1 for a gas fault, or press 2 for an electricity fault. I press 2... If you live on the North Shore... press 1, for anywhere else in Auckland, press 2. I press 2... Please hold whilst we connect you to a Customer Service Representative. The phone disconnects. Truly - just like that. So I try the general residential Customer Service line. If you wish to report a fault, please press 1. Yes, I'm in - I press 1! If you live in blah blah blah, please press 1, for anywhere else in Auckland, press 2. I press 2... For all faults in this area, please ring the lines company on 0508... hmmm, OK - I'll try that number. I go through the filtering process and get told that I'm about to get transferred to a Customer Service Representative, only... nothing happens! I hang up, and stop to think about what I can do next. So I go back to the residential Customer Service line. My only goal here is to get to a real person and find out what's going on. Eventually I get into a call queue, to be greeted with "I See Red" by Split Enz. This is a NZ classic, but not something you expect to hear while on hold for 10 minutes or more. I finally get a person to talk to, very nice and polite. Explains that there's problems everywhere and that it should resolved by 6:30. Turns out even better then that as it was all fixed by 6:00.

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