Posts from the ‘Personal’ Category
A pox on Veolia Water
How incompetent are they? That’s a rhetorical question, actually. Only comment if you have something nasty to say about them!
I got my water bill last week. The same time as every year. And every year, I call them to tell them I want to pay by 12 installments rather than 10.
“You can’t” they say. “Our system is set up for 12.”
“But I’ve been paying in 12 installments for the past 13 years.”
“You can only do that if you call us when the bill comes in.”
“I do”, I say, “And every year you OK it. And every year, you send me threatening letters saying I’m behind in my payments. If I don’t bring them up to day, you’ll take me to court. And every year you back down because of the agreement I made at the beginning of the year that you find in the notes on my account but have somehow failed to make it to the computer to tell it not to send me the threats.” I do wonder who, or what, is in charge.
This past year is the only year I haven’t had a ‘reminder’. Probably because I told them if I get one more threat, I’ll take THEM to court for what ever I can.
Back to this year.
My bill had an outstanding amount. I called them. The amount outstanding on my bill, prepared on their computer system, differed from the amount outstanding on the computer screen, generated by their computer system!
I got a tad annoyed and asked to speak to a supervisor and ran into Deja Vu for the 14th time! The supervisor was very apologetic and promised to look into my account and get back to me AFTER the final installment has been made. The last was at my insistence, just so as not to confuse the poor computer.
Today, I got a call-back while I was at work. They left a message. Two, actually. Limited time on the answering machine. Even with two rambling messages, I didn’t understand what she said. Bugger, I’ve got to call.
After more rambling, I hit that Deja Vu wall again. “We’ve set your account for 10 monthly payments, Mr Smoninrjnbhubhr”. It’s alway fun the get people to pronounce my last name. Thanks dad, loads of laughs over the years!
“No. I want to pay over 12 months…” This went on for a few minutes. The person went to get a manager to deal with me. Fun! No managers are available. Quelle surprise. “I’ll get someone to call you in the morning. What time is best?”
“I leave for work at 8.30. You can call me when I get home after 5.30″.
Episode 2 tomorrow…
He’s arrived!
My Meerkat finally arrived. Aleksander didn’t deliver it himself. I had to go collect it from the Post Office.
Postkat, as seen on the previous post, got lost and travelled around Europe for a while, visiting Athens, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Venice, Rome Paris and other places.
This is Sergei, Aleksander’s head of IT.
I was wearing the same shirt and tie as Sergei is when he arrived! Were we separated at birth? hehehehe
Meerkat
I renewed my insurance yesterday using compare the market, so I just had to get the meerkat from Sergei in Meerkovo.
A new look
Hello everyone.
People have been telling me off for not updating my site since Christmas. Sorry Gina.
Got a new them which makes it easier to display my photos. I’ll be adding the pictures a few at a time.
Got to make some tweaks to make it look not quite so bright and maybe add a new picture at the top. Hope you like it.
John x
