Typical Public Holiday Conversation
Look. Stop it, I don't want to have sex with you.
Aw come on, it'll be nice.
No way. You don't want me, you just want sex.
What's wrong with that?
There's a lot wrong with that.
Comeon.. just a bit of.. what's it called, this kind of sex has a name..
....
Enjoyable. That's it.
Can't Fight Nature
I was sitting here, just now, for a considerable amount of time - wanting to blog but realising I was complaining. Again. My inner voice was assuring me (as many close friends and relatives often chant) "only dogs can here you now, michelle" at the level of the whine hurtling round and bouncing off the inside of my skull. I sat for a time thinking of what I could write that wasn't a complaint. Crossed and uncrossed my legs, tapped my chin, gazed at the wall, and wondered.
On Good Friday, a person driving a two door Pajero backed into the side of my car while it was parked on the street. The driver was very sorry, and accepted all fault, helpfully giving me all the details and, happy that our Insurance companies would handle the problem, drove off in his slightly scuffed vehicle. I phoned my Insurance company, after spending an hour or so sweeping up the glass from the road and cleaning it out of my car.
The woman at the TOWER Insurance call centre said her name was Lorraine. She asked how she could help me. I told her I'd just been hit by another car and wanted to refresh my knowledge of my policy, and would appreciate some advice on what to do next so I could get my car back on the road - I've only had two accidents, both with people backing into me and I wasn't sure of the procedure for fixing my car. She asked me for my policy number - I wasn't able to tell her that as I wasn't at home. She asked me for my name - I told her. She asked me for my address - I remembered I hadn't changed it from the move, so had to tell her my old address. My mind went blank. She asked me again I told her what was going on, and that I was trying to remember the address. She pressed and insisted she had to have the address. I told her I understood that, but my mind had gone blank and i needed a moment to recall the address, if should could just give me a moment I would remember it. She continued, her tone indicating her impatience, to explain that with a name "as common as yours" she needed an address. My voice wavered and I suddenly realised I was on the verge of tears and said I would ring back later when I had remembered and I was less upset *crying by this stage* and she hung up. Leaving me there to wonder why I had tried to make a call like that so close to the fright of seeing the big dent in my car door, but also to wonder why she was so abrupt when 90% of callers to this line would be people in my same situation.
I left it for until Sunday. Gathering my Insurance and contact details, making sure I had everything I needed for the phone call, I called TOWER Insurance once more. This time I spoke with Joanne. She easily found my details this time, and was quite happy to change my contact details so they were up to date. She couldn't help me with my Claim, if that was in fact what I needed to do - the thing was, I didn't know what I was supposed to do and was asking that very question - what do I do next. She put me through to the Claims department. I spoke with another woman there. She asked me if I'd been hurt in the accident. She asked me if it was the other drivers fault. No, I wasn't hurt. Yes, it was the other persons fault. Yes, he was Insured. She asked me if I needed a copy of my policy and I thought maybe I did, so she'd post that to me. She then told me I had to deal with him and good luck with that. And hung up.
I'm once again left sitting on my sofa, dead phone in hand wondering.. why is this so difficult. They're sposed to be on MY side.
I decide to phone the Pajero's owners Insurance company, AMI Insurance. Despite the fact I was on hold for 20 minutes, I did finally speak with someone who was helpful. She pulled up the details and the Claim had been lodged. I would have to fill in a Claim form and she would fax it to me, I could fax it back. Excellent. She gave me the Claim number, the Claim Handler's direct dial number (although he was away at present) and I felt a hell of a lot better after talking with her. Still not very far down the track to getting my car fixed but none-the-less, I felt better.
Today, the copy of my policy arrived in the mail. At least TOWER did that. As of last night, the Claim form had not arrived via fax - so i get to spend some more time today on the telephone chasing it. The Pajero driver is out there with a slightly scuffed bumper and a drivable car. I did nothing wrong and my
car is *still* munted, my own Insurance company is being less than helpful, and I am having to spend my time listening to god-awful hold music.
Not all call centre people are bad. I guess, that Vodafone called me, meant they were going to be nicer - I mean they wanted something from me not viceversa. His name was Matt, or Zack, or something else short and snappy, and he had a confident early-twenty-something voice. He hoped he wasn't interrupting but if he could just have a few minutes of my time to welcome me to the Vodafone Network. I said I had time, I had just finished my second game of DAYTONA USA and had, again, been beaten and would appreciate any tips he might have in regards to my arcade driving. He laughed. He had a really nice laugh. I walked outside the arcade so I could hear him better. He wondered about the customer service I had experienced when signing up for my new mobile connection, if I had been told all that I needed to know, was I aware of the insurance offered in case I lost my phone. He didn't even sound like he was reading it from a card - he had good voice modulation and he actually listened to my answers. I told him how happy I had been with the whole experience - how easy it had been, how much I loved my phone and how much I LOVED my phone number. He laughed again and wondered why, and I told him how much i liked the fact my number spelled "tripence" and he thought that was really cool too. When he had covered his list of points, he wished me luck and gave me contact information if I needed to ask any further questions. Just before he left I said, matt (or zack or whatever his name was) I really enjoyed this call..that despite the fact he hadn't been able to help improve my DAYTONA USA driving skills, I thought he'd done a really good job, "well done" (had shades of Paula Abdul but brushed them aside, I was sincere). He seemed surprised and happy and thanked me for that.
Now, I know - okay. I know that the Insurance Call Centre is different from the guy phoning me from Vodafone trying to sell me further mobile products. But, it doesn't take much, to make a customer feel something. I feel really annoyed with TOWER. Their call centre staff didn't do a good job with my calls, and it wasn't isolated to one Staff member who was having a bad day.
This morning I remember I've not felt very well since Monday. I thought it was the smell of the fish in the rubbish at the Ferry Wharf that had made me feel squeemish but I'm *still* feeling yukky. Sue was just here and said it sounded like the virus she's just getting over. Fabulous. Easter Weekend, 2 Days Annual Leave, ANZAC Weekend and all i want to do is sleep and complain. (and that's different from any other time, how?)
I can't fight it, I have nothing to say unless I'm complaining about something.
it.