faulty phone ...again

The phone lines went out at work......again...this morning. Today the phone lines went out in the entire suburb, including a large shopping centre, which is unusual , it's usually just our shop. I reported the fault in our shop to telstra, no sorry, I attempted to report the fault.

I dialled the fault line ( from my mobile) and got an automated response. Press one if you want to give us money, press two if you want to give us new business, press three if you want to tell us how good we are, press four if you want to be put on hold for fifteen minutes and then cut off. I have dealt with these automated systems before, I pressed "one, I want to give you money" .

Immediately a bright chirpy voice enquired how much money I wanted to give them and by what means. "Terribly sorry', I said, " I must have pressed the wrong button, I want to report a fault." The chirpy voice became less chirpy, sour even, and responded that I should be on hold, not talking to her. I responded that in the past this had led to an automated voice telling me to hold for service, some bad music, and a dead line. "That's right "she said , "it's the fault line."

I explained I didn't want to book a fault, but report one. Oh she said, obviously I didn't have a fault since I'd called her. I explained I was on my mobile and wanted to report a fault on a land line. This she grudgingly accepted. I told her the number and she tapped it in, muttering under her breath about having to change screens etc etc.

The next thing I heard was an automated message telling me that the fault had already been reported , and that I could expect normal service to be resumed at 7.30pm on Tuesday. ( I reported this at 8.30am Sunday).

Obviously telstra has operated a monopoly in our part of the world for far too long, the sooner we get meaningful competition the better.

The tip about automated switch boards always works though, I always press the button they advise you to press if you want to give them money. They answer that a lot quicker than any of the other lines.