This is going to be a short vent.
This afternoon, after a long period of absent, I find myself calling Tax Credit Office via Typetalk on my minicom (picture me using my thumb to wipe the dust off the single line screen)
After a 10 mins wait in the telephone queue, a Tax Credits advisor popped up and introduced herself as Steph and then suddenly, we have a “change of operator”. 1 minute has passed, the new TT operator explained to me that Steph is not there. I told the new op, in no uncertain terms, that is because you decided to change operators in the middle of a effing call. TT operator apologised profusely but, by then, Tax Credits hung me up. At this stage, my old frustrations surrounding this decades-old cumbersome method of communications have now resurfaced and the next green-lettered sentence burbling across my screen: “Would you like to re-dial?”. Why are they still saying that? I have complained to them about this 7 years ago and they still haven’t “got it”. If you are going to make a phone call, you are going to make a phone call to reach someone on the other end. Are Typetalk operators thick or what?
My next response is “No – I just fancied waiting in the queue and having a change of operators in middle of phone call and only to get hung up upon, through no fault of my own! Guess what – I am paying for this pleasure…bibisksksks”
Needless to say, this phone call will appear on my phone bill and I did not get the desire results.
The last time I used TT was enough to put me off for life. I can barely remember where my mini-com is now. TT does considerably more damage than good because it gives people an excuse not to provide better alternatives such as e-mail. People dump their responsibilities onto charity rather than clean up their act.
I expect this to get worse when RNId hold the monopoly for emergency phone calls!!!
http://stopthernid.blogspot.com/ join my club…
Tony,
To Tax Credit’s credit, they do provide a dedicated minicom number – did you know that? It’s printed on all of their letters.
The downside? I’m yet to actually get an answer on it. I’ve never gotten an answer on the minicom number. Ever. So I have to use TypeTalk…urgh…and the result? Well you’ve done better than me – I get hung up EVERY BLOODY TIME as soon as I get though.
I ended up asking my dad to make calls for me – which really grates on my nerve – where’s my independance? Beside he couldn’t do much since he’s not allowed to “call on my behalf” -even if I am with him in person.
What’s the bloody point.