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Friday, August 8, 2008

RELAX???? WTF DOES THAT MEAN???

Well I looked ‘relax’ up in the dictionary, and let me tell you, it is far from what I have been doing for these last couple of months!!!

First of all, Hello, and I’m sorry yet again that I haven’t had the time OR THE FUCKING INTERNET to reply to anyone, or catch up on my blog reading!

Some of you figured this out on your own, but for those who don’t know, I actually went to my parents house last week to upload the next RAT GiRL episode, but it took so damn long, that I didn’t have the chance to let you all know, and meanwhile I had a very grumpy Hubby waiting impatiently for me.

SO… This episode was so long that I had to break it into two!
So if you haven’t spotted the first part, then you can just click on this link…

A HIDEOUS DAY (Part One)

And, also I have only just uploaded Part two of this episode, so if you have already read Part one, you can find Part Two here…

A HIDEOUS DAY (Part Two)

Sigh!

Now… You are most welcome to stop reading now, and go ahead and get your fix on RAT GiRL, but either way, I’m just going to RANT on about the shit couple of months I’ve had. It will probably bore the heck out of ya’s, so don’t feel obliged to read on.

This is just for the sake of getting it all off my chest, because I am sooooo damn close to losing the plot right now!!

Right… So as you know, our internet connection has been down, as well as our phone line. The thing is, we could still receive incoming calls, but for some strange reason we could not make any outgoing calls and there was no Internet connection what so ever! But, we are still being charged for services that we are not getting!

This whole problem started back in March… I can’t be arsed searching back now, but there was a time earlier where I was without the Internet and phone line and I couldn’t get online to blog! (My readers got worried, because all of a sudden I just disappeared.)

What had happened in that case, was that some kids down the road, got into a nasty little habit of stealing our mail. So there was one phone bill in particular that was overdue, because we had never seen it.

Around that same time, a telemarketer rang up and spoke to Hubby about this ‘so call’ amazing offer on cheap overseas and cell phone calls. (Hubby is a sucker for these things) so without my knowledge, he went ahead and signed over to them for that service only, because he is from NZ and makes a lot of overseas calls.

So, now instead of having a full service with Telstra, we now had split service…

Our Telstra service was now with our Local calls and Internet connection, and our Max Telecom service was with our overseas and mobile calls.

So during this time we were getting separate phone bills, so it became unnoticed that we had not paid our Telstra bill at this time.

So some time in March, all of a sudden our phone line was cut off and I had no idea why…

We were still able to make outgoing overseas and mobile calls, and also receive incoming overseas and mobile calls, but we COULD NOT make outgoing local calls or connect to the Internet, AND we couldn’t even RECEIVE incoming local calls.

So I rang Telstra…

1st Phone call:

*On hold for 10 mins*

Me: *Explaining said problem*

Telstra Assistant #1: “It appears your phone line has been disconnected because you have an outstanding bill.”

Me: “My apologies, we will get on to that straight away.”

So Hubby rushed down to pay the bill that very same day and about 2 days later, there was still no connection.


2nd Phone call:

*On hold for 10 mins*

Me: *Explaining said problem and letting them know that the bill had been paid.*

TA #2: “I have reconnected your service, it will take up to 24hours to be up and running again.”

24 hours later

Still no connection!

3rd Phone call:

*On hold for 10 mins*

Me: *Explaining said problem and letting them know that the bill had been paid AND that it had been 24 hours.*

*On hold for 15mins*

TA#3: “It appears that TA#2 did not reconnect your service properly, they didn’t go through the proper process to do it. I have now done it properly for you, and your phone line and Internet Connection will be back up within the next 24 hours.”


24 Hours later

There is still no connection, and it is now the weekend, and Telstra services are closed until Monday.

Monday Morning…

4th Phone call:

*On hold for 10 mins*

Me: *(Losing Patience) Explaining everything that has happened up until this point.*

*On hold for 30mins*

TA#4: “According to your account you have an outstanding phone bill, and your services have been cut off until it has been paid.”

Me: “WHAT??? I paid that bill last week, I have the receipt right here! *Reads receipt number*”

TA#4: “I’ll need to speak to my team leader, please hold”

*On hold for 20 minutes*

TA#5: “Hi this is TA#5, please explain your problem.”

Me: *(Frustrated that I had to go through this again) Explaining full problem, now including the confusion of the bill still appearing unpaid.*

TA#5: “Okay, it looks like TA#2 did not register that your bill had been paid, let me fix that up for you right now…”

*On hold for a further 10 mins*

TA#5: “Ok, that has all been sorted now, you will be reconnected within 24 hours.”

Me: “Are you sure??? Because that’s what everyone else has been telling me, and it still hasn’t worked.”

TA#5: “I can guarantee that it will work this time, as it could not work before because your phone bill payment had not been registered.”

24 hours later

STILL NOTHING!!!!!!!!

5th Phone call:

*On hold for 20 mins*

Me: *(Extremely agitated) Explaining everything that has happened up until this point, and letting them know that I was not happy about it.*

TA#6: “Excuse me! Don’t bite my head off this isn’t my fault!”

Me: “I beg your pardon? I was not biting your head off! You would be frustrated too if you were in my position, don’t take it so damn personal!”

TA#6: *Hangs up on me*

6th Phone call:

*On hold for 30 mins*

Me: *(Ready to snap) Warning the TA not to take my frustration personal, but that I was really worked up about the rude service that I had been getting. Also Explaining everything that has happened up until this point, including the rude TA before hand.*

TA#7: “Completely understandable, I will look into the problem for you.”

*On hold for 30mins*

TA#7: “There is no record of changes on your account that TA#5 has claimed to have made. I do see a reconnection of service from TA#3 so your phone line should definitely be up and running just fine.”

Me: “Yes, it should be, but it’s not… which is why I have called for the 6th time now!!!”

*On hold for 30mins*

TA#7: “I think I’ve found the problem, there was a fault with the payment of phone bill, which is why the reconnection would not work.”

Me: “But that’s what TA#5 said!!!! And she also claimed to have fixed it, but it is still not working!!!”

TA#7: “Ok, then obviously it is a technical problem, you will need to give them a call.”


7th Phone call (to Technical Services)

*On hold for 40MINS*

Me: *Explaining EVERYTHING (AGAIN)*

*On hold for 20 mins*

TA#8: “It is definitely not a technical issue, there is a problem with your actual account. You will need to call a sales assistant.”

Me: “But I’ve spoken to 6 of them and I was told that I had to call YOU!!!!”

TA#8: “Well they don’t know what they are talking about, only they can fix this problem.”

8th Phone Call

*On hold for 10mins*

Me: *(Mad as hell) Explaining full problem again!*

*On hold for 40 mins*

TA#9: “It looks like a technical issue, I will give you their number.”

Me: “I JUST RANG TECHNICAL AND THEY ASSURED ME THAT IT IS NOT A TECHNICAL ISSUE!!!!!”

TA#9: “You need to calm down lady, you have no right to talk to me like that.”

Me: “I AM FRUSTRATED BECAUSE I HAVE CALLED 8 TIMES NOW AND NO ONE CAN HELP ME…. IT IS NOT PERSONAL, BUT DON’T YOU DARE CALL ME ‘LADY’ AGAIN!!!!!!”

TA#9: “Well, only Technical can help you *Hangs up on me*”

9th Phone Call (to Technical Services again)

*On hold for 40mins*

Me: “(PISSED OFF) APPARENTLY I HAVE A TECHNICAL ISSUE THAT ONLY YOU CAN FIX!!! THE TA’S REFUSE TO HELP ME ANY FURTHER BECAUSE THEY SAY ONLY YOU CAN!!!!!!!!!!”

*On Hold for 20 mins*

TA#10: “It is definitely not a technical issue, only they can help you.”

Me: “OH WHAT A FUCKING SUPRISE!!!!” *Hanging up*

By this time the fucking Telstra service was closed!!! It took me all damn day to get NOTHING sorted! I was such a wreck and wanted to bash my head repeatedly against the wall, so it was probably a good thing that I couldn’t call them for the rest of the day.

The next day…

10th Phone call:

*On hold for 10 mins*

Me: *Explaining every single little problem I had had up until now, while trying to stay as calm as I possibly could.*

TA#11: “Wow! What a drama you’ve been through! Let me get my experienced team leader and we’ll get stuck in to find the problem for you. To save you from waiting on hold again, just leave it to me and I will call you back and keep you informed of what I find.”

Me: “Oh really?... Thank you very much.”

A couple of hours later…

TA#11 *Calls me*

TA#11: “My Team Leader and I have investigated into the problem, and it appears that your overseas and Mobile calls are with a different service, is that correct?”

Me: “Yes, we are with Max Telecom for that service, but our service with Telstra include the Internet connection and local calls which are most important to us.”

TA#11: “I see, what has happened is – Max Telecom overrides your Telstra service, and when your service with Telstra was disconnected from an unpaid bill, the bar of the other service interfered, causing the reconnection to be rejected.

No TA that you have spoken to obviously thought to look in this area for this problem.”

Me: “Finally, someone who sounds like they know what they are talking about.”

TA#11: “It’s going to be very tricky to fix the problem, but now that we know what we are dealing with, we will be sure to get to the bottom of it and have it back up and running for you as soon as we can. Again, I’ll call you.”

Me: “Thank you so much for your help.”

By the end of that day, FINALLY the phone line was back to normal, and the Internet was up and running.

The only weird thing was, that my broadband was now acting as dial up, which meant that I couldn’t be on the phone and the Internet at the same time. But honestly, at the time, I was just happy to have the Internet at all and quite frankly calling Telstra again was the last bloody thing I wanted to do.


So all was fine for a while up until about a month ago, when the same problem happened AGAIN. Only this time it was different - Now we could receive incoming calls from overseas, mobiles AND locals. We could also make outgoing overseas and mobile calls, but we could not make local calls and there was no internet connection!!

But this time, even the phone number to Telstra wouldn’t work!!! We couldn’t even call Telstra to fix the problem! (Where as we could last time.)

And we could not understand why this was happening again, because this time there was no disconnection or outstanding bill to cause it.

So I had to go to my parents when I could just to call the bastards! And after the dramas last time, I was not looking forward to it because I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to fix the problem.

So I kept putting it off and trying to get by without the Internet!

It didn’t take long before I couldn’t handle it any more!

In the meantime, luckily I did receive a few calls from both Telstra and Max Telecom for a ‘courtesy check up’ where they ring to check if you’re happy with the service and try to sell you more services while they are at it.

Telstra was the first to call…

TA#12: “Just calling to see if you’re happy with your Telstra service and if I can interest you in any service upgrades.”

Me: “Oh I’m so glad you called actually, I’d be happy to be able to use the phone at all!!!”

TA#12: “Everything is showing up fine on your account, is there a problem?”

Me: *Explaining the current problem and how I can’t even call Telstra to fix the problem.*

*On hold for 10mins*

TA#12: “OH! It seems that your service has been disconnected, do you have an outstanding bill?”

Me: “No we don’t, but if we did would it not show up?”

TA#12: “Yes, that’s weird, there is no reason why you should have been disconnected, I’m very sorry about that.”

Me: *Explaining the problem I had previously*

TA#12: “There has obviously been some kind of stuff up, let me just fix it and it will be up and running with in the next 24 hours.”

Me: “Hahaha yeah… in other words, call back to complain again in 24 hours when it hasn’t worked!”

24 hours later

NO CHANGE.

Obviously I couldn’t call them back because the phone was not working, but then Hubby received a call from Max Telecom.

MTA#1: “Just calling to see how your service is going.”

Hubby: “Weird actually, ever since we have signed up to your services, our Telstra service has been playing up, and they believe that your service is interfering.”

MTA#1: “I can assure you that this is not the case, Telstra will do anything to bump up their sales it is them who are trying to sabotage our business.”

After Hubby had told me about the call, I was so disgusted with their childish behavior, we’d decided that it would be best if we went back to Telstra for full services, to avoid further confusion with the two services clashing all the time.

Max Telecom were SHIT anyway! The prices were not cheap at all, and with not being able to make local calls, all our calls were to mobiles, which got very expensive quickly.

So I decided to stay the night at my parents house so that I could spend the day using their phone to sort out these problems, and also to do a quick post and arrange all my pregnancy appointments and check ups.

When the time came, I called Max Telecom

Me: “Hi, I’d like to cut off my services with Max Telecom please.”

MTA#2: “Why?”

Me: *Explaining said situation*

MTA#2: “(Indian speaking bad English) Telstra are just jealous that you have our services and not their full attention.”

Me: “Yeah, look, I’m not impressed with Telstra either, but at least they don’t have childish theories about their competition, and why would they do this deliberately, when they are not making money off us for calls that we can not make?”

MTA#2: “To stop our services you need to call Telstra and sign over to them, that will over ride our service, but be careful they will rip you off.”

So next I called Telstra…

11th Phone call

Me: *Explaining current problem and the bad attitude of the MTA’s and asking to sign up to their overseas and mobile services.*

TA#13: “Sounds like the problem may have been with Max Telecom the whole time, All shall be fixed as soon as I sign you over into full Telstra service and we wont have to worry about the clashing between the two services any more.”

Me: “Oh Thank heck!!! At last, all will be fixed.”

*Takes 20 mins to sort through all the details for the full service*

TA#13: “Now because you have signed up to our full service, unfortunately the process can take up until a week.”

Me: “That’s fine with me, as long as it happens, I have waited months for all this to end, I can wait one more week to see the end of it!”

TA#13: “Also I will add $70 credit to your account as a token of our appreciation.”

Me: “COOL!! Thanks!!!”

The next day…

Back at home, I needed to call Muussy so I went to ring her mobile, but I realized that not even our mobile calls and overseas calls work now, because we had disconnected our service with Max Telecom. So now we were unable to use the Internet, and couldn’t make outgoing local, mobile, overseas, or even free phone calls for a week,

I was really anxious about not being able to have any contact what so ever for a week, but I tried to relax knowing that it will only be for one week before everything was fine again.

ONE WEEK LATER…

NO FUCKING CHANGE

AND NO FUCKING PHONE LINE TO CALL THEM!!!

That night I went to my parents to upload the latest RAT GiRL episode, but I had to get Hubby to drive me after work, so Telstra was closed for the night and I couldn’t ring them while I was there.

So I was already really anxious and pissed off before I had arrived at Mum and Dads.

Another drama that I have been going through, is Hubby and I had been fighting a lot, (All is good now) But a while back, around the time when we found out I was pregnant, Hubby went off the rails a bit and got into a habit of smoking himself stupid with marijuana all day. And when he wasn’t smoking up, he was drinking A LOT of alcohol (he is not a drinker at all and all of a sudden he had taken it up.)

He started spending money that we didn’t have on drugs and booze and he had a real bad attitude when he couldn’t ‘score.’ This really stressed me out, because he had suddenly taken up this bad lifestyle now that I was pregnant.

So we got into some pretty heated arguments about me wanting him to quit this and start maturing up because he was going to become a Father.

It got to a point where he said some pretty hurtful things and told me that he doesn’t even want to have this baby.

I got so upset, that I almost lost myself and suddenly had an urge to pick up a knife stab my belly to kill the baby inside of me. Scary I know, but I had just reached that point of tremendous stress that I just couldn’t take it anymore.

But all has been healed with that issue since then, so don’t worry.

But when I was at my parents house (as I was saying) I had taken all of this on board with me. Muussy’s computer was soooooooooooo slow uploading my RAT GiRL comic and (it kept freezing up) Hubby was really impatient and wanting to go home. I was getting really uptight and stressed out, trying to keep my patience with everything and I’d finally finished uploading and opened the page to my main blog to do a quick post to let ya’s know that I had uploaded it, when Hubby walked in and glared at me, as if to say “I am so pissed at you for making me wait!”

His tension really got to me, and then all of a sudden the computer froze completely.

It was in that moment that I just snapped! I started screaming like a maniac and stormed out like a bat out of hell and demanded Hubby to get in the car to drive us home.

I just couldn’t control my raging emotions, I just wanted to go on a murder rampage I had so much anger!

What really sux is that Muussy was leaving the next day to go on a trip around the world, and she will be away for over a month, so I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her properly.


When I slammed the door to the car, Hubby says to me “Your Mum is so angry with you that you didn’t say goodbye” I had completely forgotten that she was leaving the next day, but I was so worked up that I couldn’t calm myself down, but I dragged myself in anyway and gave her the crappiest hug and ‘Have a good trip’ ever, because I was such a mess!

So Muussy, if you’re reading this, I’m really sorry, and I hope you have a safe wonderful holiday! Xx

All the way home I was bawling my eyes out, I felt soooo bad and started stressing out that Muussy’s plane was going to crash now just to teach me a lesson for not saying a proper good bye. (It’s funny the extreme stresses you get when you are pregnant.)

The next day Hubby was working late, and all I wanted to do was go and see her or just call her. But I couldn’t BECAUSE I HAD NO FUCKING PHONE LINE.

So I had been finding it very hard to relax at all… and stressing is not good for the baby!

So I tried to take it easy for the next couple of days until I woke up to the sound of cursing outside my window 2 days ago!

I looked out and saw an old man with a dog yelling and swinging at Hubby on the street.

I came running out screaming because both of them were very worked up and I could see that someone was going to get hurt.

I had to drag Hubby away because I could see it was a matter of time before he would lash out and seriously hurt the old wanker.

I was standing there in hysterics when Hubby ran up to quickly comfort me and tell me to go back inside.

It turns out that as Hubby was getting ready to leave for work, this old guy was walking his dog down the street, but as soon as this guy had seen our cats hanging out in our front garden bed, he had let go off the dog, and encouraged it to chase our cats for a bit of fun.

This was a Staffy Bullterrier mind you, so as soon as that dog would have reached our cats it would have killed them for sure.

Hubby saw this happen, and the cats came flying into the house scared shitless, as the dog even ran up onto our deck and to the front door then tried to come into the house to catch them.

Hubby then kicked the dog to scare it away, which in my opinion, breaks my heart, I’m so sad for the dog that it got kicked, because it was not the dogs fault, it was the old man’s fault for letting his dog off the lead and encouraging it to chase our cats.

But Hubby didn’t have a lot of time to think about it and just needed to scare the dog away. The old man saw this and started going nuts at Hubby.

While he was screaming at Hubby for kicking his dog, Hubby was screaming at him for not having his dog on a lead and for encouraging it to kill our cats.

As Hubby was telling me what had happened, the Old man was walking off in the distance yelling “I’LL KILL ALL YOUR FUCKING CATS, EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!!! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOUR CATS”

In that moment, Hubby told me that he is running late for work and that he had to run, he kisses me on the cheek and tells me not to worry and to go back to bed, then gets in the car and drives off to work.

Meanwhile I’m standing there in shock about what has just happened, I’m totally freaking out that this guy is coming back to kill all my cats as I watch Hubby drive away.

We since got a cat flap which has been fantastic because the cats can go outside to shit, rather than having the house stink with Kitty Litter. I had just recently trained them all to use the cat flap, and I didn’t want to suddenly confuse them by locking them in.

So I just froze on the deck, and sat there for 4 hours completely freaking out and protecting my cats.

Sure enough, I almost had a heart attack when I saw him coming back down the road, swearing in a distance. He saw me and was like “WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT CUNT?” I froze and replied, “He is not here, he has gone to work” as I rushed all the cats inside and locked the door.

I ran to the phone and dialed 000 Emergency….

And what do ya know….

“The number you have called, is not available with this service, please call Telstra for further assistance”

I CAN’T EVEN CALL FUCKING EMERGENCY!!!

So I was completely alone, with no contact, scared shitless of this cat murdering maniac, it was horrible, horrible, horrible!!!

I racked my brains for ages trying to figure out what to do, but when things had settled down, I stopped worrying about the old creep, but started getting really worked up over the fact that I couldn’t even call emergency if I desperately needed to!!!

Finally I had this random idea to try ringing 1800 REVERSE which obviously reverses the charges. It actually worked!!! So I called my Dad.

I asked him to call Telstra for me and have them ring ME to carry on this stupid drama with my phone.

12th Phone Call

Me: *Explaining EVERYTHING including the fact that I couldn’t even call emergency when I needed to.*

*On hold for 20 mins*

TA#14: “I’ve just noticed something, is your phone number *says similar phone number with one wrong digit* ?”

Me: “Ummm no… the last 2 digits are the wrong way around.”

TA#14: “Oh dear, it appears that when TA#13 signed you to a full service, he assigned it to the wrong phone line.”

Me: “Please tell me you are joking!!!!!”

TA#14: “I’m afraid not, I’m going to have to contact TA#13 and have him fix this problem because he has not only not given you the correct service, but he has given someone else the wrong one.”

Me: “So what about my dilemma?”

TA#14: “Well before I can do anything, we have to sort out this problem, all I can do at this stage is send (whoever) an email, and wait for their reply. It is not until I get a reply that I can do anything else. So the next step can take up to 24 hours.”

Me: “Wait so, let me get this straight, it may take up to 24 hours to get a reply for you to then fix me up with the proper service ALL over again because this idiot wrote down the wrong number, and then it will take ANOTHER week to activate?”

TA#14: “I’m sorry but it takes time for these processes.”

Me: “No I’M sorry, but I have been without my proper service for months and I have been stuffed around, told to wait 24hours to a week before I can call again to get the problem sorted AGAIN and get NO WHERE. I am pregnant and under extreme stress at the moment, and if anything bad happens I can’t even call the damn emergency number for help!!! I refuse to wait another week just because some idiot wrote down my NUMBER WRONG!!!! And if ANYTHING happens to my baby, I am holding Telstra responsible, because I couldn’t call anyone for help.

So if you don’t mind, I would appreciate it if you could pull some strings and get my phone back up and running ASAP!!!”

TA#14: “Ok, I will discuss this with someone higher for you, and will call you back.”

Hours Later

She calls back

TA#14: “I have got someone higher on the other line directing me what to do. First I will arrange to get your full service again.”

*Takes 20 mins*

TA#14: “We’ve discovered that you have a bar against your service which is dealt with by credit management. Please hold the line while I try to get through to them.”

*On hold for 45 MINUTES!!!!*

TA#14: “I’m sorry, but after all that waiting, credit management is actually closed for the night. I’m going to have to get you to call them tomorrow, because I am not working tomorrow so I can’t call on your behalf.”

Me: “(trying not to break down) How am I suppose to call them? I can’t make outgoing calls remember.”

TA#14: “So how did you call me?”

Me: “YOU CALLED ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

TA#14: “Oh Right! Sorry about that! I’m really sorry but if you could find some way to call them yourself tomorrow that is the best I can do.”

Me: “Fine give me the number!”

TA#14: “*Reads Number* Now when you connect, ask for ‘credit management’ tell them your situation and that you are pregnant and require emergency assistance. Let them know that there is a bar on your service when there shouldn’t be and have them remove it for you.”

Luckily, the number was a 1800 number, so I was able to call them from home.

Meanwhile that night, that old maniac from down the road, stormed up to our deck and kicked the cat flap in, causing it to snap and fly across the room!!!

The next day I rang (Which was yesterday)

13th Phone call (to Credit Management)

Me: *Explained everything.*

TA#15: “I don’t know why you would call here, your services aren’t even with Telstra!”

Me: “Excuse me? I am with Telstra! I’ve spoken to many TA’s and not one of them have argued that I am not a customer.”

TA#15: “It says here that you are with a different service, you’re not even with Telstra.”

Me: “Well that’s rubbish, I was with a different service for our overseas and mobile calls…”

TA#15: “(Interupts) So what are you saying? First you say you are with Telstra, then you say you’re not, and it says here that you are not so why are you calling?”

Me: “Excuse me! You didn’t let me finish! I was saying that I WAS with Max Telecom, but since signed over to Telstra, but I have ALWAYS had Telstra as my service for Internet and local calls.”

TA#15: “Well I don’t understand at all, we have a bar against your services with us, because you are no longer with us, you’re with a different provider, it says so right here.”

Me: “Right, well I know there is a bar, that’s why I am suppose to call and ask you to remove it.”

TA#15: “No I will not remove it, your service is not with us!”

Me: *(Trying not to lose my cool) Explaining it in full detail.*

TA#15: “Hold.”

This bitch has me on hold for 45 minutes, the hold was dropping in and out and I heard parts of her HAVING A BITCH ABOUT ME! She was rude as hell, and I just kept thinking to myself that when she comes back, I’m going to ask for her name and ID number and make a complaint. But after waiting about 50 mins, she fucking hung up on me!!! And never bothered to call me back.

So I had to go through it all again.

15th Phone call

Me: *(My nerves were shot) Explaining for hopefully the last time.*

TA#16: “Ok, let me confirm your address *reads completely wrong address* is that correct?”

Me: “What? No! That’s not me at all! I am *tells address*.”

TA#16: “Ah ok, there is another (my full name) with the same birth date, maybe TA#15 had you mistaken for someone else.”

Me: “I can’t believe this! Things have just gone from bad to worse.”

TA#16: “You are definitely an existing customer and there is a bar on your service that should not be there.

In fact, it appears that this bar has been on here since March”.

Me: “That can’t be right, there was a stage where I was able to use the phone and Internet since March.”

TA#16: “Yes, it appears that the barring has been on and off since March, it wasn’t taken off properly. This bar should have been removed completely in March.

I’ll remove that for you right now, and everything should go back to normal with in the next 24 hours.”

Me: “I’m sorry, I wish I could be more excited, but I can’t, I can’t help but expect that my phone line is never going to be fixed.”

TA#16: “Well I have a good feeling that it will all work itself out this time, so just relax.”

Moments after getting off the phone, Hubby came home from work.

I broke down to the floor and sobbed uncontrollably because I can’t friggen take it anymore!!!! I don’t think I can ever talk to another Telemarketer ever again!!! I just can’t handle it anymore!!!

It is now the next day and the 24 hours were up hours ago, and what a surprise… still no connection.

Hubby finished early today, and he had decided that enough was enough, and assured me that I didn’t need to worry anymore, because he would deal with it.

16th Phone call

Hubby: (Extremely angry) Explains EVERYTHING and threatens to take action against Telstra about the whole stuff around.*

TA#17: Ok I will look into it and have someone call you back.

10 mins later

TA#18: Hi there, it seems that you are having too many problems with this service, in cases like these we reset your whole phone line and rebuild it again to get rid of any existing problems. It will take about 20 mins.

*On hold for 20 mins*

TA#18: Ok, all is set, your phone line should be working again right now.

SO… over a period of months, after approx 16 Phone calls and speaking to at least 18 different Telstra assistants, waiting on hold for approx 590 mins, and waiting for a promised approx 576 hours for the reconnection, we FINALLY can make outgoing local, overseas and mobile calls…. All from one 20minute process that should have been done in the fucking first place!

But guess what?...

STILL NO FUCKING INTERNET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And of course now it is Friday afternoon, so we have to go another whole weekend without the Internet, before we can call them AGAIN!!!!!!!!!

I know the easy solution seems to be to leave Telstra all together…

But our service with them is on FUCKING CONTRACT!!!

So who knows when we’ll have the Internet again!

(I’m at Trub’s house using her computer BTW! I actually wrote this on a word document earlier today at home, and saved it on a disc to upload it through Trub’s computer!)

Cheers Trub xx

So anyway… how are you all doing?

xx

17 GiGGLeS:

Anonymous said...

Phew! That took me about half an hour to read! lol.

What a shite time you are having! (But I can see it making great Rat Girl!)

Honey, I'm sure your mum understands, and I'll make sure she reads this when she arrives next week.

Anonymous said...

Giggle!!!! Hi... This is going to make one hell of Rat Girl Episode... it will probably be a whole season C;) But you are working your way through it,.. Next time, get hubby involved sooner and don't wait for him to volunteer his help. Unfortunately, people are different on the phone than they are in person; people have learned to respond to the sound of the voice (being all sorts of assertive/ abusive in ways they don't have the balls to when they are dealing with someone face to face), so if a person sound too old or too young they treat them like crap, and trying to fight them only makes it worse... and if your voice is as you say it is... well. C:) People suck!!!

I spent yesterday afternoon sitting on the porch and watching thunderstorms roll over head dropping lighting all over the place. I lurve thunderstorms. C:D

Fat Controller said...

OMFG!!! That is just beyond belief. Nobody should have to go through that shit, it is them that are selling to you FFS!! They owe you a HUGE apology at the very least. THe depressing thing is that it is not certain that any other provider would have been any better. Do they have an independent telecom regulator over there where you can complain over crap service?

It's all too easy to let the shit that happens in your daily life take it's toll on your relationship. You and Hubby really need to find a way to shut out the outside world, even if it is just for a few hours, and just appreciate being together.

Big hugs ((((((((Giggle))))))))

Peach said...

ahhhhhhhhhhh giggles me old love, i am SO SORRY to hear ALL THAT SHIT going on from the phone and the internet to the TAs to the man with the dog and to your hubby and your mum MY GOD!!!! AND while you're pregnant your poor poor poor girl!!!!!!!!!

I had just the same shit in March this year with Orange and BT with EXACTLY the same thing - loads and loads of calls and getting nowhere and being kept on hold and one company blaming the other and yet me paying but getting no service. I eventually dumped them all and went with a third company to teach them a lesson and IF you can be arsed, I would suggest writing a very long and very detailed letter to one of the companies - the one you are with basically - and asking for proper compensation - I got 900 GBP - I had ridiculous things like being told over 10 times I would be reconnected, I took days off work and eventually I ha to cycle to their depot to pick up the hardware and on it went til I dumped them

re hubby - just stress and panic - he'll be a great dad I am sure, the reality is SUCH a shock and we all deal with it differently

and don't worry about the baby, they're resilient little things and he/she knows you love and want him and he's cool... promise!!

Do you know if its a he or a she yet?

Big hugs to you - sooo hard this pregnancy thing innit - it's one thing to eat the right stuff but quite another to feel so stressed and yet not be able to have a drink or a fag - drives me mental for NINE MONTHS agahgahgahghaghahgha

you sound like you're gonna be fine though - although next time you feel like a rant, have a shout for me and blame it on me totally, as I haven't managed to lose it at my ex for a while as i am now TOO angry with him that it's turned into passive aggression and now I jsut say yes and no and smile sweetly and can't even be bothered to talk to him properly about issues and it's just all got way too much for me and I, like you, would probably kill him!!

I too felt like picking up a knife when I first told him and when he first said he didn't want me or the child etc.

He's not come round to trying to work things out yet but luckily i have a job again and jsut got an offer on a new flat, so perhaps I can cope without him!!

If you need a holiday - come to LONDON!!!

And just remember, you're fab and you;re creating a beautiful new life - that makes you AMAZING

DO NOT FORGET IT EVER

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daren said...

I echo everything Peach said. You should write with all the details to their customer services, and if that doesn't work, get the name of their Managing Director and send them a copy. They are all bastards, and they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it.

Lots of love,

Dxxxxx

Anonymous said...

I was thinking about what I wrote, and I want to clarify... I didn't mean that in a give up, be whimpy and hide behind your hubby kind of way. I meant it more as a smack hubby into action and get him working with you when it becomes obvious that you are getting the jerk around. That is what they are for (not to mention that it makes him feel better about himself when he gets to rough someone up for his wife; sense of pride and purpose and all that. We men are like that. C;))

Just think of him as one of Rat Girls side kicks. C;Pffft!!!

Mr Farty said...

Jesus H, Giggle, are you competing in the Olympic Blogathon? That has to be the longest post evah!

I suppose I ought to read it now...

Mr Farty said...

FFS!!!

Have you thought about selling the film rights to Hollywood?

If it wasn't for the fact that they're all bastards, I'd suggest that you change your provider. If they complain you're on contract, point out that they are in breach of contract by not providing what you're paying for. In the UK, we have a thing called the Sale of Goods Act, which basically says if the thing doesn't work as advertised, then it's "Not Fit For Purpose" and you are legally entitled to all of your money back.

As for the Old Git with the dog, get Rat Girl to give him a kick in the bollocks, FFS!

Mortuis said...

I'm not even going to address the crap with the phone company; that's bureucrazy (yes, that's an intentional misspelling), and there's no cure for it.

This is about the old bastid with the dog.

Buy a gun. If he shows up again, blow off his kneecaps.

You may have noted that diplomacy is not my forte....

Laurie said...

Holy crap! That's horrible. I think they ALL need their kneecaps blown off. I hope everything gets better soon.

I loved the new Rat Girl episodes by the way.

trublmaka said...

So great to see you guys lastnight.
You're ALWAYS welcome to use anything of ours!

**hugs**
You look great by the way!!
I forgot to get some piccies to upload for everyone to see! :(
Oh well, hopefully soon!
xoxo

Ron said...

HOLY SHIT, Giggle!!!

I'm reading this getting madder and madder by the minute, feeling your total frustration!

DAMN...I'd be the SAME WAY...I'd be screaming my head off!

(I'm not the most patient person)

Hopefully this shit will be figured out soon!

Anyway, thanks for filling us in on this.

GREAT VENT!

I'm on my way to check out RAT GIRL. Can't wait!

Have good weekend, dear one!

Lady in red said...

my god Giggle thats awful but just hold on now its getting better and hopefully the rest of your pregnancy will be less stressful.

The first six months of my pregnancy with my eldest was one of the most stressfull times of my life. Having given up smoking at the start I was so stressed that I smoked more than I had done in the previous 10 years. But my son is one of the most laid back people you could ever meet. I don't know if that is because of or inspite of the stress I experienced while carrying him. I guess what I am trying to say is don't worry about baby just look after yourself.

Stress like that is not good for you.

Rhea said...

OMG, you have been through HELL. I hope that old man leaves your cats along and that you get all your services straightened out. What a freakin' nightmare.

nitebyrd said...

Sweetie, you need to get away for a few days and just BREATHE! Good Lord, what a time you're having!

Your Mum will understand, give Hubby a good smack to the head if he starts that shit again, blow the old fuck's knees off like Magnus said then crawl into bed with a cup of Milo and sleep!

CrystalChick said...

WOWOWOW, I got so uptight reading this I had to scan down some so I can only imagine what you have been going thru.
All I can say is it does get better. Stress obviously will come in many forms and in all directions, but try to stay calm and when the wittle sweet baby comes so much of the bad will just melt away and you'll be in love! :) Hang in there.

Next time you get internet connections, if it's still going on, stop by my page and enter my blogaversary giveaway.
Hug, M

Utter Basketcase said...

Aunty Vi - Ha! yeah sorry about the serious vent! But at least it was just one long post you had to read of mine! I've got bloody shitloads to catch up on yours!xx



C:) - Heehee yeah I dunno if I'll bother with this for RAT GiRL! It will take up my whole bloody life LOL!

Yeah, unfortunately Hubby's working hours were the same hours as Telstras so he was unable to deal with it! Plus he works at the prison where he is not allowed a phone on him, so he actuallly had to have a day off work to call the bastards! Thank heck he did though!

hahah you're so right about that! Some people take it sooo damn personal ffs!

OOOOO I LOVE THUNDERSTORMS TOO, except I stress for the wildlife
:-( xx




Thinny - I knew you'd back me up! :-) I know, it's shocking isn't it! I actually sent them a 10 page letter of complaint like 3 weeks ago, and what do ya know! NO REPLY!!!

Thank you, Hubby and I are better then ever now thank heck! xx




Peachypoo - hehehee thankyou! YOu would know yourself that being preggo is not the best time to be stressed to the max! *sigh*

Oh ffs! YOu too??? Heck that's ridiculous! Yes I did, I sent a 10 page letter of complaint and haven't heard back from them! Grrrrr! But I am determined to get my money back! Just relaxing for a bit before I have to wait on hold for 10 hours again!

Thankfully all is great with Hubby and I again! And the baby had a check up yesterday and is doing great, so I'm in relax mode now!

HAHAHAHAHAH I know right? I wish we could just pop the babies out for a few hours and have a few drinks and fags and then pop it back in when it's outta our systems!!!

Oh that sux about your ex! We'll have to get together for a bitch session to let it all out! *Hugs*

OH good to hear that other things are going well for you though!!! YAYA!

Thankyou Peachypoo! If I stress anymore, I'll hold up a bank and make my way over to your house! :-P *GiGGLeS* xx




Dazza - agreed, and done! My next step is to take it to the Ombudsman and get me some money back! xx



C:) - HEHEHEHE That's fine! I knew exactly what you meant! I would have got him onto them sooner if I could, but he couldn't get time off work! Speaking of Hubby and RAT GiRL... my next episode is 'Giggle finds love' I am SOOOO excited about it! xx




Mr Farty - LMAO!!!! Hey! I've been without the net for far too long! I can't help it! :-P xx

Hehehehe yep! After I catch up on everything I have been dieing to (now that I have the net) I will be kicking up a fuss and demanding some money back! xx




Magnus - Hahahahaha yes I must admit, that as crap as the drama with Telstra was, it was the man threatoning to kill my cats that upset me the most!xx




Laurie - oooo hello there! :-) Thankyou for your comment! And I'm always glad to meet another fan of Rat GiRL! xx




Trub - Thanks again for the helping hand! It was awesome seeing you guys too!

No way in heck am I having piccys taken of me while pregnant! I feel disgusting and am repulsed by my preggo photos hehehe! xx




Ronnie - Oh Thank you! LOL yeh I bet this made you angry, you and i get frustrated at very similar things! LOVE IT!!!! THANKS RONNIE xx




Lady - awww sorry to hear about your rough pregnacy, but I never get tired of hearing about happy endings! I'm feeling more and more like I'm on the way to one too! xx



Rhea - Luckily that guy hasn't been back! I think he may have been really drunk at the time, and I'm hoping that by the time he sobered up, he had forgotton all about it and got lost finding his way back here! :-P xx




Spiky - hahahaha you know me too well! All of that would make everything okay again! xx



Crystal - oooo I have probably missed your giveaway! Ah well, I'm just happy to be back! xx