One week ago today

First of all excuse the typing here - I'm on a funny little laptop.

One week ago today we had a power cut - little did we know what would lie ahead.......

The power was restored the same day, a few appliances blown up, nothing we can't deal with. The main one for me was the computer. A new one arrives today, I also have back ups. The poor neighbours found their water pump kept going but it wasn't a fault with the pump, the power had hit their copper water pipes and caused leaks, quite a major with plumbers and builders there for a few days fixing.

One week later, I'm shattered, a bit stressed. Our big issue was the phones and internet; they were of for six days, hard going running a business like this! We sub contract to a couple of big companies, ALL our jobs come in via email. We've put in many extra hours having to use other's internet access, print of jobs and get them to our men, also completing jobs on the web by our deadlines all on borrowed computers. Dinner has been around 8.00 at night and just thrown together. I’ve spent hours and hours and hours on the phone (cell) trying to get it all sorted. Sometimes waiting for one and half hours, no choice I had to speak to someone. Friday afternoon we were guaranteed the phone would be on in 20 minutes - it wasn't the tech went home for the day - but NO-ONE told us. I tried again to make contact over the weekend - I hate those voice activated machines!! Someone said the easiest way to get to speak to someone is to just say BLAH! The machine doesn't recognise this and puts you through to a human!! It works!!

Monday still no phones, I went into town to clear the jobs, had 72 emails!! I also had Devin here for the day, Rachel came into work for a few hours and I took Devin into town, we went to the pool, he played around and we had a lot of fun in the water, then I did an aqua class while he sat happily colouring in and eating popcorn. Great stress relief for me. Got home and Rachel said the ph0ne tech had been and said our phones were ''cooked'' (they weren't) but we now had a line! I plugged in a spare phone we had - we did have a line but one full of static and buzzing, the phone calls we received that afternoon people just hung up when they heard the noise. You guessed it I spent the next couple of hours on the phone trying to get help. Internet wouldn't work on that line; our fax still wouldn't go... They got the tech to phone me, we had a bit of a problem with communication, his English wasn't good plus the phone buzzing away. He asked if I could hear him, well shouted really, I said yes but not well, told him we still had no internet or fax. He said he would try something else and then promptly closed the job of as finished!!

All this time they had diverted phone calls to my cell phone but they kept taking the diversion of. People couldn't get hold of us. My sister later told me she had been phoning all weekend, it would ring but not go onto the answer machine. Who knows how many calls we missed.....

The neighbours (with no water) came over for showers, we sat down over a drink, it was after 8.00pm and dinner was just started, I knocked over my wine glass and for a second or two just watched it forming a big puddle on the table..... I felt shattered, I just wanted to go bed.

Tuesday when I phoned I found the job had been closed of which meant we were now back down in the queue for help - I got told they would come out the next day! I was furious - I was also just about in tears. I was determined this was going to be sorted, so back on the phone.... I got told our job had only been logged for the first time the day before??? Then wait for this a message had been left on my cell phone saying it was not a Telec0m issue now but one for our power supplier!???? The power lines were affecting the telephone lines. So I phoned and logged an electrical fault. They phone back and said no it wasn't the power supply - they would not come out. I phoned Peter and told him:
Neither company will help!!! I'm ashamed to say the tears started then, I couldn't take this any longer. I melted.
Peter listened - poor guy didn't really need that when he's out on a job! He is an electrical inspector and was quite sure it was a phone fault rather than the power lines and thought my option was back on the phone to Telec0m and get them out. So I phoned again and was asked if I had phoned the power company!!!! I started to shout yes and they won't help, this is a phone fault. LOL I felt a like a deranged mad woman and really wanted to shout -'you bloody wankers this is our sixth day waiting for help!'' Instead very determined I said I want to speak to a manager, I got told no manager available - well I replied I'm not hanging up this phone until I speak to one. The rep went away - 10 mins later, "sorry Annie" (yep that made me madder he kept calling me Annie!!!) “no manager here, you need to phone the power company’’ Well once again I told him I wasn’t hanging up until I spoke to someone that would HELP! Then I got put through, the woman I spoke to told me
A power pole had fallen over (it hadn’t)
The pole was on a tilt and the lines were interfering with the phone lines (wrong)
She knew the noise on the phone was an electrical one (yet Peter didn’t and he’s an electrician!)
I explained how this was affecting our business and she told me it wouldn’t matter if we earned $2 million a year, if we relied on phones and didn’t have them – we wouldn’t be able to operate!
Thanks I thought.

A couple of phone calls later I then got told no it wasn’t a power pole but it could be burnt cables or…. I wasn’t getting anywhere so Peter suggested going to our MP!! So I did, I had kept alog of the days calls and what was said, they took notes and said they would contact someone and help. I felt a bit happier, left there and drove to Rachel’s to use her computer, pulled up and my cell phone went, it was the MP’s secretary to say there was an Area Manager now on site and they were confident it would be fixed that day. At last some action!!!!

A couple of hours later came home and there were four tech’s vans down our road working on the phone lines – Could have hugged them. Telec0m had sent them up from Wellingt0n. It was fixed that night. Back on the internet yesterday – now I’m just waiting for my new computer and I can get some work done!

We have a Plan B if this ever happens again; we are paying for Rachel to have brdband on her computer.

Made me think as well, what if you were elderly, ill, or had language difficulties or other issues that made communication difficult. What if you lived alone and just wanted the security of a phone. The service was mostly disgusting, frustrating and I’m sure my BP is up because of it! To be fair some of the reps I spoke to were helpful, understanding and sympathetic but no-one could seem to help.

I shouldn't be here, I'm seriously behind, never mind there is some light at the end of the tunnel.