25.25

I finally celebrated my 25th birthday with friends. The big day itself was back in January, and I did celebrate it with family then, but due to all my traveling, I didn’t get around to throwing a party for friends until yesterday. The unofficial theme was 25.25, because I happened to pass that age point last Tuesday.

We didn’t do anything special–just get together at my place, have a bunch of drinks and snacks, and exchange tales on what we’ve all been up to lately. These are all people that I used to see on an almost daily basis (either in high school or at university), but that frequency plummeted when I moved out to Leiden. Having them all drop by yesterday was great. Thanks, y’all!

24

I celebrated my 24th birthday yesterday with a bunch of family and friends, and I had an absolutely wonderful night. The weird thing is, I never meant to throw a big party this year (24 is not that special an age), but it ended up a bigger party than the previous 23 times. Thanks for being there, everyone!

Catering for over 25 people is a tad difficult, even with some people helping out, so I hope no one suffered too much from a lack of service or personal attention.

In addition to simply enjoying the presence of family and friends, I was overwhelmed with gifts: some decorative lamps, four new expansions to the Settlers of Catan board game, a Monty Python DVD box, a Futurama DVD box, a cookbook, some chocolates and sweets, a comic book, a citrus squeezer, six dessert bowls and three plants. Thank you, everyone!

And now for the aftermath… cleaning up! Fortunately, we didn’t create too big a mess.

Out of service, Part III

… And worse…

KPN, the increasingly incompetent company that should provide the phone connection at my new appartment (but so far has only made a huge mess of it), was going to sort it all out yesterday and call me back. Well, guess what…

Yep, that’s right. They didn’t call.

So I called them again this morning, and they had a new story. The engineer that was going to come to my place last Monday (which turned into Tuesday, which turned into yesterday), now suddenly was never meant to come. All that he had to do, he could do remotely. That’s funny, because I have this letter at home saying someone needed to come by and do some stuff on site.

Also, the switch from my old to my new appartment would only be made next Monday, despite KPN previously telling me by phone and by letter that it would be made last Monday.

Unsurprisingly, the guy I talked to today didn’t understand it either. He checked with the engineering department, and the person there found it very odd no one had called me back yesterday. They would look into it and get back to me in about ten minutes…

… and after more than an hour, no one had called. Were they still busy trying to untangle this mess, or had they forgotten about me? Just in case it was the latter, I called KPN again. (One positive thing here is that KPN keeps good records, so I don’t have to explain the situation every time.) The service centre guy checked with the engineering department. They were surprised no one had contacted me, until they realized they were in fact still working on my case. Must be a very difficult one!

All of that took place around 10.15am. The service centre guy assured me the engineering department would call me before noon. Yeah, sure. They’d also call me back earlier today, and yesterday, and an engineer would come on Monday and Tuesday and yesterday. Forgive me for being a bit skeptical by now. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much of a choice.

Fortunately, though, my skepticism this time was unwarranted. At 11.30am I got a call from someone at the engineering department. (Again, someone I hadn’t spoken to before. I must have had most of KPN’s employees by now.) He apologized every other sentence, and used the rest of his words to tell me that some people had screwed up (no kidding!) and that all will be straightened out today. An engineer will come to my place this afternoon and he will call in advance, so I can stay at work until then.

I would be more optimistic if this wasn’t the third time in as many days that KPN told me so.

Out of service, Part II

It gets worse.

Following Monday’s and yesterday’s no-show of a phone company engineer at my new appartment, I was assured yesterday that someone would come by for real today. They would call me in advance so I didn’t have to stay home the entire day.

By 2pm, I hadn’t heard anything, so I decided to check with KPN again. After the usual hassle to get through to the right department (only took ten minutes this time), I was told that an engineer had already come by. Obviously, I was unaware, because they hadn’t called, so I was still at work.

As far as I understood, the engineer was unable to do anything, even if I had been able to let him in. You see, some cables were missing, which were only scheduled to be installed Monday next week. Supposedly, that’s also the day that my phone line would be moved from my old to my new appartment. However, it really isn’t, and I have a letter from KPN confirming it would be moved last Monday.

When I had told all of that to the lady on the phone, she didn’t understand it anymore either. She would get it sorted out, though, and get back to me later today. I’ll await her call with great anticipation.

Out of service

If you liked my story on the hassle I went through to get service for my broken cell phone (see here and here), you will love this one.

Last Saturday, I moved to a new appartment. Obviously my phone and internet connection had to go with me, so I had arranged this with the phone company (called KPN) well in advance. Unfortunately, they screwed up. Big time.

Usually, land lines can be manipulated remotely, so all KPN needs to do is flip a switch to make calls to my number go to my new place instead of the old. In my case, an engineer needed to do some magic in my appartment to make it work. Someone would come by yesterday (Monday) to do just that.

Nobody showed up.

It kind of annoys me when I stay at home the entire day waiting for someone who never comes. (Actually, it doesn’t annoy me. It pisses me off.) KPN was unable to give me a narrower window than “between 8am and 6pm”, so I really couldn’t go anywhere the whole day. At 6.15, it was clear that something had gone wrong. But what? KPN had my cell phone number, and they’d told me they’d pass this on to the engineering department so they could reach me in case of problems. Well, this definitely looked like a problem, so why hadn’t they called?

To make things worse, I still had to go shopping for dinner. It had been dry all day until about 5.30. By now, it was pouring down for real, so I had to bike through all that rain to get something to eat. Thank you, KPN.

I went back to work this morning and called KPN from there. They have this menu to navigate through first, so you end up at the right department. In theory, anyway. In practice, it never seems to work. The guy answering my call had to check with another department, and finally put me through to them directly so they could tell me what had gone wrong. Apparently, there was something missing from the instructions given to the engineer, so he never bothered to come to my appartment. He also never bothered to call me or his boss to get the missing information. He certainly never bothered to tell me he wasn’t coming.

On the bright side, the engineering department (which I was talking to now) made my case a priority one and they would send someone today. Even better, they would call me in advance, so I could stay at work until I actually had to be at home.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Nothing to go wrong now, is there?

Well… there was. And you’ll hardly believe what it was.

By 4.30pm, I had heard nothing. It wasn’t quite 6pm yet, but I had this nagging feeling that I wasn’t going to hear anything in the remaining time. I called KPN again and followed the same path through the menu as this morning. They were busy (network problems in Amsterdam–just my luck!), so it took a full five minutes before someone answered. Of course she couldn’t help me immediately, because she had to check with someone else first. I got put on hold again, this time with some of that dreadful music you always get when being on hold.

I entered halfway into a song I didn’t recognize. Halfway through the next one, “Objection Tango” by Shakira, the KPN lady asked me if I could wait for a while longer. Yeah, sure. It’s not like my problem will be solved by giving up now.

Shakira’s tango made place for “Life” by British pop singer Des’ree, which I also really wasn’t in the mood for. Next was something that sounded like Madonna, followed by Soul Asylum’s “Runaway Train”. I couldn’t help but notice how fitting that song was: KPN’s service desk also just goes on and on and on without anyone able to do something about it.

I was just about to give up when the KPN lady got back to me again to explain that the department she was trying to reach, was apparently very busy. Heh. At least it’s not just the outside people that have to wait. She went on to offer to put me through to them directly, at the head of their queue, so she could go on and help someone else. Twenty minutes had passed since she first answered my call, so that sounded like a smart move, except that she should have made it nineteen minutes ago.

The engineering department had the Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing” on, which I first thought was the Eagles’ “Hotel California”. It could have been, because they also use that a lot in phone queues. Anyway, another five minutes later (that is, thirty minutes since I started dialing), the swinging sultans finally made place for someone from the engineering department. I explained my situation and she said she’d check out what was going on. Thankfully, she didn’t put me on hold with music.

She got back to me some five minutes later and asked me if it was okay if she’d call me back later, because she had to track down the right person first. As both of my ears now hurt from holding the phone, I happily said yes and hoped that she wasn’t just trying to get rid of me.

She wasn’t. Actually, when she called back after half an hour, she was very friendly and very sorry for what had happened. Believe it or not, they had given my case back to the engineer that rejected it yesterday, and they hadn’t fixed the missing information. The engineer did the same he did yesterday: he discarded it without telling anyone. The service desk lady had spoken to him and had told him in very clear words that he shouldn’t have done that the first time, let alone the second time. She’d also called his supervisor to make sure the engineer would know he had messed up real good. As she said to me, he would regret this mistake for a long time to come. I’ll take comfort knowing that.

She couldn’t send another engineer anymore today, and she really sounded like she would have if she could. At least there’s one nice person working at KPN’s service centre. I’m again a priority for tomorrow, and I’ll get a call before an engineer comes my way, so I don’t have to stay home all day.

I just hope they find me a competent engineer this time.

Immobile, Part II

Following Thursday’s events to get my mobile phone fixed, I submitted a request at Siemens’ online customer care service:

When I try to switch on my phone, all that happens is that the screen briefly lights up. I get no text or a welcome screen of any kind. After a second or two, the screen deactivates again and the phone stays dead. When I plug in my AC adapter, I hear a short buzz and nothing else happens.

This morning, I got a response:

We advise you to send in your phone for repairs. Please contact our customer service for further details on this.

Umm… Didn’t I just contact customer service by filling in that online form? No, because apparently the form ended up at the Siemens Helpdesk, which seems to be an entirely different thing. That’s funny, considering the form was on a page titled “Services & Support”.

So, my quest to get my phone repaired is really going well. The Kijkshop sends me to Telfort. Telfort sends me back to the Kijkshop or on to Siemens. Siemens’ online customer service turns out not to be their customer service, but rather their helpdesk, which sends me to their real customer service. Where to next, guys? The liquor store? My neighbour? The man on the moon?

No, thanks.

I just bought a new phone. A Sony Ericsson. At the Telfort shop.

Immobile

My mobile phone is playing dead, which is very inconvenient when I want to call someone, or someone wants to call me. So I head over to the Kijkshop, where I bought the thing a year and a half ago.

Girl behind the counter: “Good evening. Can I help you?”
Me: “I hope so. My cell phone stopped working.”
Girl: “Oh. How long have you had it?”
Me: “A year and a half or so.”
Girl: “Hmm. Than you’re out of the warranty period. Do you still have the receipt?”
Me: “Yup.” I put the receipt on the counter. The girl studies it intently.
Girl: “Yes, the warranty is only for one year. Not that it matters, because I can’t help you anyway. What provider do you have?”
Me: “Telfort.”
Girl: “You’ll have to go to them. That’s a new thing here: all problems with cell phones are handled by the networks.”
Me: “Alright. I’ll be off then.”
Girl: “Bye.”

After a bit of searching, I find the local Telfort shop. (After first passing five shops of other providers, as well as four general phone shops.)

Guy behind the counter: “Good evening.”
Me: “Kind of.” I put my cell phone on the counter. “It stopped working.”
Guy: “In what way?” He picks it up and tries to switch it on.
Me: “In all ways.” The phone illustrates my point by staying silent.
Guy: “Is the battery charged?” I knew he was going to ask that!
Me: “Yep, it is. Besides, if I plug in the adapter, all it does is buzz for a second and turn dead again.”
Guy: “Right. Did you buy it here?”
Me: “No, at the Kijkshop.”
Guy: “Then you should probably go there.” I knew he was going to say that, too!
Me: “I was just there. They told me to come here.”
Guy: “That’s odd. We only handle phones bought here.” He looks over at his partner. “Right?”
Other guy: “Right.”
Me: “Well, can you help me anyway?”
Guy: “You could send it to the manufacturer.” That’s not what I asked, but other than that, he’s absolutely right. “I think Siemens actually gives a two-year warranty on cell phones. Unless it’s the battery, then it’s only half a year.” I’m sure that makes sense… to the people at Siemens.
Me: “Have you encountered this problem before?”
Guy: “Yeah, this happens quite often with older phones.”
Me: “It’s only a year and a half old. And that’s not old.”
Guy: “Well, it does happen quite often to old models.”
Me: “It’s not that old a model.”
Guy: “It does happen quite often, though.”
Me: “So do you know what’s wrong with it?”
Guy: “Could be the battery.”
Me: “I suppose.”
Guy: “Or something else.” No kidding! This guy really is smart!
Me: “In that case, I’ll see about contacting Siemens.”
Guy: “Yes, that might be the best option.”
Me: “Thanks, anyway.”
Guy: “Bye.”

I think I’ll hold off on calling Siemens until I’ve recovered from this.

One to three

Wonderful news: I’ve got a new appartment! I currently live in a rather small, one-room studio, and as of August 15, I’ll have a three-room appartment that is about twice as big overall. It’s been well maintained by the previous occupant, so basically all I have to do is move my stuff. I’m excited!

Income

The Volkskrant is analyzing the changes in income due to the new healthcare system and social security reforms. One of their conclusions is that young, childless people who had a private healthcare insurance last year and were partially compensated by their employer, are off worst. Well, let’s see… Young? Check. Childless? Check. Private insurance last year? Check. Compensation by employer? Check. Uh oh… Doesn’t sound good. And guess what? It isn’t good! From a rough estimate, it looks like my net income this year is 5.5% lower than last year. Thank you very much, Mr. Balkenende!

Plakband

Achterbandje plat vanochtend. Gisteravond heen en weer naar training was er niks aan de hand, vanochtend was-ie dood. Opgepompt en toch maar geprobeerd, maar na een paar honderd meter begon ik de structuur van het wegdek toch wel erg goed te voelen. Fiets bij het kantoor van de Belastingdienst geparkeerd en de rest (ruim de helft) gelopen. Aan het eind van de dag eerst met bus 57 van de universiteit naar het station; daar over op bus 17 naar huis om de kortingsbon van de Gamma op te halen die ik natuurlijk niet bij me had; vervolgens met bus 45 naar de Gamma om een bandenplaksetje te kopen, wat ik natuurlijk nog niet in huis had; en tot slot met bus 45 weer terug naar het station om daarvandaan naar de Belastingdienst te lopen en mijn fiets weer op te halen. (Gemiddeld 3,5 haltes per bus en alles met slechts twee strippen!) Thuis bandje geplakt en nou maar hopen dat hij morgen nog net zo mooi is als zojuist.