I am morose. Why? I'm in one piece, am I not? Well, I'll tell you.

I went to Engström Telecom to retrieve my mobile phone. At first, the guy (actually the same as mentioned in the blog entry previous to this one) couldn't find it. Here's a snippet of conversation between him and another person working there:

Guy: Have you seen [Guy2]? Guy3: No, he's gone home. Guy: I'm trying to find this phone he's repaired. Guy3: Well, call him on his mobile phone. Guy: I think the phone's in the service-room...isn't that room locked? Guy3: Probably!

[a few minutes later]

Guy: Did you hear what he said? Me: Excuse me? Guy: Did you hear what he said, on the phone? Me: Err, no, how could I possibly have been able to? Guy: Well...the phone is not fixed yet. Me: Excuse me? Guy: The guy who fixed it swapped the screen for a new one, and it still beeped, so we can get you a new one on Monday. Me: [after a brief pause] Why didn't you call me? Guy: I don't know why the guy didn't. Me: This...is the second time I've come here for no apparent reason. Guy: He actually did have to fix the phone belonging to the Chairman of the Red Cross today. Me: I honestly cannot tell you how utterly revoltingly bad your service has been in this case. Guy: I understand. We will get you a new one on Monday. Me: I cannot find the words to describe how long since it's been, that I've been treated this way by a company. Your apology seems to consist of your giving service to somebody else despite promising me my phone back today, and not even giving me a call announcing this. Do you realise what you are in fact saying to me? Guy: Well...[looking at a paper containing his abridged version of my error description and my personal details]...you've given us a home phone number, so maybe we just haven't gotten hold of you. Me: As I told you the first time I visited you, that number reaches my office telephone, which is constantly diverted to my mobile phone. If you would have called me, which you obviously have not, I would have answered the call or called you later. Guy: Well...yes. Me: I presume that you on Monday will of course at least send me the new telephone to an address specified by me. Guy: We can do that. Me: Totally free of charge, of course. Guy: [pausing] We can say that. Me: To add to this, I would like you to note this case, in detail, to your superior. This is dreadful. I've wasted far too much time on this case, being handled exceptionally bad by you. Guy: Yes, I agree. Me: I will leave now. Can I expect you to call me, should the telephone not be delivered to me come Tuesday? Guy: Yes, of course. Me: I would prefer it to be off course.

Blundering fools! I left the shop in a quiet rage. Of course the person I spoke to wasn't the only one who'd done extremely wrong. The person(s) who tried to fix it was(were) the one(s) who most disgusted me. Not actually reading a couple of lines in an error report through is not a mishap, but blatant incompetence. And daring to try to push the guilt factor on me, by trying to explain everything away on the Chairman of the Red Cross having his phone fixed, what, as he's expecting calls regarding the Asian storm atrocity: extreme idiocy. I think this Chairman can easily acquire a new mobile phone, should that be of importance. Explain away. What complete stupidity. If he would have acted like a professional, honestly explaining their flaws and embracing the fact that they did wrong on a number of occations to me, I would have had no problem accepting them. I wouldn't, really. But as he squirmed trying helplessly to explain away their situation, I must stomp them. Bad service and a lot of lost money on this one, too bad.

Mind you, he does know where I work. My job acts as a crisis centre of sorts, for the Swedish (indirect and direct) victims of the Asian storms. Should this make him cry at night? No. Argh, this has been a good venting opportunity for me.

How I long for good service.

Post-note: I've had words from a person who claims he was sacked from his job as a service repair guy at Engström Telecom as he did his job too well. According to him, the official reason was that he was working too slow, while NONE of the phones he serviced ever came back for second or later repairs, thus not generating as much money as the service guys whose "repairs" generated later repairs.