One of the supposed 'joys' of being retired is that you have lots of time. The reality is that one's days soon fill up with things that you want or need to do.
Today has been a 'need to do' sort of day. Our burglar alarm system was due to have its annual service today. This was booked well over a month ago, and the engineer was supposed to arrive at some point between 8.00am and midday. The arrangement is that once they know what time they will be arriving, they are supposed to telephone ahead.
By 11.50am I had not received a 'phone call, and I therefore contacted the alarm company's service centre and spoke to one of the company's representatives. After explaining the situation it appeared that an annual service for our address was not booked on the computer system, but when I quoted the job reference the representative was able to find the booking. They agreed to contact the engineer and to 'phone me back with an arrival time. That was just before midday ... and thirty minutes later I was still waiting to hear what time the engineer would arrive.
At 12.40pm the alarm company finally telephoned me ... to tell me that the engineer's car had broken down earlier today and that the appointment would have to be rearranged. I was not very happy with this information, especially as I doubt that they would have contacted me otherwise.
So I have 'wasted' half my day waiting for an engineer who was never going to come ... and have to set aside another morning later this month for the rearranged appointment.
Addendum
At 13.55pm the alarm engineer arrived! It appears that there was nothing wrong with his vehicle at all; the problem was that he had been booked in to do too many calls! He apologised for being late as his previous call had taken much longer than expected.
In the end he managed to complete the service (which included installing a new back-up battery and testing all the sensors) in just over fifteen minutes. As to the rearranged appointment ... well that has now been cancelled ... I hope!
Today has been a 'need to do' sort of day. Our burglar alarm system was due to have its annual service today. This was booked well over a month ago, and the engineer was supposed to arrive at some point between 8.00am and midday. The arrangement is that once they know what time they will be arriving, they are supposed to telephone ahead.
By 11.50am I had not received a 'phone call, and I therefore contacted the alarm company's service centre and spoke to one of the company's representatives. After explaining the situation it appeared that an annual service for our address was not booked on the computer system, but when I quoted the job reference the representative was able to find the booking. They agreed to contact the engineer and to 'phone me back with an arrival time. That was just before midday ... and thirty minutes later I was still waiting to hear what time the engineer would arrive.
At 12.40pm the alarm company finally telephoned me ... to tell me that the engineer's car had broken down earlier today and that the appointment would have to be rearranged. I was not very happy with this information, especially as I doubt that they would have contacted me otherwise.
So I have 'wasted' half my day waiting for an engineer who was never going to come ... and have to set aside another morning later this month for the rearranged appointment.
Addendum
At 13.55pm the alarm engineer arrived! It appears that there was nothing wrong with his vehicle at all; the problem was that he had been booked in to do too many calls! He apologised for being late as his previous call had taken much longer than expected.
In the end he managed to complete the service (which included installing a new back-up battery and testing all the sensors) in just over fifteen minutes. As to the rearranged appointment ... well that has now been cancelled ... I hope!
Bob, you indulged yourself on Thursday, what did you expect to happen on Friday? :)
ReplyDeleteBill
Bill,
ReplyDeleteToo true, I am afraid to say! I suppose that my life was due a bit of 're-balancing' ... although the recent addendum to my original blog entry has swung the balance back a bit.
All the best,
Bob
Ahhh, the old 'his car has broken down' routine. We've all heard that one before.
ReplyDeleteStokie Steve,
ReplyDeleteI must admit that I thought that they could have come up with something a bit more original ... but they didn't.
All the best,
Bob
At least they didn't tell you that their dog had eaten the Engineer.
ReplyDeleteRoss Mac,
ReplyDeleteIt might have been marginally more believable if they had!
Interestingly the engineer did say that his PDA was not working, and that he was having to rely on his printed work dockets for his jobs rather than the PDA. The latter apparently tells him the order in which he has to do the jobs he has been given, and that without it his bosses don't actually know where he is and what he is doing.
All the best,
Bob
So they out and out lied to you?
ReplyDeleteYes. Those are the people who I want in charge of my security.
SAROE,
ReplyDeleteAt least is wasn't G4S; they would have employed an ex-offender to check my alarm or lie to me!
AQll the best,
bob