ANGRY OF BARNET!

I'm fed up! unusual? not especially unusual, but I'm totally and utterly exhausted from finding that there are so many ridiculous stumbling blocks preventing me speaking to a human who could give me answers to any one of my administrative or domestic problems... My angst isn't of course only pertinant to me alone. The whole flippin world has wound itself up in 'client confidentiality' so that phone calls to discuss everything from insurance, mobile phone contracts, domestic services, licences, purchases from wherever can only ever be discussed after the Client/Purchaser has revealed themselves in at least several and always tedious ways. Then of course there is every chance that in order to be heard if at all, we have already found ourselves dialling an 0800 or 0845 number which has given us at least 6 different options to choose before finally, if at all putting us in contact with Calcutta or at the very least Glasgow. That always assuming that there aren't, which inevitably there are, long queues, lousy and loud music and the repeated suggestion that your answer may be accessible via the internet on www.?????? Of course I'm not telling anyone anything that they haven't already experienced for themselves but in the course of a few short hours, my patience has been tried to the very extreme limits.
Whilst post cancer my blood pressure has been ideal, however it takes just a few calls to sort a problem to potentially, and almost likely alter the status quo and jeopardise many weeks of mental effort to stay calm and positive.
Situation one was to try to find out if AOL (the internet provider) had actually delivered the ordered Wireless Router to daughters flat? It hadn't arrived and nor had any postal notification that it couldn't be delivered! AOL suggested we speak to the sorting office locally. No telephone numbers available for local sorting office so I suggested that perhaps they would send another router to the family address as there have been other incidencies of missing post from E's address recently. They were quite happy to do this but emphasised that they could only act on her behalf and would need to speak to E themselves who could then give them permission to accept my request in her absence. But she is on a mobile, at uni and unavailable today ...No less than 20 mins of customer service dialogue, "Yes Mrs Winter, we fully understand and on behalf of AOL we take your issue very seriously" -think heavy accent please! As if luck would have it, E called me on my mobile and I placed mobile up, close and face to face with our house phone so that E could giver her full consent for mother to be allowed to give new instruction! Fair enough you may say.....I did however think it a good idea to trot -ok, walk briskly down to the local sorting office, after all they may have the router on their shelves awaiting collection. Of course- silly me....i have no collection card from the postman, no ID for my daughter .....The post woman reluctantly, and not without full vocal groans and grim grimace took a couple of minutes to scan through her book....finally coming upon the said parcel. Indeed it was awaiting collection...Wonderful I thought! But of course I couldn't collect it because I wasn't my daughter...I offered to call E and have her speak to the woman but this wasn't acceptable. I gave her my OWN address and somewhat oddly she agreed the parcel to me....(why would she agree to do that??? without my daughters permission!??? i'm baffled!)....Yes, I gave her my address and when I attempted to spell the name of the Street so that I was giving her clear instructions she aggressively replied
" I CAN SPELL YOU KNOW!"....AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!
still there's at least a fair chance that one or other routers will arrive by the end of this week and hopefully, though somewhat unlikely, we wont need to get through to technical support.......
Raised B.P. of Barnet!!!!!