The Days of Our Lives

If you read the last post, you know we had phone issues. Being telecommuicatingly challenged, reinforcements needed to be called in. Ron called the cable company again. They sent out a technician with equitable terms for service. If it were the cable company's problem, no charge. If it were our phone and not within the lines, then it would cost 4,500 Huf. Before leaving CA, I had a private contractor telephone repair man that charged $25/hour to step through the door. That was a bargain compared to the $45/hour the phone company wanted. Hence, 4,500 Huf is Monopoly money in comparison. Oh, right, my salary here is Monopoly money in comparison too. I forget that at times.


It was our phone. Add that to the shopping list. Shop for a phone. According to the box, the phone menu is available in 16 languages. Great! Get it home, open the box. The only instructions are in Hungarian. Apparently, the phone will communicate with you in English, if you know just how to push its buttons (therapist humor). 


After an hour of searching online, the only manual I could find was through a company that sold manual. This manual would be $32.95 plus tax. The phone was only $45. Keep searching. 


I checked Panasonic's website. This model is not a US model, so forget that. Trying the UK list of models, there was nothing there either. Hunt, hunt, hunt and bingo, I found the model number and the manual. Cripes, it is only available in Hungarian. What is this conspiracy? 


After rooting through the Panasonic Global site, peeling off layer after layer of sub-topics like an Internet onion, I found an e-mail address. I shot off an e-mail with a pathetic note to warm the coldest corporate hearts. 


"I have trusted in your products for years, so I invested in one of your phones. However, I was disappointed to find that though the box shows English and the phone can be programmed in sixteen languages, I have no instruction manual to learn how to operate it. Until I get one, all I can appreciate about the phone is the dial tone. Please help me with this matter."


Within minutes, my inbox has a response. 
Thank you for contacting us concerning your recent phone purchase. You can receive a manual in English for $32.95 plus tax. If you would like to proceed, click here. 


Some real Panasonic person heard my pleas, because I did receive an English manual later in the day. The time wasters in life are just incredible and that ain't no April Fools Day joke either.

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The Price of Celebrity Minor

Four o'clock this afternoon, the home phone rings. I am adjusting to the sound now, since it seems to be in use much more these days then ever in the past. When I answer with just a hello, the questions come in rapid fire "Is this Ryan? Is this BudaBaB?" When I confirmed they had indeed reached the right place, my nerve cells rose to the surface faster than a swimmer with a shark in pursuit when I heard "We have been up and down your street, but we cannot find you. I think we have the wrong address. Where are you exactly?" I send a summons to Vesta, the Roman goddess of hearth and home (or Hestia if you prefer the Greek version) for assistance thinking I have guests checking in, but no room for them. In a state of tension, I hesitantly ask if they had a room booked. They did not, they had tried e-mailing numerous times via their iphone, but never received an answer. Perhaps because I never received them. They "just wanted to stop in a say hello". Though I have never been much for drop-in company, I gave directions so they could stop in. We convened at the kitchen table for an hour long confab discussing my chapter of the Eastern European book. What? The EE book, not whole book I slaved on? They did not know that book existed. After I made them give me a blood pledge that they would buy the next edition of the full book, I toured them through the apartment and let them on their way. Life is full of surprises.

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I HATE Bank of America

We received two new ATM cards in the mail from Bank of America. As with credit cards, you have to call the toll free number to confirm your details and get it activated. The toll free number does not work from Europe, so I called the International collect number. It would not go through. I called another International collect number and the same thing. After trying four different numbers provided by the bank's web site, I finally called the AT&T operator. I gave her each number one by one and was told they had all been blocked for collect calls. BUT they all say call collect when outside of the U.S. or Canada. I went to Jajah and called from that to save money since I was now footing the phone bill. After waiting on hold for 15 minutes, I was connected with a live person. My first complaint was the collect calls. She said she would report it to management. It is irritating when they say, "your business is important to us", when you know damn well they don't mean it otherwise they would not keep you on hold for long periods of time, have long voice menus where you can punch numbers for days without finding one for your needs, and then after celebrating your next birthday, you finally get connected to a real person. After my rant, I verified the information and was told that my card was good to go. I asked if this changed anything for my online log on or my PIN. No, sir, nothing has changed. Great, here is my partner, he just received a new card also. Yes, this is Ron, blah, blah, blah, yes, that is correct. Oh, and I don't have a PIN number for the card or rather, I have not used it in so long, I don't remember it. Yes, if you could send me another one that would be great. Thank you, good-bye. That is how we left it.

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