Day #56 - Be nice to them - they're in charge!!!

Last week the electricity bill arrived. I was expecting that it might have been a bit high owing to the cold spring weather that we had but I wasn't ready for what I saw when I opened the envelope. The bill is for almost €800. I thought that this may be wrong and so I got on the phone to try and determine why the charge was so high. After the usual trawl through menus and dodgy waiting music along with the sincere delivery that they were very busy and SO sorry to be keeping me waiting, I FINALLY got to speak with a real live person. The chap I spoke to was very helpful and politely explained that the reason for the high charge could possibly be due to... With that I felt somewhat reassured but still slightly miffed that I would need to pull almost a grand together just to pay for some electricity. The person on the phone must have detected some sort of exasperation as they quite helpfully gave me the number to the actual supply company itself. I thanked the call centre chap and made a quick cup of tea before I called the supply company.

I often wonder what it is about the sterile detachment of the phone that bring out the power craziness of some folks. The individual that I spoke to on the phone was without question a very "badge happy" lady indeed.  After the usual menus and options I got to speak with a person again. I explained the situation and that it might be a good idea for the supply company to send around a technician to check if the meter was working ok. Clearly I was ignorant of what it is to be speaking to the ultimate gatekeeper - I should have grovelled with thanks and fawning submissiveness. I even had the temerity to be in the middle of saying something when the lady on the phone decided to start speaking. Obviously my inherent bad manners and ignorance made it impossible to understand why it was I that was being admonished for the inappropriate actions of the guy from the billing company. For over five minutes I had to listen to the reasons why the previous chap should have stuck with procedure and never have given me the number of the supply company. Why they should have done this, that and the other thing instead of... It was very tedious. In the end I felt like I was being berated for some stuff that had absolutely nothing to do with me.

Following the quite unpleasant interaction with the lady from the supply company I set about trying to reason the absurdity. I only kept returning to the reasons such a profile of individual seem to inexorably and unaccountably end up in broadly similar positions across the board. I can feel a rather detailed post coming up so I am going to leave it for tonight but would encourage the reader to give this topic a little thought. It is a sort of social barometer of what it is to be stuck in the no mans land of "enhanced" service industry.