The Cost of a Simple Mistake
I am sitting here thinking how one small mistake can cost so much, two days ago a telephone technician was replacing some wires on a pit section just across the street from my home, my landline/internet went down. I thought, oh well he
needs to fix something. He was there for good half hour and then packed up and away he went, my line was still down but still I thought he has to go back to
exchange to check but no he did not return and my line is down.
Blast I thought, have been here, done that before, twice if fact, when replacing the cover on the hub they accidentally hit a wire and your line goes down. Then the troubles begin, ring report fault on phone and yes it is an overseas call center (cheaper than employing our own) and for me BIG TROUBLE cant understand them, so please speak slowly as I am having trouble with your accent, then condescendingly treated like one was of simple mind! They have check sheet which they run through, all the while I explained it was their error not in my house set up, but no we have to go through this check, then put onto another person, who then tells me no one was at the hub!! Sorry you are where?
Dubai, India, Indonesia? I am sitting watching out my window!!! We will get someone to come tomorrow! Test shows your phone is working!
Yes another technician arrived promptly at 8 am he informed me phone is working! Once again I explain, sorry it is not, this has happened before, so he
checks all my phone points and no it is not working! he then runs another test
and lo and behold there is open line at the hub across the street! Bingo! I must
admit gave him a smug smile, another lot of tests and finally after two hours the
fault is located they had wired blue to white, should have been blue to black!!
Think what this simple error has cost?
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Been there done that lol
Very frustrating… I think many of us have experienced these difficulties.
Been there….far to often. Now having trouble keeping internet connected…but is it the fault of the providers?…not on your nelly. Keep running checks as asked of me til they finally admit there is a mistake at their end. In the meantime the connection returns…someone must have found the right button to push!!
I,v found WiFi to be much more reliable than the hard wire connection Faye…. Dunno if this is normal,or I just been lucky.
I have Wifi…thats why Im really annoyed that those who provide my internet connection just cant seem to get it right. I use my desk top all the time and use Wifi mostly for phone and tablet if i need to and to run my printer. Now they will soon tell me its my router so they can try selling me a new one…lol
Oh…Right…Guess i been lucky then. 🙂
Hello Cap.i had a modem for a few years it was alright at times.i Switched to a WIFI box a year or so ago and everything has been perfect. I have been told that if i switch Browsers to the very latest things on the P C will be even quicker but i am quite happy with the speed i have now
Nothing, if it is like you say cos the tel. company is the owner of the cable which have been laid by the own stuff. All connectings are their business to maintain. Michael
Ah but the point I am making vonMichael, is the time factor, each worker has to be paid, the vehicle that was used, equipment etc., all these costs are then put on that job which is part of running cost for company. Not to mention the inconvenience to the customer.
You are right with your writing but, but,but. The worker isn’t your employee, the car he uses is not your car, the equipment also is not on your paylist.
But in fact, if you want to finance the tel.company than it is ok if you pay what they ask for. Michael.
not my worry true, no cost to me, but just saying this is why so much expense in running a business and musing on the fact that a simple mistake can cost so much!
The Company charges the customers eventually.
Makes my blood pressure rise just reading your blog……..how many hours have I wasted talking to my internet provider and coming a full circle back to square one….are they reading from a standard instruction sheet and ignoring what I am telling them…….one problem doesn’t fit all……..sheesh !! are they robots programmed to answer in an electronic dull monotone voice……..if so please make it one i can understand……
I wonder if he was colour blind and that caused his mistake? or new to the job maybe.
I do know these poor men rush around like their backsides are on fire, so many staff cuts with others expected to cover the extra workloads.
However I am not defending them at all, just looking for a reason. Surely the system cant be that bad….. can it.. ? Ummm
Yes phone lines abroad, very hard to understand them, even if one has brilliant hearing. I do think they try their very best to help someone however do they really know how a system works on the other side of the world. One would like to think someone has trained them well…Again I look for a positive as so many of these help line people abroad are so lucky to have a job, it does help them feed their families. They do try. I know try the caller Lol
Still all this does not help you, what a frustrating situation for you to go through. Now a big mug of tea, or maybe coffee with a dash of something you might like to add on a cold winters day… :>)
Thanks cloudless, couple of points. We had all these call centers in Australia and then to run the business it was cheaper to employ overseas, our workers lost their jobs, we get a sub standard service so business makes more profit. With the expense this one repair would have cost are they really saving money? No cost to me just me musing about the episode. Not winter here, it is summer and we are having a heatwave!
O wow summer….. wish I was there we are about to enter another cold snap here with snow threatened…
Yes I totally understand what you were saying, saving money by outsourcing work to other countries it has not worked here at all. Sadly so many complaints that things had to revert back to help lines in our own country again. Also service industries are and have been failing to meet demand and give good customer care.
We do live in a very fast moving period of history, I try to just sit and let it all go over my head on some days, yet we have to push for what is right..
O do send us some of your lovely sun, it will help to melt the snow.. :>)
I guess I am lucky here in the center of the United States, I haven’t had an internet malfunction in two or three years. I cannot remember the last time I had an internet malfunction, but I also have a smartphone, so it would not be a big enough event to remember for long. My internet service is very reliable.
Stuff like this makes me want to move into the bush without this tech. Im sure they do it deliberately so they earn more money per hour worked.
Stuff like that infuriates me!