4th July 2001
There are different ways the public services can get at you and encourage mental instability. The one with which I have had most recent trouble is the telephone service.
On a Friday afternoon my phone went out of order, just blank, dead. The other line into the house, my husband's, was in fine working order so I decided it was not the digger which is permanently in our road that had caused the trouble and rather than remonstrating with them got on to repairs, or rapid repairs as they called themselves when I dialled their number.
For a start off when I dialled the number in our telephone book (1999-2000) for repairs they told me the number had been changed. I dialled the changed number and was welcomed to Eircom Customer Services and told I could look at my bill, pay it, see customer services, etc. all on their website. I was then told about a host of other services which included "press 2" for faults and then when I did that, 'press 1'.
This got me a very nice person on Friday who welcomed me to rapid repair services but told me nothing could be done until Monday because the crews did not work at the weekend.
I had a pleasant phoneless weekend but by Monday hoped for a bit of action. Action there was, two nice men came, searched around the house, pulled up wires, etc, and said the fault was not within the house.
Tuesday, two more nice men came and searched around the house, pulled up wires etc. Somehow they hadn't heard about the people the day before and I was summoned home for a consultation about where wires went, as if I'd know! They were gone before I got there but I don't blame anyone for that because foolishly I drove home. The traffic was so bad I would have been faster if I had walked.
In these sort of situations I think it is much wiser not to mention one is a doctor, (although that would have been obvious from the entry in the telephone book), not to mind a senator. When hit by problems in this life it is better to be anonymous. Those in power in the relevant institutions like to help the little person and that is as it should be. Indeed, any time I have had to go into hospital I always book in as my husband's wife and have done extremely well as that person. We all know what happens to medics as patients - if anything can go wrong it will.
Back to the telephone, it is now Wednesday and still no phone. It took three attempts just to get on to rapid repairs this morning. A very nice woman agreed with me that Monday to Wednesday phoneless did not seem like a very rapid response. Yes, she said, she would tell those in authority that I felt they should take "rapid" out of the name but she didn't think they would take such notice. Yes, she said, she would also tell them to get rid of that ridiculous welcome to Eircom speech (by this stage I nearly know it by heart) that induces hypertension and just have a living person answer the phone, but she didn't think they would take much notice of that either. The fault, the nice lady said, is outside the house and an outside team has been alerted, and so on.
Why have the public or as they are now private services raised our expectations of improved service when things seem to be much the same as they were in the bad old days? At least in the bad old days one knew it would take weeks to get the phone repaired. What a foolish woman I am to have thought things had improved but at least I didn't buy Eircom Shares. There appears to be a big fault on the line, should I warn Sir Anthony and Denis O'Brien?
Senator Mary Henry, MD
