Did anybody see me shopping in Portsmouth at the weekend? No, of course not - I have become totally invisible.
People barged past without so much as an "excuse me", shut doors in my face, pushed in front of me in queues and ran over my feet with their pushchairs. At one point I picked a dress off the rack and a woman snatched it from my hand, muttered "Ooh, that's nice," and walked away with it.
This morning I was chatting to a colleague when another colleague stepped between us, turned his back on me and started telling colleague 1 about his weekend.
Like I said, totally invisible. And totally hacked off.
Monday 2 August 2010
Patronising little git
When I turned up for my contact lens check-up the optometrist (who was surely no more than 14 years old) tilted his head to one side, smiled sweetly and asked "And how are we today?"
Well I'm fine thanks, but you appear to be in want of a punch in the face.
Well I'm fine thanks, but you appear to be in want of a punch in the face.
Nothing to rant about? Don't you believe it!
Oh dear, I am a lazy blogger. But just because I haven't ranted here since April, don't imagine that there's been nothing to rant about. It's just that I've been expressing my wrath elsewhere. On the phone and via letters of complaint usually.
The endownment policy saga
In June, I finally managed to prove my identity to Winterthur and extract the money owed to me for the endowment policy. Actually, the "with bonuses" policy paid out exactly the amount I had paid in over the past 25 years. Funny that.
And I got an apology (I think) after one of their customer service reps accused me of dishonesty. (The company couldn't find any of the documents that I referred to, even though I had copies, so I must be lying.)
I think the letter was meant to be an apology, but it was long, rambling and practically incomprehensible. Ah well, at least that saga's all over now.
The mobile phone saga
Then, last month, I encountered the most unpleasant sales tactics from a company purporting to be 3Mobile. I had previously told 3Mobile I did not want any calls from their associated companies. So when "John" called and said he was from 3Mobile and offered me an "upgrade" I stupidly agreed to accept.
However, the phone I received was "reconditioned", broken and had fewer gizmos than my existing phone. And I discovered the new "plan" I had agreed to gave me FEWER minutes and texts than my existing plan.
So I called "John" to cancel the agreement and to arrange to return the phone.
"John" immediately started yelling at me, accusing me of putting his job at risk, of being underhand, and making some really quite personal remarks. I tried to calm him down but he became so aggressive and threatening that I hung up.
It was only when I called 3Mobile's customer service to complain that I discovered he was not a 3Mobile employee, but was from an associate company - FreeMobiles4U.
3Mobile couldn't (or wouldn't?) change my plan back to the original because it had been arranged through FreeMobiles4U and they refused to change it because I had "entered into a contract" on the phone.
However, "Harvey", a lovely 3Mobile customer service chappie, set up a conference call and listened in on the conversation. Eventually, when I explained my rights as a consumer and threatened to use the full force of the law, FreeMobiles4U agreed to cancel the new "contract".
That'll teach me to agree anything over the phone! But I'm disgusted that 3Mobile associate themselves with companies like this, and that they pass on all my details to these crooks.
The endownment policy saga
In June, I finally managed to prove my identity to Winterthur and extract the money owed to me for the endowment policy. Actually, the "with bonuses" policy paid out exactly the amount I had paid in over the past 25 years. Funny that.
And I got an apology (I think) after one of their customer service reps accused me of dishonesty. (The company couldn't find any of the documents that I referred to, even though I had copies, so I must be lying.)
I think the letter was meant to be an apology, but it was long, rambling and practically incomprehensible. Ah well, at least that saga's all over now.
The mobile phone saga
Then, last month, I encountered the most unpleasant sales tactics from a company purporting to be 3Mobile. I had previously told 3Mobile I did not want any calls from their associated companies. So when "John" called and said he was from 3Mobile and offered me an "upgrade" I stupidly agreed to accept.
However, the phone I received was "reconditioned", broken and had fewer gizmos than my existing phone. And I discovered the new "plan" I had agreed to gave me FEWER minutes and texts than my existing plan.
So I called "John" to cancel the agreement and to arrange to return the phone.
"John" immediately started yelling at me, accusing me of putting his job at risk, of being underhand, and making some really quite personal remarks. I tried to calm him down but he became so aggressive and threatening that I hung up.
It was only when I called 3Mobile's customer service to complain that I discovered he was not a 3Mobile employee, but was from an associate company - FreeMobiles4U.
3Mobile couldn't (or wouldn't?) change my plan back to the original because it had been arranged through FreeMobiles4U and they refused to change it because I had "entered into a contract" on the phone.
However, "Harvey", a lovely 3Mobile customer service chappie, set up a conference call and listened in on the conversation. Eventually, when I explained my rights as a consumer and threatened to use the full force of the law, FreeMobiles4U agreed to cancel the new "contract".
That'll teach me to agree anything over the phone! But I'm disgusted that 3Mobile associate themselves with companies like this, and that they pass on all my details to these crooks.
Friday 16 April 2010
Pity the sufferer of inner tourette's
Does anyone else suffer from mental tourette's? You know - every time you see a certain person the voice in your head shouts "tosser" (or, usually, something much ruder).
Mine's getting out of hand. This afternoon it actually drowned out what that person was saying to me. I could see the lips moving, but all I heard was a string of expletives.
Wanker.
Mine's getting out of hand. This afternoon it actually drowned out what that person was saying to me. I could see the lips moving, but all I heard was a string of expletives.
Wanker.
Give me back my identity
My name is Burns - Christine Burns.
That's the name on my birth certificate, my passport, my driving licence, my national insurance card, my bank accounts, my mortgage. It's who I am.
But some organisations want to deny me my identity.
Sorry, that sounds like paranoid rambling or the plot of a second-rate novel. I'll explain. 25 years ago, I got married and my name was automatically changed. Everybody called me Mrs Ryan. Banks, building societies, the DSS, all changed my name on their files. All I had to do was sign my new name on the marriage register.
When our marriage ended after 11 years, I decided to revert to my maiden name. But, whereas becoming part of the goods and chattels of someone else had taken absolutely no effort on my part, getting my own name back was a different story. I had to change my name by deed poll. And I had to send my change of name deed - along with my birth certificate, my marriage certificate and my decree absolute - to every organisation I dealt with.
Most of those organisations managed to change their files eventually. There's the odd annoyance, like the fact that Virgin Media still refuse to change the name on my account even though I've sent them copies of the change of name deed on several occasions. That's fine - when they call trying to sell me a more expensive package I tell them quite truthfully, "There's nobody of that name here".
But one company is causing me serious strife, and costing me money. I have an endowment policy that has now matured. 12 years ago, after several weeks of daily telephone calls, sending several copies of the change of name deed, then finally sending the original deed, I was satisfied that the insurance company had updated their records.
However, Winterthur Life refuse to believe I am who I am. They say they have no record of my change of name. They wouldn't accept a copy of the change of name deed so, because I no longer have the original (I'm pretty sure it's in a file in their office somewhere), I've had to CHANGE MY NAME BY DEED POLL AGAIN!!!
They want the original of my new change of name deed but they're not getting it. I've sent them a certified copy, along with a certified copy of my decree absolute - my solicitor says that should be sufficient.
The policy matured in December. It's now April and I'm still wrangling with them. The whole thing sucks.
That's the name on my birth certificate, my passport, my driving licence, my national insurance card, my bank accounts, my mortgage. It's who I am.
But some organisations want to deny me my identity.
Sorry, that sounds like paranoid rambling or the plot of a second-rate novel. I'll explain. 25 years ago, I got married and my name was automatically changed. Everybody called me Mrs Ryan. Banks, building societies, the DSS, all changed my name on their files. All I had to do was sign my new name on the marriage register.
When our marriage ended after 11 years, I decided to revert to my maiden name. But, whereas becoming part of the goods and chattels of someone else had taken absolutely no effort on my part, getting my own name back was a different story. I had to change my name by deed poll. And I had to send my change of name deed - along with my birth certificate, my marriage certificate and my decree absolute - to every organisation I dealt with.
Most of those organisations managed to change their files eventually. There's the odd annoyance, like the fact that Virgin Media still refuse to change the name on my account even though I've sent them copies of the change of name deed on several occasions. That's fine - when they call trying to sell me a more expensive package I tell them quite truthfully, "There's nobody of that name here".
But one company is causing me serious strife, and costing me money. I have an endowment policy that has now matured. 12 years ago, after several weeks of daily telephone calls, sending several copies of the change of name deed, then finally sending the original deed, I was satisfied that the insurance company had updated their records.
However, Winterthur Life refuse to believe I am who I am. They say they have no record of my change of name. They wouldn't accept a copy of the change of name deed so, because I no longer have the original (I'm pretty sure it's in a file in their office somewhere), I've had to CHANGE MY NAME BY DEED POLL AGAIN!!!
They want the original of my new change of name deed but they're not getting it. I've sent them a certified copy, along with a certified copy of my decree absolute - my solicitor says that should be sufficient.
The policy matured in December. It's now April and I'm still wrangling with them. The whole thing sucks.
Wednesday 10 February 2010
Rock chick live on stage!
First there was the album, now I'm really getting down with the kids. Oh yeah. The Strange Death of Liberal England are playing at the Edge of the Wedge in Southsea on Tuesday, 23rd February. And this crumbly old wannabe is part of the backing band.
Not sure what young people wear to gigs these days, but I'm guessing it'll be warm in there so I probably won't need my cardigan...
Not sure what young people wear to gigs these days, but I'm guessing it'll be warm in there so I probably won't need my cardigan...
Monday 4 January 2010
How cool am I?
I've never been cool. My inner rock chick generally stays hidden from public view, lurking quietly beneath my ordinary, slightly mumsy exterior.
But yesterday I spent the day in a recording studio, recording backing music for an album by indie rock band The Strange Death of Liberal England. Now that's something I never thought I'd be asked to do. Let's face it, the clarinet isn't exactly rock n roll. And the band are less than half my age.
Better than anything, though, is the knowledge that I will now appear on an album by a band that has supported the Manic Street Preachers.
How cool is that?
But yesterday I spent the day in a recording studio, recording backing music for an album by indie rock band The Strange Death of Liberal England. Now that's something I never thought I'd be asked to do. Let's face it, the clarinet isn't exactly rock n roll. And the band are less than half my age.
Better than anything, though, is the knowledge that I will now appear on an album by a band that has supported the Manic Street Preachers.
How cool is that?
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