Wednesday, May 6, 2009

How do yours score?

I’ve had my fair share of dealing with institutions – both public and private – in the last couple of weeks.

It started with the burglary at our place. That was on a Tuesday. Now, I get it that our police force is really busy, and burglaries are a low priority (to them, not to the people whose house got broken in to), but I really would have expected to see someone before Sunday. And maybe even someone who was old enough to shave.

So, once we got the police out of the way, it was time for the insurance claim. Just thinking about it makes you heave a sigh and roll your eyes, doesn’t it?

We sent the claim through on Tuesday and it was approved on Wednesday. That’s right, the next day. We even had a call from the appliance store Wednesday afternoon to say they had our TV model in stock and it was ready to pick up. Impressive work.*

After dealing with all this, it was time to make our home more secure, so we’ve installed a burglar alarm. That part was pretty simple. But to have your alarm monitored, you need a telephone – and we’ve never bothered with a home phone. Fair enough, time to join the grown up world and have the phone put on.

I rang the phone company on Friday and arranged for the installer to come on Tuesday morning – and to ring half an hour in advance so I can meet them there. On Monday afternoon the phone company rang to confirm the installation for the next day. On Monday evening the phone company rang to say my account hadn’t yet been approved and I had to fax them two forms of identification. I did that on Tuesday morning then rang to follow up. They had no record of that request and said my account had been approved on Monday morning and my installation would still happen on Tuesday. No call from the installer on Tuesday – but got home to find a card in the letterbox saying they had been but I wasn’t home. No shit, Sherlock!

Rang them again this morning and now the phone won’t go in till Thursday.

So, my scorecard goes:
NZ Police – 6 out of 10 (because I know they’re doing their best)
NZI Insurance – 10 out of 10
Telstraclear – 2 out of 10 (and I don’t actually have my phone yet, so that could still go down)


*Just a word on this – keep all your receipts and take photos of stuff. Our claim included a receipt for the TV, a photo of the TV, and a photo of the space where the TV used to be. Bombard them with information and they really can’t argue.

3 comments:

Anne said...

Here's a score for the same institution.

Our local hospital - both times
1. 6/10 despite being full to capicity, my man had very caring follow up care after his op.

2. 1/10 - the same hospital decided our son-in-law had ligament damage, didn't xray him and told him to keep mobile. A private xray revealed fractured fibula - in two places!

Lisa-Maladylis said...

Hi, I just wanted to say thanks for the kind comment on my blog. It's nice to know there are caring people out there when your down. Sounds like you've had a ruff week too. Hope it gets better fast. I like your blog, your adventures sound wonderful.

Margaret said...

Glad you had the insurance sorted, I am like you keep receipts for everything...and I mean everything lol. When I lived in the Hutt Valley, we were broken into, and it was on a Tuesday, I remember it well. Hope the phone issues are resolved soon.