What I Failed To Mention About Moving

Utilities suck. Electricity, in particular, sucks. SIX DAYS we went without power. It was horrific, no hot food, showers under torch-light, endless amounts of boardgames to pass the time (even Chess, yep, that's what it came to in the end), charging our phones in the car, and the overwhelming frustration (that was often only projected in either tears, yelling, or kicking something) felt after every phone call to our retailer and/or supplier when they told us that something else had gone wrong. 

A Timeline Of Events... 

FRIDAY: Power was originally organised to be switched on today. One day prior to our big move. 

SATURDAY: Moved in. No power. Supplier tells me our retailer didn't notify them about switching us on. At this point our retailer is closed, so we have no choice but to wait until Monday. 

SUNDAY: We wait. At this point we weren't fussed as we were confident we'd be switched on tomorrow plus we had heaps of unpacking to do anyway. 

MONDAY: I am told by our retailer that someone will be here today to switch us on. By about 6pm I am worried so I call the supplier to check on the order and again, like Friday, they have no idea who I am. 

TUESDAY: Fed up with our original retailer. Call another retailer and ask them to do the job today. The agree and say we'll be switched on my lunch time. 2pm comes and I call the supplier. They tell me that the job from our first retailer (the one we had since decided to scrap) had been "found" as it was apparently lost somewhere, and that is going ahead, and the job we had arranged with the other supplier had been cancelled because you simply can't have two orders for one premises. So we decide to continue with the original retailer because at least we know now someone is coming to switch us on. At 10:30pm I ring the supplier to get an update (by this point I'm ringing every half hour) and they say a technician came out, rang the intercom, no answer and so he left. UM HELLO THE INTERCOM IS RUN BY ELECTRICITY SO OF COURSE THERE WAS NO ANSWER YOU MORON. Yep by this point came the extreme frustration projected in tears. I think I even sobbed in my sleep that night. 

WEDNESDAY: We can't take dis shit no more. I ring the original retailer and tell them to cancel the order with the supplier. Ring the other retailer and have them arrange us to be connected again today. Am told it's all good and it's going to happen. I ring the supplier a few hours later and am told the retailer incorrectly filled out the supply order and I have to get them to change it! This happens three times!!! I am crying again. Now the ombudsman is involved. Now people are starting to care because they're calling me and telling me that someone is coming, it's going to be switched on, that they're actually sorry. At 7pm we are switched on. The lights work, we can finally eat a warm meal. All past frustrations are forgotten. 

THURSDAY: Wake up, electricity is still working and we are counting our blessings. AND THEN AT 2PM WE ARE SWITCHED OFF AND I FIND OUT THAT OUR RETAILER HAD ORGANISED THIS FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON. I ring, fuelled with anger and exhaustion from the previous days, and by this point everyone I speak to from both the retailer's office and the supplier's office, all know who I am by my first name. We are switched on within three hours after this, and no one can tell me exactly why we were switched off because the retailer maintains that they didn't send anything to the supplier to state they wanted us switched off. The supplier maintains they did. The ombudsman maintains that the supplier doesn't do anything that a retailer doesn't tell them to do

And that is the last of it (for now at least). I am expecting a call from the Ombudsman to continue the complaint and intend to receive some form of compensation from either our retailer or supplier (or perhaps even both) because we deserve it. The main thing I have learnt from this ordeal: Electricity isn't a luxury but a necessity, and far out, if you speak with confidence, and have a team of people on your side, not even the prick of a guy on the other end of the phone will mess with you.