Now I know why...

For a long time now hubby & I have been putting off a move to a new telecoms provider knowing that (as everything seems to be these days) it would just be such a RIDICULOUS hassle to change. Well with the impending death of yet ANOTHER Sky box we finally had enough and looked into changing...after all our previous deal was years old and there MUST be something better out there.

Having made the move to from Sky to Virgin, I now know why we didn't bother. It was indeed a terrible hassle, for no real improvement in...well....ANYTHING. I keep hoping that once the teething problems are sorted then everything will be hunky dory, but after the conversation I had this evening with their customer service department, I can't really say I'm left with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

When we got the new telephone account, Virgin applied their answer-phone service to the line - not something we knew about, but no biggie as it should be easy to remove. So I rung their customer service and spoke to some lovely Scottish lady who pomised me it was taken care of but would take a couple of days. 2 weeks later it still isn't cancelled and, because we don't get alerted by a beep (or something) that anyone has left a message, we keep missing messages, which is a total pain with Andy getting calls every day about job interviews and things.  So tonight, I decide to ring them back since 2 weeks is getting a bit silly.

Here is how the conversation went...
Virgin: Hello you're through to Virgin, my name is Laura, how can I help?
Me: Well 2 weeks ago I rang you and asked you to take the answer service off my phone. I was told it would take a couple of days, but it's still there. Could you switch it off please?
Virgin: What's your account number?
Me: I don't know it off the top of my head, but last time I rang you accessed my account via my phone number?
Virgin: What's your number then?  ***think "abrupt" and "terse" here***
Me: 01234 567890
Virgin: What's your password?
Me: oh heck I don't remember giving you one. Erm......apple? ***I have no passwords like that really, incase you're wondering)
Virgin: No ***abrupt...again***
Me: ermmmm.....orange?
Virgin: No
Me: ***wondering just how long we're going to go on like this*** I can't remember, last time I rang I was given a prompt to remember it. There must be some other security questions you can ask?
Virgin: No
Me: No, really? No promts, but last time ***interrupted***
Virgin: I can't give you a prompt ***obviously getting VERY annoyed now, but seriously what are you supposed to do if you can't remember your password?***
Me: Oh...well last time when I rang the person seemed a lot more helpful ***said in a nice, calm voice, but go the point across I think ***
Virgin: CLUNK!

That was the sound of the phone being put down.

Really? I mean, was there any need for that? I wasn't even mad, crazy or angry...just....normal. So Laura McOldroyd from Virgin customer services (or whatever you said your name was)...you SUCK!

I promptly rang back on a different number, put in an official complaint and tried AGAIN to get the service removed. Hopefully all will be sorted this time because I obviously don't want to ring back! The guy was really helpful this time though and understood that I felt upset and that I shouldn't even have been having to ring back anyway.  During his conversation he told me that our account hadn't even been activated and that we shouldn't even have been able to get TV, internet or phone! Seriously.....you kidding me? You want to give me any more problems because it's NOT like I'm regretting my decision already or anything....

Anyway, incase you missed it the first time, Laura from Virgin customer services....YOU SUCK, YOU SUCK, YOU SUCK!

Breathe.....

Dear...

Time for another "Dear..." - the slot where I get things off my chest...good and bad :)

Dear 6 Sigma training...
I am sooooo glad to be done with your training. You know how I hate classrooms, and you know I was a grouchy little madam while I was training too, so no doubt you're glad to see the back of me too.
From your ex-student

Dear my blog followers...
You keep me sane - thank you for your interaction and support...with all my blogs.
Big hugs and kisses from little old me

Dear Gavin & Stacey...
You know you were my favourite TV show, why did you have to end? You know there is little else worth watching on TV.
From "Abandoned" of Yorkshire

Dear Lindsey,
I know I suck at being a sister sometimes, but I love you to bits and I hope you had a wonderful time in Atlanta & Washington. Have a safe trip home today!
Hugs, your big little sis

Dear Andy,
I'm bored, why do you need to sleep in so late on a weekend?
From your loving wife

Dear new manager at work,
I don't know who you are yet but I have a feeling I'll find out tomorrow. You'd better be kind and not start ruling me with an iron fist. I'm a hard worker and you won't need to check up on me all the time - if I have a problem, you'll be the first to know.
From your hard working minion.

Wordle

Has anyone checked out Wordle yet? It's a fun site which lets you paste in your blog URL, which it then analyses and produces a picture of all of the words that have been used regularly on your blog. Pretty cool...

This useless blog snippet was brought to you by me...you can thank me later :)

Dear...

I have seen something carried out on a few blogs now - some call it "dear so and so" some people have a "post it note Tuesday" or whatever...but basically it amounts to the same thing...getting things off your chest. I've decided that once a week, I'm going to do this too. It will be good to get things off my chest...and who knows you may even relate to it or be able to help :)

Dear Google word verification,
I hate you...you pop up too late (usually when I've just clicked to close the screen)...your characters are usually illegible...and you are every dyslexics worst nightmare I'm sure. Nuff said...
From Lusoie Lsioue Louise

Dear whatever political party wins this week's general election,
You'd better come up with some policies which actually HELP me this time instead of giving my money away to everyone else. I am fed up of paying my taxes so that people getting my money can save money every week towards THEIR family holiday...that I can't AFFORD to go on!
From a disgruntled and cynical voter

Dear God,
I'll be honest with you, I am struggling to understand why, after 13 months you are still putting my hubby through the unemployment thing. How you can sit on your cloud up there and watch him crumble each time yet more bad news comes in is beyond me. You bet I'm struggling to understand. You bet I feel angry.
From Disappointed of Yorkshire

Dear Job Centre Plus,
Why do you need to treat my hard working husband like he's the scum of the earth? Why do you not even know your own policies and don't stick to your word. Your inconsistencies and pure ineptness has cost my husband time, money and access to training...through no fault of his own. And why do you keep wanting to meet with him outside of appointment times, forcing him to pay MORE out of pocket expenses that we can little afford.
From Penniless of Yorkshire

Dear Security Man At Work,
I'm just wondering, do you deliberately go out of your way to be so unkind and unhelpful. Being told "same time as every day" when I ask you what time the staff car park is locked up is NOT helpful to me. If I knew what time you locked up at night I'd hardly be asking you...duuuurrrr.
From her in the Materials Lab

Well, I do feel a little better for that...I've obviously toned them down a bit LOL.

Woo Hoo!

Before I go onto the woo hoo...I wondered if I should be changing the name of this blog to something more along the lines of weightloss, since this seems to have turned into my weight loss blog LOL. Ok, I'm only half serious...when anything majorly dramatic is going on in my life, I'll update this blog with a less weight loss oriented post :)

Well it's been 1 month since I started this weight loss journey...again...*sigh*, but it's not been as bad as I thought it would be. I must admit I'm still struggling for energy really badly, such that when I get home from the office I'm just too tired to stand there cooking a meal. Last week I really did struggle with the energy thing so didn't do quite as well as I could have, but I scraped a weight loss, so obviously I hadn't gone nuts or anything. This week has been much the same, so the weight loss probably won't be anything spectacular, but I'm just aiming for ANY loss EVERY week because I think losing consistently is more important that actual weight lost each week...if you get my drift.

So here's a quick summary of how things are looking after 1 month:
-weight...minus 9 pounds
-measurements...minus 2 inches off waist

Generally speaking, I'm finding that I can bend easier and I'm also much more coordinated too (kind of odd, but hey I'll roll with it...).