Scribe, ut possis cum voles dicere: dices cum velle debebis (Pl. Ep. 6.29)

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

People Speaking - Customer

Someone called my cellphone from the 04 area code, which is Northern Israel. An elderly-sounding man spoke:

— "Hello! Are you Amir?"

— "Yes."

— "Hello! This is Moshe! Do you know Moshe?"

— "No, i don't think so..."

— "I am Moshe!"

— "I see ..."

— "I am Moshe! I am Moshe, G.'s father."

OK, i now G., whose name will remain private.

— "Oh, hello. It's good to talk to you."

— "How are you?"

— "I'm fine, thanks."

— "Can you help me?"

— "Ehh ... I hope that i can. How can i help you?"

— "The remotes ... they don't work. We need to change them. Can you change them?"

— "What??"

— "The remotes, they don't work."

— "The TV remote controls??"

— "Yes, remotes for TV. They don't work. They told us that we have to change them in the post office, but we have to pay 35 shekels. I want you to change them."

— "But ..."

— "... And also, we weren't at home for two months, when the war was going on, and we didn't watch TV, so we don't want to pay for that time."

— "Eh ... you are talking about cable or satellite TV, right?"

— "What? We need to change the remote controls, they don't work, can you change them?"

— "OK, let me understand - you have a problem with the remote controls for your satellite TV?"

— "What satellite? I don't have satellite, i have YES."

YES is the only satellite TV company in Israel. This conversation shows that they have a very strong brand - people know that they have YES, and some of them don't even realize that it has something to do with satellites and dishes and all that. YES also do business with the company in which i work. I guess that's the reason G. or his father Moshe made some connection between me and the problems with their satellite TV. Or maybe not ...

— "Sorry, Moshe, i think you are confused - you see, i work in a company that is related to the television business, but i can't help you with the problems that you have with YES. You need to talk to YES."

— "But my remotes ... they don't work ... I need to replace them. Can't you replace them?"

It nearly made me cry.

— "No, i don't have anything to do with it. You need to talk to the customer service of the company called YES."

— "But didn't you sell us YES?"

— "No."

— "Didn't you come to our house and make us sign the contract with YES?"

— "No. I didn't do that. I don't work for YES."

— "But you worked for YES once, didn't you?"

— "No, i never worked for YES. Sorry. You'll have to talk to them. I wish i could help you."

I really wish i could help him. Poor guy. But he doesn't give up easily.

— "You see, i need to replace the remotes for my TV, they don't work and they told us to go to the post office to replace them."

— "OK, so you probably should do that or maybe talk to YES one more time if there is some problem. I can't help you."

— "And you don't work for YES?"

— "No."

— "Really? Aren't you Yaniv's brother?"

What??

— "No, i am not Yaniv's brother."

— "And you don't work in YES?"

— "No."

— "Are you sure that you are not Yaniv's brother?"

— "Yes, i am definitely not Yaniv's brother."

— "And can you give me Yaniv's phone number?"

— "No. Sorry. I don't know Yaniv."

— "Oh, i see."

— "Sorry i couldn't help you. Say hello to G. from me."

— "OK. Thank you."

Hadar told me that it was very nice on my behalf to talk to him at all.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Hook

Sorry about the rare and the disappointing updates. I'm off the hook. No more internet connection at home at least for a few more weeks. A change will do me good.

I'm planning a huge pics upload some time soon, and it's not just the wedding.

In the meantime, enjoy some vegetarian spam:

crash-land lady beetle
mole-blindedly Konia-ladik
mis-space frame worker
quasi-living quasi-living
bang beggar monitory letter
gas-lampy quasi-living

Also, since i'm off the hook, i re-discovered books that are printed on paper. Recommendation: Try the short story "Pecheneg" by A. P. Checkhov. It's rather pointless yet very enjoyable.