EE | beetleypete

I finally felt just about well enough to try to get my phone sorted out. First stop was a shop in Dereham that unlocks phones. I thought to save myself a trip to the outskirts of Norwich by paying a fee to unlock my troublesome phone. The young man assured me that he could unlock my phone, and make it fully functioning again.

But, there was a big BUT.

I would lose everything stored on it, including all my contact phone numbers. Now although I have a book at home with many numbers written down in it, most of those are home numbers, and few people I know use those much anymore. I might have my phone going again, but I would have no idea who was calling, and would have to ask almost 100 people for their phone numbers again, probably by email.

The young man told me that the phone provider’s shop would have software to recover all the details stored on the phone, and I should try there.

So back in the car, and off to the edge of Norwich anyway, to the EE phone shop on a retail park where I got the phone in the first place. There were barriers across the entrance, and I was approached by a young man who asked me what time my appointment was. He said that customers have to have an appointment now, to keep down the numbers in the shop because of the Covid-19 situation. I said I didn’t have an appointment, so he suggested I use my phone to free-call customer services and make one. I told him that if my phone worked to call customer services, I wouldn’t be standing outside his shop. He made me an appointment for tomorrow afternoon, then asked what the problem was. I told him.

“Not sure we can do that” was his reply.

I asked if there was any point in my driving all that way again tomorrow, if he couldn’t do what was needed. He assured me that it would be, as I could ask Cliff, and he was good with phones. Cliff will be working tomorrow, apparently. I replied that I thought they should all be good with phones, as they worked in a phone shop. I think he smiled, but as he was wearing a mask, I couldn’t tell. He took my details, and then added, “I had better take your mobile number, in case we have to contact you”.

After waiting long enough to make sure he wasn’t making an ironic joke, I asked him if he had listened to anything I had been saying. “My phone doesn’t work. That’s why I am here”. Nodding sagely, he tried this, “Perhaps you have another mobile number I can contact you on?” I shook my head, asking how many people he knew had more than one mobile number. “You would be surprised how many people do, sir”.

Tomorrow, I have to drive almost 40 miles round trip in the hope of seeing Cliff, and geting some satisfaction.

Something tells me I am going to be back in the first shop later, getting the phone unlocked, and losing all my contact details.

You couldn’t make it up, you really couldn’t.

Many of you may remember my post ‘City Stress’, about when Julie and I went to Norwich, to change over our home telephone and broadband supplier.

Well, Monday the 16th was the big day, the day we were due to change over. We had the new router, delivered a few days earlier, and eagerly awaited the emails and text messages telling us how to get started. But of course, nothing happened.

We still had a phone line, and a broadband connection, but it was with our previous supplier, British Telecom. We heard nothing from EE (the new supplier) on Monday, and it seemed to be a case of ‘I told you so’, about changing companies, and nothing working as promised.

However, it all got going this morning, (Tuesday) albeit a day late. We were told to connect the new router, and to get ready for our faster fibre broadband connection. This involved me crawling around under the desk in the office, drowning in a sea of wires and cables, as I sought to disconnect everything from British Telecom, and set up the new system. Once it was all done, I switched on the new fancy router, and…nothing! We had a phone line, but no Internet connection.

I called the freephone number for EE, fearing the worst. But I was pleasantly surprised when an efficient young man, from a call centre in Bristol, managed to immediately diagnose our problem. British Telecom had failed to connect our new broadband at the exchange, he told me. Leave it an hour, unplug the router, and restart. I thanked him for his efficiency, but in the back of my mind, I thought ‘Yeah right, like that’s going to happen’.

But I was happy to eat my words, when it happened exactly as he had predicted. We soon had a great connection, faster Wi-Fi, and a good signal for all devices. Once the new passwords had been entered, Julie was able to connect all three tablets, and her smartphone. We have been flying away since, with a great speed broadband, and a reliable Wi-Fi signal too. So far, so good.

Isn’t it just great, when technology actually works?