How Thing Happen in Spain: At least to me:-
1. My laptop battery:
Five months ago, I decided not to pay
Apple in Vigo €150 to change this. Instead, I opted for my
local IT shop, which said it'd be €60-70. Since then,
I've made between 10 and 20 visits to the shop and I still don't have
the battery. Two batteries have been bought and then returned by them
because I 'didn't come in soon enough'. This was because - as I'd
told them in advance - I was out of town for 2 and 3 weeks on each
occasion. Apparently, they didn't take this on board. Or didn't
believe me. I now await the 3rd battery - or possibly the same one -
fully aware that the shop won't deliver on their promise to call me
when it comes in and that I'll have to make several more trips to
check. Not helped by the fact they keep rather idiosyncratic
hours. Leaving notes on the door to tell us when we might next see
them.
2. My mobile phone:
Every Spanish resident an ID card. Foreign
residents no longer have a card but, instead, an A4 certificate which
gives an ID number but not a foto. As a means of (endlessly) proving
your identity, it's less than useless. So, you have to use your
passport or, if you have one, a driving licence. Some of us have not
only a passport and an ID number but also a NIF number (don't ask).
In a country famous for the quantity of paperwork (el papeleo)
and where human error is hardly unknown and computers stupidly
logical, you can imagine the problems than can arise. And that's
before you factor in different surname systems. For example, here's
what happened in the Yoigo shop when I went there - for the 3rd time
- yesterday to terminate my Telefónica (all boo!) contract and to
get a SIM for my new smartphone:-
Here's the 'utility bills' you asked for yesterday when you
rejected the real bills. Though they're not real bills(facturas), of
course; they're bank chits showing payment (justificantes).
That's because we need to see your bank account number.
Well, it would've been useful if you'd said this when I came in 2
days ago.
Anyway, thanks for the chit. Now, is your ID number the same as it
was? Because I've been told your ID card expired in 2011
Yes, the number is the same but your government no longer gives ID
cards to foreigners. Instead it gives us a certificate with the
number on it but no foto.
Do you have it with you?
No. I know it's never accepted as proof of identity. But I have my
passport. And here's the 2 contracts I've had with Movistar, where
you you can see that Telefónica have always used my passport number,
because I didn't have an ID when I first dealt with them in 2000.
Yes, but the problem is Yoigo doesn't accept passport numbers for
contracts, though it does for the prepayment option. It only accepts
ID numbers for contracts. Is your ID number also mentioned in the
Telefónica contract?
No. Do you want to try my NIF number as well?
No, let's start the process with your ID number and see what happens. If you're lucky,
Telefónica will accept our instruction to switch to us on the basis
of your ID number and you'll be able to operate your phone by this
time tomorrow.
Yes, I've always found them to be very cooperative when you're
trying to end a contract with them.I'm not sure they even have my ID
number in their system, so probably won't accept a YOigo instruction
using it.
Well, let's keep our fingers crossed that it's all done by
tomorrow. I'll be here until 12.15 tomorrow.
Thanks. See you tomorrow. And possibly the day after too.
Foreign friends/readers: Am I unlucky or does this sort of thing
happen to you too? As I regularly say, this is a wonderful country in
which to live if you're retired and have a steady income. But I'd
really hate to have the challenge of being self-employed here. Many
Spaniards take this on, of course, and I take my panama hat off to
them. Or I would if I hadn't left it somewhere and if the finder had
rung the number on the inside of it.
P. S.: Telefónica just called me on, first, on my mobile and then on my land line. This caused me to have to run upstairs and then downstairs, on an ankle I twisted 2 days ago. A woman wanted to know (at a phenomenal speed) if I was really leaving them and, if so, why. I let her have it with both barrels about the 15 years of excuses for why I could only have a wi-fi speed of around 0.5megas against up to 20 down in town. And I told her I was so utterly fed up with Telefónica I was ending my internet contract with them as well. And then I put the phone down on the poor woman. What a terrible job, having to deal with the millions of us disaffected with this ex-monopoly supplier! Which now calls itself Movistar. As if this helps.
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