Are you kidding me??

I do not believe this. After days and weeks of pain setting up utilities in the US as a non-American you would think that it would be simple for me - a bona fide Brit - to set up/reclaim control of utilities on my own home in my own country wouldn't you? Well, on the whole it was actually pretty straightforward as long as Mum and I both spoke to them and confirmed what was happening. Until we tried to change the phone.... then it got bad. REALLY bad!

Mum got through to someone who wasn't really sure what she was doing, and who (when passed to me) told me I had two options - I could take over the line which would entail being without a phone for 11 working days, or I could disconnect Mum and reconnect me, but this would mean being without a line for 2-3 working days. As we didn't want to be without a phone line for ANY length of time, and hadn't had to go without a phone line when we transferred it from me to Mum 2 years ago I carefully questioned her, then asked to be put through to customer service (which she said was her last resort). After a couple of minutes of listening to the automated voice apologising for keeping me waiting I got a person, who told me that what I wanted to do was perfectly reasonable but not his department. He put me through to someone else. Who put me through to someone else. Who put me through to someone else. After 40 minutes of being passed about from department to department (via Mumbai twice) I finally got someone who gave me a number to call and told me what option to press on the automated menu.

It turned out to be the same number that I had spent 40 minutes dialled into. And the options turned out to be totally different from what I had been told, but I was rolling with the punches by this point. I had difficulty in controlling myself when I finally got through...to the department I had originally spoken to, and to which I had been passed at least twice since then!! The urge to break into hysterical laughter was overwhelming! Fortunately the woman I spoke to this time knew what she was doing and I was able to take over the service - which will take 11 working days - but which does not involve a break in service and certainly not a break of 11 days!!!!

The reason I had to go through all the pain tonight? We found out when trying to sort out our car finance that we don't exist on the system as we're not paying for any utilities. After 2 years out of the country we seem to be suffering from our perennial US problem - we don't have a credit rating!!