Who's playing silly buggers?

Warning: this is a rant. I'll forgive you if you don't read it.

If, however, you live in Portugal, you may find some of the information useful.

As if I didn't have enough to do, it being end-of-year madness at school, I have to deal with cable TV/mobile phone/Internet providers playing silly buggers.

Complaints against companies providing these services are very frequent.  I have complained twice before - once I eventually won, once I eventually gave up.

This week I got a weird message on my mobile phone (not MEO). The message was from MEO, though (MEO is one of the main cable TV, mobile phone and Internet providers).

It thanked me for signing up to one of its services  -  called M4O. That was weird because I hadn't signed up to anything, as it happens.

 But the message went on to say that the "mobiles would be activated in a few days".

So I went on to the client support site (my broadband is MEO) to find how to ask for an explanation.

Couldn't find a way to complain without making a phone call - at my expense - and we all know how long and expensive those calls can be. 

There was a client satisfaction questionnaire, so I tried to use that.

Got a message thanking me for my feedback - very helpful!

The next day I got an automated call from MEO!

"Had my service been successfully activated, press 0 for yes, press 1 for no" (or something like that) - I pressed the number for NO! 

"Would I recommend MEO to other people?" You can guess what I pressed! 

At the third question, I hung up.

Silly buggers weren't going to go away and I would have to deal with them before they turned into expensive silly buggers.

I went back to the client support site and eventually found a contact form where I outlined the problem.

But today I had to drive to one of their shops because I got yet another message from MEO which informed me that the signing up process was complete and the service was activated for the stand minimum period of 24 months!

I showed the nice girl behind the counter the messages and outlined the problem again. 

She agreed it was weird. She checked and said my mobile phone number wasn't on their register associated with any M4O service. 

So why was I receiving the messages? "Probably a wrong number," she said, hoping that I would leave it at that. 

No, I wasn't leaving without the problem being registered officially in writing. If it's not in writing, it doesn't count, as another couple with a complaint were finding out at the counter beside me.

I could feel the people behind me in the line fuming, but my problem got written down officially and I have a copy!

So, what do I find in my email inbox? A swift reply to the contact form I had sent in the day before.

What did it say?

"Please phone 16200 to inform what kind of service you are referring to and who signed up for it so that we can process your complaint!"

All I can say is they can't read/didn't read my text or love playing silly buggers!

No wonder they get so many complaints!