THE INTERNET SAGA
We've been having our annual stoush with France Telecom (Orange).
When we first arrived on 29th May I rang the help line (free call) and despite the language got the phone on almost immediately. It may take two to three weeks to get the internet the lady informed me. Oh well, silly me, I should have written two weeks in advance like last year to some obscure address in Lille, Northern France. Only thing was I had lost this address. Just in case I misunderstood her though, I gave the English language hotline a call. Normally I don't bother with this because they usually keep you waiting for ages and only operate 9 - 5. We can put you on right away says the male voice just switch your computer on and I'll tell you what to do. Oops, silly me again, I've taken the ethernet cable back to Australia so cannot connect to the phone line and left it there so I will have to make the annual pilgrimage to Pontivy, 20 mins away and stand in an eternal queue to wait to be served at the Orange shop. I tried to jump the queue and ask if they actually sold cables but got sent back to my place. Eventually I got served and they did have a cable at the back of the shop although it looked like the last of three and was 5 metres long and cost 16 euros.
We get a bill through the post payable in mid Jun for 21 euros. We don't allow automatic bank debits to Orange because one year they kept deducting after we left France as they had us on an annual contract we didn't ask for. So we need to post and posting anything here is a pain as it involves getting dressed for going out, going to the Post Office at the top end of town and waiting in another queue to buy a postage stamp (We don't buy a book of stamps because we post very few letters and by the time we come to use one, probably the following year, the price will have gone up. It would be handy if we did as there is a post box across the road from here). So we procrastinate till the last minute then go up and pay cash at the PO who collect money on behalf of Orange.
A few days later we get a letter in the mail from the PO to come in as Orange would not accept the cash payment. Cathy attends but is told to come back next day as the operative who sent the letter is not there that day - "didn't she see that there was a specific day to attend?!" So next day she attends again and pays by cheque - nobody seems to know why we are having to do this. She then has to pay for a stamp and envelope to put it in!
We now have our second invoice to be paid by 16 July. The invoice shows last months bill as being unpaid. Hopefully we can just survive till the end of the month, when we leave, before being cut off!
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