Couchsurfing

Did you know that there is a large global community of people who travel and use each-other’s couches and accommodation for free? Talk about budget accommodation! This beats it all, theoretically.

 

My only concern is who checks these people up before they are allowed to host strangers, or how do you, as a traveler, know who can be trusted and who cannot?

Obviously, the website (www.couchsurfing.org) specifies that this is no dating website, but how seriously do all users take this? It seems to have worked out well for over 1 million users and adventurers, but I saw no negative statistics. Who keeps track of those?

Ho Sentito gli Angeli in Dolby Surround – Romanian Style (or: Yet Another One of those Things that Can only Happen to Me!)

I was planning to stage a massively funny, witty and spectacular comeback for this blog, after having abandoned it (for lack of time, not inspiration!) for so long. However, what happened to me on a Thursday night in Palermo surpasses any fictional effort I could make. Isn’t always life stranger than fiction?!

I was flying back home on Friday, so two friends took me out on Thursday night. We had a couple of unrepeatable cocktails in a student bar (unrepeatable because we didn’t know what to ask for – there was no menu or price list – and the bartender didn’t know or care what he was pouring into the glasses – apart from the fact that he was missing one eye and would have probably felt more comfortable in a Johnny Depp pirate movie than in the Champagneria of Palermo!). The dubious elixirs did their job, whatever was in them, and we were soon merry and gay (hm… actually, one of the girls was actually called Mary and both were gay), ready to party all night long.

We were searching for a karaoke club on one of the main avenues in Palermo, when I remembered I had bought some underwear that evening, and it struck me how funny it would be to wear it on my head or over my clothes. I equipped the girls and myself with colourful thongs and bras, and we were messing about, taking photos of each-other, when I spotted a huge poster across the street depicting a Catholic nun who was proclaiming she had heard the angels in Dolby surround. We crossed the street and started taking photos of the nun with my newly bought knickers.

As we expected, this turned some heads and prompted some comments from passers-by, some even stopped to take photos themselves. But one particular individual looked at us disapprovingly, walked on, then stopped and turned around to give us a piece of his mind IN ROMANIAN!!!!!

He started swearing at us in Romanian and calling us whores and prostitutes, not expecting for a second that one of us could actually understand and reply in the same language. I politely asked him if, by any chance, he was Romanian (although I already knew even the region where he came from, judging by his strong Moldavian accent). He was taken aback, but only for a few seconds, after which he launched the same verbal attack in broken Italian, obviously thinking all three of us were Romanian and therefore he was safe swearing in Italian. Wrong again! My two friends replied, still in a polite tone, that we were not mocking a nun, but an advertisement for which a model was used to pose in a nun’s clothes, and that it was none of his business anyway.

By now he was somewhat confused, so, to fully understand his situation and to plan his next move, he needed to make sure who was what nationality… obviously. He pointed at one of the girls and asked: ‘are you Italian?’ She answered ‘yes’. He pointed at the other one and asked the same thing. She said ‘yes’. He pointed at me and asked if I was Romanian. I said ‘yes’. So, to be absolutely crystal clear, he pointed at the girls again and asked: ‘so you two are Italian and she (me) is Romanian?’ Again the answer was ‘yes’. He politely told the two girls he had no problem with them in that case, but turned towards me and informed me once again I was ‘a whore’ and that ‘God would help me with his dick’ for the rest of my life as punishment for mocking a nun, and, just to make his point even more clear, he struck me with the rolled-up Giornale delle Pulci he was carrying with him, and walked away, quite content with himself.

I was obviously shocked for the first few moments. I couldn’t believe that on the main street of Palermo this could happen to me, and that the low-life who would do it had to be Romanian!!! What are the chances of that?!

However, I quickly snapped out of shock when I tasted blood in my mouth, from the blow I received. I had one of the girls phone the carabinieri immediately. As we didn’t know the guy’s name and he had wandered away, we gave the police an approximate location and went searching for him. We found the guy strolling happily, gazing in shop-windows, having a relaxing evening on Palermo. So we followed him for about 7-10 minutes until we could flag down the 3 police cars that arrived to deal with the situation.

Did you think he would try to run? Or that he was at least trying to seems like he hadn’t done anything? No! He animatedly explained to the carabinieri that we were whores mocking God and he punished us in order to defend the good name of the Catholic Church. He was taken to the section because he had no ID on him (although there was a slight commotion over both of us being Romanian and the carabinieri just couldn’t understand how it was that we didn’t actually know each-other).

I was determined to press charges against the Neanderthal Moldavian, but when I got to the pronto socorso to obtain an official medical certificate to use against him in the trial and realised I would be there until 6 in the morning waiting my turn to be seen by a doctor, I gave up.

My only hope is that he idiot was overstaying the 90 legal days he is allowed in Italy without a residency permit, and that he was sent home the next day and will never again exit his cave in order to defend the ‘good name’ of anything else than his chicken and geese in front of his den.

And still, the whole country wonders why on Earth do Romanians have such a bad name outside the country’s borders. That’s why! They give themselves the bad name!

And just to make my point, I will delight you with yet another photo of us staining the good name of the Catholic Church and mocking God Himself!

Reply from the UK

Dear D.,
Thank you for your email regarding making a complaint to Orange.
I am extremely sorry to learn that you are unhappy at the level of customer service you have received and wish to make a complaint.
May I apologise for the inconvenience and disappointment caused.
Unfortunately, we are unable to deal with your complaint via email. Whilst we can address and relate to events that may have occurred, we are unable to access vital account systems to resolve or amend accounts for security reasons.
I appreciate your frustration and can assure you that all complaints are dealt with in a professional manner.
I have included the relevant information below to assist you with your complaint and trust this will be of assistance to you.
I can advise that Orange do have an escalation procedure. You are first required to call the Helpdesk and speak with a Customer Services Representative. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of this conversation, you can request to speak to a Team Manager. If again you feel that your issue is not being dealt with as you would expect, you can then request to speak with an Operations Manager.
If a Team Manager or Operations Manager is not available, a call back will be arranged for a convenient time for them to contact you.
If you are still not happy with the resolution offered our Operations Manager will be able to inform you of the next action that can be offered.
To make a complaint, may I please ask you to call our Customer Services on 150 from your Orange phone or 07973 100 150 from any other phone. Our Customer Service Representative is available 08:00-22:00 hours GMT, 7 days a week.
I trust the above information is of assistance and once again apologise that we are unable to assist you further via email.
Kind regards
Suzanne
Orange Online Services

(At which D. said to me: I don't know whether to laugh or cry! I mean, seriously, this has got to be a joke, no? No procedure invented by man could be quite as obtuse and ludicrous as the "instructions" below! Surely! My head hurts now!)

Reply to the Problem Solving Executive

Dear R.,

Thank you for your email, the contents of which I have noted with interest and appreciation. However, they do NOT address the points and my complaints sufficiently.

Having just in the last few minutes sent an email to Georgiana at your Problem Solving Executive Department, I suspect that your reply below is coincidental and simply crossed at the same time as mine.

I copy below the email I have just sent and kindly ask that you study it and respond according to each and every point.

I stress my objection to the having the secondary contract and will NOT settle for anything less than the complete cancellation of it and a full and complete refund of the cost of the telephone. Had this issue been handled correctly and efficiently by your department when I first contacted you with my complaint a month ago, I may have been more willing to negotiate, but given the time it has taken and the frustration and distress that I have had to endure as a result of the poor services provided my Orange I am no longer able to accept anything but complete cooperation with my requests.

I look forward to your reply.

D. R.

Reply from the Problem Solving Executive

Dear Mr. R.,

Please allow me to provide you with an explanation regarding the situation that you have brought to our attention.

First of all, according to our Orange Thank You programme, if you have been with Orange more than one year, you can pay for service plans and Orange options by calling 434 (free of charge). You need to provide your customer number (it can be found on your bill), your password and the number of points you want to use. Please note that the payment should be registered at least 5 days before the issuing date of the bill which you want to pay for.

Due to the fact that we want to simplify this process for you, we paid for your next bill with all the points you have earned since March 2008. Therefore, you will find a discount on your December invoice, in the amount of  34.30 Euro (VAT included). Nonetheless, the invoice issued on November 12^th 2009 needs to be paid for in full, in order for your subscription not to be suspended. Any further discounts will be applied to invoices to be issued only.

Then, in what concerns the fact that you don’t receive your printed format bills in due time for you to make the payment, I suggest that you use our electronic invoice service. The issuing of Orange invoices in electronic format is free of charge and it gives you the possibility to access your monthly bill via www.orange.ro/factura in the first 5 days after the issuing date.

Another matter that you addressed to us refers to the unilateral cancellation of the Service Agreement for the new 0752xxxxxx subscription. According to the article 1.17 of the “General terms and conditions for the use of Orange service plans” that you agreed on, upon signing the contract of your new subscription, “The Service Agreement may be cancelled unilaterally, without intervention by a court of law and without no additional formalities other than those provided below, as follows:

a)At the initiative of the Customer, in the following situations:

[…]

  ii) during the Minimum Service Agreement Period, by means of written notice sent to Orange Romania at least 30 (thirty) calendar days prior to the date when the cancellation is due to take effect and following the payment of a sum of money comprising the Amount of the Service Plan multiplied by the number of months remaining until the expiration of the Minimum Service Agreement Period. “

Taking into account those mentioned above, I regret to inform you that the unilateral cancellation requested by you is possible at the end of the Minimum Service Agreement Period of the 0752xxxxxx subscription (this is on the 10th of November 2011) or before that term with the payment of the “Amount of the Service Plan” multiplied by 23 months.

I may suggest to you, though, the suspension of services for a limited amount of time. This is possible up to 3 months per year and it can be reckoned from the time of the request, but not retroactively.

Hoping that this response will be clarifying any obscure points from your complaint we remain at your service through the dedicated line for Customer Service, 456.

Best Regards,

R. D.

Problem Solving Executive

Orange Complaint

Below is a genuine complaint to Orange Romania. If an answer is ever received by my friend who made the complaint, I will post it here as well. 

Dear Georgiana,

Many thanks for all your professional help and invaluable cooperation in getting this issued resolved for me! For some reason I was under the impression that a “Problem Solving Executive” was somebody that “helped customers resolve problems”! Obviously I was mistaken and in fact your job is clearly to CREATE problems for the customer. In that case you have done an excellent job as this morning my phone was disconnected! Thank you again for all your help!!!!

Despite your advice to write to your department in the event that I wanted an extension of time to pay – this morning my phone has been disconnected!

Despite my ongoing and still unanswered complaint – this morning my phone was disconnected!

Despite my request for an amended bill – no bill has been sent and this morning my phone was disconnected!

Despite my appeal for somebody to contact me and answer my simple questions – I have not been contacted but instead this morning my phone was disconnected!

Despite Orange being a major European company with a reputation for “Excellent Customer Services” and “Satisfaction” – I have been completely overlooked and my “Excellent Customer Service” has resulted in this morning my phone being disconnected!

Despite informing you three days ago that I am traveling abroad in a couple of days and wanted to resolve this issue before I left – no response has been received from you but….this morning my phone was disconnected.

I have repeated 5 times my complaints and questions and instead of receiving a professional, acceptable and comprehensive reply from anyone at Orange this morning my phone was disconnected.

I am well aware after all the years I have been here that Romania’s reputation for appalling customer service and a total absence of interest in being anywhere close to the services offered elsewhere in the civilized world is indeed a reputation correctly conferred, but I never truly believed it could be as bad as the dreadful service I am now receiving from Orange. There is no other word for it but “reprehensible”.

I fail to understand why there is NOBODY at Orange that can answer my simple complaints and questions! They are not difficult and all Orange is doing now is demonstrating a complete inability to perform or function as a 21^st century telecommunications company with international shareholders and responsibilities toward their clients.

However, for the sixth time I will repeat my complaints and questions. Perhaps, just maybe, somebody at Orange will understand them and, if they are not too busy or occupied with “Solving Problems Executively” might actually send me a reply (don’t bother calling me……THIS MORNING MY PHONE WAS DISCONNECTED!!!!!!)

1. The day before I was due to travel to London in mid-November, my Blackberry handset broke
2. I went to Orange in Calea Victoriei and was told the guarantee covers everything….except if the phone breaks!
3. I was told I had no option but to buy a new phone. So I did – a new Blackberry at a cost of Euro 279
4. I was told though that in order to be able to use it and despite having a contract with you already for the last 20 months, I had no choice but to have an additional contract and pay double! I have absolutely no idea how this can possibly be the case but given that I was traveling a few hours later I had no time to object because I urgently needed a telephone!
5. Upon returning to Romania and receiving the next Orange invoice, I wrote to object to the fact that I now have two contracts and two telephone numbers and as a result was paying for an additional service I neither want, need or requested.
6. I disputed the bill and asked that you amend it sufficiently to include the removal of the additional contract charges
7. I requested that you use my accumulated Thank You points to offset the balance of the bill and send me a bill for any outstanding money I owe.
8. At no time have I objected to paying for the charges accrued on my original number
9. To date, I have received nothing but feeble explanations which have included the accusation that it is my fault for having signed the contract!!! In other words and in normal Romanian fashion “the customer is always WRONG”!!
10. To date I have not received an amended bill – indeed I was even told that it’s impossible to issue an amended bill!!!!
11. To date I have received no satisfactory response or reply from Orange whatsoever and earlier this week was told that my case has been referred to a department that deals with complaints, which does rather beg the question of what exactly a “Problem Solving Executive” does if not solve customer’s problems!!??
12. To date I have not been telephoned, received an explanation, been offered an apology nor have received an answer to my basic and original question/complaint that I have been forced to enter into a secondary contract and pay double – instead (and in case you overlooked my comments above) this morning my phone was disconnected!
13. I HAVE however continued to receive SMS messages demanding that I give you money!

It is patently clear that Orange no longer require me as a client. This does not bother me in the slightest and I am happy to declare to the world from this point on that I am indeed NOT an Orange customer. However, I rather suspect that you will still feel entitled to chase me for payment and continue sending me reminders that I have not paid my bill! Please be assured that I have NO INTENTION whatsoever of paying the bill until I receive the amended and correct one. Also be assured that I will have no hesitation at all in referring this whole comedy of errors to the national press and TV networks as well as the European Ombudsman for Telecommunications if I do not receive complete resolution to this by lunchtime today.

In summation, let me highlight as a customer for almost 2 years of a Top 500 European Company exactly what it is I am requesting:

1. Reconnect my telephone immediately
2. Cancel the secondary contract and number
3. Use all my Thank You points to offset the bill for my call charges from my number 0745 xxxxxxx
4. Issue a new bill for the correct amount (i.e. minus the charges for the second contract and number and after the deduction of the Thank You points etc)
5. Reimburse me for the cost of the new phone as a display of your best intentions and regret at the disgraceful service I have received and as a genuine effort to retain me as a valued customer

Once this is done, I will pay the bill when I return from my trip abroad.

Ever the optimist, I look forward to your prompt reply but cant help having this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that my request will again be completely ignored, my complaint will remain unaddressed and my questions unanswered. Before writing this latest email, I conducted a Google search in order to try and find an email address of somebody in a senior position at Orange capable, perhaps, of dealing with my complaints – I was horrified to find page after page of various online forums dedicated entirely to complaints concerning Orange (in all countries!) and the biggest compliant they all had? Inability to get a response from Orange in response to their complaints! Page after page of comments from disappointed and upset customers all frustrated by being unable to get any kind of good service from Orange and unable to even find somebody willing to help. The only time Orange seem to be proactive is when its time to collect money from customers. And that would most certainly appear to be the case here: You are not interested in handling my complaint but ARE interested in extorting money from me.

Best regards,

D. R.

C.C.:      Orange Head Office, France

            Orange Executive Office, UK