I'm Back!

Yes, Finally Writing Again. I wanted to tell you my late summer triumph after five months of pain and anguish. (Is that a cliche? I don't care!)

Here's the story of my attempts to manipulate a bureaucracy.

I needed an appointment with someone who was imbedded in a maze of secretaries and other gatekeepers. I saw this person once, but needed to follow up with them in about three months. I naively thought I'd just be able to call at say 2 1/2 months and schedule an appointment. I couldn't have been more wrong

So I call at the time I'd set with this person but got his secretary. When I told her I needed an appointment she looked me up in the computer, said I'd just been here three months ago and proceeded to almost hang up on me. When I stopped her and repeated my request she overly slowly explained that no one returns earlier than six months. When I asked her to check with my contact to confirm that it was ok, she laughed and ended the call.

Now here's where I made my first mistake. I should have called back and been more forceful. I am too nice. It is true that usually people don't come back till 6 months. I was a special case, and I should have called 5 times a day demanding that she give me an appointment until I was successful. Sad that that would be necessary. I did call my contact directly but he never called back. I later learned he had referred the call to his "people", who dismissed it.

I did persevere in my own way, though. I called back at 6 months and was told I needed to speak to his appointment secretary, not the front desk secretary. The front desk one promised to pass it on to the appointment secretary, who would call me shortly. Right (she snorted derisively).

So of course she didn't call. I still didn't fit into a neat check box on their form so they just ignore me and let me fall through the cracks.

So I called her (the appointment secretary) about two weeks later. Hey, I'm a busy person, I don't have time to sit around and call people all day (though that seems to be what is required). Anyway, I got a hold of her, but she said I needed to talk to the interview people again. She says she'll refer me and they would give me a call. When the devil ice-skates in hell.

Again, I wait. (if you are keeping track it is now almost 4 months since I should have been in to see him). No one calls. They prefer to ignore that which confuses them.

Again I call, this time at nearly 4 1/2 months. I get ahold of the people who are supposed to interview me. The express confusion, saying they got all the information they needed at the first appointment. They have no idea why I was referred to them. And yet they sat on my file. I find out later that they were supposed to interview me again, but that is neither here nor there at this point.

They refer me back to the appointment secretary. I'l give you five guesses on whether or not she called. Oh, right first try! The answer is of course NO. No one calls.

Finally I have had enough. At five months I call the appointment secretary, calmly explain to her answering machine that this has gone on long enough and I would like an appointment. Oh, and I'm also going to report this incident to the complaint department. I shouldn't have to wait 5 months for my appointment.

This finally gets some results. That same day I have my appointment. The appointment secretary calls me and books it with alacrity.

I still report the whole fiasco to the complaint department, as I am completely fed up. They take it all down, and that same day I hear from the uber-boss of the whole department I had been wrangling with for all this time, who listens to my complaint kindly. I have nearly forgiven them when she says "Now if this happens again, you should be more forceful! Stand up for what you know is right!". I couldn't believe it! They still blame it on me, after 5 months! They are a horrible organization and if I didn't really need to speak occasionally with this one man I would be glad to never phone them again. She seems to fail to see that they should have done the right thing at the beginning, then I wouldn't need to call back again and again. Phooey on them!

May you never have a similar experience.

PS I now have his business card and direct line so this shouldn't happen again.