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Too Much Free Time

by Mike Masnick

Thu, Aug 19th 2004 11:54am





Wait 28 Years For A Landline... Then Get Turned Down

from the ouch dept

You may recall that last year we had the story of the amazingly patient man in Bangladesh who waited 27 years for a phone line. He had requested it in 1976, at age 33, and the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board claimed they had "lost" the application, until the press picked up on the story in 2003, and they suddenly found (and approved) the request. Well, he's got nothing to complain about, apparently. Also in 1976, over in Romania, another man requested a telephone line. But unlike the situation in Bangladesh, this time it took 28 years to get rejected. That's right. Romtelecom has finally processed his application and said, sorry, they can't provide him with a landline. The man wrote back, noting that plenty had changed in the 28 years since his application: he had gotten married, had two kids, moved into a new home... and even gotten a phone line without having to wait 28 years.

6 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  

    Bueracracy

    identicon
    Oliver Wendell Jones, Aug 19th, 2004 @ 12:21pm

    Wouldn't surprise me if they sent him back a letter that says "We said 'no' and we meant it!" and then send a technician out to disconnect his service...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Shoulder to Shoulder With The Workers

    identicon
    dorpus, Aug 19th, 2004 @ 3:02pm

    I remember in 4th grade back in Japan, we had to paint pictures of hard-working state telephone company employees repairing phone lines, preferably with sweat dripping down their foreheads, to show their dedication and solidarity. (Don't mind if getting a phone line in Japan means waiting 6-24 months, and you have to pay an $800 permanent security deposit.)


    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    LOVE the CSR quote at the end!

    identicon
    Anonymous Cow-orker, Aug 19th, 2004 @ 4:06pm

    No apology here for long hold times! LOL! How do you say, "we don't care. We don't have to. We're the phone company" in Romanian?

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    Re: LOVE the CSR quote at the end!

    identicon
    Florin, Aug 19th, 2004 @ 9:01pm

    "Nu ne pasa. N-avem de ce. Suntem compania de telefonie" :)

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  

    Reminds Me of an Old Joke

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Aug 20th, 2004 @ 8:33am

    During Soviet times there was a joke (I think that Russian comedian did it):

    Guy calls up the phone company and asks for a phone. They tell him it will be in seven years.

    "AM or PM?" He asks.

    "What? What does it matter? It's seven years from now!"

    "Well, I have a dishwasher being delivered at the same time and I want to coordinate the deliveries"

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  

    hahahah

    identicon
    Richard Russell, Aug 20th, 2004 @ 10:33pm

    Hahahahah! That's the best critisim someone can make? Gee, that OS isn't even shipping anymore.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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