Featured Post

Grief and fluff: Tiger @OmnibusTheatre

Image
Death is something we all will face. After all, nobody gets out of here alive. But how do you get past it when grief is all you can feel? And this is the premise of Tiger, currently playing at Omnibus Theatre . It's a fascinating exploration of the stages of grief. And with a terrific cast to take you on this journey, it's an endearing and sweet story that has you engaged from the start, wondering what will happen next.  We are introduced to Alice (Poppy Allen-Quarmby) as she gives a stand-up routine. It's not particularly funny and starts to veer into the topic of dying. Something isn't right. She used to be good at this but can't move forward. Soon, she is back in her London apartment with her partner Oli (Luke Nunn), discussing that they need to get a lodger to make ends meet.  Oli is a doctor working night shifts at the local NHS hospital. Alice is not ready to face a return to stand up or anything. So when the first potential lodger arrives (Meg Lewis), looking
Some thoughts on Wanadoo as a broadband provider that I thought I would jot down and write to them about today after speaking to their tech support people (on the telephone no less).

A Letter to Wanadoo

As a new customer I would like to draw the attention of the Board that to the high number of failures provided by your company. I am sure I am not alone in this. I signed up with Wanadoo on 20 January 2006 for a wireless and talk package because it was competitively priced (not cheaper than others but competitive) and provided an easy means to register (online). Unfortunately, this was the only positive experience I have had with your company.

Wanadoo’s failures include:
  1. Failure to provide a basic broadband internet service. A call to a consultant today, 24 February, suggested that this is because your service is trying to connect a faster speed to what is possible on the telephone line. Meanwhile I will be a month without an internet service while you have been charging me for a service that I cannot access.
  2. Inconsistent advice provided by technical support staff. Call centre staff have been unwilling to accept there was a fault on the line and the first few calls I had to redo the same setup procedures as they would not accept that there was a fault.
  3. Misleading information provided by support staff. I phoned the technical call centre on 15 February and was informed that there was a fault on the line but that BT would take five working days to correct this. Calling back on 22 February, I was informed that I needed to call back Friday (that is, today) with no explanation provided as to why this was necessary. Now having very little trust in the advice provided I called back on 23 February and was told that if I rang back today then I should have a resolution of the matter. Today after ringing back I have been informed there will be another two working days before the matter is resolved. It is not clear if in my case a fault has been identified and that it is being addressed. Call centre consultants have said it is “stuck in the system”, it “was to be sent to BT but was stuck” or “it has been sent but has been stuck”. What they are really saying is your underlying company infrastructure cannot support your customers and is a failure.
  4. Failure to provide an email facility for reporting faults or correspondence. For an internet company, I find it unbelievable the only mechanism to contact Wanadoo is via the telephone. Furthermore, upon joining I was promised as per your own service standards to receive email confirmation that I was connected. This has not been forthcoming. I have had to ring up every time at a cost to myself in time and call costs. I have been promised call backs and these have never happened. I have had to put this letter in writing, as you do not have a published email address for handling complaints or enquiries.

And I thought Telstra was bad. I have a hunch however that I am not the only person out there dealing with their incompetence... Oh and I wish they would stick their country twang theme song in a place where the sun does not shine!

Popular posts from this blog

Opera and full frontal nudity: Rigoletto

Image
David McVicar's oddly modern production of Rigoletto is back at the Royal Opera House . This modern and minimalist dark production has evolved over the years. It is better lit now but there is still an orgy and full frontal nudity within the first thirty minutes. This enables anyone not in the stalls an excellent view of a flaccid penis and a nicely shaved bush. But as time goes it seems more and more superfluous to the main focus of this tragedy of a court jester who seeks revenge. Here is hoping that the production continues to evolve... Conductor John Eliot Gardiner keeps the music well paced. Dimitri Platanias in the title role sounded great and received a rapturous applause for his interpretation of the role. You get a sense more of the doting father rather than the court jester or cursed man here. Vittorio Grigolo plays the Duke and sounds too lovely to be the cad the role calls for, but it is hard not to like when he is on stage anyway. And it is easier to understan
Read more...

Fantasies: Afterglow @Swkplay

Image
Nowadays no self-respecting gay play can be staged without full frontal nudity of some kind. It feels like the default response for the modern gay play now that gay rights are no longer an issue .   Afterglow, currently playing at Southwark Playhouse , serves it up in spades. From the beginning, three men are in a bed, naked. There’s what appears to be a very brief exhalation of ecstasy, before the obligatory rush to the shower. But the gratuitous nudity and excellent performances can’t conceal this is a pretty conventional and predictable story about a fantasy couple.  The three men in the simultaneous orgasm at the start of the piece are Josh, Alex and Darius. Josh and Alex seem to live in a New York world where they can afford a rooftop apartment in Manhattan while holding jobs as a theatre director and a grad student in chemistry. As writer S. Asher Gelman based it on his own experiences, perhaps gay plays with full frontal nudity are the way to achieve financial security
Read more...

Play ball: Damn Yankees @LandorTheatre

Image
Damn Yankees at the Landor Theatre is one hell of a fun, sexy show. A great cast of dancers and singers give this show about a man who sells his soul to get on his beloved baseball team (and give them a chance of winning) new legs and balls. It also helps to up the ante with the sexiness with some healthy doses of cleavage and legs (and that's just the men). The musical is a retelling of the Faust story set in the 1950s when the New York Yankees dominated the game.
Read more...