As crazy as it seems, one month is already gone of 2026 as there are only a few days till the end of January. Four to be precise, plus what's left of today. Getting off on the wrong foot is never good, but it happens sometimes to anyone and it looks like this year is me.
I had my plans for this year on so many levels, as anyone else and doing everything I can to keep some schedule, monitor my progress, but life can be funny sometimes and throw things at you, that you don't expect.
On the 4th of the month, which was a Sunday, I woke up feeling cold in the bedroom. It was a bit strange as the heating system is automated, the thermometer is signaling when heating is needed, but I didn't think much of it, moved on with my day, till I was about to take a shower. Well, instead of hot water, I got ice cold water. After some investigation, I (sadly) noticed that the heating system was not working.
Cominciamo bene, this is what Italians would say sarcastically, but at temperatures below zero, there was no time to waste with such things. The next obvious move was to call the technician, which is never a pleasant thing and as expected, the call wasn't pleasant at all. I told him what the problem was, asked him when he is coming as we have no heating, to which he said it was Sunday. I told him I know it was Sunday, but also know it's freezing outside and I have neither heating, nor hot water. He said he's going to call on Monday, after 9am. I said fine. What else could I say?
However, I got a call after 3pm from him, asking if I'll be home in the afternoon. I said of course I'll be home as solving this problem is essential. Most likely his conscience told him to come as leaving people without heating in that cold is not a good thing. Well, we had heating as the air conditioning is also heating, but it's a different type of heating, not as efficient as the other system, plus it's way more expensive as well and it doesn't give you hot water either.
Anyway, he came indeed, fixed the system in an hour and it costed me 60 euro, which is cheap, compared to buying a new system.
Me, the naive, I thought now that this is fixed, I can live happily till the end of the year 馃槀
Then on Friday morning, I was taking a shower, when all of a sudden the water stopped and I was standing in the shower with shower gel all over my body and no water. It was obvious the shower set was broken and no matter how I turned the faucet, there was no water coming out of it, so I got off the shower, turned the main faucet off, stopped the water in the whole house and tried to dry the shower gel off my skin. Don't even dare to ask or laugh as ... oh God! 馃槀
So my next move was to heat some water and try to was the shower gel off my skin, after which I was off to buy a shower set. On my way to the shop, I called my handyman, hoping he could come to fix the problem, but it would have been too nice and easy. Instead, he told me he's in bed sick, he can barely move, so helping me was out of the question 鈽癸笍
Another slap on my face, not that I needed it, but this is life, you need to deal with it, so I called my brother next. He knows a lot of handymen, so I thought I'll be safe, but ... it doesn't work like that. He told me that he know a lot of people, but a handyman who can come right away, does not exist as most of them are involved in big works. He had to attend a retirement party on Friday, one that he could not miss, so he promised to come on Saturday morning and I was left with no hot water till then. He came the next day and fixed it in half an hour or so as there was a small problem, but it was done finally.
Then yesterday at about 3pm, while I was working on my laptop, saw I was cut off the internet. I was hoping the service would get restored shortly, as these days everything is running on internet and these guys are good, but was wrong. Due to lack of time, I set up my mobile internet, to be able to continue working and said I'd call them tomorrow, if the service is not restored. This morning there was no internet service, so I needed to make the call and I did.
The truth is, this company is the best on the market in my eyes and they are the best for a good reason. Their services are great, prices are more than great, compared to what you pay for such a package in other countries, and their tech support is just as great. This is why God knows when was the last time I had to call them, I can't even remember, so I had part of a nice surprise.
I made the call at 10:13. After selecting the language I was told, based on my phone number they identified a contract on my name, after which I was asked to select the service I want. Then I was told they see I have a device that is not working, so they are filing a ticket in my name and contacting me with further instructions. This was all automated, handled by a system, without me even opening my mouth.
At 10:37, I got a text sharing with me the number of the ticket filed in my name and that a technician is going to pay me a visit between 11am and 1pm and if the interval of time is not convenient, I can pick a different one. At 11:04, tech guy called to ask if I'm home and told me he'll be here in 15 minutes. He came, fixed the problem in 10 minutes and left.
Dealing with customer service is ... well, the most difficult thing to do in my opinion and I had my fair share of being put on hold for hours, as well as speaking to idiots and solving nothing. To get this service I got today, should be the norm, but unfortunately it isn't. I've been a client of this company for more than 20 years (can't even remember for how long) and they never disappoint me. No extra charges for fixing the problem either. I just hope every customer support is going to work the same way, but who am I kidding? Only the best of the best do this and that's why they are the best.
So yes, I got off on the wrong foot with a few things, that don't depend on me, but I still can't complain, or refused to. All in all everything got fixed in reasonable time and manner, so let's see what February brings. In any case, having a few tech people and knowing everything in your house is key.
I hope you had a better month in this regard :)
If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:
