to expect phones to be answered... [angry]

[newmum13]

Caution, RANT

I have been trying to get an appt with an embassy and for the past hour I've been stuck on the phone . They are either not picking up, letting the phone to ring, no automated service to keep you on hold in a queue, or the phone's been busy.

FOR AN HOUR!!!

Just to get an appt.

Is it just me, or answering phones is a must, even more so when an embassy is invloved?

How do other countries' embassies treat their citizens? (ie, not Romanian ones)

God, and they are still not answering!!!

So glad I left the country, so sad I still have to deal with them

Rant over, but I do need MN to keep me sane. I expect this to continue over several days, since you can only call between 1 and 5 pm!

No one shares my misery.

[cry]

Very annoying, and all to common. Since they are not commercial there is no immediate advantage to answering the phone in a timely manner. The only outcome is annoyed citizens!

Sympathy and good luck.

Have had to deal with Uk & french embassies, and they do answer the phone but they are soooo rude... don't get me started on this topic lol

well, 2 hrs later and still no answer. I am completely baffled by this. only 2 hrs to go today...

it is august. they all on holiday.

I share your pain. Trying to get through to the US embassy can be a nightmare. I mean, how hard is it to pick up the bloody phone. Also, aren't embassies supposed to be there at least in part to help you? I mean, what if it were an emergency and you could only contact them by phone?

An embassy has never knowingly answered a phone! Seriously they really don't want to talk to you or anyone else. All embassies are the same I think.

Same with immigration issues - they make it as difficult as possible (anywhere not just UK) so only those who are determined to emigrate/immigrate/get a visa so you can go on holiday do so.

Has it been answered and you are now on hold? Because to add insult to injury, some embassies have a premium rate line so you pay for the privilege of waiting to speak to someone.

I do this for a job, at least I do when I'm covering absences etc of my team, not an embassy though. We can take up to 150 calls per day, plus emails, plus phone messages. We have one person answering phones and despite 10 years of pleas for more staff, none have been forthcoming. We apparently don't have the money for an automated service either.

Now I'm sure where I work is not the same as an embassy but I just wanted to let you know that phones are almost never ignored because people don't want to answer them. Chances are they are run off their feet, so while you're ranting, just rememeber that they aren't doing it purely to piss you off.

Well, found another no by chance and called it. The phone was picked up immediately (why they don't update their website is besides my comprehension). A lovely lady gav me all the info I needed.

I do understand the overwhelming volume of calls in different places, but this is an embassy that deals with things that could be urgent/ people in dangerous situations. They need to pick up the phone, they need to update their details online. Why post no for specific services if you're not going to ever answer them? just give the general info no and then take the volume of calls on that one. It might take a while to get through, but you will, eventually.

Anyway, rant finished. Just hope I will sort things quickly and NEVER have to deal with them again.

So you were calling the wrong number then?

Unfortunately not. And I could blame baby brain for that one (certainly has been visible lately). The number they provde for the service I needed seemed to be ingnored. Another number, for general enquieries supposedly and not featured on the embassy website was aswered though.

Had they updated their website to say this no can be used for all enquieries, they would have saved a lot of grief. I am absolutely positive loads more people go through the same thing.

At least the lady on the phone was polite, which is a rarity.

And all is sorted