Getting my ADSL box

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And now I badly wanted Internet, TV and Landline at home. We have been watching TV on my smart phone… J

The ADSL connection I wanted is also special, as it has some Indian TV channels, allows free fixed lines (landline) call to India and most countries in the world.

Yes my Relocation agency is still missing ! But I don’t need her any more. My confidence is high ! And I have Internet connection at Office also by now.

I logged to the ADSL web site, but the process was very foreign to me. The way telecom works in France, has no similarity to India, US or USSR. And by the way it’s the most advanced…

Ok, here every home has a landline number, active or inactive. While applying for the ADSL connection, if you know the last landline number the ADSL connection comes faster, say 10 days, else it can take a lot of time say even a month.

So the first thing is to know the last landline number. Now how do I get that ? I asked the owner of the apartment but she had a landline number more than 3 yrs back and that probably was not the last number. I had met the last renter and I remember he had a landline phone.  So mostly that was the last number.  So there was another way out. You can query the address of an apartment in a web site and get the last landline number. I did that and got it !

Now it was applying for the ADSL. My colleague in office helped me fill the form. There was one part which I had no clue. It is the digital code of the apartment main gate. In Paris most apartments have a standard system of security.

• Apartment dwellers have a near field communication device which opens the door. So they don’t need to remember the complex codes.
• Also there is a numeric pad where you enter the digital code and the main gate opens. This is generally passed to courier for delivery of packages.

I have three doors and I did not even know the codes. So we skipped that part assuming the ADSL delivery person will call me. Well this was an incorrect assumption as it proved later…

The ADSL website has a systematic step-by-step track my order and I could see it progressing faster than expected. Wow ! I was super excited and was waiting like a kid for his toy to be delivered…

• And then in 6 days I got a message (naturally in French). On translation it was mentioned that my ADSL box will be delivered in 2 days. Now I was hooked to my smart phone tracking the delivery of the ADSL box.
• And next day on checking the status had a problem. On translation it was mentioned “The courier came for delivery. But it went back as the digital code is not mentioned”. What ! Why did they not call me ? Damn it !
• I quickly got on phone with my owner, and got the digital codes. Then took help of a colleague who called (conversation in French) the courier agency, and made them note the digital codes and again emphasized on my cell number. I knew that this time they might call me. So I quickly learnt a sentence for conversation when he calls me. (Like I am coming in 2 mins !)
• And kept checking the web site for tracking the shipment. Also I reached home at 5 pm, waiting for the delivery again. Well no news, no call for next 2 hours. I knew that they work till 7 pm only…
• At 7:15 pm, when I knew that it’s too late for today, I checked the web site again. And there was a new message. “The courier came for delivery. But it went back as the digital code is not mentioned”. What ? This was irritating now.  3 arguments flashed in a fraction of second…
• I had given my digicodes. What happened to it ?
• And if he did not have digicodes why did he come for delivery ?
• And why the hell they are not calling me ?

Later I came to know that in France one "not so good thing" is the postal delivery system. US or even India beats France in this…

I was furious and knew that I have to call and blast them. Next day I left for office early and wanted to take my colleagues help in blasting the courier company. It's important to mention that the ADSL and the Courier organizations are two different ones. This might explain the lethargy of the latter … as the Accountability link has a gap.

In office, I was thinking of the plot of conversation when I got a call from my wife. The courier guys came home and delivered the ADSL box. How ? Why they did not call me ? Well it does not matter anymore !

Dramatic delivery I should say…
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