Wu Wei

Skype and call centre problems (or DTMF dial tone failure)

Has anyone any experience using Skype with call centres? I can't get Skype to respond to the requests to press a key: press 1 to go in an infinite queue (all call centres) , press 2 to enter some data which will not be used to route your call as it claims (Sony Vaio and Citibank) etc. The operator says that what has been entered is not recognised.

I can't find anything on Skype's website, though the feedback questionnaire which pops up after some calls seems to suggest that I am not the only one with some difficulty

I'm using Skype with the computer's own speakers and microphone. Maybe it works with a Skype phone?
Maybe you have to use special number keys on a laptop?

Without it, one of the big advantages of Skype disappears: the ability to make long international calls to banks and other call centres we know and hate, but have to use:)

Any suggestions welcome, even ones pointing out how stupid I am.

Update: Enidd has helped by pointing out that this is called DTMF dial tone failure

Don't buy a Sony Vaio and expect a decent repair service

This has been prompted by trying to manage computer repairs while out of the country. So I have spent a lot of time on my mobile phone at vast expense.

I have to say that my experience with Sony Vaio this has been completely awful. Last year when we sent Bee's computer back they were a model of efficiency and communication, with the whole thing taking a week. So when Bee's computer developed the same cooling problem plus a power connection problem, we thought we could be clever and time it for half term at the end of February. This has proved a disaster, not only because Sloph's computer also went in for repairs, (not a Sony) but also this is prime revision and course work time for GCSE, when computers can hardly be spared.

This year I tried to get my extended warranty registered for my new computer. The Sony Style online shop sold me the wrong product for my computer (somehow that was my fault, though I don't see how) and it has taken the combined efforts of me and Sony Style about six weeks to get Sony Vaio to provide the warranty. They simply did not respond to phone calls or emails to do something.

For Bee's computer, they have taken a month (of non communication either by phone, email or online tracking) to repair things that did not have problems as well as things that did, and have left the software not as they found it. As a result I had to spend about 90 minutes on SkypeOut faultfinding on a remote computer.

The last straw, which prompted this post, was being rung by the so-called Quality Team, asking for feedback on the repair. As you can imagine, I gave them plenty. However the girl was only interested in ticking her boxes: Would you recommend Sony to a friend? No, which is why I am posting this! How would you rate the service you received? After listening to my complaints, she actually proposed 4-5 out of 10, which I corrected to 2, (on the assumption, perhaps wrong, that more was better). Finally she ended with the lamest of offers, coming from the Sony service: Someone will ring you. Do I believe it, after the last six weeks? I don't think so.

I can also report that the Sony online registration page went down for maintenance (at least that's what it said, but I hardly believe it since it was at 3 in the afternoon) just when I was checking that my computer did have an extended warranty. I did manage to see that despite Sony acknowledging that Bee's computer was registered and under warranty, it was not listed.

Can they do anything right at the moment?

It's a shame, because the computers themselves are quite good, and mine is the third we have bought. But after this experience, they have to go on my blacklist.

Communication v culture

Megan Case has been inviting Slav speakers to enjoy slovio, an esperanto like version of slav languages, supposedly understandable by any slav language speaker. And so it seems it is, as far as my testing is concerned. Try this:

Novju mezxunarodju jazika!
Sxto es Slovio? Slovio es novju mezxunarodju jazika ktor razumijut cxtirsto milion ludis na celoju zemla. Slovio mozxete upotrebit dla gvorenie so cxtirsto milion slavju Ludis ot Praga do Vladivostok; ot Sankt Peterburg cxerez Varsxava do Varna; ot Sredzemju Morie i ot Severju Morie do Tihju Okean. Slovio imajt prostju, logikju gramatia i Slovio es idealju jazika dla dnesju ludis. Ucxijte Slovio tper!

And there is a blognik!

However I left a comment saying that there were two purposes of language learning. One is communication, which slovio certainly helps with, as far as reading is concerned, though I am not sure that I could be bothered to learn it.

But the other purpose is to understand a specific culture, which has its own words and expressions for things are are important in its culture. I couldn't think of any examples at the time except the Russian remont, which has vastly different meanings in English and Russian, or at least it did in Soviet times.

But this morning in my Hidden Europe email newsletter there are some perfect examples of what I mean:

hygge and gezelligheid

Was that word gezelligheid, which we used above, a new one on you? What about hygge? These are fabulous words, Dutch and Danish respectively, which admit of no easy translation into English. The English word 'cosiness' just doesn't have the same rich connotations as gezelligheid and hygge, that sort of enveloping quiet comfort that comes with history, a sense of contentment, good food and wine, the company of friends and a fire smouldering in the grate.

Words like hygge are little linguistic gems, syllables that offer insight into the soul of a nation. Take that peculiarly Portuguese version of homesickness, saudade. Or its German antonym, Fernweh, a longing for a distant place. One we especially like is the Welsh hiraeth, a sort of lure of the homeland, a return to roots, that seems to afflict those with Welsh ancestry even generations after their forbears left Wales. Wonderful words! Would that there were more of them!

So what do you do when you are a quarter Welsh and possibly a quarter German? The third quarter is definitely English, and who knows about the fourth; there are too many false trails. It makes it quite difficult to decide where to settle down, after a decade of wandering in Eastern Europe on the trail of the roots.

Polish as an official language

Just been trying to diagnose an itchy rash on a 16 year old, long distance via sms and internet.

It seems NHS Direct (the public health service website) now offers advice in Polish, (as well as all the other languages).

Is it acceptable for women to have their shoes cleaned in public by men?

Sorry for lack of posting. Just back from a few days in Istanbul.

Definitely off to Bosnia this week. Hope to catch up and post in the Istanbul pics before I go, but I also have to think about a Romanian project. So the posts may get a bit confusing.

Thought for the day:

Is it acceptable for women to have their shoes cleaned in public by men? Have you ever seen this happening?

My shoes needed cleaning (it was wet and muddy in some parts of Istanbul) but I thought that in a Moslem country it was definitely not OK for a man to caress the foot of a foreign woman in public, for money. Maybe caress is too strong a word for a fully clothed foot in a shoe being given a stiff brushing and a polishing, but you can see what I mean.

Feel the skeleton - creepy

I found this post about stamps through Technorati tagged Slovenia.

They were issued on the 23rd of September 2005 in a series about Gothic Art. The stamps, printed se-tenant, picture a detail of the Dance of Death fresco from the church of the Holy Trinity located in Hrastovlje. This fresco, realised by Janez of Kastav was completed in 1490. It is 90cm high and 630cm long. It features eleven figures representing various steps in life. They are all holding hands with a skeleton as pictured on the stamps.
What is quite impressive on these stamps is something that can not be seen on the scan. The stamps are embossed on the skeleton : when you rub your finger on them you can fill (feel) the bones.

Creepy.

tags: slovenia, stamps, skeleton

Snow!

Well, snow this time of year is just a nuisance and not at all the same as in November when it's new and exciting.

I came out the pharmacy at lunch time and the rain was so heavy I just went in the place next door which sold pizza, hoping to sit it out.

But no luck. By the time I got home it had turned to snow and now there is 3-4 inches and it's still coming.

Tony Blair and Comic Relief

It seems everyone is getting in on the Comic Relief act. I have to admit I had never heard of Catherine Tate aka Lauren, but she obviously goes to the same school as Vicky Pollard of Little Britain fame.

I'm not a great fan of Tony Blair, but can you imagine any other PM doing this sort of thing? Just imagine Chirac! and Bush does it without knowing.

iPod disconnections

I was wondering round Ljubljana city centre listening to music on my iPod when someone said hello. I'm not used to people in Ljubljana speaking to me, a) I don't know anyone, and b) there aren't a lot of mad or bad people around to bother you like in some places. Also I was listening to Greek music at the time which usually makes me look pretty mad myself as I hum along and even skip, if I think no one is looking. You know how Greek music is, always gets you dancing. Hiding behind sunglasses helps you avoid people's hostile looks.

So I was a bit surprised eventually to recognise the previous day's power dressing tax accountant, herself wearing jeans and dragging a child as an accessory today. I wasn't able to change languages in my head and get out the required Dober Dan, so was left grinning inanely. Though probably she passed me too quickly for the eventual look of recognition to pass my face.

I'm always accused of being in my own world as I rush past people not noticing anything, but I do find that iPods make it much worse.

Shaggy Blog Stories

He did it!  The book is published and now not only can you buy a copy but you can contribute to Comic Relief, a charity.

Buy the book here.  You can only buy it on line.

No, I'm not in it, but Bee is. There's a list of the other 99 here.

 

Technorati tags: comicrelief, rednoseday