We have Bangalore One to pay all the bills. You know why? This is for the money to come in quicker and more accurately to the utility companies serving the residents of Bangalore. Do we have anything like this for servicing or for new connections to help those who are moving in and out of Bangalore to make their lives simpler? Sorry, I couldn’t find one. It is one of those things that Indian utility companies have on their plate as the last thing to do.
What do you do? Go around drumming up support to create one? Just forget it!
First: The gas company supplying gas cylinders had locked the account as it has not been used for some time. Good? Yes and No. Yes – stops fraudulent activities. No – absolutely lacks the guidance needed to unlock it. Luckily for us, the gas company is close by and walkable. For me still deciding to buy a vehicle (I do not want to add one more vehicle to the Bangalore traffic which is already bursting at its seam), this was a lucky break. That’s where my luck ended. You had to produce all the relevant docs to unlock the account. The FIR report that we had filed with the police is of no use here. Simple answer: If you had lost the original, apply for a duplicate one. With our father being no more with us, the task was becoming astronomically difficult. Shall I go on? I left this task hanging for a while to attend to another utility issue.
Second: Electrical connection to the house was much more of an immediate need. Painters were prepared to come in and ready to paint the house even at night to finish the job quicker. Without electricity to some parts of the house, the job would suffer delays. The cause for half the house in dark?! The blame game started soon after fixing an internet service to the house. One saying that the power drawn to the box might have caused it, whereby, the service provider saying that a short-circuit is causing the tripping of the main circuit breaker and it may be due to the civil work done around the electrical boxes. Once this blame game starts – you already know about my blog on the frustration of waiting for the service people to come and have a look. When everyone claims to be an electrician, whom do you really trust to do an honest job? I got swindled twice on their fees and fixing items that had no fault. Finally one person arrived on time and did the job splendidly and I would recommend him to anyone. When he suggested that he knows a company who would do the UPS installation, I had no hesitation to go with his suggestion.
Third: This brings me to the installation done for the internet service at my place. I was surprised at the promptness of the sales person to arrive at my place. That’s where the promptness ended. This is like how many do you need to fix a light bulb? There was one person requiring me to be at the house to ensure that he is pulling the cable to the right place. There was another person to install the box outside. There was yet another person to fix the gear inside the box. There was one more person to actually activate the connection. Waiting for each one of them and with all those frustrations of waiting, I was half dead.
Fourth: Connecting a TV service to my place now became the last thing to do. Well what do you expect from a beaten up man?
All I wanted now to see is the equipment that I salvaged to start working to get some life starting at my place. Well it has to be in my next blog. I am tired – just too tired with all those nightmarish experiences with these utility companies.