A perfect ending

The last two errands of the day, prior to the Saturday departure to London, was to get Hachie Gal's mobile phone contact cancelled and the house phone service and internet cancelled.

All I can say is "shame on us". We should have known better. I mean, if living in Germany has taught us nothing it has taught us a thing or two about bureaucracy...the German way.

First stop, E+...the mobile phone service. We learned today that apparently a mobile phone service contract can be renewed (as well as upgraded to a better service that costs more) by doing nothing more than leaving a message on a person's mobile phone. Of course, that message must have been in German, and Hachie Gal, being unable to understand German clearly never got this message. So, no response on my part apparently signalled confrimation that I indeed want the new upgraded, super duper service. Accordingly to E+, it was a "gift to me because I was such a valued customer". A free gift that I will apparently be paying for for the next 9 months. Ah, capitalism at its best. Somehow, I thought it took more than voicemail on an answering message that a contract had in fact been entered into by two parties.

So, first stop on the errand list was a bit of a bust.

Now, on to T-Punkt where we were set to cancel our phone and internet service. According to WRG (a.k.a. Worthless Relocation Guy - yes, he had to make a final appearance to end our stay in Germany in the same manner that we began...with his stellar support, relo expertise, and top-notch service and follow-through - HA), all we needed to do was go into a T-Punkt store in person and request the service to be discontinued. It sounded so simple....NOT! Long story short, we have to write not one by two letters (one for the phone and one for the internet) and request the service to be cancelled. Time for this to be done: 6-10 days. At which time a bill will then be sent for final payment. Thanks to WRG, once again, faulty information.

Two hours later, we still have these on our to-do list.

You gotta laugh...it is such a perfect ending to our 3-year stint in Germany.