ON THE WARPATH!!!!

So........the postman came early.......and finally delivered the letter I have been waiting for.....the one from Centrelink saying that my claim for unpaid arrears has been declined....'due to legislation.'It was a great wodge of papers that at first I could not face nor had the time to deal with as I was busy with 4 loads of washing because the Sun has finally returned to shine once more upon us.When I finally read the letter it was very well written and clear and in reading it I began to doubt my chances of recovering the money they owe me.With the letter were copies of the letters they said that I had received and should have replied to within the specified time to make my claim valid.It was reading the first one that made me realise something was not right.The first copied letter, dated 27 May 2014 contained the sentence,"You should receive your pension concession card within 14 days from when you receive your first payment."The letter also contained lots of other useful information but reading it I knew I had never received this letter. For one thing I did not know that I was entitled to a Pensioner's Concession Card until earlier this year.The second letter was my Income and Assets Statement......I had never seen that before and the last one was the letter informing me of my Carer Payment.......I had never seen that before either........and then I realised why.........all these letters had the Frogknot address on.The letter I had received and kept about my Carer Allowance was addressed to Celtis St......but all the others went to Frogknot. There is no post box at Frogknot......so heaven knows where they ended up but they were obviously not returned to the sender......or were they?My appeal was on again!I rang the first number I found at the bottom of the letter....The Commonwealth Ombudsman's Office and spoke to Abbie who was very efficient and obviously had all the qualifications for working in a Commonwealth Ombudsman's Office. She very politely asked me if the letter asked me to ring another number first..........DOH!.......it did. I apologised to the efficient Abbie and rang The Social Security Appeals Tribunal. If she wasn't called Magda, she could have been......she was definitely Eastern European. I gave her my details and she asked me to explain a little about the situation..........well, I was off, like a horse from the starting gate at the Grand National........when I finally finished my rant, 'Magda' said a quiet 'Thank you'  and said I would hear when I was to be called before the tribunal.I hope I have not been too hasty..........I've never been to a tribunal.Next I rang Samsung Australia to see about getting the TV fixed......the email they had sent saying 'sorry your warranty is not valid' also said that they could sort out servicing if we wanted. I wanted to see how much it would cost.I spoke to 'Nick'.......I don't know where Samsung Australia's call centre is but it is not Mumbai......but it is somewhere where they can pay a pittance to its customer support advisers while the share holders sip champagne on their yachts.Nick was very understanding and left me listening to some dreadful 'hold' music for 10 long minutes while he went and tried to see how he could help me by asking his superior. His superior was not as understanding, annoyed, probably, that he had been interrupted whilst eating his Lobster Thermidor and told 'Nick' there was nothing they could do but 'Nick' did give me the number of their nearest service centre........on the Gold Coast!......for me to ring about getting 'Our Telly' repaired.I rang the Service Centre."Your TV is from the UK?" Asked the woman incredulously. "Oh, I don't think we can get the parts.....I'll just check."(Anxious moments pass)."No, sorry we can't get the parts.""Well, isn't that the icing on the cake!" I said.I rang Samsung Australia again."Can I speak to 'Nick'?""Oh......er.......I am not sure who that is......er.......can I take your reference number and some details?"I gave them to him."I am 'Kevin' and I see that from your details I might be able to assist you."Poor Kevin, my ire was up."I have just rung the Service Centre that 'Nick' gave me the number for and they say that they cannot fix my TV because they can't get UK parts, is that right?""Well, we rely on our service centres to say what they can and cannot do?""Well, how am I going to get my TV fixed?""Perhaps you could contact a local repairer?""So, you are saying that a small local repairer will be able to get parts for my UK Samsung TV but a Samsung Australia Service Centre can't?""Er........""I paid nearly £1000 for this TV and it is broken and not even 5 years old and you are saying that because I brought it from the UK I can't get it fixed here in Australia?""Perhaps you could contact Samsung UK and see how they can help?" said 'Kevin'."Oh, do you think they might send someone here to fix it for me?" I said with mock hope in my voice.Silence from 'Kevin.'......"Are you saying that Samsung Australia cannot liaise with Samsung UK to get parts for my TV?" I continued."Samsung UK and Samsung Australia are separate companies under the same name.""And huge companies at that but they still cannot sort out UK parts between themselves yet a small, local TV repairer might! I used to speak highly of Samsung but this whole debacle has definitely coloured my opinion. Look, I'm sorry, I know it is not your fault and it is just unfortunate that you happen to work for a rubbish company but I have to say I am very disappointed with this whole thing. "As I was putting the phone down I heard 'Kevin' saying, as programmed....."Thank you for your call. Have a nice day!"I had to ring Dr Hew's surgery about a prescription they need at our local Pharmacy.It would be the Thai receptionist that answered wouldn't it?"Hello, My name is Nick and I am the Carer for Dulcie Rodgers, she is a patient of Dr Hew's. I was wondering if you could ask Dr Hew to write out a prescription for Protos, P,R,O,T,O,S as the Pharmacy we go to needs it.""Are you a patient?""No, but Dulcie is.""I sorry, but you will need to make an appointment.""Dr Hew knows the situation and if you say Nick rang and needs a prescription for Protos he will understand.""No Dr Hew can't give prescription without appointment."I'd had enough."When is Marie in?""Friday,""And who is in tomorrow?""I am.".......Thwarted!"Can you ask Dr Hew to ring me? I know you can do that because you have done it before. Tell Dr Hew that Nick rang about Dulcie Rodgers and that we need a prescription.""What is the patient name?""Dulcie.""How you spell that?""D,U,L,C,I,E.""And the first name?""That is her first name.""The surname?""Rodgers.""Ok, I give Dr Hew the message."I suspect it has not been a good day for my blood pressure!