Pet Peeve – A Carpet Cleaning Company

Yesterday, prior to an epic nosebleed [See “An Early Morning Crisis” below], I had scheduled a carpet cleaning company to come and I decided, after the blood stopped flowing, that I was really too tired to deal with carpet cleaners, so I called them and cancelled the appointment, and they said fine. And they said that they would call me today and let me know what time Friday they would come, whether morning or afternoon, instead.

Well, they didn't call, so I finally called them, and I got that delightful little recording that says, "We're sorry, but the number you have dialed is no longer in service. If you think you have reached this recording in error, please check the area code and number and dial again."

So I checked the number, even though I had dialed it several times in the last two or three days, and I dialed it again, and I got the same recording, and I dialed again and I got the same recording. So I was really flummoxed by now, because I had talked to them at this same number the day before and I couldn't understand why now, suddenly, this number was no longer in service.

Now in the old days you would have just dialed the operator and she would have taken care of it. So, because I was raised in another world and another time, I dialed the operator, and she informed me that she had no capacity whatsoever to check on an 800 number. So I said, "What do I do?"

She said, "Well, have you checked information to see if it's still the same number?"

And in fact, I had done that, so I said to the woman, "I've already called information."

"Well, if it's a 1-800 number, you need to call this 800 number."

And so I called that 800 number and a RECORDING came on and said "Please enter the 10-digit number that you are trying to reach."

And so I carefully dialed in the 10-digit number I was trying to reach, and then a woman's voice said, on a recording, "The number you punched in is eight . . . . zero . . . zero . . . three . . . two . . . five . . . six . . . four . . ."

By this time I was ready to tear my hair.

"If this is the correct number, press one. If it is not the correct number, press two."

I pressed one. And another recording came on and said, "That is a GTE number. In order to check on its validity, please dial 1-800-959 blah blah blah blah."

By this time, I was having apoplexy. But I had gone this far, and I really want my carpets cleaned, so I thought maybe this will be the last number I have to dial.

And so I called the number, and a recording came on and said, "We're sorry. The number that you're trying to dial is no longer in service. If you have reached this recording in error please . . . blah . . . blah . . . blah.