I broke a window for the first time in my life the other day when I went to an open house showing of an apartment I was interested in possibly buying.

A small vase was conveniently leaning against a cupboard door in the kitchen (from the inside), so when I opened it, it fell out and broke a window.

Turns out it cost 3125 SEK to replace a smallish piece of glass, not made of hand-blown crystal, mind you.
So I called my insurance company.
After a number of menu options, I’m finally told to wait on hold. After a few minutes a cheery person on the other line was very helpful until there was a need to transfer me.

“We’re very busy right now, please try your call again at a later time.”
And then just a busy tone..

Aaaarrrrggghhhh!!!!

This happened no less than three times in a row.
I finally looked up the insurance company’s twitter account and posted:

Frustrated that @Media_TH #trygghansa is “hanging up” on me 3 times in a row.. Need customer service rethink. #whatamipayingyoufor

I kept trying to call over and over again. Frustrated I tweeted again:

@Media_TH Got through after trying 10+ times.. No, wait, oops, sorry got disconnected again. #fail Trying direct numbers now..

This got their attention..
A reply:

@SLeijon We’re really sorry about that! Please DM us your contact details and we’ll get in touch!

My reply:

@Media_TH Unable to send PM as you suggested.. (can’t be sent to accts that don’t follow me)

@Media_THs reply:

@SLeijon Now following you! So sorry about your hassle with the phones. Please send message now and we’ll phone you!

My frustrated tweet:

Do you have to be a savvy social media user to get proper customer service? #publiccomplaints #trygghansa#customerservicefail

After direct messaging back and forth for a while, I finally got a message saying that the department I was trying to contact was in a meeting until 4pm.
From previous (phone) experience I knew that they leave for the day at 5pm, so I replied:

“So there’s nobody answering phones until after 16:00? (and the department closes at 17:00?) Hmm.. Thanks for your answers so far..”

Two minutes later, my phone rings..

All is now sorted out, and it just hits home something we’ve all realized over the last few years; The internet forces everything out in the open and companied as well as individuals have to be able to back up what they say and what they do..

I just feel sorry for the majority of people who still only try to get through on the phone..