Today I got a letter from our cable company. Inside, there was a laconic message that went something like this:
“We ask for your understanding that starting next month, the monthly fees for our services will be raised by 30 Euro-Cents.”
Now, usually I’m really quite an understanding person. I understand it when someone decides to leave Austria to start life as a scuba-diving instructor somewhere in the Maldives (mainly because the Maldives are said to be a really great place…why anyone would want to instruct others doing something like diving is actually beyond me).
I understand it when people don’t have cars in Vienna, because having a car in Vienna is expensive and to a certain extent really quite pointless.
But I don’t fucking understand why they suddenly need to charge more for our cable. And you know why? BECAUSE THEY DON’T ACTUALLY GIVE A SINGLE REASON WHY! How should I be understanding, when all they tell me is the fact, but not the circumstances that led to that very fact.
I’m sure customer relations must be a really difficult job, and explaining things to customers not even middle management understands must be really draining. But hell, why not simply dream up some reason that’s a bit more convincing than just NO REASON AT ALL.