I bought a new trailer and headed to the government shopfront to get it registered, clutching all the right forms, all the right documents, and a Visa card raring to go. The friendly chap at the door greeted me with the bad news: “I’m sorry sir, but our systems are down. We can only take cash.” Bugger.
“You can come back with cash, or go to our other shopfront at the other end of the city.”
I was heading that way for a meeting anyway, so off to the other shopfront I went. This one had a friendly chap, too. “I’m sorry sir, but our systems are down. We can only take cash.” Wait, what? That’s quite a coincidence, isn’t it?
“All shopfronts are on the same system, and its been down all morning.” So why did the other chap send me all the way up here, knowing that you would have the same problem?
“Yes, they are a bit strange there. I’m very sorry, but we can’t take Visa at the moment. There’s an ATM just down the road.” Indeed there was. A Bank of China ATM charging $2.50 per withdrawal. Out of options and nearly out of time, I paid the fee and returned to the shopfront with a fistful of dollars.
The friendly chap welcomed me back and helped me get the right numbered ticket for the right service queue. Right, I thought. Third time lucky, I thought. Any minute now.
“Dear customers, due to problems with our systems, your expected waiting time is likely to be around one hour. We apologise for any inconvenience.” Wait, what?
I suggested to the friendly chap that maybe he could have mentioned this before. After all, I’d just wasted 15 minutes based on his advice, not to mention giving $2.50 to the Bank of China.
“I’m sorry sir, but our systems are down.”
