How HARD can it be? Take my money already....!

Subscribing for my 88-year-old Mother, phoned subscription line on Monday 08th July - early, who did warn me that some of their systems were slow, and e-mail might take 24 h-o-u-r-s to reflect on their side.

Sent detailed e-mail; they wrote back saying no e-mail received, MPOST strange, since I send roughly 60 e-mails per day, without issue...

Resent my e-mail, they wrote back and asked for ADDITIONAL detail - no problems, sent that, nothing much happening.

FRUSTRATIONS: 1. several 'on hold' calls terminated, one of these ater 5 minute, 30 sec! Grrr. 2. They were unhappy I called in on their 011 number, rather than their 0860 number... 3. I am unhappy that their is NO CALL CENTRE NUMBER of ANY of their flippin' e-mails, which is why I Googled their (landline) number... 4. Head of Customer Service is in 5 days of interviewing, so no luck there... 5. Cannot reach Pregashni, nor Mbali, nor Shaida.

Conclusion: I made the phone call with trepidation, having experienced poor service from Arena before - despite being a Sunday Times fan...

My Wife simply laughed at my frustration, saying I should EXPECT poor serv ice from Arena, from her own experience(s)...

On Monday, they assured my Mom could get her 6-month subscription started by THIS SUNDAY - now, I am not so sure...

Poor service; auto-disconnected calls, unable to 'transfer me', they can surely do better.

TAKE MY MONEY ALREADY, please! I agreed to 6 months paid UPFRONT< but jeez, how hard can it be! Christopher Grinton, Sunday Times Fan, Call-Centre detractor.