Death and taxes. A phone support story.

Declaration

I just want to state for the record that I have been using computers since 1992. I know what I'm doing when I sit in front of a computer. 

The issue

I work in the family business and I handle all the admin work. I do paper work for the government agencies to keep the business up to date with all the requirements. I registered the company for VAT stuff but apparently there was a typo in the entity name and it needs to be changed.

The thing is, to change anything in you VAT file you have to update everything. Even if there is to update at all. They ask you to upload the company's license and managers passport and ID. Nothing has changed since I last updated but I still have to go through all this bullshit.

Death and Taxes

The saying goes that there two things certain in life, they are Death and Taxes. This rings true from the United States to the United Arab Emirates. 

Here is the tax website dying, though.

I'm trying to upload documents to the website but it keeps giving me this error. I'm not uploading pornography by the way.

Phone support

I love calling support. They are very courteous and genuinely want to help. The problem is that in the UAE they just hire jobbers who just spew script in your face. They have no background knowledge about what they are supposed to be "supporting". 

I choose English support, because the typo was in the English name of the company. I didn't want to talk to someone who wont understand what's wrong with the English name. 

To reach a talking human being, you have to go though the menu, of course. Also, you have to listen to them advertise their "tax clinic" hours which are happening all through out the northern Emirates. 2 minutes of this crap. I'm busy and I'm calling from my mobile, so can we get this over with? Button mashing didn't skip the advertisement.

So I get to the human finally. We go through the introductions and can I have your name please. I explain my issue that the website is dying on me. She then assumes that I have never used a computer before. She even had the audacity to tell to look up the technical guide for applying for an amendment on the tax website. Boo, this is not my first rodeo with applications in general and your website specifically.

-Can you use a different browser?

-Did you delete cache and history?

-Try again.

Ma'am I have degree in computering. Is what I should have told her and it would have passed as a real thing. Alas, I say maybe she's right? So I do all the unnecessary and unrelated bullshit she told me I should do in order to make the website work for few minutes. Surprise, same error. 

I think I'll give the website a few days, there is probably a server error that unfortunately phone support is unaware of.

Do you have a phone support story?