It appears NRMA's call centre is suffering under the strain of popularity. The rat made over twenty attempts to call its membership and insurance number 132 132 yesterday without success.
The number was either engaged or switched to an "unknown number" tone, or a voice message stating quite plainly: "the number you called is not compatible with your equipment."
Finally the rat managed to receive a message on the other end: "we are currently experiencing lengthy delays...you're call will be answered by the first available consultant...."
Eventually a real person picked up the phone and answered the rat's questions about insuring the new "rat-mobile".
The operator informed the frustrated rodent "we've just changed over from the mainframe to this new client-server thing and it's at least ten times slower than before".
Subsequent calls to Telstra for an NRMA administration number revealed the only way to contact NRMA IT staffers is via 132 132. The rat is still scratching his head for a real answer.