My dept. has a system of allocating each new PhD student to an existing one as a kind of buddy/mentor for the first few months, i.e. as a 'friendly face' to ask where things are, how to do things like setting up email/access cards etc...but in my experience it doesn't really work!

Personally, my 'buddy' was absent on the actual induction morning...and I have only seen her in the office once since then! This seems to be an odd theme in that those who volunteer to be buddies are those who are least often in the office...what's the point in that?

Luckily there are others who are in almost every day and most of the day who are willing to help out with printing instructions, directions to the kitchen, and how to swap TA timeslots...

I can see how this can be frustrating but I'm sure the buddy offers their services with the best of intention. As you will find you become increasingly busy. It's rare in many disciplines to be in the office most days when your in midst of data collection. Maybe contact your buddy about the types of support you feel you need?

We had a similar thing in our institution and I only met my 'mentor' once. I got most of my support from the people who were in the office (a bit like you!). I think they are an attempt from the department to provide a means of support, but in practice it really depends on how seriously the role is taken, and who is in the department to help out with inquiries!