More Songs about Buildings and Crappy Telephone Service
A while ago, I decided to order DSL service, with accompanying wireless adapter, for my humble abode, considering that unfettered internet access is pretty much essential if I'm going to do any meaningful work at home, rather than on campus. Yesterday was supposed to be the glorious day; that glorious moment when finally, after two weeks of waiting, my DSL is finally turned on. As you can probably guess, the day ended with an enormous hodgepodge of dale yelling angrily at people on the telephone, people on the telephone not listening, DSL service not being connected.
So I wake up in the morning yesterday and the light on the wireless modem is red. Not good. This means it's not getting a DSL signal. So I call them, and ask them when it's going to be turned on. The first woman I talked to said: "Oh, it's already been turned on." I said, well, there's no signal. Woman: "Ok. I'll transfer you to technical support." I talk to the technical support guy, who opens a "trouble ticket", and says that the technicians will call me back in "four business hours."
So I wait four business hours, no dice. Wait a little longer. Still no dice. I call back. After waiting on hold, another woman tells me that "Your signal might not be turned on." I say, well, the first woman told me that it already had been turned on. "All it says here is that it's scheduled to be turned on today, but hasn't yet been turned on, but let me connect you to a technical service rep, maybe they can get you moved up in the queue." Ok, I said. "Hmm," the technical service rep said, "I can't seem to see your modem on the network at all." Hmm, I thought, starting to worry. Is that bad? Does that mean there's something wrong with the lines, etc.? Did she try to connect me, and fail, somehow? Is this gonna take years to fix? All I want is my crappy DSL!!! "Yeah, I definitely can't see it. You're just not hooked up yet." Ugh. What a let down. "It should be up and running by 8 pm."
I go to dinner, and come back around 11. Still red. I call again. I get some really weird, as in stoned, sounding technician. "So, are you plugged right into the wall?" Yes. "Are there any other devices plugged into a phone jack?" No. The only thing that's plugged in is the modem in my house. "Is your phone plugged into a phone jack." NO. THE MODEM IS THE ONLY THING PLUGGED IN. "Fax machine?" NO. THE MODEM IS THE ONLY THING PLUGGED IN. "Any alarm systems at all?" NO! THE MODEM IS THE ONLY THING PLUGGED IN!! Sounding very out of it, he replies: "Ok, ok. Now, why don't we try to turn it off and turn it back on?" I just told you I did that. "Ok, ok. Now, are you talking on a phone that's going through a filter into the phone jack?" NO!!! THE MODEM IS THE ONLY THING PLUGGED IN!!!! "Ok, ok. Do you want to try to powercycle the modem." I JUST DID THAT! I TOLD YOU THAT TWICE!! "Ok, ok. Well, I can't start a trouble ticket, because since you were scheduled to start today, I have to wait until tomorrow." Silence. Anger.
Wake up this morning. Still red. But I had recieved an email (using my neighbor's network), that said that, at 5am, SBC sent me an email confirming that my modem was hooked up. Ok. Maybe it just took awhile, but why, then, is it still red? I call again. I get a recorded message. "Users in Birmingham, AL, Austin, TX, and San Diego, CA, will not be able to connect to the internet this morning." AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! So I finally reach a representative, and he says he can't put in a trouble ticket on my modem because there's an outage. Call back when the outage is over.
This pisses me off. I hate it when people can't give me a straight answer and when stuff doesn't work.
So I wake up in the morning yesterday and the light on the wireless modem is red. Not good. This means it's not getting a DSL signal. So I call them, and ask them when it's going to be turned on. The first woman I talked to said: "Oh, it's already been turned on." I said, well, there's no signal. Woman: "Ok. I'll transfer you to technical support." I talk to the technical support guy, who opens a "trouble ticket", and says that the technicians will call me back in "four business hours."
So I wait four business hours, no dice. Wait a little longer. Still no dice. I call back. After waiting on hold, another woman tells me that "Your signal might not be turned on." I say, well, the first woman told me that it already had been turned on. "All it says here is that it's scheduled to be turned on today, but hasn't yet been turned on, but let me connect you to a technical service rep, maybe they can get you moved up in the queue." Ok, I said. "Hmm," the technical service rep said, "I can't seem to see your modem on the network at all." Hmm, I thought, starting to worry. Is that bad? Does that mean there's something wrong with the lines, etc.? Did she try to connect me, and fail, somehow? Is this gonna take years to fix? All I want is my crappy DSL!!! "Yeah, I definitely can't see it. You're just not hooked up yet." Ugh. What a let down. "It should be up and running by 8 pm."
I go to dinner, and come back around 11. Still red. I call again. I get some really weird, as in stoned, sounding technician. "So, are you plugged right into the wall?" Yes. "Are there any other devices plugged into a phone jack?" No. The only thing that's plugged in is the modem in my house. "Is your phone plugged into a phone jack." NO. THE MODEM IS THE ONLY THING PLUGGED IN. "Fax machine?" NO. THE MODEM IS THE ONLY THING PLUGGED IN. "Any alarm systems at all?" NO! THE MODEM IS THE ONLY THING PLUGGED IN!! Sounding very out of it, he replies: "Ok, ok. Now, why don't we try to turn it off and turn it back on?" I just told you I did that. "Ok, ok. Now, are you talking on a phone that's going through a filter into the phone jack?" NO!!! THE MODEM IS THE ONLY THING PLUGGED IN!!!! "Ok, ok. Do you want to try to powercycle the modem." I JUST DID THAT! I TOLD YOU THAT TWICE!! "Ok, ok. Well, I can't start a trouble ticket, because since you were scheduled to start today, I have to wait until tomorrow." Silence. Anger.
Wake up this morning. Still red. But I had recieved an email (using my neighbor's network), that said that, at 5am, SBC sent me an email confirming that my modem was hooked up. Ok. Maybe it just took awhile, but why, then, is it still red? I call again. I get a recorded message. "Users in Birmingham, AL, Austin, TX, and San Diego, CA, will not be able to connect to the internet this morning." AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! So I finally reach a representative, and he says he can't put in a trouble ticket on my modem because there's an outage. Call back when the outage is over.
This pisses me off. I hate it when people can't give me a straight answer and when stuff doesn't work.
posted by dd0031 at 12:14 PM
4 Comments:
get a cable modem. faster and more reliable. for about the same price. cox is a good service.
Actually, it's a lot more expensive. And you'd have to pay a lot more for a wireless adapter, too.
man, that is the SBC way. Reading this gave me unpleasant flashbacks to my St Louis days, spending hours being shunted back and forth on the "help" line. Remind me to tell you some time about how they had me paying for a phone line for three weeks after I had moved out of STL.
SBC is on my list. My list of place and companies that need to burn. (now, i don't want anyone arresting me for saying this, so i'll qualify it with "I'M NOT GOING TO BURN ANYTHING." but i wouldnt be sad if there was an unfortunate accident.)
Anyway, SBC, Sprint, Comcast, all need to go. So does Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrell, and BedBath&Beyond.
Home Depot, however, has earned their way OFF of my list, because I actually did receive good service several times in a row, at various locations.
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