Triple Played - Part One
Okay, so we decided to jump on the Optimum Online Triple Play bandwagon and get our phone service over the cable and save a few bucks in these trying economic times. Hey, J.D. Power & Associates gave 'em the thumbs up, right? "Highest In Customer Satisfaction" the slick reads.
[1] My initial call to join entails a conversation that *paraphrased* goes something like,
"... with the service upgrade we can receive all the HD channels, right?"
"Yes, as long as your TV is HD and you have the high definition cable box."
"We have a regular box- can I get a HD box?"
"Yes, the tech can bring one out to you and install it."
I should have known better. Nothing is that easy.
[2] Tech 737 arrives around 11:AM and tinkers in my den, locates the phone jack, asks me about the phone set-up and swaps out my old cable modem for one that is voice capable. This fails to initialize and he spends some time with *his* tech back at Optimum. She gets the modem to 'post' or whatever the term was they used.
Tech 737 then asks me a PERTINENT question.
"Do connect via USB or Ethernet?"
"USB. Why?"
"Oh, we don't support USB."
"What?"
"We don't support USB. You'll have to find the driver for your modem if you want to use USB."
"Don't you have the modem driver software?"
"No. We don't support USB. They don't give us discs or anything like that."
"Where can I get the driver software?"
"You can go to one of our walk-in locations..."
At this time the hair on my neck is already standing on end and numb. I knew where the walk-in Optimum store was as I had had difficulty with our box last year when we installed our flat screen television. I had to go there and replace the 'new' unit that tech left us for a unit that wasn't an abused 'reconditioned' box. Now that I think of it, I have to laugh. Duh.
So I decide to *call* ahead and make sure that the walk-in store has what I need, but I don't have their phone number. I decide to call Customer Service and see if they can help. As soon as Tech 737 drives away the phone cuts out right in the middle of my call to Customer Service.
I pull out my cell phone...