I'd as soon as take a-beatin'...
I've been fighting with the cable company the past few days. I was visiting the folks earlier this week, and when I got home on Wednesday... I had no TV or internet service. I called the 1-888 number thingy... and they were like, do this and this, wait five minutes, stand on your head (okay, I threw that part in) and then call us back if it still isn't working. Well, that didn't work.. so I called them back. They said it sounded like a technician needed to check it out.. but the first 'window' they had open would be Friday morning. And then they had the gall to ask, "Sir.. is between 8 and 12 on Friday morning convenient for you???"
Keep in mind, I took this week off from work.. and it'd be a complete understatement to say that I didn't want to sit around at home with no TV or internet for two days. I told the agent that was completely unacceptable... and demanded they do something about the issue sooner. She goes, "I understand.. let me contact your local office and see if there is an earlier time slot available. Someone from there should call you back shortly." Well... I gave them an hour... and no one ever called back. Then I was like, screw this, I'm driving out to their office."
I was pretty hot by the time I got there. The long customer service line didn't help cool my temper any either. But then this backwoods hick lady walks in and starts talking outloud so everyone in the line could hear her. "My lans!! I swan 'pon my word 'n honor.. this is a-worse 'an th-DEE EEEM VEEEE. How long yaaawl been a-waitin'? My law... I'd as soon as take a-beatin' as tah come out cheer n' wait..." And I swear it was all I could do to keep from turning around and saying, "You're ABOUT to take a beating if you don't shut the hell up!" But... I bit my tongue and just glared at her.
Anyways.. I finally got to a customer service rep, explained the problem, and she told me to go home and try a couple other things and to call her back on her direct line if that didn't work. She goes, "You can only call this number ONE time. Understand?? Any other problems.. you call the 1-888 number! Do NOT give this number to ANYONE." So I go home... tried what she said.. and it still didn't work. I called her back.. and she said, "Hrmm.. sounds like there's a problem with the line outside your house... although we're not showing a neighborhood outage." I asked her if there was any way they could get a technician to my house sooner. She goes, "Well.. not if there's not an area wide problem. You can call the 1-888 number back and sometimes they can pull some strings that we can't do here."
I called them back... talked to one of the managers and she said, "Well.. I'm showing a timeslot on Thursday between 1 and 3. That's the soonest we could get anyone out there. And after they fix everything, just call us back so we can adjust your bill for the inconvenience." About that time my neighbor got home, and I asked her to see if her cable was working. She said she just had cable internet installed the day before, went to check, and then said it was working just fine. She was like, "You can hang out here and watch TV if you want... or... hang out with your.. um.. other neighbors. Hehe." I thanked her for the offer, but thought I could survive until Thursday afternoon.
Well... at 2:55 the cable guy finally shows. He checks a few wires.. and then discovers that my cable line was cut/disconnected at the pole. I told him about my neighbor having internet installed a couple days prior. He said they contract that work out.. and what probably happened is the guy didn't want to fool with disconnecting an older/nonfunctioning connection.. and simply cut my line and used that connection instead. Yeah.. nice, eh? He said, "He lives just down the street. And if that's what he did.. then he'll have to pay us back three times what he got paid for the job."
Finally.. some retribution... even if not directly for me. At least my cable is working again. So today I called the billing center to see what kinda grace they may bestow for my inconvenience and frustration. And you know what they said?!? "Okay, joo report problem on Wednesday. We feeexed on Tursday. So.. we credit joo two days sir. Seven dollars fourteen ceeents. Is dat all for joo sir?" I really think they *want* a piece of me. I was like, "NO. No, that's not okay. I want to talk to the head of customer service or your supervisor." Then Abdul gets on.. and he's like, "Well sir.. dat all we can do. I go ahead and credit joo back dee 35 dollar service charge too since it was our fault. Okay? So you no have to pay service charge for technician." WHAT THE HELL?
I don't mean to sound so livid over something so... petty really. But it pisses the hell out of me when the sole cable provider in town has you at their mercy.. and all I *can* do is throw a bitch fit until someone decides to take some action. I'm going back to their local office tomorrow and see what they can do. When it took them 4 days and 2 no shows to get my cable hooked up here, they gave me free HBO for 6 months. But I don't want HBO... I want their money. I think they can at least credit me back half this month's bill. Half.. that's all I'm asking for. If I'd been working this week, I would have missed half a day of work.. plus two days without internet and TV... all because some jackass was too lazy to unhook a cable... and they're just offering me a $7 credit? Ridiculous.
Keep in mind, I took this week off from work.. and it'd be a complete understatement to say that I didn't want to sit around at home with no TV or internet for two days. I told the agent that was completely unacceptable... and demanded they do something about the issue sooner. She goes, "I understand.. let me contact your local office and see if there is an earlier time slot available. Someone from there should call you back shortly." Well... I gave them an hour... and no one ever called back. Then I was like, screw this, I'm driving out to their office."
I was pretty hot by the time I got there. The long customer service line didn't help cool my temper any either. But then this backwoods hick lady walks in and starts talking outloud so everyone in the line could hear her. "My lans!! I swan 'pon my word 'n honor.. this is a-worse 'an th-DEE EEEM VEEEE. How long yaaawl been a-waitin'? My law... I'd as soon as take a-beatin' as tah come out cheer n' wait..." And I swear it was all I could do to keep from turning around and saying, "You're ABOUT to take a beating if you don't shut the hell up!" But... I bit my tongue and just glared at her.
Anyways.. I finally got to a customer service rep, explained the problem, and she told me to go home and try a couple other things and to call her back on her direct line if that didn't work. She goes, "You can only call this number ONE time. Understand?? Any other problems.. you call the 1-888 number! Do NOT give this number to ANYONE." So I go home... tried what she said.. and it still didn't work. I called her back.. and she said, "Hrmm.. sounds like there's a problem with the line outside your house... although we're not showing a neighborhood outage." I asked her if there was any way they could get a technician to my house sooner. She goes, "Well.. not if there's not an area wide problem. You can call the 1-888 number back and sometimes they can pull some strings that we can't do here."
I called them back... talked to one of the managers and she said, "Well.. I'm showing a timeslot on Thursday between 1 and 3. That's the soonest we could get anyone out there. And after they fix everything, just call us back so we can adjust your bill for the inconvenience." About that time my neighbor got home, and I asked her to see if her cable was working. She said she just had cable internet installed the day before, went to check, and then said it was working just fine. She was like, "You can hang out here and watch TV if you want... or... hang out with your.. um.. other neighbors. Hehe." I thanked her for the offer, but thought I could survive until Thursday afternoon.
Well... at 2:55 the cable guy finally shows. He checks a few wires.. and then discovers that my cable line was cut/disconnected at the pole. I told him about my neighbor having internet installed a couple days prior. He said they contract that work out.. and what probably happened is the guy didn't want to fool with disconnecting an older/nonfunctioning connection.. and simply cut my line and used that connection instead. Yeah.. nice, eh? He said, "He lives just down the street. And if that's what he did.. then he'll have to pay us back three times what he got paid for the job."
Finally.. some retribution... even if not directly for me. At least my cable is working again. So today I called the billing center to see what kinda grace they may bestow for my inconvenience and frustration. And you know what they said?!? "Okay, joo report problem on Wednesday. We feeexed on Tursday. So.. we credit joo two days sir. Seven dollars fourteen ceeents. Is dat all for joo sir?" I really think they *want* a piece of me. I was like, "NO. No, that's not okay. I want to talk to the head of customer service or your supervisor." Then Abdul gets on.. and he's like, "Well sir.. dat all we can do. I go ahead and credit joo back dee 35 dollar service charge too since it was our fault. Okay? So you no have to pay service charge for technician." WHAT THE HELL?
I don't mean to sound so livid over something so... petty really. But it pisses the hell out of me when the sole cable provider in town has you at their mercy.. and all I *can* do is throw a bitch fit until someone decides to take some action. I'm going back to their local office tomorrow and see what they can do. When it took them 4 days and 2 no shows to get my cable hooked up here, they gave me free HBO for 6 months. But I don't want HBO... I want their money. I think they can at least credit me back half this month's bill. Half.. that's all I'm asking for. If I'd been working this week, I would have missed half a day of work.. plus two days without internet and TV... all because some jackass was too lazy to unhook a cable... and they're just offering me a $7 credit? Ridiculous.