jfinn
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2002
- Posts
- 593
Sorry, I apologize for the length of this rant and it undoubtably belongs on the General Board, but those people scare me 
and you all are way more sympathetic. Besides I just read Dr. M's thread, Please wait for an important message, and it made me think of this--like I need much of a reminder since I've been living this nightmare for three months--so here goes.
I moved in October. Moving is and always will be a pain in the ass, but this time there was a little extra agony layered on the mix. It started innocently enough. The phone company I'd been using had lousy service (except when it came to getting paid, they were always on top of that) and I thought this would be a good excuse to get a new service. I called around and got some quotes and finally decided to go with AT&T because the price was about average and they promised a hookup in five business days once I placed the order. I also asked about DSL, but was told that regretably, I didn't qualify since my computer apparently didn't meet their high standards even though I have several friends who have equipment that makes mine look like a brand new Lexus and they have DSL.
The only thing was the moving date was pretty fluid because new carpet had to be laid and painting had to be done etc. So I set everything up and then told them I'd call them when I actually knew when I'd need them. The next bit will be easier to understand if I do it like a diary.
October 3rd: finally set the moving date for Oct 10th. I called AT&T, spoke to a nice guy named Mike and gave him the happy news. He said the phone would be on that day.
October 10th: no phone, but too busy to do anything about it. Decided to call after the weekend.
October 13th: called on my cell (Which hasvery limited minutes since I usually don't use it that much.)and spoke to Carrie. Very friendly, said they had the info about where to hook up, but didn't show the order. I told here I'd spoken with Mike and she said she'd put the order in, but since she still couldn't find the original order confirmation, it wouldn't be until Friday the 17th until service would actually start.
October 17th: since I work nights and sleep days it wasn't until 6PM that I tried the phone. No service. No one at the service center either. Their message said call back during regular business hours.
October 20th: called and went through the normal voice mail hell. I wanted to talk to a human, but I was put on hold for so long I gave up and called back through the automated area to see when they had my service scheduled. The computer's voice (Forrest Gump has found his vocation) informed me that my phone was scheduled to be turned on the next day, October 21st. I wondered why the hell it was taking so long, but I still couldn't get through to the service center to talk to a breathing entity. After three tries I gave up.
October 21st: got up at 4:30 just to see if Ma Bell and I were now all set with each other. Dead air. Called again on my cell and was told that sometimes it takes a while for the service to kick in and to wait until after six to see if I was connected. Six came and no phone. Of course the service center was closed by then.
October 22nd: as soon as I got home from work I called AT&T. First I checked the automated service- yes, they had installed my phone service. Except I didn't have a dial tone. I hung up and called back and after twenty minutes of "Your call is important to us..." I talked to Kyle. I think Kyle is the guy on the computer tape. At least he talked as slowly and gave out as much information as that did, which is pretty much zip.
He told me the phone was connected. I told him it wasn't. He said it must be a problem with my inhouse line and that he'd send out a phone repairman. It would only cost me a $135.00. I told him I didn't want to pay $135.00, even if it was spread out over three payments on my bill, and especially since I doubted there was a problem with the inhouse line or any other line since the people who'd just moved had had AT&T and managed to have a dial tone for twelve years. He said it had to be my house because --are you ready for this-- the phone company doesn't make mistakes. He also suggested that since the repairman was going to be coming out anyway, that I might want to consider having some additional wall jacks installed since it would only cost $90.00 a half hour, which he apparently thought was a real steal (so did I, literally) and should be taken advantage of even though this place has jacks in every room including the furnace room in the basement. I decided Kyle was an idiot who needed to be humored and told him I'd get back to him about the repairman and hung up.
I then called another company that had been recommended to me. I was told me they'd love to give me service and at a cheaper rate, but first I needed to be connected by someone else since they didn't do that. I called MCI, whom they'd informed me was the only other company in my area who did hookups and coincidentally my old carrier. They made me go through this huge confession about why I'd left them in the first place, then reluctantly agreed to give me service in "three to four weeks". I put myself on the list, but decided I'd give AT&T another shot in the meantime.
I called them back and this time I got Debbi, I don't know if that's how she spelled it, but I'm betting it is and with a heart instead of dot over the 'i'. Perky is the word that describes this girl. She cooed and gushed and said how frustrating this all must be for me, then she checked and said that yes the computer showed I was all set at 2364 ... This made me pretty perky now too since I live at 2463... Oops, Debbi said. That must be the problem. Yeah, no shit. Especially when I later discovered that there is no 2364.
But Debbi apologized profusely and was so damn sweet I couldn't help but say if they could just come back and fix it I'd forgive and forget. She was thrilled and told me my new install date would be no later than 11AM. On October 27th.
I was puzzled. Why so long since this was obviously a mistake on their part. Debbi sweetly explained that service was rendered on a first come, first serve basis and that meant I'd have to wait five business days. I came back with the logical (I thought) argument that if that were really true, then they should be out in front of my place in the next ten minutes. She laughed. SHE LAUGHED!!!
I suddenly didn't give a shit how sweet she was and let her have it with both barrels. Debbi got real quiet and with what sounded like tears in her voice, told me that was just the way they did things and if I didn't like it I might want to find another company to deal with. She had me and she knew it. I scheduled the service.
October 27th: I was excited. I was sure I was finally getting a phone. At 10AM I picked up the receiver--no dial tone, but it was early. At Noon it was the same. At 1PM, at 2PM, at 3PM... Are you seeing a pattern here? I gave up and went to bed. There was still no phone by the time I left for work.
October 28th: this time I got Chuck. Apparently he'd heard about me, because when I said my name, I could hear the cautious tone creep into his voice (I didn't think I'd been that bad with Debbi.) I told him I still didnt have a working landline. He told me the computer showed I did and that maybe I had problems with my inhouse wiring. It was a good thing Chuck is in a different state. But I took a deep breath and asked him what address had been hooked up. There was some tapping and then he came back on the line and said, 2363. At least they were getting closer.
We went through the same song and dance I'd done the week before with Debbi except this time when he rescheduled me for November 7th I asked to speak to a supervisor--I'd asked before, but apparently not with any conviction because the others had never even responded. Chuck did however. He told me no.
I told him to get off his behind and get me his boss right now. He hung up.
I called back, I never found out the name of this one. I didn't care; I had no intention of talking to her, I wanted to talk to the boss. She transferred me to a Mr. Brown (un huh, sure), he sounded a lot like Kyle. I asked if he was the supervisor of the customer service area and his response was a nebulous, "I'm the person who can help you." which would have been nice--and a first-- if it were really true. We finally agreed, well I insisted and he didn't actually say no, that I'd have my phone by the next day, Thursday at the latest, and that someone from 'that division' would call me back in 24 hours.
October 27th: no one called back.
October 28th: no one called back.
October 29th: I called them and after 45 minutes finally got to 'that division' that was in charge of connecting service. Some guy named Hank looked it up and let me know my phone would be connected no later than November 11. His timing was unfortunate since I'd just gotten home from a really bad night at work and had gotten my butt chewed because my boss had tried to call me on the landline number I'd given him and gotten a this number is not in service notice so being told I was going to have to wait another week was really not a good thing for Hank to be doing right then.
He listened to my rant and then told me I needed to 'lighten up'. I asked to speak to his boss and he told me I didn't need to be rude. I told him I'd tried nice, humor, frustration and none of that had worked so rude seemed to be the next logical step. Apparently he didn't agree because he hung up on me.
I got in my car and went to the library and signed into the internet. Do you know that AT&T must be the only company in the world that doesn't list their officers? They also don't provide a corporate address. I went back home wondering how many minutes I was going to have to pay extra on my cell phone that had now become my only link to the outside world.
November 3rd: I called MCI to find out the exact date I'd be hooked up with them. They said that since I hadn't called back--not that they'd asked me too-- they'd actually not scheduled me for hookup and now it would be 'the end of November' before I could get service. I asked 'Bob' how this could be and his reply was 'Remember that old Lily Tomlin sketch? It's really true." At least he was honest about it.
November 11th: on the off chance that Assholes, Tyrants and Thieves might have actually done what they said they would, I picked up my phone. Nope and since I'm a masochist from way back, I decided to call them one more time. This was when I got my first lucky break in this whole sad tale.
See, I had to look them up in the phone book since I'd deleted them from my cell and torn up they're little welcome letter into teeny, tiny pieces. In the Yellow Pages, AT&T is right after Ameritech and thank the gods, I called the wrong number. Now I'd never bothered with them because I'd been told they weren't a carrier in my area, but just for fun (and because I was desperate) I decided to hang on the line and ask them myself. I talked to Monica. Yes, they serviced my area, yes they could turn on my service, yes, they really did charge ten bucks a month less than MCI and AT&T and they could have the whole thing up and running in two days. And guess what, they did!
I called AT&T and MCI and told them to take their service and shove it. Both of them were so sorry I wasn't going to be their customer, but if I ever changed my mind, I knew where to find them. Uh huh, that's going to happen.
Oh, and another thing about Ameritech. They had DSL, my computer was just fine for it and they were running a special, half price for a year if I kept them as my phone company.
This should have been the end of my tale, but two weeks ago I got a little love note from AT&T and it wasn't a Christmas card. It was a late notice for a bill for $97.00 for 'Services rendered'. Seems like they finally got the right address.
I stuck it in a drawer. Screw 'em, they want to talk about this, let 'em call me.
Jayne
and you all are way more sympathetic. Besides I just read Dr. M's thread, Please wait for an important message, and it made me think of this--like I need much of a reminder since I've been living this nightmare for three months--so here goes.I moved in October. Moving is and always will be a pain in the ass, but this time there was a little extra agony layered on the mix. It started innocently enough. The phone company I'd been using had lousy service (except when it came to getting paid, they were always on top of that) and I thought this would be a good excuse to get a new service. I called around and got some quotes and finally decided to go with AT&T because the price was about average and they promised a hookup in five business days once I placed the order. I also asked about DSL, but was told that regretably, I didn't qualify since my computer apparently didn't meet their high standards even though I have several friends who have equipment that makes mine look like a brand new Lexus and they have DSL.
The only thing was the moving date was pretty fluid because new carpet had to be laid and painting had to be done etc. So I set everything up and then told them I'd call them when I actually knew when I'd need them. The next bit will be easier to understand if I do it like a diary.
October 3rd: finally set the moving date for Oct 10th. I called AT&T, spoke to a nice guy named Mike and gave him the happy news. He said the phone would be on that day.
October 10th: no phone, but too busy to do anything about it. Decided to call after the weekend.
October 13th: called on my cell (Which hasvery limited minutes since I usually don't use it that much.)and spoke to Carrie. Very friendly, said they had the info about where to hook up, but didn't show the order. I told here I'd spoken with Mike and she said she'd put the order in, but since she still couldn't find the original order confirmation, it wouldn't be until Friday the 17th until service would actually start.
October 17th: since I work nights and sleep days it wasn't until 6PM that I tried the phone. No service. No one at the service center either. Their message said call back during regular business hours.
October 20th: called and went through the normal voice mail hell. I wanted to talk to a human, but I was put on hold for so long I gave up and called back through the automated area to see when they had my service scheduled. The computer's voice (Forrest Gump has found his vocation) informed me that my phone was scheduled to be turned on the next day, October 21st. I wondered why the hell it was taking so long, but I still couldn't get through to the service center to talk to a breathing entity. After three tries I gave up.
October 21st: got up at 4:30 just to see if Ma Bell and I were now all set with each other. Dead air. Called again on my cell and was told that sometimes it takes a while for the service to kick in and to wait until after six to see if I was connected. Six came and no phone. Of course the service center was closed by then.
October 22nd: as soon as I got home from work I called AT&T. First I checked the automated service- yes, they had installed my phone service. Except I didn't have a dial tone. I hung up and called back and after twenty minutes of "Your call is important to us..." I talked to Kyle. I think Kyle is the guy on the computer tape. At least he talked as slowly and gave out as much information as that did, which is pretty much zip.
He told me the phone was connected. I told him it wasn't. He said it must be a problem with my inhouse line and that he'd send out a phone repairman. It would only cost me a $135.00. I told him I didn't want to pay $135.00, even if it was spread out over three payments on my bill, and especially since I doubted there was a problem with the inhouse line or any other line since the people who'd just moved had had AT&T and managed to have a dial tone for twelve years. He said it had to be my house because --are you ready for this-- the phone company doesn't make mistakes. He also suggested that since the repairman was going to be coming out anyway, that I might want to consider having some additional wall jacks installed since it would only cost $90.00 a half hour, which he apparently thought was a real steal (so did I, literally) and should be taken advantage of even though this place has jacks in every room including the furnace room in the basement. I decided Kyle was an idiot who needed to be humored and told him I'd get back to him about the repairman and hung up.
I then called another company that had been recommended to me. I was told me they'd love to give me service and at a cheaper rate, but first I needed to be connected by someone else since they didn't do that. I called MCI, whom they'd informed me was the only other company in my area who did hookups and coincidentally my old carrier. They made me go through this huge confession about why I'd left them in the first place, then reluctantly agreed to give me service in "three to four weeks". I put myself on the list, but decided I'd give AT&T another shot in the meantime.
I called them back and this time I got Debbi, I don't know if that's how she spelled it, but I'm betting it is and with a heart instead of dot over the 'i'. Perky is the word that describes this girl. She cooed and gushed and said how frustrating this all must be for me, then she checked and said that yes the computer showed I was all set at 2364 ... This made me pretty perky now too since I live at 2463... Oops, Debbi said. That must be the problem. Yeah, no shit. Especially when I later discovered that there is no 2364.
But Debbi apologized profusely and was so damn sweet I couldn't help but say if they could just come back and fix it I'd forgive and forget. She was thrilled and told me my new install date would be no later than 11AM. On October 27th.
I was puzzled. Why so long since this was obviously a mistake on their part. Debbi sweetly explained that service was rendered on a first come, first serve basis and that meant I'd have to wait five business days. I came back with the logical (I thought) argument that if that were really true, then they should be out in front of my place in the next ten minutes. She laughed. SHE LAUGHED!!!
I suddenly didn't give a shit how sweet she was and let her have it with both barrels. Debbi got real quiet and with what sounded like tears in her voice, told me that was just the way they did things and if I didn't like it I might want to find another company to deal with. She had me and she knew it. I scheduled the service.
October 27th: I was excited. I was sure I was finally getting a phone. At 10AM I picked up the receiver--no dial tone, but it was early. At Noon it was the same. At 1PM, at 2PM, at 3PM... Are you seeing a pattern here? I gave up and went to bed. There was still no phone by the time I left for work.
October 28th: this time I got Chuck. Apparently he'd heard about me, because when I said my name, I could hear the cautious tone creep into his voice (I didn't think I'd been that bad with Debbi.) I told him I still didnt have a working landline. He told me the computer showed I did and that maybe I had problems with my inhouse wiring. It was a good thing Chuck is in a different state. But I took a deep breath and asked him what address had been hooked up. There was some tapping and then he came back on the line and said, 2363. At least they were getting closer.
We went through the same song and dance I'd done the week before with Debbi except this time when he rescheduled me for November 7th I asked to speak to a supervisor--I'd asked before, but apparently not with any conviction because the others had never even responded. Chuck did however. He told me no.
I told him to get off his behind and get me his boss right now. He hung up.
I called back, I never found out the name of this one. I didn't care; I had no intention of talking to her, I wanted to talk to the boss. She transferred me to a Mr. Brown (un huh, sure), he sounded a lot like Kyle. I asked if he was the supervisor of the customer service area and his response was a nebulous, "I'm the person who can help you." which would have been nice--and a first-- if it were really true. We finally agreed, well I insisted and he didn't actually say no, that I'd have my phone by the next day, Thursday at the latest, and that someone from 'that division' would call me back in 24 hours.
October 27th: no one called back.
October 28th: no one called back.
October 29th: I called them and after 45 minutes finally got to 'that division' that was in charge of connecting service. Some guy named Hank looked it up and let me know my phone would be connected no later than November 11. His timing was unfortunate since I'd just gotten home from a really bad night at work and had gotten my butt chewed because my boss had tried to call me on the landline number I'd given him and gotten a this number is not in service notice so being told I was going to have to wait another week was really not a good thing for Hank to be doing right then.
He listened to my rant and then told me I needed to 'lighten up'. I asked to speak to his boss and he told me I didn't need to be rude. I told him I'd tried nice, humor, frustration and none of that had worked so rude seemed to be the next logical step. Apparently he didn't agree because he hung up on me.
I got in my car and went to the library and signed into the internet. Do you know that AT&T must be the only company in the world that doesn't list their officers? They also don't provide a corporate address. I went back home wondering how many minutes I was going to have to pay extra on my cell phone that had now become my only link to the outside world.
November 3rd: I called MCI to find out the exact date I'd be hooked up with them. They said that since I hadn't called back--not that they'd asked me too-- they'd actually not scheduled me for hookup and now it would be 'the end of November' before I could get service. I asked 'Bob' how this could be and his reply was 'Remember that old Lily Tomlin sketch? It's really true." At least he was honest about it.
November 11th: on the off chance that Assholes, Tyrants and Thieves might have actually done what they said they would, I picked up my phone. Nope and since I'm a masochist from way back, I decided to call them one more time. This was when I got my first lucky break in this whole sad tale.
See, I had to look them up in the phone book since I'd deleted them from my cell and torn up they're little welcome letter into teeny, tiny pieces. In the Yellow Pages, AT&T is right after Ameritech and thank the gods, I called the wrong number. Now I'd never bothered with them because I'd been told they weren't a carrier in my area, but just for fun (and because I was desperate) I decided to hang on the line and ask them myself. I talked to Monica. Yes, they serviced my area, yes they could turn on my service, yes, they really did charge ten bucks a month less than MCI and AT&T and they could have the whole thing up and running in two days. And guess what, they did!
I called AT&T and MCI and told them to take their service and shove it. Both of them were so sorry I wasn't going to be their customer, but if I ever changed my mind, I knew where to find them. Uh huh, that's going to happen.
Oh, and another thing about Ameritech. They had DSL, my computer was just fine for it and they were running a special, half price for a year if I kept them as my phone company.
This should have been the end of my tale, but two weeks ago I got a little love note from AT&T and it wasn't a Christmas card. It was a late notice for a bill for $97.00 for 'Services rendered'. Seems like they finally got the right address.
I stuck it in a drawer. Screw 'em, they want to talk about this, let 'em call me.
Jayne
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