October 23, 2008
-
Customer Service 2
I am surprised but very pleased with the response I got on the " abortion" post. Most people, even if they disagreed with me on my pro choice stance, were respectful and intelligent. Thanks for all the " thoughtful" comments. I think I replied to all, even if you were rude.
But enough of the heavy stuff. I need to go back to my regular blogging style. I hope all the new subs are not disappointed with my non controversial and my usually sarcastic entries.
So although I am sure I will not generate anything close to the response I got in my earlier entry, I need to talk about something that happened in the last couple days, even though I already wrote something similar a few weeks ago.
The other night I lost my Internet. I learned this at 2:00am. during an insomnia episode. I won't out my service provider, lets call them Camcoust.
Ring Ring: Automated person answers: Thank you for calling Camcoust, for Internet press 1, for phone service press 2, for digital TV. press 3.
I press 1
Auto Person: If you want to speak to someone who does not have an Indian accent press 5
I press 5
Auto person: Honey it's 2:00 am. your getting someone in India.Okay, part of that didn't happen, but you know what I mean. Anyway after much button pushing, and a very long wait with crappy music, that repeated itself, over and over and over, I get a person
Samir: This is Samir from India, I mean Indiana, how can I be of assistance to you on this day?
Me: I have no Internet
Samir: I can help you, please you will press many buttons on your modem and unplug many things.
Me: Okay
Samir: You are getting no signal, please stay on hold for another two hours and enjoy our music that repeats and if we are to be disconnected you will not be called back.
me: okay
Two hours later
Samir: You have problem in your area, it will be fixed soon. goodbye
The next day, still no Internet
I call
After after pressing many buttons and being on hold for an even longer time, with the same crappy music, that repeats every two min. I get whom I assume is American ( no accent)
Jack: ( sounding tired and bored) Camcoust, what's the problem
Me: I have no Internet, I was wondering, when the problem in the area will be fixed?
Jack checks
Jack: Mam, you have no signal
Me: Right, can you tell me when that will be fixed?
Jack: There is no problem in the area am.
Me: What????? So Samir lied?
Jack: I don't know who Samir is mam, but we are getting no signal. Would you like to make a service appointment?
After checking to make sure I still had cable, I make an appointment for Tue. Oct. 22nd
Next DAY: I call my mom at 7:00 am and make her read my Xanga comments. I go to work and sneak off to the library, make them take off all controls and check my xanga comments.
I AM NOT ADDICTED!
Expunge ( ex husband who I live with, keep up) Hey, did you do something to the cable? It's not working.
I freak out and run to the nearest TV. Nothing. I run to the TV. in my room, it works, phew.
I call again
Auto Person: Please press 1 if you would like to cancel your appointment for ( long pause) Tue. Oct. 28th
WHAT? NO, NO, NO. My appointment was for the 22nd!!!!!! Not a week from now!!!!!!
AFTER A REALLY LONG WAIT I GET A PERSON.
Tampon: Camcoust, hows can I helps you?
Me: Okay first, I made an apt. for tomorrow and your auto person is telling me it's next week. Unacceptable. Second, ONE of my TV.'s is not working but the other one is. It was just the Internet before.
Tampon: I sees yous have a service appointment on the 28th of OCT. would you likes to cancel that?
Me: What I would like is my original apt. tomorrow, I can't go without Internet for a week. I NEED IT! Umm, for my blog job. And besides I pay you guys a lot of money each month and I was told I would have someone coming out tomorrow and that's when I want them!
Tampon: mam, the earliest we can have someone come out is Tue. the 28th. we ain't got nothing for you tomorrow.
Me: scream
Tampon: Let me connect yous with a supervisor.
No lie, I am on hold for 45 min. then ...
SOUND OF DIAL TONE!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!
I call back. I am seething now, my heart is palpitating. I am near tears. I get Mike
Mike has me do a million things, unplug stuff, replug stuff, type in codes, etc... I tell him what is blinking on the little box. I tell him one TV. works fine, I ask him how that could be?
I beg him. I say " I can't wait a week Mike" I don't like blogging working from the library. They close at 9:00 pm.!!!!
Mike tells me he can have someone come out the next morning. I take off work.
I never get my phone call 1/2 hour before he shows up. I have been looking out the window all morning though and see his truck. I run to great him.He presses the standby button on my black box. I am connected to the INTERNET.
He switches a light switch to on. My TV. cable works.
I feel dumb. I blame Samir and the idiot who hooked us up and didn't explain about the light switch. I simultaneously hug Mike while threatening him to kill him if he charges me.
He seems scared. He does not charge me, he leaves.
I do office work to make up for my lost three hours.
I hate Camcoust.
I love Xanga!
Comments (27)
They should have told you ot press the reset button on the back of your modem.
Everytime Comcast has a maintainance outage and we loose part, or all of it, we have to reset that button on the back of the modem.
They were out here for 2 days also and things just got straightened out today.
I had internet but it was slow, and the comcast phone was all garbled and cable was not affected.
Happy you got everything fixed.
PuppyLover told me that before the cable guy came to the house, he would call her and she would call me so I would know to expect him and let him in and he wouldn't drive away saying, "Nobody let me in so I couldn't do nuthin'." He had already done that once. I happened to be outside when his truck drove up. I called PuppyLover on the phone and did my best to sound angry. "Why did you not let me know that the cable guy was about to drive up?!? I wasn't expecting him! Why couldn't you let me know he had called you? I thought that was the arrangement we had." PuppyLover almost believed I was angry, but not quite. We both know that the truth is that cable feels they have you by the short hairs. They don't have to give reasonable instructions on the phone. They don't have to call you back. They don't have to call before they come, even though they say they will. They don't have to keep appointments that they make, unless some Jewish mom gets on the phone and talks them into it (sorry, I couldn't resist). So, yeah, I understand your frustration with your internet service provider. Also, I am impressed that you were able to make them do something the next day. You did well to watch for their truck. Your victory was the result of your determination and tenacity. I suggest you celebrate!
Does your provider have any competition in your service area? Ours does, but hasn't always had competition. In the years since, our original provider has become much more attentive with regard to service issues. You actually get someone you can understand, and I must say that the few times I have had a problem, they have been wonderful. We just have them for TV. We do phone and internet with another company, because we got a bundled rate.
I hate that you had such a hassle with Comcast. I've heard horrible things about them. They are in K.C., but not my service area. Glad things are back to "normal" for you!
Kathi
I. HATE. COMCAST. too
in fact, I hated them so much I actually did a dance in the street when I found out I could switch to another company. When I called to cancel my comcast service, I told them where they could put their equipment (that I really wanted to run over with a truck).
I just heard on the news yesterday that comcast is raising their cable rates, again, by 3%. bastards!! I also heard today they are laying off 500 employees. Probably so their super absorbent tampons can have a raise.
I hope you can free yourself from the death grips of comcast soon!
a very accurate account of what I went through recently too! LOL
I hate when it turns out to be the simplest thing! Usually I just unplug from the outlet any more and that does the trick. I know from past experience that the garbage disposal has a little hex key hooked onto the cupboard door....when I think it's broken...I get that key and read the instructions...which also include hitting the red reset button on the bottom.
LOL, I missed you!
Lady! you is a very funny crazy person ... LOL...
LOL! Glad you got your internet back.
Hilarious!
@stixandstonz - me too, grrr to them!!!!! One of the people did reset it on the phone, but the guy who came out said if so much stuff is blinking it's the standby button.
@MixedUpMale - ha ha ha. I think I will! I deserved my next day apt. but what I really deserved was for Samir to tell me to try pressing the standby button and all of this could have been avoided.
@Still_groovy - No, Comcast is it for us.
@MorningAngel - thank you and ha ha ha ha ha to your comment.
@SouthForkCheerMom - THEY SUCK
@PrincessFiveandDime - If original guy Samir didn't have me do 100 things, it would have been simple, I probably would have figured it out myself!!!
@flaminredhead - thanks
@wrytercatblue - I am crazy, thanks.
@getreal64 - me too
@Daylily02 - thanks, it is NOW. I really was crying.
Bah. I'm really glad that at this point in life, we're pretty good at trouble-shooting our own stuff. I detest calling any form of customer service. Sprint ranks lowest on that list...no, really...I would rather have a root canal and a colonoscopy scheduled for the same day than have to speak with someone from their company. On phone or in store. Doesn't matter. Actually...I take that back...I think in store was actually worse...last 'round of that I came closer to being arrested than I'm comfortable with... The counter rep proclaimed loudly [and inaccurately] in front of the police officer working with counter rep next to us, "Oh. That's the problem! This phone is stolen." No, it's not you iiiiidiot. Your company swapped out the phone - because it was a POS and wouldn't work - but not the box for it...of course the numbers on the box and in the phone don't match! I've explained that to you 12 times!! DEATH!! Ahem. Sorry. Needless to say? I feel your pain. If there's a customer service department to be called, I make Tim do it.
@filtered_sunlight - My friend had a week long ordeal with Sprint and almost had a nervous breakdown. I have been told by my son i am NEVER allowed to call " Camcoust" again.
lmao...very good description...when charter went out we didnt even get a real person to talk to...it was all automated trouble shooting!
Wow, are you sure you don't live on my street? Comcast still hasn't got around to fixing 90% of their service area since Ike. The "Comcast Sucks" signs are popping up like weeds all over the place LOL!
I have Comcast for TV, but AT&T for Internet. I hate At&t.
Oh, the torture monopolies put us through! I think the cable company and the gas company are just plain evil. They have us by the gonads and they KNOW it, damn their cold, calculating little hearts.
@brandi_shawn - that sucks
@radicalramblings - ha ha ha. I am putting one of them in my yard
@mstigerfrogs - they all suck
@evagarringer - exactly!!!!!
Idiots! I would send them a bill for you having to miss work of their stupidity.
Glad your back.
@awish4you - thanks and yeah, like they would pay it!
The scene you described so well,( as usual), is a result of society's(?) trying to find a compromise somewhere on the graph between
1) the understandable desire for dependable inexpensive service
2)feeding the wish-lists of hundreds of over-valued techno-parasites trying to feed on their meagre contribution to 'progress'
3) our gadgets becoming increasingly in-comprehensible, esp. after reading the equally-so user's manual
and 4) sheer numbers of 'patrons', who become anonymous 'help-me's' at a certain level of multiplicity.
Bottom line: Back to face-to-face conversations, ha. No reset button, but you can always hit the guy on the kopf wid a hammer if he 'don't get it'
I hate comcast.There is no other service provider where I live.I miss it when it was Time Warner.AT&T is supposed to be coming out with a TV provider in a few months.I may look into their internet/tv packages.
I'm not addicted to Xanga, either. Or the internet. Ahem.
Lucky for me my darling husband is very savvy should anything happen to our service (which is NOT Comcaust)or our computer.
I have very little tolerance for bad customer service in any area on any level.
Great post, by the way. I love your sense of humor.
@jsolberg - your definition of the problem was too complicated for me, but did you say i could hit people? Yay
@am1977 - you should competition will make them get on top of things
@mammaquiet - thank you and my ex husband is quite handy himself, but he has no " time" for things that are important to me ( why he is ex husband) Thanks for the compliment.
Sure, Mike didn't charge you. But the guy who shows up on the 28th (whether you want him or not) probably will.
@Bad_Dogma - don't scare me!!!!!!!!! I may be in prison for murder soon.
Hysterical! Keep the cards and letters coming.
P.S. If you want my take on abortion, click here.
Comments are closed.