The Joys of Telecommunications (Raging Against The Machine)

[tcepsa]

Early last week I called up Cox to cancel my cable service, since I hardly ever watch TV and I'm moving very soon. They said that someone would be able to come by and disconnect the service and take the hardware back between 8AM and 12AM on Saturday, Sept. 3. I had planned to go to blushing_grace and lizkayl's birthday party that afternoon, which was scheduled to start around 2-ish. In my world, that's not a conflict. Apparently, however, my grasp of the English language is not what it once was, because by 12:45, nobody had gotten to my apartment to reclaim my box, and my cable was still active. I gave them a call, and the customer service representative (CSR) told me that someone would be there "very soon" as though we were still within the target window. So I figured it would only be a few more minutes and did some puttering about, since I figured I wouldn't have much time to wait and then I wanted to head out shortly after that for the birthday party, so I wouldn't have enough time to accomplish anything significant (say, for example, wash a load of laundry or write a symphony).

Apparently I should have sat down with ink and staff paper, because two hours later, still no technician. I called up again and got a more helpful CSR who told me that they probably had already made the call and just not realized they were supposed to pick up the box, but my cable should be disconnected. She waited patiently while I reconnected the box (which I had disconnected and placed next to the door to facilitate the technician's job and minimize the amount of time I had to wait once the technician arrived before I could head out) and determined that either the cable had not been disconnected, or there was in fact a little person in my TV who can draw very fast and is also an extremely accomplished voice actor. Occam's Razor dictated we assume that it was the former. The CSR proceeded in a valiant attempt to contact the dispatch office, but they were apparently screening their calls that day and not answering anything that might have resulted in them having to do actual work, because she got no answer either of the times she attempted to contact them. So we arranged for me to instead drop the box off at one of their handy customer service locations and she changed the order to reflect that I simply needed my cable disconnected.

I proceeded to the customer service office, where I waited in line somewhere between fifteen minutes and half an hour to drop off my equipment (apparently I was not the only one who thought that "between 8AM and 12AM" meant "sometime in the morning," because there were several other people there doing the same thing). Fortunately, there were still people at the birthday party when I got there (it's really weird having friends who are so laid back about time; I'm so used to people always being uptight if I'm even a few minutes late that it kind of throws me for a loop when I show up a few hours late and I get a big, warm welcome. It's really great :)

Fast-forward to Tuesday. I get home around 7pm since I was working late on some stuff, and I see that there's a notice hanging on my door. Apparently, the technician had been by that day to disconnect my service and collect my hardware, but had been unable to get the box back because I wasn't home when he dropped by. I figured I would give them a call and find out what was up, so I went into the house and picked up the phone...

The chilling sound of no dial tone met my eardrum and sent a lack of vibration down my aural canal that shook me to my core.

I figured maybe it was a glitch. Tried resetting the phone box. Tried my internet connection, also to no avail. Tried resetting the cable modem. Cable light stayed dark. Visualized cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Managed not to panic thanks to the large, friendly letters. Went downstairs to the pay phone in the lobby and called the number left on the door-hanger. Found out that the order had not actually been changed to say not to pick up the box ([snark]but then again, since he apparently mis-read the date and time, I wouldn't have been surprised if he just missed that part as well[/snark]). I told him that I no longer had signal to my phone or cable modem, and he said to try to reset them and then if that didn't work, give customer service a call. I went back up to my apartment and tried resetting it, but it remained light deficient.

So it was back to the lobby to call the customer service desk. After going through the automated system (which did absolutely no good) I got a Real Live Person on the other end. This also did, essentially, no good. He said basically the same thing that the automated system had said, namely that he couldn't see the modem on the network and therefore couldn't do anything about it. I asked him whether they had disconnected my phone and internet service at the same time that they had disconnected the cable. He said that they shouldn't have, and there were a few other things that I could try. *sigh* I don't know about anybody else out there, but when I know more about the system than the supposed expert that I am talking to on the other end, I wish I were a cartoon character so I could reach through the phone and do something excruciatingly painful and anatomically impossible to them. I had a moment like that when the guy started telling me to refresh my IP address. The problem is not my computer. The problem is that the little light on the front of the cable modem--the one that indicates whether my modem is getting a signal from the main cable box--is off. Therefore, it doesn't matter what my IP address is, because there's no connection between my computer and anything else that would need the IP address. I tried to explain this to him, and his response was basically, "Well, you're running Windows XP, right?" to which I explained that no, I am running Linux. He told me that they didn't support Linux, which prompted another bout of me-wishing-I-was-a-cartoon. I think I may have in fact attempted to stick my hand into the phone at that point. Again, right now I am not really concerned as to whether you support my operating system. DO YOU SUPPORT YOUR OWN CABLE MODEM HARDWARE?!?

He told me there was nothing he could do, he would have to set up an appointment for a technician to come down and take a look at my equipment, and could I be there between 10 and 12 the next day? I asked him whether I had to be there for them to fix a problem that was in the wiring cabinet. He said no, but if the problem wasn't in the wiring cabinet then I might get charged for having them make a trip out there for nothing. I decided not to chance it, because right now I don't trust them not to show up, knock on my door, realize I am not there, turn around and leave without even looking at the wiring closet, and fine me for failing to keep the appointment. That's another thing I get a kick out of. They can fine me if I don't keep the appointment, but I can't do anything except cancel my service if they don't keep theirs. And even then, I either have to be there so they can pick up the equipment (in yet another appointment which, if they don't keep, what am I going to do about it?), or take an hour out of my schedule to drive to the drop off place, stand in line, and return their equipment myself. So anyway, didn't want to risk not being there. So I've got an appointment for next Tuesday for them to come out and take a look at it, because that's the earliest time they had available that I wouldn't have to miss work for. If they even show up. UPDATE (see comments for details): They do offer recompense for customers in my area if they don't keep an appointment, and they've agreed to stop by tomorrow and take a look

Bottom line, I'm tempted to call them up and tell them not to even bother, since I'm not going to be living there for long after that anyway. I'm planning on getting my rent check paid early next week, so I could just go down and enjoy a not broken network, and at the same time stop paying for services that I'm not receiving. At the most, I'll be without connectivity for a day or two more than I would be otherwise, which doesn't seem like a big deal to me since I'll be focusing on other things anyway (like packing!)

Anyone out there have possible reasons why I should keep it?

Comments

[dwarfrage.livejournal.com]

Ditch it if you can survive without it. NO sense in stressing.

Sidenote, I'm only relaxed about time if I have nothing waiting on you. Had it been a small private dinner and you'd been two hours late I would have strangled you. Or forced you to take me sailing the next day. Or beaten you bruised. All of those have happened.

But for a party where nothing is waiting on anyone, it's show up when you want, leave when you want. At least if I'm hosting. If I'm a guest, it's show up early and leave late, but that's becuase I like my friends. :)

[tcepsa.livejournal.com]

*nod* That's a good distinction to be aware of. I guess it's more that I'm not used to showing up to a party like that and not feeling awkward or out of place for missing part of it.

It's interesting for me to realize that if it had been a small private dinner I would have told Cox to forget about it when they hadn't shown up by 12:45, so that I would have been able to make it in time. In this case, though, I stressed for another three hours about not being there when I said that I would "try to show up" around 2.

Apparently, somewhere along the line I started to equate "I'll try to be there around X" with "I will do everything in my power to be there by that time and if I don't make it I will feel really bad." Time to start untangling that...

[elkor.livejournal.com]

Down in Hampton, Cox has an "on time gaurantee" where if they don't make it in the time they promise, you get a $50 credit on your service. They don't have that up here?

I'm planning on getting my rent check paid early next week, so I could just go down and enjoy a not broken network, and at the same time stop paying for services that I'm not receiving.

Sounds like a plan.

[tcepsa.livejournal.com]

I just got off the phone with them--it turns out that they do have a $20 credit up here. Thanks for pointing that out! :) Also, the guy I talked to this time said that they could have a technician stop by and check outside tomorrow, but that if it didn't fix it then I'd have to set up another appointment. That seems more reasonable than waiting until Tuesday, so I'll give it a shot and then determine what to do based on whether they get it reconnected or not.