The Cable Company, or why I feel that slapstick is not dead.

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,266
126
Sometime the night before Thanksgiving my cable, phone and internet die. Stuff happens. I call and get someone I can't really understand but eventually get the message across. First appointment? Friday 7:00PM. Not thrilled but I plug in my unlimited data plan phone and get 20 down and 9 up. I can live with that. The Cable Guy shows up at 8:15 and then rants because I should have been put on an earlier repair to allow time since all my services went. OK, not his fault. He says "You'll be first tomorrow" So 10:30 AM and two guys roll in. There is no report in the system they say, but then in the next breath read I had no signal. I smell bullshit. So they are standing around outside on the phone. These were supposed to be a line crew, but nope, they are like the guy last night, two of them this time who can't do a damn thing.

Updates will follow.
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,266
126
Someone is having it nearly as bad as me

The communication or lack of it is really what gets me. The workers just left and guess what? They spent close to an hour finding out what the guy last night spend close to an hour learning and that's the problem is at street level, not my home. Now someone is going to show up very very soon, hopefully today, which isn't my idea of "very" anything that's good.
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,266
126
PS, cable people are very angry. Not with me, I can't say that, but I've never had a single call that didn't end in grief for someone. Being out in the weather is crappy, but this isn't that kind of angst.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,747
2,263
126
Well since we are sharing, im in a hostel ( homeless)which is also a really bad hostel, sick with the flu, no pc, garbage wifi on my mobile, and the agency i work for has failed to pay me for the second time in a row, im broke at $0, cannot afford to wash my clothes or even buy a ticket to go to work monday, i have no friends or family (or food) but hey, i love life.
Make 4 cups of tea, one for you, two for the workers. Sit them down and talk to them. Be friendly.

Leave my cup to the side, pretend im there.
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
70,165
28,814
136
I upgraded my DSL service earlier this month. The technician was great, an older guy who understood the system inside out and knew what he was doing. Upgrading the service from 12MB/sec to 20MB/sec required the addition of a second DSL line.

All went well but he made a comment that made me question the sanity of the phone company. The phone wiring in this neighborhood was laid over fifty years ago. He said that if he couldn't get a good signal on a second wire pair, that the phone company would run a new cable from the substation out to the pylon behind our house. Okay, so to upgrade a single customer, they were willing to run (bury) approximately a half mile of cable, on their dime. Here's the part that floored me. The substation also houses a repeater station for a trans-continental fiber line. The phone company won't even consider upgrading our system to fiber yet is willing to replace the copper. Doh.
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,266
126
Well since we are sharing, im in a hostel ( homeless)which is also a really bad hostel, sick with the flu, no pc, garbage wifi on my mobile, and the agency i work for has failed to pay me for the second time in a row, im broke at $0, cannot afford to wash my clothes or even buy a ticket to go to work monday, i have no friends or family (or food) but hey, i love life.
Make 4 cups of tea, one for you, two for the workers. Sit them down and talk to them. Be friendly.

Leave my cup to the side, pretend im there.

I didn't treat them badly at all I'm just frustrated. Does that compare to your situation? Not at all. BTW, I did offer the guy last night tea and the ones today were afraid of my dog and didn't want to come in.
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,329
126
I upgraded my DSL service earlier this month. The technician was great, an older guy who understood the system inside out and knew what he was doing. Upgrading the service from 12MB/sec to 20MB/sec required the addition of a second DSL line.

All went well but he made a comment that made me question the sanity of the phone company. The phone wiring in this neighborhood was laid over fifty years ago. He said that if he couldn't get a good signal on a second wire pair, that the phone company would run a new cable from the substation out to the pylon behind our house. Okay, so to upgrade a single customer, they were willing to run (bury) approximately a half mile of cable, on their dime. Here's the part that floored me. The substation also houses a repeater station for a trans-continental fiber line. The phone company won't even consider upgrading our system to fiber yet is willing to replace the copper. Doh.


That is just absolutely nuts.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,747
2,263
126
Well since we are sharing, im in a hostel ( homeless)which is also a really bad hostel, sick with the flu, no pc, garbage wifi on my mobile, and the agency i work for has failed to pay me for the second time in a row, im broke at $0, cannot afford to wash my clothes or even buy a ticket to go to work monday, i have no friends or family (or food) but hey, i love life.
Make 4 cups of tea, one for you, two for the workers. Sit them down and talk to them. Be friendly.

Leave my cup to the side, pretend im there

I didn't treat them badly at all I'm just frustrated. Does that compare to your situation? Not at all. BTW, I did offer the guy last night tea and the ones today were afraid of my dog and didn't want to come in.
I didnt mean to imply. Whenever i get a service guy, i try to chum up to him; once they feel "this guy was done wrong, i gotta help him", stuff happens. Free upgrades, unsolvable problems solved, better rates, or just life-saving advice.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
146
Comcast might try to bend me over and screw me with a "bill adjustment" every 6, 12, or 24 months (whenever the contract expires) - but they have been pretty good as far as general uptime at least.
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,329
126
Comcast might try to bend me over and screw me with a "bill adjustment" every 6, 12, or 24 months (whenever the contract expires) - but they have been pretty good as far as general uptime at least.

Nothing like some surprise buttsex, eh?
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,548
10,171
126
Well, I got a surprise too, from FIOS. A nice surprise. I went and logged into my account online (good to keep tabs on offers), and they were offering me, additional TV service (216 or so channels, 75+ in HD), a free year of Amazon Prime, an Echo (2nd/3rd-gen, whatever the newest one is), along with my existing gigabit internet, for LESS than I was paying before. The only catch? I have to sign a 2-year term contract. Not a biggy, I'm saving money, but now, I don't easy have the option of quitting my service either, so they've got some basically-guaranteed income coming in.

I did my part, and posted about the deal they offered me, in Hot Deals, at the time.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
146
Well, I got a surprise too, from FIOS. A nice surprise. I went and logged into my account online (good to keep tabs on offers), and they were offering me, additional TV service (216 or so channels, 75+ in HD), a free year of Amazon Prime, an Echo (2nd/3rd-gen, whatever the newest one is), along with my existing gigabit internet, for LESS than I was paying before. The only catch? I have to sign a 2-year term contract. Not a biggy, I'm saving money, but now, I don't easy have the option of quitting my service either, so they've got some basically-guaranteed income coming in.

I did my part, and posted about the deal they offered me, in Hot Deals, at the time.

You sure it wasn't a 24 year contract but the low price was only set for the first 12? Gotta watch out for that shit too.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,125
30,076
146
Someone is having it nearly as bad as me

See, I was about to say....

Well since we are sharing, im in a hostel ( homeless)which is also a really bad hostel, sick with the flu, no pc, garbage wifi on my mobile, and the agency i work for has failed to pay me for the second time in a row, im broke at $0, cannot afford to wash my clothes or even buy a ticket to go to work monday, i have no friends or family (or food) but hey, i love life.
Make 4 cups of tea, one for you, two for the workers. Sit them down and talk to them. Be friendly.

Leave my cup to the side, pretend im there.

Aren't you technically homeless right now, bro? :(

It sounds like you at least have some work to keep you busy--as bad as it is they don't seem to be paying you right now, but lack of work/focus/goals are really kinda toxic after a certain amount of time.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,747
2,263
126
lack of work/focus/goals are really kinda toxic after a certain amount of time.
Amen brother. Honest to god, my sole goal in life is to find a job that's not completely horrid, so that i can dedicate myself 100% to it. Now, you'd think this would be a plus for most employers but apparently, it's a big turn-off.
 

kn51

Senior member
Aug 16, 2012
700
120
106
Comcast might try to bend me over and screw me with a "bill adjustment" every 6, 12, or 24 months (whenever the contract expires) - but they have been pretty good as far as general uptime at least.

I've been with Comcast forever. And surprise, they've always treated me well. Whenever the 24 month contract runs out for the special I call in and 5 minutes later it is renewed.
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,266
126
My problem got fixed late yesterday afternoon and I got a 3Gen Echo Dot for an early Christmas present. Just ordered a couple more especially since I can "drop in" on my college son where cell coverage is about non-existent. The coolest thing is that Alexa isn't one task at a time but activities can be grouped and set up by time. I didn't know there was that capability.
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
I've been with Comcast forever. And surprise, they've always treated me well. Whenever the 24 month contract runs out for the special I call in and 5 minutes later it is renewed.
They should all do that, in the past 5 years I've bounced around from Bright house to ATT and now to DriecTV. if Bright house would have just thrown us a bone I would not have bothered to leave, they would not. Same with ATT, these people know someone's always offering specials so why not retain customers?, apparently many won't flee to save $90/month, I will though. DirecTV contract is done this spring, probably more of the same, fine, come get your dish off my property or I'll re-purpose it into a BBQ accessory.
 
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WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
31,408
9,299
136
Well since we are sharing, im in a hostel ( homeless)which is also a really bad hostel, sick with the flu, no pc, garbage wifi on my mobile, and the agency i work for has failed to pay me for the second time in a row, im broke at $0, cannot afford to wash my clothes or even buy a ticket to go to work monday, i have no friends or family (or food) but hey, i love life.
Make 4 cups of tea, one for you, two for the workers. Sit them down and talk to them. Be friendly.

Leave my cup to the side, pretend im there

You have a PayPal account?
 
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esquared

Forum Director & Omnipotent Overlord
Forum Director
Oct 8, 2000
23,967
5,112
146
They should all do that, in the past 5 years I've bounced around from Bright house to ATT and now to DriecTV. if Bright house would have just thrown us a bone I would not have bothered to leave, they would not. Same with ATT, these people know someone's always offering specials so why not retain customers?, apparently many won't flee to save $90/month, I will though. DirecTV contract is done this spring, probably more of the same, fine, come get your dish off my property or I'll re-purpose it into a BBQ accessory.[/QUOTE
Mine won't renew at the special price either, so every year I switch from uverse to xfinity and vice-versa.
I do that save that 80-90/mo.
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
Mine won't renew at the special price either, so every year I switch from uverse to xfinity and vice-versa.
I do that save that 80-90/mo.
Yea, for me around $120 month is PLENTY to pay for a basic package and 24Mbs internet, I fail to see their logic, wouldent a customer paying a reduced rate better than a disconnect?, you'll have to offer the discount to get me back anyway. With so many going the cord-cutter route you'd think they might have even extra motivation, NOPE.
 

esquared

Forum Director & Omnipotent Overlord
Forum Director
Oct 8, 2000
23,967
5,112
146
Yea, for me around $120 month is PLENTY to pay for a basic package and 24Mbs internet, I fail to see their logic, wouldent a customer paying a reduced rate better than a disconnect?, you'll have to offer the discount to get me back anyway. With so many going the cord-cutter route you'd think they might have even extra motivation, NOPE.
I got a good deal this time to switch to uverse. I got the U-300 package with 50 mb/sec internet for 110/mo with
$400.00 in Visa rebate cards. That comes out to just under 80/mo for a year. That price will most likely double or more, next March.
And it will be time to switch back to comcast/infinity.
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
I got a good deal this time to switch to uverse. I got the U-300 package with 50 mb/sec internet for 110/mo with
$400.00 in Visa rebate cards. That comes out to just under 80/mo for a year. That price will most likely double or more, next March.
And it will be time to switch back to comcast/infinity.
We had uverse, similar deal, one thing that drove me NUTS was after a hurricane service was of course, out. Power came back in 4 days so I thought "OK. now I'll just watch all that crap I've been accumulating on the DVR"..NOPE, with no active connection that was forbidden, seems ATT was worried people would fill the DVR and stop paying so without an active connection it was unusable, damm we were pissed. After our special rate ended they wanted close to double so I said no, they then offered DirecTV, (which ATT bought) basic package +24MBS + one year of NFL ticket + $200 in Visa cards. Had to sign a 2 year contract, that expires next Febuary, no problem, Bright house is sending us specials in the mail every month to come back. I find all of this very puzzling as a business strategy.