MAN! Sorry 2 complain/utilities,etc.

[grsthegreat]

Your call is very important, please hold for next representative.

You hold for 45 mins and 'click' an automatic disconnect!
AND the worst music!

I'm rural---
Call HYDRO to repot an outage,
They say go on line (no power so how?) check neighbors (rural) nice spiel on good service, use friendly app to report (no cell reception) enter phone #, confirm address, and get standard 3 hrs to effect repairs and 6 hrs later power returns.

So U know why I have a generator.
(We had 3 outages in a 2 week period last month.)

I did try reporting with my cell phone but by the time they finished each prompt the screen went off and I had to re boot the phone.
LOL, we have flashlights all over the place! (Love LED lights.)

Next as trees have grown (as they tend to do) I now lose Sat TV when wet and or windy.
Problem is we need a permit to cut any tree and a city bylaw says we have to plant a replacement.
We live in a forest!
The 'work around' is to cut on week ends as city inspectors are off duty.

Holy crap...when did canada become California,......

 

[Industrial Toys]

It's all our fault. WE keep letting (BS) stuff like this expand in our lives. We have incredible power as consumers if we banded together, but it will never happen.

Like ROBO calls are pisssing me off. I can't hang up quickly enough when I hear "important call", or "do not hang up". If EVERYONE did that, robo calls would end tomorrow!

 

[kf4uda]

Like the rest of you folks I have had the same/similar results trying to talk to various customer support. Lately out of frustration I have tried the "chat" feature if available and for the most part have had more success than over the phone. You can also screen capture so you have a record of the conversation.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
Example 2: I have Dish TV. It's been acting up for months, we don't watch TV much anyway, so I call to cancel. They don't want to lose a customer, so guy comes out, says I need to cut down a large oak tree in yard.<snip>

How the heck did you let them convince you to keep it?
If I decide to cancel something they da$# well better cancel it.

I just had the phone/internet company out. My DSL modem was crapping out frequently about an hour every other day. I told them to bring a new modem. The guy comes in and tries to convince us that the phone line is kinked and I need to replace that and the modem is probably fine. After about a minute of his BS I tell him to go to his shop (an hour drive) and get a replacement modem. He then admits he's got one on the truck and brings it in.
That was over a week ago. I've been running PingInfoView 24/7 since and it's dropped about a dozen packets.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have talked to BIG TELCO and Internet provider, employees and contractors, on various sites. Sadly, sometimes it's these guys that are getting screwed as bad as the customers.

 

[Fuddy1952]

How the heck did you let them convince you to keep it?
Good question. I guess as a long term customer, the deal they made was too good to pass up. We don't watch much TV, mainly Fox news and TCM which I can't get over the air antenna.
Amazing how many people we know watch TV 14+ hours a day!

 

[Fuddy1952]

Phones are back working. I did some troubleshooting and at least got some phones working. Verizon tech came back, got garage line active and apparently another problem was under the crawl space. He was ready to "suit up" when I suggested I'd fix it.
What's weird is everything was fine before I switched back to them, wired landline.
Only one phone out in a downstairs bedroom. I remembered an old style jack across room, tested and got a dial tone. I replaced it with a modern jack, phone to it and everything is working again.

 

[fried1765]

Holy crap...when did canada become California,......

In some respects, Canada became California, even before California became like California.
In Canada, everything that is either fastened down, or loose, is permit required, is heavily taxed, or both!

 

[Hay Dude]

I am sandwiched between 2 large cities which are about 30 miles apart in a semi-rural area. Over the last 12 years, we have tried a few different cell carriers. Verizon is the 澱est but we still only get 1 bar in my town. Its ridiculous and Verizon is the most expensive. Best deal I can get for our 5 phones with unlimited data is about $225/month! We have range extenders ($200/each) in our house with a very short range, maybe 50 feet....Go out to the mailbox or to the barn, call drops.
Its frustrating because if I go to the 3rd floor of my house, I can look out the dormer windows and see 2 cell phone towers about 1-2 miles away! I was told not all cell phone towers are turned on. Some are turned off.
Of course its not just me, everyone in the area complains/jokes about it. I could not imagine how nice it would be to have excellent coverage to enjoy on line radio, etc. without having to re boot every 10 minutes or be able to talk to customers with clear call reception.
Other carriers are worse.

 

[pokey1416]

AT&T has been trying to abandon their copper analog landline business for nearly a decade. They announced a year 2020 implementation but for those with no broadband or fiber access this is going to be problematic. It’s pretty evident that the good old phone line is being retired.