No Internet

It has always been one of the ironies of life that my ISP (TDS Metrocom) doesn't accept online payments - my credit union issues them a paper check when I queue up my payment every month.

We kind of knew this in advance, but they also turn out to be one of those companies where the call center doesn't talk to the tech support doesn't talk to the installer doesn't talk to sales, etc., etc., so when you call them for anything, if the unit that you start with doesn't do what you need, you have to wend your way through the phone tree AGAIN.

It all started when we decided to upgrade our DSL service, and, unsurprisingly, were told we needed a new modem - the old one is five years old. I asked if I had to be home for the modem delivery and they said they thought not, but I should call this other number and find out when my work was scheduled, but wait a few days. So I waited a few days, and called, and the work was not scheduled yet, so I was supposed to wait a few more days, and call back - and of course I forgot.

Last Friday we got home from work, and we had no Internet - we suspected that it was because they had upgraded the DSL, and the old modem couldn't talk to the new service, but we called tech support anyway and spent about 45 mins. running up & down the stairs from the computer on the 1st floor to the modem in the basement, only to determine that, yes, the modem was the problem, and no, the tech guy couldn't make the new modem miraculously appear on our doorstep.

On Saturday morning it got even worse - Mark spent 90 minutes on the phone with TDS, to determine that, yes, the modem was the problem, and no, they couldn't bring it to us, the call center doesn't keep them on hand, it must be delivered by UPS, and we can't have it till Tuesday. Oh, and what about credit for our days of no service? Please call back when everything's working so TDS knows how much to credit us .... yeah, right.

And then the final blow - yet another TDS staff person, from some other area of the company, who had not been communicating with the others, called late Saturday afternoon to say he was following up a service call - they had tried to deliver the modem Friday, and could not because no one was home - so the frigging thing was on a truck outside our house on Friday, but they took it back, and we still can't get it till Tuesday ... so along with not using online payment technology, TDS has evidently also not discovered hangtag technology, "Hi, we called when you were out, when should we come back ..."

I'm betting we will have a UPS hangtag tonight, so we still won't get the frigging modem 'til we sign and UPS comes back.