we're back online

friday june thirteenth,

wait, that's ironic. i just realized this all started on friday the thirteenth.  cue twilight zone music.

well, friday the thirteenth the internet stopped working....
or so i thought because i found out i was talking in days of the week and IT man was talking in dates and I was thinking friday and he was thinking thursday but it was technically friday the fourteenth...

it worked on thursday 11:56pm the thirteenth but just decided that it wasn't going to any more on the fourteenth.

my IT guy was out of the office.  there was a 'gone fishin' sign hanging from his dresser.

i did the 'when in doubt reboot thing' with no success

and i was stuck until IT man came back.

when he did the last thing i ever expected happened.

he couldn't get it working either.

the next six evenings were spent on phone calls to India getting six different reasons why our internet was not working.

we decided to reboot period and canceled our service.

the premium package service they promised at our regular cost does not help us if the wireless internet modem won't connect.

so we had to turn to the only other option we had besides purchasing a cable package with internet service.

and the appointment was scheduled.

i didn't have to be there so i kept all my plans the same until 8pm the night before....

i'm told, you have to be here.

what?  i have plans.

well you have to cancel them.

what's the window?

8am to 5pm.

excused me??

all. day.

that is ridiculous.

so i canceled.

nothing. nothing. nothing happened all day long.

when i couldn't take it any more i called IT guy.

was there any way we can check when they think they can come.

investigation his part reveals they didn't plan to stop by until 4:30 to 5:30.

not only is that later than the original window by a half hour but i could have gone about my day.

it appears they did not send him the emails they had promised to and also had failed to mention we could check appointment time updates at a certain part of their website.  well IT man could because he had work internet.

so the whole day was already a wash and we just stayed home.

4:15 voicemail to IT man said.  they wouldn't be able to come because of storms in the area earlier in the week had put them behind.

i admit, i blew my gasket.

there were some phone calls made after that point.

i believe i informed them:

my time is valuable and i do not sit on my rear end all day long and eat bon bons.

they knew they were behind at 11 am and why were we not called and informed so our time was not wasted.

'i will not have my time wasted and i demand compensation.'

'they will not come the next day between 8 and 10am because i plan to leave and i will not have a service man appear at my home at ten to 10 and proceed to spend an hour doing his job... they will be at my home between 8 and 9am period the end no other option.'

'it is one thing to have a legitimate reason to miss a service appointment but it is unacceptable to waste a persons time to cancel at the last minute.  it is unacceptable that we were not informed earlier in the day.'

'you are a communication company that does not know how to communicate with it's customers.... that is ridiculous.'

' this may not be his fault but he is works for "that company" and as such he is a representative of that company and he has to accept the consequences for their actions to their customers.'

those are all the things i remember saying.

i have worked in customers service fields since i was fifteen.  and i couldn't believe how poorly we were treated as customers.

if they treat me like dirt, i have to fight back.  i will be treated like a person.

then poor IT man had to spend another 45 minutes on the phone because they gave us a discount for a our dissatisfaction... a discount that came down to $6 more than our original agreed upon price.

so the conversation changed to: 'there was no $54.95 original price...... it is less than that.'

'i have the print out right in front of me.'

'that is before taxes and fees.'

but finally we are back online.

i deleted close to 1000 emails.

i gave up on getting updated because there is too much and i'm happier being ignorant to it.

but it is nice to be able to check the weather without sitting through annoying newscasters.