So angry I could spit fire

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Long story. My landline went out on Tuesday. I waited a day to see if they would fix it, then on Wed. morning I set up an appointment for service on Thu. I got a text saying that they would be here on Thu. between 8AM and 5PM. And that they needed someone over 18 to be here.
Well, there's only me here, so I guess I'm it. so, yesterday I waited all day for someone to show up. Nothing. At about 4:45PM I went on their website to see if someone was coming. There it told me that someone would be here for a scheduled appointment at 7:01PM.
At 7:00 I went back on the website and it told me that help was coming and they would be there on Thu. between 8 and 5. You know, in the past. Of course, by 7 the repair/service people had all gone home and their website just kept telling me that they would be here 4/11/24 between 8 and 5.
Later last night I found that it said the appointment was "missed". No foolin', Scooter? I couldn't have quessed. This morning when I tried to call and reach a person, they say there's a damaged cable in my area, and they plan on it being fixed on Mon. by 8 PM. This is the first I've heard of an outage. Meanwhile, nobody called, texted, emailed or even sent a carrier pigeon to tell me the appointment was cancelled or "missed".
I finally got to talk to a human, who had an incredibly thick Indian accent and couldn't understand me unless I spoke very exaggertedly slow. Like talking to a child. Her basic response was, "Sorry to hear that. There's nothing I can do until the cable is fixed." And that's that.
So, I get to wait until they fix the cable, which if it's been out since Tue. would make it a week to fix it. Seems excessive. If it hasn't been out since Tue. my phone is still broken and needs repair. Won't know until 8PM on mon. Then I get to set up an appointment to have my phone fixed. That would probably be Wed. at the earliest, making over a week without phone service.
So, to make a long story short, I didn't get my phone fixed, I spent a whole day sitting here waiting for an appointment that never happened, losing a whole day in the process. I can't set up a repair until the cable's fixed, and there's no guarantee they will keep that appointment.
What really pisses me off is that nobody communicated any of this to me. Nobody said, "There's an outage in your area, we'll have to fix that before we can check on your stuff." Also, who ever heard of an appointment at 7:01? I think 7 is quitting time and someone, knowing that they weren't gonna be able to get here, changed it to one minute after quitting time, instead of calling me.
I'm angry. Very angry. Thanks for letting me vent.

TL,DR: Phone company sucks.
 
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Wife & I have cell phones and we also have a land line. One thing, up where I'm at in Pittsburgh the cell service is almost nil, and more than one carrier. I our internet is also from Verizon. We're at one the highest elevations in the city, but just a dead area. At least I can get antenna TV on the stations DISH doesn't provide anymore.
 
Well, that stinks.

But I gotta ask - why do you have a landline? Is it for an alarm or something? Just curious.

Sir, ya ever tried to use a cell phone when the power is out? I still maintain pay to have a landline, it's peace of mind. Over the last 25+years it has worked "each time & every time" I've had to use it.
 
My landline went out on Tuesday.
... they say there's a damaged cable in my area, and they plan on it being fixed on Mon. by 8 PM.
I can't set up a repair until the cable's fixed...
I'd bet dollars to donuts that the damaged cable is the reason your landline isn't working. They should have informed you up front, but they probably didn't realize there was a damaged cable until they made several other service calls.
 
Haven't had a landline in 15 years. On the other hand, retirement income ain't flush but I'm probably (pre-tax) close to $30/ hr, 40 hrs/ week, 52 weeks a year. Make an appointment, I got plenty o'time. Joe
 
lihpster


I worked for AT&T, and then NY TEL for a number of years in my youth, doing everything from inside wire to repairing plant.

The people who answer the phone are there to get you off the phone, nothing else.


Don’t know where you live, ie rural, in an apt, home, etc. Copper wire is a thing of the past n most places.

Inside every/most homes is usually what they call a network interface, a box. It’s likely in your basement, the garage,or on the outside wall where those black wires run from the pole to your house.
That is where you check to see if the trouble in inside the house, rarely, or outside, more than likely.

Any neighbors having trouble? That would be a big clue.

Does your provider use fiber cable?
 
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I keep telling my wife that we should just drop the land line.

Basically, it exists to receive phone calls that:

Want to know if we want to sell our home.

Inform us that we have won the lottery.

Ask us if we know our car warranty has expired.

Represent a variety of political doo-das that need our "contribution" or the world will end.

Have no one on the other end of the line - not even heavy breathing.

Hits us with the news that we should be aware that the South African sand fly may become extinct unless we send money now. And it's urgent. We should give them our credit card number, full name, expiration date, and verification code.

Make it obvious that English is not their primary language.


I no longer answer the land line. They can leave a message and then I will decide if it's important enough to return the call.


John
 
Sir, ya ever tried to use a cell phone when the power is out? I still maintain pay to have a landline, it's peace of mind. Over the last 25+years it has worked "each time & every time" I've had to use it.

I sure have. I can charge it in the car.

I had a landline until about ten years ago. I remember several times when it was out of service.
 
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We cut the land line about a year ago when my wife got a new wireless heart pacemaker. Her old pacemaker required using a landline for periodic condition monitoring. The new pacemaker has wireless monitoring. Our land line was up to about $80/month, we now pay somewhat less than that for both of our smartphones combined. And they do much more than the landline.
 
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I've been having off and on problems with my land line. I can't get incoming calls, outgoing calls full of static and cut out. Its usually after a good rain and generally clears up after a couple of days.
My land line is my primary number. That's what almost everybody uses to contact me. So its important that it works.
Finally called the repair number. Somebody is supposed to come look at it by the end of next week. :rolleyes: :mad:
 
Almost 12 years ago I used a landline for my ICD telemetry transponder.

Our new home has no landline so Altafiber hooked me up with a wireless dongle for my Latitude transmitter. No hiccups.

BTW life sans cellphone falls under the eighth amendment.
 
Instead of wasting my energy on a negative emotion (anger), I’d be asking myself what I have learned from this experience. Then I’d act on that nugget of learning and be at peace because I was now in control instead of the phone company.
 
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