IRL Rant: Time Warner/Spectrum Internet Foul Up
I don’t usually rant about IRL stuff, but this really burnt my biscuits.
This is the story of two lazy cable techs and one tech who went out of his way to clean up the mess they left behind them.
This is a story that wouldn’t have happened if people had just done their job right. But it happened. So I’m writing about it.
Earlier today, Eri posted this in jest. Eri didn’t know how accurate this was…
A Little Background
Now, the way my Internet works – I have one underground line that runs straight from my modem, out of my house and to a green covered box in my front yard. For many years, I’ve been the only one to use this box, though there are two ports on there for two households.
Six months ago, I had an issue with my internet. It was slow to the point that I couldn’t pull up a website, much less do any gaming. So after the standard run-around on the phone, they sent a tech to my house.
He determined that the port I was plugged into had gone bad. He switched me to the second port and all was well.
However, he said that he would get a second tech out to my box to replace both of the ports. Because (in his own words) “When one goes out, the other is likely to follow.”
Now, I never got the absolute word whether this port replacement happened. But months later, when I had another Internet issue, I asked the phone support if that was done. She told me yes, it had been. They ended up replacing my modem that time, and all has been well.
Until yesterday.
Yesterday’s Foul
My net was fine before I left for work. Upon walking outside, I noted a white truck and a man working on the Internet box outside my house.
“Strange,” I thought to myself. “I didn’t call service. And I’m the only one that uses that box.”
I sensed trouble. I was right.
So, there are people who have been fixing up the place next to me for months now. It turns out they must be moving in soon, and decided to get high speed Internet.
It also turns out that the port that was dead six months ago had not been replaced. I know that now because the tech who came to install my neighbor’s Internet yesterday switched me to the dead port, gave them the working port, and called it a day.
Now, what makes me really angry is… this tech knew that the second port was dead. Why else would he have switched things around instead of just leaving mine alone? There was no reason to touch mine unless he realized the other port wasn’t working, and saw this as something that was going to take up more of his time than he wanted.
Even the tech who came out today and confirmed this saying, and I quote, “You are a victim of stupidity.”
Yes. Yes I am.
Yesterday’s cable installer purposely took my service, gave it to the neighbors who haven’t even moved in yet, and left me without Internet. He never called anyone to fix it. I guess he figured someone else would clean up his mess.
He was right.
The tech who came out today was sharp. I wasn’t rude or angry towards him, but he saw what had happened and knew he needed to make it right.
He immediately called their line guy, who was very quickly at my house to exchange the dead port for a working one. It took him less than ten minutes. This wasn’t something back-breaking to do!
I got good service from the tech today. But the point is, that this tech wouldn’t have even had to do this if other techs had done their job right in the first place.
And the kicker? I had to use my work sick time to be there today for the appointment.
Yeah. Not a happy camper.
Thanks for listening to my rant.