Tuesday, October 12, 2004
And so it begins…
Against my better judgment, I decided last week to sign up for Bell South telephone and Internet service. Now, you must understand that I hate Bell South. I think Bell South is the antichrist. In fact, Bell South is the sole reason that I have done without a landline for the past year and a half. But faced with a choice between the mumbling prostitution-solicitors at the library and dealing with Bell South, I considered them to be the lesser of two evils.
I’m beginning to think I might have been wrong. While my dealings with Bell South so far have not been as harrowing as this or this, they have certainly served to remind me why I originally decided to sever ties with the company.
Initially, I was quite pleased with my renewed relationship with Bell South. When I called to set up my phone line, I explained to the customer service rep that I didn’t want any fancy features because I was just using the phone for the Internet, and he automatically signed me up for the cheapest possible residential line without attempting the upsell. And although I would have to wait several days before my new phone and Internet could be connected, he made it sound like it would be up and running on the date promised, without incident. How I managed to be so stupid as to actually believe this, I will never know.
Yesterday evening, which was the scheduled date of installation, I noticed that I had a message on my cell phone. It was from the Bell South technician, explaining that he would need to get into my apartment in order to hook up the phone. Of course, he gave me no means to get in touch with him to set up such an appointment, so I simply called back the number that was saved in the call log on my phone. Turns out that was the guy’s personal phone, and he wasn’t able to tell me anything about when he might be able to come over and set up my phone service. He also didn’t seem too pleased that I was calling him on his personal line, but that’s too bad.
This morning, I called Bell South, and they informed me that the next possible date that they could come and hook up my phone would be Friday. Friday! And naturally, because their technicians can’t work during hours that are actually convenient for their customers, I have to drive all the way home during my lunch break to meet the technician—assuming that he actually shows up, that is. Given my previous history with Bell South, I’m not holding my breath.
Against my better judgment, I decided last week to sign up for Bell South telephone and Internet service. Now, you must understand that I hate Bell South. I think Bell South is the antichrist. In fact, Bell South is the sole reason that I have done without a landline for the past year and a half. But faced with a choice between the mumbling prostitution-solicitors at the library and dealing with Bell South, I considered them to be the lesser of two evils.
I’m beginning to think I might have been wrong. While my dealings with Bell South so far have not been as harrowing as this or this, they have certainly served to remind me why I originally decided to sever ties with the company.
Initially, I was quite pleased with my renewed relationship with Bell South. When I called to set up my phone line, I explained to the customer service rep that I didn’t want any fancy features because I was just using the phone for the Internet, and he automatically signed me up for the cheapest possible residential line without attempting the upsell. And although I would have to wait several days before my new phone and Internet could be connected, he made it sound like it would be up and running on the date promised, without incident. How I managed to be so stupid as to actually believe this, I will never know.
Yesterday evening, which was the scheduled date of installation, I noticed that I had a message on my cell phone. It was from the Bell South technician, explaining that he would need to get into my apartment in order to hook up the phone. Of course, he gave me no means to get in touch with him to set up such an appointment, so I simply called back the number that was saved in the call log on my phone. Turns out that was the guy’s personal phone, and he wasn’t able to tell me anything about when he might be able to come over and set up my phone service. He also didn’t seem too pleased that I was calling him on his personal line, but that’s too bad.
This morning, I called Bell South, and they informed me that the next possible date that they could come and hook up my phone would be Friday. Friday! And naturally, because their technicians can’t work during hours that are actually convenient for their customers, I have to drive all the way home during my lunch break to meet the technician—assuming that he actually shows up, that is. Given my previous history with Bell South, I’m not holding my breath.
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