A Royal Pain In The Anus

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As some of you noticed I was not back to myLot on March 31, as planned. Nothing went according to plan. First Earthlink told me they were going to shut my DSL down on March 30. Then when they called on March 28, I was told they only turn DSL accounts off on Tuesdays and they were shutting my DSL off on that day. (I’m sure if people don’t pay their bill on Wednesday when it’s due, they’re not going to wait until the following Tuesday to shut them off.) I had already made arrangements to hook up to CenturyLink on March 30. I thought I had a new modem on the way as well. Come the afternoon on March 30, a CenturyLink truck pulled up and parked in front of my place. Alright, good, I’m going to get hooked up. The CenturyLink man sat in the truck for a long time. At least fifteen minutes. Finally he came to the door. “You’re hooked up to CenturyLink,” he told me. “But you’ll have to wait for an hour or an hour and a half because you’re still on Earthlink.” “I am? They shut me off on Tuesday.” “According to Earthlink, you’re still on their DSL. So you’ve been without the internet since Tuesday?” “Yes. That ticks me off a bit. But I also did not get a new modem from CenturyLink.” “My order does not show you were supposed to get a new modem.” “I told them I had one from Earthlink but I was lead to believe they were sending me a CenturyLink one.” “I’ll check the order again. I tried to get your access code to your CenturyLink DSL but I can’t until Earthlink releases you. So in an hour or so call and you will be given a access code.” “Okay. What about this fiber optics they are putting in?” The CenturyLink guy laughed. “They’re not putting in any fiber optics. They have fiber optics up to a junction box ten miles away and that’s as far as it’s going to go. The rest of the old wiring is going to stay. They’re not going to dig it up to replace it.” I bid the CenturyLink guy good-bye realizing all they wanted to do was get people off other DSLs and onto theirs. Oh, well, nothing I could do about it. I waited two hours before calling. I called technical support and asked about getting a code. “What modem do you have?” the technical support woman asked. I told her. “Earthlink modems won’t work,” she told me. “I’m supposed to have a CenturyLink one coming.” “Let me check your order.” There was a few minutes of silence. “No,” she said. “There was no modem ordered with your order. I will switch you over so you can order a modem.” “What about the code?” I asked. “You’ll get it with your modem. I’m switching you over now.” It was a bit annoying that she wouldn’t even give me the code so I could at least try it to see if I really did have to order their modem. I guess that way they can make me order the modem. Another woman came on. I told her that I needed to order a DSL modem. “I’m billing,” the woman said. “I’ll send you over to tech support.” “No. I just got done talking to them and they sent me to you.” “To billing?” “Yes.” “Okay. I’ll send you to a person who can take your order.” Another woman came on the line. “Small business accounts.” “I don’t think you’re the right department,” I said. “Are you a small business or a home account.” “I’m home account.” “Ok, I’ll switch you to home accounts.” “You’re the third person I’ve talked to. I keep getting switched to the wrong department.” “I’m sorry. I’ll get you to the right person. And thank you for being a loyal CenturyLink customer. We appreciate your business.” Another woman came on and asked for my account number. I gave it to her. Then I told her I needed a CenturyLink modem. She asked if I wanted to buy it or rent it. I told her I would buy it. (It’s $9.95 a month to rent and $100 to buy. My contract is for 12 months, but I’ll probably be with them longer than that.) She put me on hold. After about five minutes she came back on and asked for my phone number in case we got disconnected. A bit strange since she had it right in front of her. But I gave it to her. After about a fifteen minute wait she came on and said she was having trouble with her system. She put me back on hold. After another ten minutes she came back on and said my order has been placed and it would clear on April 3. Then she told me I would get my modem within two to three days. I asked who the carrier was. She told me UPS. I don’t know what planet she thought I was living on or how stupid I was. There was no way I’d get my modem in two to three days. This was Thursday and UPS don’t deliver on Saturday. What a royal pain in the anus. It’s now late Monday and I received my modem about two hours ago. I’ve been busy changing email addresses and figuring out how everything works on CenturyLink. I had a real fun time figuring out how to get my emails to go to my Mac email folder. The password didn’t want to work. But I eventually got it. It back to changing emails. I’ll catch up later.