Wednesday, August 11, 2004
At my last apartment, I never had a phoneline, cable or internet service. So for the last two years, I used a cellphone, watched broadcast tv, and access internet at work, the library, etc. I never got these services because I didn't want to deal with the cost nor the hassle those particular utilities bring along with them. I've had a landline phone for less than a month and already got the hassles started coming at me.
I got the absolute basic, no-frills, no-long-distance, phone service. Total cost: about $15/month. Now I understood that there would be certain extra cost on the first bill and expect that I would be paying a pro-rated partial first month plus paying for, in advance, the full second month, as well as certain one-time set up fees. But I open the bill to find a total due to be $180.
This included a one time charge for labor for inside wire installation. Now, for those I haven't told the story too. On the day my phone service was installed, I was told to be at home between 8am and 1pm for the phone guy to come. I waited in the apartment until 10:50am. Then it occurred to me that my brand new apartment is already wired. So I tried plugging my phone into the jack and found a dial tone. The guy came, got access to the room which allows access to all the various wires, then left. As far as I'm concerned, if I'm going to spend $110 for labor charges, I'd like to meet the guy who did the labor.
So I called customer service. The lady was really nice and forwarded me to the installation department. I was expecting this was going to be the start of a extremely polite run-around. Turns out the installation department operator, was even nicer and more understanding than the first operator. She talked to someone else and let me know the problem and what to do. She told me it was the responsibility of the apartment managers. The wiring that the guy did should have been done by the managers and thus their responsibility. So she passed the buck, but it made sense. She said to show them a copy of the bill and they should handle it. She must have been totally confident in the answer because she said that if the apartment managers wouldn't take care of it, I should call the phone company back and ask for a supervisor. I've never heard a customer service operator come out and suggest asking for a supervisor ever.
On the way out of the building to go to the car insurance place, I ran into the agent who originally showed me the apartment. She said that it happened all the time. The wiring was set up, but the phone company still charges the customers anyway. She told me who to talk to about it, someone at the rental office who apparently specializes in fixing phone company screw-ups.
To finish my evening adventures in hassles, the car insurance place website shows them open to 5pm every day except 8pm on wednesdays. I drove to the car insurance place where the sign of the door said the same thing, except the following note by wednesdays: "evenings by appointment only". So I drove there for nothing.
By the way, if anybody who knows the philly/nj area has any suggestions on a good grocery store, let me know. I've learned some of the franchise names, such as Giant and Acme, but I don't know how good they are. It's just weird not having a Giant Eagle or a Foodland around.
I got the absolute basic, no-frills, no-long-distance, phone service. Total cost: about $15/month. Now I understood that there would be certain extra cost on the first bill and expect that I would be paying a pro-rated partial first month plus paying for, in advance, the full second month, as well as certain one-time set up fees. But I open the bill to find a total due to be $180.
This included a one time charge for labor for inside wire installation. Now, for those I haven't told the story too. On the day my phone service was installed, I was told to be at home between 8am and 1pm for the phone guy to come. I waited in the apartment until 10:50am. Then it occurred to me that my brand new apartment is already wired. So I tried plugging my phone into the jack and found a dial tone. The guy came, got access to the room which allows access to all the various wires, then left. As far as I'm concerned, if I'm going to spend $110 for labor charges, I'd like to meet the guy who did the labor.
So I called customer service. The lady was really nice and forwarded me to the installation department. I was expecting this was going to be the start of a extremely polite run-around. Turns out the installation department operator, was even nicer and more understanding than the first operator. She talked to someone else and let me know the problem and what to do. She told me it was the responsibility of the apartment managers. The wiring that the guy did should have been done by the managers and thus their responsibility. So she passed the buck, but it made sense. She said to show them a copy of the bill and they should handle it. She must have been totally confident in the answer because she said that if the apartment managers wouldn't take care of it, I should call the phone company back and ask for a supervisor. I've never heard a customer service operator come out and suggest asking for a supervisor ever.
On the way out of the building to go to the car insurance place, I ran into the agent who originally showed me the apartment. She said that it happened all the time. The wiring was set up, but the phone company still charges the customers anyway. She told me who to talk to about it, someone at the rental office who apparently specializes in fixing phone company screw-ups.
To finish my evening adventures in hassles, the car insurance place website shows them open to 5pm every day except 8pm on wednesdays. I drove to the car insurance place where the sign of the door said the same thing, except the following note by wednesdays: "evenings by appointment only". So I drove there for nothing.
By the way, if anybody who knows the philly/nj area has any suggestions on a good grocery store, let me know. I've learned some of the franchise names, such as Giant and Acme, but I don't know how good they are. It's just weird not having a Giant Eagle or a Foodland around.
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