Donnie B.
29-April-2007, 03:41 AM
Okay, I'm posting while I'm still angry, so be prepared for a rant.
The cable TV service in my area is a monopoly, as is the case in many U.S. locales. There's the option of a dish, and right now I'm awfully close to signing up for that. But that aside, my cable company is doing its best to earn the title my friends long ago assigned to cable TV operators... see thread title for details.
Here's how I spent my day... one of the first really nice Saturdays of the Spring, weather-wise. Earlier this week, on Thursday, I fired up my TV only to find a strange error message. It said, "CableCard firmware update in progress", and told me to wait until it was finished. It showed a counter that indicated it was about halfway through a process that would take an hour.
Well, I waited until it was done, and... as soon as it finished, it started again. And again. And again. By that time I'd discovered that during this process, all TV controls (except power on/off) were totally nonfunctional.
(For those who don't know, a CableCard is a gadget that plugs directly into the TV and performs the functions of a "cable box", but is fully integrated with the TV controls.)
Anyhow, on Friday evening it was still happening so I called the cable company's tech support. The tech thought he'd heard of this problem but didn't know what to do about it. After consulting with his guru, he came back on and said that the card probably tried to accept an update that they sent out to their cable boxes about that time. Bottom line, the card had to be replaced. He gave me three days' credit on my account and scheduled me for a service call. The tech was supposed to come today between 1:00 and 5:00 PM.
I say "supposed to come"... so you know where this is going. I hung around the house for the afternoon, hoping to have the problem resolved early rather than late. Fat chance. At 3:00 I got a call from the dispatcher: "We're running a little late, he'll be there around five o'clock." Fine, that's what I agreed to anyway, though earlier would have been nicer. Guess I won't get to see the end of the ballgame, but hey, it's April...
Well, 5:00 comes and goes. 5:30. (Good thing I decided to make dinner instead of waiting till the tech left!) 6:00... at 7:00 I used the online "chat" feature to see what was up. No problem, I was told, you're still scheduled, the tech will call you.
8:00... 9:00. At 9:30 I try the chat again. This time they try to reschedule me for a service call... on May 3! "THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!", I type. The reply? "You can call 800-xxx-xxxx."
Now I'm, er, less than happy. I try calling the voice tech support. First the system sends me off to the wrong place, so after I explain the whole thing I get told they're transferring me to another call center. So I go through it again, having a harder time to keep from... well, you've been there. This person tries to get hold of the dispatcher. No answer. "Can you hold longer?" "Sure." Looooooooong wait. Shift phone from hand to hand so elbows don't cramp up. Finally: "Sir? No one's answering. They'll call you back."
And that's it. My service is still down, I wasted a full afternoon and evening waiting around, and I have no clue when they're going to get out here.
Just for fun, I tried power cycling the set (the infamous error message warns you not to do that). No improvement. Then I went all out and pulled the card out entirely. Now, of course, I can't tune in any cable channels, but at least I can control the set enough to watch DVDs.
That's my tale of woe, and thanks for the chance to vent. So, how's your weekend going? :evil:
The cable TV service in my area is a monopoly, as is the case in many U.S. locales. There's the option of a dish, and right now I'm awfully close to signing up for that. But that aside, my cable company is doing its best to earn the title my friends long ago assigned to cable TV operators... see thread title for details.
Here's how I spent my day... one of the first really nice Saturdays of the Spring, weather-wise. Earlier this week, on Thursday, I fired up my TV only to find a strange error message. It said, "CableCard firmware update in progress", and told me to wait until it was finished. It showed a counter that indicated it was about halfway through a process that would take an hour.
Well, I waited until it was done, and... as soon as it finished, it started again. And again. And again. By that time I'd discovered that during this process, all TV controls (except power on/off) were totally nonfunctional.
(For those who don't know, a CableCard is a gadget that plugs directly into the TV and performs the functions of a "cable box", but is fully integrated with the TV controls.)
Anyhow, on Friday evening it was still happening so I called the cable company's tech support. The tech thought he'd heard of this problem but didn't know what to do about it. After consulting with his guru, he came back on and said that the card probably tried to accept an update that they sent out to their cable boxes about that time. Bottom line, the card had to be replaced. He gave me three days' credit on my account and scheduled me for a service call. The tech was supposed to come today between 1:00 and 5:00 PM.
I say "supposed to come"... so you know where this is going. I hung around the house for the afternoon, hoping to have the problem resolved early rather than late. Fat chance. At 3:00 I got a call from the dispatcher: "We're running a little late, he'll be there around five o'clock." Fine, that's what I agreed to anyway, though earlier would have been nicer. Guess I won't get to see the end of the ballgame, but hey, it's April...
Well, 5:00 comes and goes. 5:30. (Good thing I decided to make dinner instead of waiting till the tech left!) 6:00... at 7:00 I used the online "chat" feature to see what was up. No problem, I was told, you're still scheduled, the tech will call you.
8:00... 9:00. At 9:30 I try the chat again. This time they try to reschedule me for a service call... on May 3! "THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!", I type. The reply? "You can call 800-xxx-xxxx."
Now I'm, er, less than happy. I try calling the voice tech support. First the system sends me off to the wrong place, so after I explain the whole thing I get told they're transferring me to another call center. So I go through it again, having a harder time to keep from... well, you've been there. This person tries to get hold of the dispatcher. No answer. "Can you hold longer?" "Sure." Looooooooong wait. Shift phone from hand to hand so elbows don't cramp up. Finally: "Sir? No one's answering. They'll call you back."
And that's it. My service is still down, I wasted a full afternoon and evening waiting around, and I have no clue when they're going to get out here.
Just for fun, I tried power cycling the set (the infamous error message warns you not to do that). No improvement. Then I went all out and pulled the card out entirely. Now, of course, I can't tune in any cable channels, but at least I can control the set enough to watch DVDs.
That's my tale of woe, and thanks for the chance to vent. So, how's your weekend going? :evil: