A post in which I hate, Hate, HATE ALL CABLE COMPANIES!!

It worked out well that my boss was out of the office this week. I have a bunch of stuff I need to do that will eat into office time. It's not that I couldn't do it with him here, it's just better that he isn't. It is no problem for me to keep the job going seamlessly, but it's just annoying to have to keep telling him and clearing stuff with him.

The first of these little excursions was to get Charter the fuck out of my house again. I had contracted all the stuff with DirecTV to get them back in, and the install was today. The installer called me on the way to work to ask about coming first thing, which suited me fine.

The install took about 30-45 minutes. I was floored. When Charter came in the last time they were here for over four hours. He finished up and left, and I headed by the Charter offices to return their cable boxes. Whether or not you are using them, they don't stop the bill until you bring the boxes and all associated parts back to them. I turned them in, and asked about the status of my account, thinking there would be a refund due. I was told that I owed $12. That was impossible because my account is current, and they took a first/last month's payment from me when I set up the account. When I mentioned this, I was sent immediately to the supervisor's desk. She just told me again that I owed $12. I explained why this was not possible. She then told me that their records only went back 6 months (also impossible) and that she had no record of the initial larger payment. After making this lie, she just sat and looked at me. She blinked slowly and deliberately, clearly prepared to say the same thing over and over until I left. I tried to explain to her that this is why everyone hates them. She just told me the same thing again. Finally, I just said "You know, I guess it's really worth $12 to get Charter out of my life. I'm done." I left.

When I went back to the office, I logged in to try to claim my "rebate" with DirecTV. They have been aggressively advertising a $39.95 monthly rate to me for months. It turns out, unsurprisingly, that to get that rate you have to open an online account, give them all your personal information, agree to be email-marketed, etc to get the rate. I sighed, and started setting up the profile - the umpteenth that I have set up in the last several years. Then there was a problem. I haven't changed my phone number since the account was disconnected before. They had a closed account under my old phone number. I couldn't open a new account because of that, and the system wouldn't send me the password for the old account because the email address on that account was Michael's.

I called the person who sold me the system to try to get this resolved. She had given me an extension, and told me to call her if there was any problem, but the number she gave me didn't allow me to enter an extension. I reached an oxy-moronically (and I do mean moronically) titled 'customer service' representative who refused to connect me with the extension I requested, but couldn't help me herself. This started an hour+ of increasing frustration. No one that I talked to had the ability (or the slightest inclination) to help me. Every employee I spoke with just wanted to fob me off on someone else, who claimed to be unable to help me as well. I was referred to an automatic phone system that told me my account was closed (because of the old account) and disconnected the call. When I tried to reach the last prior person with whom I had been speaking, he refused to take the call. There is no supervisor at DirecTV. They will not tell you their last names. I was told that the facility supervisors had neither phones nor email addresses. There is apparently no one who can actually do anything except give you another useless toll-free number to start all over again. The only way to complain is to write a letter(!!) which goes to a PO Box, which I'm sure empties directly into a trash can. You may of course have no name with which to address correspondence.

I eventually figured out a way around the system on my own, without speaking with a single employee who could (or would) help me in any way. (I did finally talk to one guy who agreed, after 20 minutes, to change the phone number on my account.) By the end of all this, needless to say, I was livid.

I hate all cable companies. They seem to feel that they can just do anything to you, and you'll put up with it to keep your television working. I should have just had them disconnect the service. But the boxes are already in, and it's all working. I eventually figured out a way to get my 'rebate'. So I'm leaving it in. But I still hate them. They are a prime example of what is wrong with American businesses. There is absolutely no accountability. There is no way to complain. There is no way to even tell someone (if you could find someone to complain to) who treated you so crappily. I have no doubt after speaking with the employees I spoke with today that if Valerie Plame had been a DirecTV employee, her identity would never have been known. So there is no incentive for their employees to do anything. All they're interested in doing is getting you off their phone. Maddening~!

***

Billy had surgery last Thursday. Friday he was discharged. I was super-busy this weekend, but thought it was just as well since he probably wouldn't feel like having people in. Of course I had heard from Russ after the surgery that it was a success, but I decided that I really needed to go and see how he was doing.

Accordingly, I got in touch and he's apparently doing fine, and pain free for the first time in a long time. I was really glad for him. He's also up and about. We decided to go out to dinner. I offered to bring something in, but he had been cooped up in the house long enough and wanted to go out. I was glad he was feeling that good.

I dashed through the house after work, changed, fed the cats, stopped for flowers, and got to their place in time to watch Auntie Mame (the Rosalind Russell version) for a while before Russ got home. Before I sat down though, I mixed myself a large cocktail. It had been that kind of day.

We went to Portofino's. I seem to have an insatiable appetite for their tortellacci.

So we ate and caught up. They told me about the car accident they had been involved in shortly after Billy's surgery - someone backed in to them at a gas station. Thank God Billy wasn't hurt.

After the meal we went back to the house for a visit and talk, but it was a school night so I didn't stay terribly late. It was very good to see them. I love those guys.