Smudger Snippets
Created | Updated Feb 23, 2006
I suppose it's because I have so much time on my hands these days that all these memories come flooding back to me.
Frustration
It just happened suddenly. I started up my computer as normal then noticed that my usual connection to the internet was not there. I did the usual shut down and reboot, but to no avail. The next step was to contact the service provider and, for those of you who have never done this before and I cannot believe there will be many of you, the fun and games began! Now for those of you who have done this already, you know the first step is to get past the multi-choice menu of the pre-recorded voice, which has you frantically pressing buttons as requested to make sure you end up listening to the correct music being played that day for all the others waiting in the queue for assistance. This is where I was lucky, really, as we have one of those speaker phones where you can leave it sitting close by, playing so called relaxing music while you wait and wait, rather than holding the phone up to your ear.
So there I was, just sitting there tying my hardest to keep calm under the circumstances. Then suddenly a voice was heard, at which I grabbed the phone and before the poor chap had a chance to finish his usual announcement of name and how can I help you, I butted in with 'I can't get on line. I need help!' Not long after this he had me and my stepson, who had come over to help me after I had phoned him, unplugging and reconnecting cables then going into programs on my computer that I never knew were even there. This went on for about an hour, after which all of us, including the poor chap on the end of the phone were all totally flummoxed as to what to do next. At this point he said it was not their equipment that was faulty, but my computer. I insisted that the activity light on the modem was not even lit and that this was, in fact, the main problem. His only answer to this was to hang up, which left me feeling even angrier!
So we carried on ourselves trying to solve the problem for a while until I decided to call them up again - only this time I found myself talking to a lady from Pakistan who was having problems just understanding what I was saying let alone giving me advice on how to solve the problem. We found ourselves repeating the exact same exercises as we had earlier with the first call, so we tried to explain this to the lady but gave up after a complete communications break down. It was at this point that I realised that having a computer which is not connected to the internet is like having a rather expensive motor car which has all the looks of a classic, but has no engine!
By this time over four hours had passed and I was totally stressed out so, in pure frustration, I dialled the number yet again and found myself listening to the same music I had earlier and staring at the phone. I just felt so down. It was hard to understand just how much frustration you can feel when you can't get your daily fix of the internet.
Then I heard a voice again and leapt straight into action, not even giving the bloke a chance to finish his 'how can I help' speech. Then, just as he was starting to give me all the same patter as the other two, I butted in yet again as by this time I had just enough of the whole situation. I think he understood this straight way as he stopped talking and listened. I went on to tell him that the activity light on my modem was not even on let alone flashing and that, in my opinion, the problem did lie with their equipment and not my computer as had been suggested both times earlier.
I then managed to go up a gear, as by this time I was becoming really angry, and I told him that if the company did not send out a technician to check out the modem that I would take all my business, which included the television and phone contracts along with my internet connection, to another company! At this point he went quiet and simply asked me to hold the line until he returned. After my outburst I must admit I did feel a lot better inside and my stepson was praising me for my outburst, but somehow this left me feeling rather guilty and ashamed of myself for being so domineering. The line was quiet for what seemed a very long time - in fact, at one point, I thought the bloke had just hung up on me. Then I heard his voice asking me if I was still there. He went on to explain that he had been away arranging a home visit for me so that a technician would come out and check it out for me, at no charge, but I would have to wait for three days.
I was relieved but annoyed at the same time and was just about to ask why I had to wait for the three days when he went on to say that I should have told him that we were disabled earlier on during our first conversation as he only found that out while checking through our details. It appears that, after they cut off our telephone service one time by mistake a few weeks earlier and I had reported it to them that we required the phone service at all times as my wife relies on it to have her blood results phoned through, that they had made our phone service a priority one. This, of course, made me feel even worse about my earlier outburst and I rather sheepishly thanked him as he did say that it would normally be around seven days wait for a home visit from a technician.
So now here I am, just twenty four hours after the phone call, and realising just how much I had taken my internet connection for granted all that time. I must admit, however, that I am not sorry for losing my temper with those people on the phone for I know that, if I had not done so, then I would be sitting here for a lot longer with no connection to the cyber world that I miss so much. I know that we British are not well known for being demanding and hard to please and that we tend to be sheepish when it comes to complaining, but I now believe that it is the only way to get things done. It is just amazing how much difference it can make. So, in future, I, for one, will not allow people to walk all over me. So now I will just write a couple more Snippets over the days that follow until my connection is reinstated, then I will post them on here when I eventually get back on line. So until then...
To be continued...
