Friends, have you ever had something happen that annoyed you so much that you actually lost sleep over it? I’m sure you have. We all have, I suppose.
I was all set to tell you about some of the third-party candidates for president in 2016, having spent the last two days highlighting the more unusual declared candidates in the usual parties of idiots (i.e., Republicans and Democrats). But I’ve decided to let that go…frankly, the third-party candidates seem pretty normal compared to the supposedly “conventional” candidates. You can read about them here. I’m on to bigger and better game following my encounter yesterday afternoon with the Customer Care (sic) people at Pioneer Telephone. It’s our misfortune I guess that we live out in the country and are at the mercy of the evil rural monopoly that is Pioneer Telephone. I’ve been putting off getting a broadband connection here at the compound for some time now. We’ve been using a hotspot to connect for email, Facebook, and these all-important blog postings. But, my consulting work is starting to pick up so I figured I would just make it easier and (likely) cheaper on myself and order up some broadband. The house here at the compound has been serviced by Pioneer Telephone for years…decades…there was even broadband into the house as recently as early spring of this year. So, I’m thinking, okay…this will be easy enough. I’ll call them up, they’ll make an appointment for someone to come out and connect us…bada bing! The first thing I do is go to the Pioneer Telephone web site where you’ll likely never find a phone number to call Pioneer Telephone. I’m thinking they haven’t gotten around to installing a phone there yet. There is a web form that pops up when you enter the “Contact Us” tab. I filled out the web form and clicked “send” thinking that would be the end of it. It was…I waited the better part of the day to hear from someone. Language on the web form promised me that someone would call me very soon. Uh huh. Finally, in the late afternoon, I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I began digging around on the web site and finally found a phone number for “Customer Care” in the section about what to do if you can’t get your internet gateway to work properly. I dialed the number and wait and wait and wait. Finally, I get a human on the line who did her best to make it sound as though she was doing me a favor by talking to me. Here is, I think, an accurate rundown of how that conversation went… PT: What can I do for you? Me: I’m calling to get Pioneer High Speed Internet installed at my house. PT: What’s your name? Me: Robin Hohweiler. The address out here is… PT: (she cuts me off before I can finish) Where do you live? Me: Western edge of Woodward County. The house has had Pioneer DSL before… PT: (cutting me off before I finish) What town are you in? Me: I’m not. This is a rural residence. PT: (sighs…she’s getting irritated.) You mean you’re in the country? What town is closest to you? Me: Fargo. PT: (sighs again) How far from Fargo? Me: Oh, maybe a mile and a half. PT: That’s too far. We don’t service that area. Me: Ummmm…yeah, you do. Pioneer has provided phone service to this house since my grandparents built it in the ‘60’s. And, as I mentioned before this place has had Pioneer broadband in it within the past year. PT: So what is it you want? Me: Well, looking over your product offerings on the web site, I was thinking your stand-alone high speed internet. PT: You can’t have that. You live too far from the switching station. Me: Uh, okay… PT: (cuts me off) You’ll have to install a landline. Me: I don’t want a landline. PT: No landline, no internet. Me: Okay…I guess I’ll get a landline. PT: Hold on. I’ll have to call the Mooreland office (30 miles away) and see if they have someone that come put up phone lines out there. I’ll be right back. Me: But... After a full ten minute wait, the line disconnects. I call back and get a different woman on the phone. I started to explain to her that I was trying to order broadband and got cut off. A whole new conversation ensues: PT2: What’s your name? Me: Robin Hohweiler PT2: What’s your phone number? I give her my phone number. PT2: Let me figure out who you were talking to and I’ll have her give you a call. Me: Well, we never got very far along with the order can't I just start over? CLICK…she hung up. No one has called me back and frankly I’m scared that I’ll be put on some Enemy of Pioneer Telephone list if I do. It occurred to me that Obama just this past week was making speeches about closing the digital divide by ensuring that broadband access would be available to everyone, everywhere in the United States. It seems to me that Pioneer’s Customer Care is a roadblock from that ever happening. Thanks for reading.
Mary Ann
7/22/2015 04:49:09 pm
please send a copy of this email to the Ceo, COO, and the PR People at Pioneer and Att, DirectTV. This is nuts. Comments are closed.
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