A week or so ago, I was relishing the quiet. In some ways, I still am. Power was restored on the Monday morning before Christmas. I was outside just starting to clear the fresh foot or so of snow when the power company truck pulled up at the end of the driveway. Up goes the man in the white bucket and on goes our power. The guys were lookin' pretty ragged, so I told them that we all appreciated how hard they were working. It's true. At one point, Public Service of New Hampshire had well over a thousand crews out working simultaneously. They did a tremendous job in very difficult circumstances.
The more reasonable side of me wants to be just as even-handed with the cable company. So far, that's not working out. Yes, I can see that lines are down all over the place. But what I just can't stand is the level of unbridled spin that the customer service reps have served up. Spin or outright lies? I don't really know.
Four days after the ice storm, we were told that a crew would show up between 9AM and noon. A second call revealed that they couldn't do the work until the power company cleared their entry to the property (our power line had been ripped from the side of the house). A third call and we're apparently scheduled during the next 24 to 48 hours. Subsequent calls have resulted in everything from "you're on the schedule today" to "not until the middle of the week."
Well, what the hell is it? I'm picturing a spinning wheel that the reps use to pick their replies from. Just tell the customer that they'll be online in the next couple of days, that'll pacify 'em.
Seriously, I can live without cable, phone, and Internet (though it does make getting writing work done more than a little difficult). What I can't deal with is dishonesty. Or is it just ineptitude? I dunno. I'm supposed to be generous this time of year, and I suppose the fact that I didn't burn down my local Comcast office with a flamethrower might be considered 'generous'... but the thoughts I'm having don't have a lot of good will toward men in them, if you know what I mean.
Now that I have power (and my teeth have stopped chattering), maybe I'll go listen to some Vince Guaraldi, that usually calms me down.
Happy holidays, everybody!
Article comments