I've been restricted in my access to rec.norm lately because the signal that I'm getting from the folks at Comcast (hereafter referred to as Scumcast) has been intermittent.
'Bout three weeks ago on a Saturday I called Scumcast to complain about the intermittent signal. I had my suspicions that this was caused by an improperly installed underground cable but I held my tongue about this on the initial call.
Well, they said that a guy would be out on the following day to look into things.
Since the next day was a Sunday I thought that this was pretty wunnerful service and looked forward in happy expectation to the Niceman Cometh.
'Course, nobody showed up on Sunday. So I called Scumcast when I got home on Monday evening and was told that the service tech had called and that no one was home.
I had been home all day. There are four phones in this house. When the phone is busy or not answered, it is picked up by Verizon Voicemail.
I think somebody was maybe telling a fib.
During the fib phone call I was informed that nobody could come out until the following Saturday because somebody had to be home, so that Scumcast could check on the results of their efforts on my behalf.
That's when I informed them of my suspicion that the problem was a result of Scumcast's imperfect installation of the underground cable that runs from the pole on the street to the interface on the exterior of my crib.
I call the installation imperfect because they had run the cable without sealing the ends of the conduit, so that both ends were open to the weather, which means that water got into the conduit, which means that, freeze/thaw cycles being what they are - the freakin' cable was prolly compromised in some way.
Now, I had dug the trench with my own hands and I had put stone in the trench with my own hands and I had fit the conduit together with my own hands and I had backfilled with my own hands and I had capped off both ends of that conduit with my own hands and I know that the sumbitch was water tight and buried deep enough to be on spec.
Made no nevermind to the Scumcast lady, She demanded that somebody be home.
That meant that I wouldn't see a guy until the next Saturday.
This young dude came on Saturday and agreed right off that the problem was probably caused by the imperfect installation of the underground cable. We agreed that the best solution would be to run a temporary aerial cable to the house until the Spring thaw and that, at that point, Scumcast would do a proper underground installation of fresh cable.
Good Enough.
The young Scumcast dude had me sign a waiver so that the Scumcast peoples could work at my house without me being there and said that another tech would be out on Thursday to install the temporary aerial cable.
Came home Thursday night and saw no evidence that Scumcast had been around.
Called the ever helpful service lady and asked, "Wassup?"
The EHSL said that the call had been completed.
?An hour later another (different) young Scumcast dude called to say that he was sorry that he couldn't make it that day but would schedule a guy for Friday.
Good Enough.
Came home Friday night and saw no evidence of Scumcast having been around.
Called the EHSL and she said that the call had been completed.
By now I'm starting to get a little loud.
I wound up telling the EHSL that I would check on things in the daylight and get back to her.
This morning I looked at the pole and saw that someone had indeed been there and had cut off the connectors (leaving the waste piece of wire lying in the road) and put new connectors on with a pretty fancy weathercap to cover them. No aerial cable. No change in signal strength.
I called the EHSL and said that the tech had not completed the agreed upon installation of the temporary aerial line and had simply cut the coax and put new connectors on.
The EHSL told me that a new service call could not be scheduled until the next day that someone could be home - a week later.
That's when I started to get really loud.
Now, I spent a large portion of my professional life running construction projects and getting subcontractors to perform to some minimal level of competence - I had learned how to be loud.
I asked to speak to the person who managed and scheduled the service techs (as I had every intention of cutting him a new one and wanted it to be personal like).
"I'm sorry but the dispatch branch is not available for direct interaction with customers.", said the EHSL.
I told her that I knew damned well where they hid out and that I was on my way over there as soon as I hung up the phone.
"Let me get back to you, Sir."
Good Enough.
A person who identified themselves as a Service Supervisor called to say that they would me to sign a waiver to allow them to work on the property while I wasn't there. I told the SS that I had already signed such a waiver with the first young dude that had come out on the previous Saturday.
"I'm sorry, Sir but we have no record of that."
"Let me explain to you how this is going to go." says I, while trying not to hyperventilate.
"If this line is not run by Monday morning at 6:00am, I'm going to call my electrical contractor and have him correct the problem. He will do this in a short amount of time but he will charge a lot of money for it and I will backcharge Scumcast for his services, as well as adding a hefty fee for my own time in managing the problem on Scumcast's behalf. When I submit our bill, it will be on the letterhead of my attorney."
"Let me get back to you, Sir."
Good Enough.
Fifteen minutes went by.
"A service representative will be out to assist you today, Sir." came the voice of the EHSL in a following call.
Comes 7:30pm ('bout half an hour ago) and another (different from the first two) young dude calls to say that he's sorry that he couldn't make it today - would anyone be home tomorrow?
Will the Niceman Cometh?
I never did care for construction management.
It's the agita.
Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker (ret) Real Email is: tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet Website: