 
Maxo
Your tax dollars at work.
Premium,VIP
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL
clubs:
| Pretty spiffy That's a lot of demands that would be great to see met. I think most people would be happy to just get a "trained" technician. That would be step 1 in the right direction.
--
God I love being a turtle. - Michaelangelo »www.maxolasersquad.com | |
|  | 
dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| Re: Pretty spiffy said by Maxo  :
That's a lot of demands that would be great to see met. I think most people would be happy to just get a "trained" technician. That would be step 1 in the right direction.
how about tech support that isnt in india or some other country where the workers are paid less than a happy meal costs/hour
--
You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth | |
| | | 
SanFrancisco
Premium
join:2002-05-04
San Francisco, CA
| Re: Pretty spiffy said by dvd536 :
how about tech support that isnt in india or some other country where the workers are paid less than a happy meal costs/hour
That would be better if the support was local but as for what they get paid, if you convert that into local money in that country its a lot.
--
"The Final Frontier is not Space it is the Human Imagination." - Boeing | |
| | |
Maxo
Your tax dollars at work.
Premium,VIP
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL
clubs:
| I don't know about other ISPs but SBC and Sprint are both in the US. I believe Comcast is as well. I think ISPs have pretty much stayed in the US while computer manufacturers are mainly overseas.
--
God I love being a turtle. - Michaelangelo »www.maxolasersquad.com | |
| | | | 
AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX | Re: Pretty spiffy Yes, Comcast is using American Convergys call centers. | |
| | chef423
Chef423
join:2000-09-02
Springfield, IL | FINALLY!! | |
| 
user726195
Premium
join:2002-11-23
South Pole | that should happen with all big isp's!!! kool. the bar should be higher. =) | |
| CmmTch
join:2002-08-10
High Ridge, MO
| Regulating CableCo's Here it is, the start of regulating all high speed internet access providers.
I think it should be done, this gives a company concrete goals in their QoS. Those requirements probably won't be met without adding staff, and equipment. That won't happen overnight, but as long as progress is being made then they're moving in the right direction.
First some baseline data will have to be collected and analyzed to see where exactly there are problems, and of those which ones are service affecting. What group is going to determine those numbers? Something like this isn't just a "you guys have to improve your service" type group.
It should improve service once a process is designed and put into place. And it will be, companies big and small pay attention to their money, fines and credits to unhappy customers is not their idea of a good return on investment. | |
| 
Unit649
I B U, Who U B?
Premium
join:2000-01-22
Stockton, CA
 ·Comcast
| Nice, but...... This is nice, yes, but the next thing I see is cable companies upping your bill another $5, for a "broadband bill of rights compliance fee" since they will have to hire more customer service and more secretarys in the pool to answer all the mail/phones within 90 seconds. Not like they can comply with this without incurring costs, and I don't see them just laying down and accepting less profit either because of it.
Its a double edged sword-you'll get your phone picked up in 90 seconds, but you'll pay $5 more for the privledge at least  Or maybe more. One thing that cable companies are good at is passing through regulatory fees!
[text was edited by author 2003-07-04 14:08:25] | |
| | pkust
join:2001-08-09
Houston, TX
| Re: Nice, but...... said by Unit649 :
Not like they can comply with this without incurring costs, and I don't see them just laying down and accepting less profit either because of it.
Why should any firm be expected to accept less than maximum profit? Profit is the single defining objective for all capitalist enterprise.
By the same token, consumers should not be expected to accept less than maximum service.
The main concern I have with regulatory ventures such as this is that it institutionalizes monopoly; these standards do not exist outside of an agreement that gives an exclusive franchise to Charter Communications (a monopoly by any other name is still an abomination in the marketplace). Regulation, even when it nominally is on behalf of the consumer, is still regulation, and, by definition, is a distortion of the marketplace. Defined credits for failure to meet QoS standards, regardless of intention, are arbitrary--and therefore artificial--costs. Artificial costs create additional economic obstacles that work against the consumer in the long run.
To make these standards work, there will have to be enforcement, which creates more legal red tape and more bureaucracy, the cost of which will ultimately be passed to consumers either through taxes (from the government side) or higher fees (from the cable company side) or both. Additionally, who is more likely to be able to successfully exploit a bureaucracy--the cable company or the consumer?
Rather than regulating existing monopolies and oligopolies, we would be better served if government entities would work to remove barriers to competition; there should not be a deal with just one company, but with many. There should be no exclusivity, no franchise, but an open market. That is the capitalist ideal; that is what people should demand of both their governments and their service providers.
As much as the city of Dalton is to be applauded for emphasizing the importance of good customer service, I question whether this approach will achieve the desired results. It is far more likely that a regulatory regime will increase costs to consumers while producing at best marginal improvements in service.
--
Cordially,
Peter Nayland Kust
pkust@smsysinc.com
Secure Mobile Systems, Inc.
www.smsysinc.com | |
| | | 
DJQuantum
@tci.com
| Re: Nice, but...... Ok how does any of this institutionalize a monopoly??? So Cable offers Broadband in your area so does Direcway, and even still you have many other options for internet service including dialup, same with Cable TV, you have a choice no matter where you're at you can get direct tv, dish network or your local cable provider. You wanna look at monopolies look at your phone company, your power company and your water company, with all 3 you have no choice and thats life well unless you want to move to a different community that has different providers of such services. I really am amazed by the ignorance in the "my cable company is a monopoly" statement. Lets look at the definition of a monopoly, a monopoly is a company that controls all access to said service and does not allow any other company to come in to provide competing services. Cable does not do this. Now yes cable companies are not required by law and do not share there networks with any other providers. This makes sense it allows said cable company to operate a more stable network without worrying about what another provider is doing to it. So looking at reality Cable is no more a monopoly than any other company or utility you use. | |
| | | | pkust
join:2001-08-09
Houston, TX
| Re: Nice, but...... said by DJQuantum:
Ok how does any of this institutionalize a monopoly???
A city granting a franchise to any service provider creates a monopoly in that local market by definition. Cable franchises are exclusive in nature, and match the dictionary definition of "monopoly": "exclusive ownership through legal privilege"; a cable company has exclusive ownership of a local market.
In reading the article referenced at the top of this forum, it appears the city of Dalton is attempting to address quality of service concerns by imposing certain conditions on Charter Communications in return for a franchise (read "monopoly"). If there were competitive pressures on Charter Communications, there would be no need to address such concerns by the local government. That the city of Dalton feels compelled to address such concerns at the municipal level is itself proof of monopoly.
The solution reached by the city of Dalton reinforces the notion of cable vendor as a local monopoly by perpetuating the franchise arrangement. The franchise agreement, by its very existence, limits the scope of consumer choice. Consequently, the franchise arrangement confers market power on the provider, and denies market power to individual consumers. I do not consider such arrangements to be in the best interests of consumers.
--
Cordially,
Peter Nayland Kust
pkust@smsysinc.com
Secure Mobile Systems, Inc.
www.smsysinc.com | |
| | | | | 
retrogame
join:2003-04-14
Auburn, MA
·Charter Pipeline
| Re: Nice, but...... No cable franchise is exclusive, but in most communities there are not enough potential customers to warrant a second cable provider coming in and building a second infrastucture, two cable companies cannot share lines, as the services they offer would use the same bandwidth. If RCN/Comcast/COX wanted to come into your area, the government could not stop them, but they would have to run new lines, setup a new headend and setup new nodes. Unless you live in a city with at least 30,000-40,000 homes, it's not even worth it to the cable company. | |
| | | | | | 
zoom314
Superman
Premium
join:2001-04-30
Yermo, CA
| Re: Nice, but...... I live in a City (Hesperia) with a population of about 60,000 and Charter Pipeline is It. But then again Charter is It for the entire Victor Valley area (Victorville, Apple Valley & Hesperia) which has a combined population of about 200,000 people total. And that doesn't even include th surrounding county areas (50,000 to 150,000 there possibly). So It's Charter Pipeline or If You are less than 3 miles from a Verizon CO - DSL. It's either Cable, DSL, Dial-up or Satellite.
Edit: Our City has a Non-Exclusive Franchise agreement with charter too, But No one else will come in to the area at all.
--
Charter Pipeline rules in Hesperia, CA, Verizon (ex-GTE) sucks.....
[text was edited by author 2003-07-05 13:59:18] | |
| | | | | | |
retrogame
join:2003-04-14
Auburn, MA
·Charter Pipeline
| Re: Nice, but...... Most of the towns around here just renewed the franchise agreement with Charter, Comcast, Adelphia, etc... didn't even bid on it. I think the main thing is Charter's cable rates for digital cable and the channel offerings are more competitive than most cable companies and they probably wouldn't see many people move over and stay. Just a quick note, a population of 60,000 means you probably have about 20,000-25,000 possible accounts (houses/apartments). Auburn has 16,000 people but only 5,000 living areas. Each home/apartment can only have one account, so that's the number the cable companies are going to care about. | |
| | | | | | moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| said by retrogame :
No cable franchise is exclusive, but in most communities there are not enough potential customers to warrant a second cable provider coming in and building a second infrastucture, two cable companies cannot share lines, as the services they offer would use the same bandwidth. If RCN/Comcast/COX wanted to come into your area, the government could not stop them, but they would have to run new lines, setup a new headend and setup new nodes. Unless you live in a city with at least 30,000-40,000 homes, it's not even worth it to the cable company.
You are WRONG!!! In Baltimore City, Comcast has EXCLUSIVE rights to run a cable franchise within the city limits. No other company may run lines. The local government can and has stopped others from providing the service. Plus, Comcast has yet to install the equipment for cable modems and has no plans to do so in the future. The ONLY cable modem service is through another company via Comcast to business only areas and 2 extrememly expensive condominium complexes. | |
| | | | | | | gpancner
join:2001-09-27
Nine Mile Falls, WA
| Re: Nice, but...... stop complaining and find an alternative. just because your local officials are working against their constituency, shouldn't prevent you from finding another source of broadband access. if you want video you don't need cable companies. if you want broadband you don't need comcast. you can get it from cable's broadband competitors - your local phone company (isdn,dsl,adsl, etc), starband, direcpc or direcway. just because comcast brings the biggest bang for the buck (read fastest speeds for lowest price whether you subscribe to cable or not). and, exclusive cable franchises are ILLEGAl - the franchise agreement (should someone ever read it) will say the following "this non-exclusive franchise is granted to....). | |
| | | | | | | | moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Nice, but...... said by gpancner :
stop complaining and find an alternative. just because your local officials are working against their constituency, shouldn't prevent you from finding another source of broadband access. if you want video you don't need cable companies. if you want broadband you don't need comcast. you can get it from cable's broadband competitors - your local phone company (isdn,dsl,adsl, etc), starband, direcpc or direcway.
When I did live in Baltimore City, I did try and get DSL. ISDN was not available. Neither was ASDL. Even though I was 12000 feet from the CO, I was over 20000 feet from the CO line wise. With the exception of 2 days out of 90, I never got above 100kbps. Directway was not feasable either at the time.
Fact is Baltimore City is apparently not a good place to get DSL or cable for that matter. I moved and got cable since DSL was slower at the time and Verizon still does not impress me with their service either. Lesser of 2 evils. Doesn't mean I can't ask for better service. | |
| | | | | 
nunya
SEE ROCK CITY 475 MILES
Premium,MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
clubs:
 ·AT&T CallVantage
| pkust,
I agree with you somewhat. But your argument that cable is a monopoly does not hold water. There are no monopolies in telecom anymore. Cable is the closest thing left, but doesn't really qualify - I'll expand.
I get my T.V. from Dish Network (and before that DirecTV). Both far superior and less costly than Charter. Even the service calls are faster (how that is I don't know).
Just because your local cable co has decided to roll out BB, and no one else has, should they be punished or held to a higher standard? BB is not an inalienable right. Life goes on without it. For that matter Cable T.V. is a luxury. There are still people in this country who cannot get broadcast T.V.
I think the govt. needs to stay out of it, or make it the same across the board for every provider.
I am a startup. I would most certainly avoid this area of Maryland like the plague. So, in that matter I see them actually killing competition instead of spawning it.
Accountability is one thing. Who determines if the alleged violation even took place. Are we basing this all on the word of a disgruntled customer?
Capitalism works. The govt. needs to butt out and let technology and demand regulate the market.
--
Look Mom, I'm a Provider. "Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been." Winston Churchill | |
| | | |
AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
| said by DJQuantum:
You wanna look at monopolies look at your phone company
How do you figure? If you want to use a different phone company that uses SBC's lines, what's stopping you? Same thing for DSL providers. | |
| | | 
JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD
clubs:
·LINGO
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·surpasshosting
 ·Verizon FIOS
| said by pkust :
The main concern I have with regulatory ventures such as this is that it institutionalizes monopoly; these standards do not exist outside of an agreement that gives an exclusive franchise to Charter Communications (a monopoly by any other name is still an abomination in the marketplace). Regulation, even when it nominally is on behalf of the consumer, is still regulation, and, by definition, is a distortion of the marketplace. Defined credits for failure to meet QoS standards, regardless of intention, are arbitrary--and therefore artificial--costs. Artificial costs create additional economic obstacles that work against the consumer in the long run.
To make these standards work, there will have to be enforcement, which creates more legal red tape and more bureaucracy, the cost of which will ultimately be passed to consumers either through taxes (from the government side) or higher fees (from the cable company side) or both. Additionally, who is more likely to be able to successfully exploit a bureaucracy--the cable company or the consumer?
Exclusive franchise agreements are illegal.
In Montgomery County MD, enforcement of our "bill of rights" consists of a 5 member volunteer committee. Any company arguing increased costs to meet the flimsy standards we imposed, should be downright ashamed. said by pkust :
Rather than regulating existing monopolies and oligopolies, we would be better served if government entities would work to remove barriers to competition; there should not be a deal with just one company, but with many. There should be no exclusivity, no franchise, but an open market. That is the capitalist ideal; that is what people should demand of both their governments and their service providers.
In Montgomery County MD, we signed a franchise with an overbuilder - an effort to foster competition. But the entrenched cable company's constant anti-competitive behavior, coupled with the extraordinarily high entrance costs, made it impossible. After covering about 15% of the franchise area, our overbuilder has no plans to complete the overbuild.
We're a very lucrative franchise. The currently entrenched cable company has almost a quarter million subscribers. If our franchise isn't attractive enough for an overbuilder, I don't have much optimism for the rest of the country. I believe only 5% of our nation has cable competition.
I'm not sure I agree with your notion of "no franchise". Cable networks need access to the public right-of-way. The ROW is a precious commodity, and needs to be treated with respect. In addition, cable companies install a drop to your home, which has to comply with safety codes. Oversight is necessary. For this, and many other reasons, I believe local franchises are extremely important. said by pkust :
As much as the city of Dalton is to be applauded for emphasizing the importance of good customer service, I question whether this approach will achieve the desired results. It is far more likely that a regulatory regime will increase costs to consumers while producing at best marginal improvements in service.
We'll see how it plays out. But if nothing else, the cable companies have been serviced with notice:
SHAPE UP! | |
| | gpancner
join:2001-09-27
Nine Mile Falls, WA | And you wouldn't? | |
| |
dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ | most dont hire anyone. its all outsourced. yes i said that ugly "O" word.
--
You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth | |
| | |
Outsourced
@uu.net
| Re: Nice, but...... My $15/hr Customer Service job was outsourced offshore to a company that I'm told pays their employees $2/hr.
Do you think someone who is making $2/hr is going to know anything other than what's on the script on the terminal in front of him/her?
Frankly, if a company is going to have a monopoly in a community, they should have to hire people from that community. Then you might start seeing quality customer service, until then, well, you get what the company pays for. | |
| | | |
DJQuantum
@tci.com
| Re: Nice, but...... I'm sorry to hear that you've been outsourced but how long ago was this. All my experience with the company being an x ATT employee and now Comcast is that they are bringing all deparments back to the company and running them locally. AT&T outsourced everything in Washington state where I'm at and about 2 years ago they started bringing it all back due to the Comcast merger. We are doing the last of it here very soon which is hiring over 200 people to do Billing/Collections for Washington here in the state. Here in Washington state everything is local all call centers/departments. I work in Tech support and take great pride in working for such a great company. I have over 12 years of computer experience including Network Administration and Network design and implementation on multiple platforms, topographies, and NOS's. Everyone here in my department goes through extensive and ongoing training on support our products and everyone I work with comes from there own knowledgable backgrounds. Eventually all of Comcast will be this way it will just take time to clean up all the mess that they aqquired with the old AT&T systems. | |
| | | | | | | moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL
| Fact is, the providers themselves asked for this.
How can I say that? If the providers had done their job and provided good service in the beginning, then none of this would be neccessary. If you go from, "There is a problem and we are working on it" to "Well sir (even though we know it's our fault), let's check your network settings and reboot your modem 10 times. If that doesn't work, well you are the only one having this problem (that we will admit to) so it must be just you and I'll roll a truck in 2 weeks."
If the cable companies want more regulations, let them continue on their present course and they will find themselves with more rules they will have to follow. | |
| | |
AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX | Re: Nice, but...... Most cable companies truck roll just about everything. Here at SBC we do a good amount of troubleshooting, but far less is done by most cable providers. | |
| Kiwi
Premium
join:2003-05-26
USA
·Comcast
·Aristotle Internet
| Sure! I agree with unit649 The end result gets passed right back to the consumer, nobody could possibly believe otherwise -'They' won't lose money!
It's pretty sad, here in the USofA -A service driven Country, that can't provide even 101 tech support within this basic techno field; It's not 1985 anymore folks!
The best line of approach, if possible:
Get an ISP that's out of the mainstream, the global providers don't give a ratz about consumers. Of course it's difficult to find a non global ISP, and for those that find one, it will cost more; but so does anything worth having!! | |
| |
Unit649
I B U, Who U B?
Premium
join:2000-01-22
Stockton, CA
·Comcast
| Re: Sure! Yeah, its getting harder and harder to find out of mainstream providers. And alot of those have to use mainstream uplinks-so you get the bad anyway.
And hey, its the american way to make sure you make a good profit too....gotta keep the shareholders and the bigwigs on the Board happy, full, and content for the board meetings!
Regulation isn't a bad thing-but when you start setting goals that are hard to maintain, it costs more to maintain those goals. Those costs will be beared upon by the consumer. I just hope when the new hiring occurs to maintain this 90 second answer timeframe, they take the time, spend a little more money (why not, they can just add it to your bill, right) and train the people they hire correctly. Getting someone on the phone in 90 seconds is nice, but I'd rather wait 10 minutes if it means getting a tech that knows what is going on.
--
U --irc.foreverchat.net Founderhttp://www.foreverchat.net | |
| | | TechWerker
join:2003-03-06
Beverly Hills, CA
| Re: Sure! Road Runner has been providing this for years.
Tech Support Channels and Levels
Road Runner is proud to offer industry leading tech support through a variety of channels. All of our tech support channels are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Outlined below are your technical support channels and the support levels provided for each:
Chat Tech Support: 90% of "calls" answered within 30 seconds
E-mail Tech Support: 90% of questions answered within hours
Help & Member Services web-based tech support site (www.help.rr.com)
Road Runner Medic desktop monitoring, diagnostic, and repair tool
Telephone Tech Support: 90% of calls answered within 30 seconds
All tech support options are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and all are accessible from your Help & Member Services. (www.help.rr.com) | |
| | | | 
ikarus1
Premium
join:2002-10-23
Urbanna, VA
| Re: Sure! Oh, Yeah, Road Runner has been offering this and what? ...
NO NETWORK SECURITY, PERIOD. Road Runner totally SUCKS when it comes to trying to clean up the crap on the internet. Their security guru, ain't.
Jeeze, Luizee...
There is NOT a SINGLE large provider of ANY sort of service that gives one half of a RATZ arse whether your system is cracked or not...
Sure they make noises about anti-virus in their mail servers, but do they deliver... NOT ONE DAMN BIT BETTER THAN MICROSUZ (the originator of the problem).
Aw, hell, letz just make some more noise about what we want for fifteen dollars a month... and what we deliver...
Idiots and morons...
-m- | |
| | | | | 
grunteled
Puffy And Prickly
Premium
join:2001-06-13
Kansas City, MO
clubs:
| Re: Sure! And why would they be responsible for *your* PC and it's security? I mean not one SINGLE mortgage lender takes care of securing my home from theft and fire. No guards, no fire inspectors, smokey the bear, nothing. Then again it is *my* home, and my responsibility to secure it and look out for it.
Maybe you want RR staff deciding what is and is not ok for you to install, read, connect to, or execute. I sure as hell don't. Nor do I want them to start blocking and filtering traffic based on what they decide is good or bad.
This has nothing to do with providing reliable service and getting problems resolved on their network. It your PC, your property, you take care of it. | |
| | | | |
See 7 replies to this post | |
doppler
join:2003-03-31
Blue Point, NY
| Another way to STIFFLE phone companies My friend in florida would love to get DSL service.
He is in a good range from the CO. to get it.
The only problem is: The local phone company
has no plans to install it anywhere. And the service
he does has stinks. Cross-talk hum and ETC. 56k
service is impossible. Best case is 23k. Normal is
less.
The BIG REASON for not even installing DSL service
or broadband anywhere is! FCC must carry regs.
If the Phone company doesn't have it. Then they don't
have to share it with anybody.
example: I want to big a mansion on my property. The
only way to get approvals is I must house low income
renters in my home. And they can rent out my services
for a lower cost then I can sell it for.
Does this sounds like something you heard before?
Until the regs change a whole lot of phone companies
do not plan to install anything.
[text was edited by author 2003-07-04 16:24:34] | |
| | gpancner
join:2001-09-27
Nine Mile Falls, WA | Re: Another way to STIFFLE phone companies And that's the way it should be! Market driven profits bring benefits to all. | |
| | |
AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
| Re: Another way to STIFFLE phone companies said by gpancner :
And that's the way it should be! Market driven profits bring benefits to all.
So when will you be moving the low income renters into your house? | |
| 
ravital
Just Another Pesky Independent Nh Voter
Premium
join:2001-07-19
Merrimack, NH
| A simpler solution Providers could freely choose to meet reasonable QoS standards on their own, then they wouldn't have to be regulated on QoS standards.
Will it cost money? Of course it will, can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. Will they lose money? No, they'll make money. They just won't make enough to have a high/low salary ratio of 540:1 and buy themselves hockey teams, they'll just make enough to have a high/low salary ratio of 40:1 as everyone in America did back when we were capitalists.
Do the math and figure out how many knowledgeable tech support engineers can be hired if a multi-million-dollar/year CEO knocks off 1/4 of his salary. In exchange for no regulation of my QoS, I'd give up twice that much in a hot New York minute. How many hockey teams do I want to own? How many boats can I water-ski behind? How many kids can I send to Harvard? When did it become Capitalism to take home the equivalent of a small European country's annual GDP? Nobody is that good.
[text was edited by author 2003-07-04 17:11:36] | |
| | gpancner
join:2001-09-27
Nine Mile Falls, WA | Re: A simpler solution and i suppose when you get paid more than you believe you're worth you'll give the excees back -- NOT! | |
| | |
ravital
Just Another Pesky Independent Nh Voter
Premium
join:2001-07-19
Merrimack, NH
| Re: A simpler solution said by gpancner :
and i suppose when you get paid more than you believe you're worth you'll give the excees back -- NOT!
Ask me again when my annual salary is between 7 and 8 figures. I'll have more of a life-experience to be able to answer that question. My basic common sense tells me that the less I take for myself, assuming I take enough (low to mid 6 figures would be enough), and the more I plough back into the business, the better the business will be, the happier my employees and customers will be, the better-off I'll be. | |
| 
parasonic
I Am Not A Bot
join:2002-03-29
Atlanta, GA
clubs:
| Ouch! But Dalton is TINY. 20 minutes away from here. It's probably 2/3 Mexican now, and most of them don't have any reason to have catv/Internet...they're all outside having fun in other ways.
5000 subscribers, maybe?? That's not all that much to handle.
--
"We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile. We are the Borg." SETI: Too many TFlops to keep up with. | |
| 
Sarick
It's Only Logical
Premium
join:2003-06-03
USA | It's not only the Provider it's the firmware. Yes please Add companies that produce faulty hardware firmware. | |
| Kiwi
Premium
join:2003-05-26
USA
·Comcast
·Aristotle Internet
| Reminder! "A growing number of communities are raising the bar on their local broadband providers, requiring better support and improved service; or else. Most of the time the "or else" are feeble fines the companies shrug off, though in some instances consumers are seeing some serious benefits."
I have a lot of comments in my back pocket for other issues, this does seem like plle understanding the difference between 'Hackers' & 'Crackers' -Meaning the topic in question relates to ISP's, or is it just me thinking there is a place for understanding what a topic is? Bad enough we have to deal with poor terminology and have the 'Hero' labeled a Hacker! Can anyone stick with the point and not get bizz_are?
The question begged, is do you get what you pay for, in this service industry; not such a difficult concept, or perhaps it is -No wonder large companies stick 1st line newbies in the phone seat, guess I just figured out why they do it!
How many plle requesting tech support, know remotely what their own issue is -Yes, devils advocate question, they probably ask something about their phone line problem {speaking} b4 worrying about their Net!
My point is...It's possible IF you have the opportunity to find an ISP that is not so blasted large, to have everything you want.
Let's look at this a different way, at home I use the net 99.9% of the time; so it stands if I want that -I'll pay for it, but I do expect Service and..as it happens that's what I bought! I feel for those plle who don't have an option to choose who provides them what they need. I guess that's the solution -Choice and do you have it. Of course it goes without saying (I hope, this time) that your system must also be prepared for what your expected gain is with regards your Net service...Be surprised how many plle want the Moon from a piece of junk -Even the the so-called "experts". | |
| | | Kiwi
Premium
join:2003-05-26
USA
·Comcast
·Aristotle Internet
| That's the Sad part:( So many plle don't really have a choice, it's not that America is free, it does cost, but we should get what we pay for- Go check out 'Easy Rider' a very old movie that had one thing right!
"Free people are a threat, because those that think they are free are really not; they don't want to understand that free people exist, here in this Country. That makes the them very dangerous". Jack Nickelson, said it, in the movie...& he was right in spite of the script!
Just a wee thought!
Yes, most plle have to accept what they get, 'they' call it free enterprise -Shame we don't have more of it! | |
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JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD
clubs: | Re: what if no go? Cable providers are bound by franchise agreements. They can't just "completely move out" without penalty. | |
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AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX | Re: what if no go? Yes, but these agreements have expiration dates, I'm sure. | |
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AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX | Re: what if no go? Very strange forms of capitalism we have these days. | |
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Varangian
join:2002-12-08
Collinsville, IL
|  Tech Support
Consider that these pimps running the companies like sykes or convergis get paid BY THE CALL.
If your problem gets solved in one call- thy lose potential income. It is the policy of these places to generate as many calls as possible to maximize income.
It is also the policy of these companies to treat employees abusively. High turnover means no benefits payouts or raises.
And 'training' usually means some hand waving followed by the presentation of really stupid canned scripts the techs are required to follow on pain of termination. | |
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AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
| Re: Tech Support said by Varangian :
If your problem gets solved in one call- thy lose potential income. It is the policy of these places to generate as many calls as possible to maximize income.
Not true here at Convergys. There is a repeat call process in place, and a tech who has too many customers calling back within 24 hours of when he spoke to the person is punished, if it was his fault. | |
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AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX | SBC SBC already does most of this stuff. Hold time to speak to a technician is almost always 0, customers can get a credit for downtime, and turn around for an ASI escalation is usually 24 hours. | |
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Broadband Bill of Rights
