Learning to love the 'cable' Guy

Remember, it's OK to love the cable guy, just so long as you don't LOVE the cable guy.

Of course no one loved "The Cable Guy". It was just a bad movie....

some comic relief in my stressed day. Thanks

Tales From the Crypt Episode 37 Spoiled

i love the cable guy, exceot when he is 5 hours late

I like the phone guy, especially when they tell you that you need to stay home "just in case" the phone guy needs to visit your house.. and then never does.

check to see if your house has a telephone network interface. Many houses have them so you can isolated the phone issue either in your house or in the telephone network. You'll then know if your have to be home or not.

Thanks! but having worked as a tech for the phone company before, I kinda knew that ...

My point is that they "tell you" on the phone to be home "in case" they need access...

Not to worry any more, becuase the only interface on the outside of my house is from Cable Labs and is stamped RSU on the side.

HAHA! I had a phone activated in my old Condo and knew he needed access to get it done.
I was told he would be there between 8-5pm. At 6pm I called on my cell to see where he was and they stated he had been there and left around 10am. I picked up my phone to check, sure enough dial tone.
I probably should have checked my phone throughout the day but I also think if he would have activated the line with never making contact with me a courtesy call to that number would have rocked my day.

Thanks for making my point, CT. I guess this just may be one reason why cable telephone is getting a better rap than POTS.. the cable man will always make contact when it comes to a phone work order, unlike telephone who would rather not deal wtih the customer.

(and guys, please spare me your "the tech never showed up stories.. that's an obvious flaw in any system. Even the phone guy has missed me outright before too.)

When I got Comcast Digital Phone (before there was CDV) I had misread my appointment time and thought I had a 8am-10am window. At about 10:30 I called to see what was up. Turns out I had an 8-12 appointment. Well, I had to leave to take care of some other stuff that day so rescheduled the appointment for a different day. About, 11:30 the tech calls me on my cell because he's at my door and nobody's home. I let him know I had to reschedule and he says to me "You know what, since I'm here why don't I just get it hooked up on the outside for you today?" I said "That sounds great!" He calls me about a half hour later and tells me he hooked up the service into my condo and made a test call and could hear it ringing inside.

The moral of the story: I missed my appointment and had to reschedule, yet the guy still shows up (ontime!) and takes care of me that day.

What they should do to make people happy is actually show up for their service appointments.

Who cares if they miss a few appointments. They'll be wearing booties when they finally show up!!!

I'd agree that the booties might be funny, but when you've already missed two days of work because of missed Verizon appointments, the sense of humor diminishes.

--
"We never stop working for you...Unless of course our union contracts are up and then we go on strike. Then, we stop working for you and leave you without phone service for three weeks."

--
"We never stop working for you...because technically, we'd actually have to start."

AWESOME.

Booties have been standard issue in Sacramento CA for as longa s I can remember. That's just one system that I can speak for, but I don't hardly think that booties are going to change people's minds in a whole. Wearing booties is just plain respect.

In the twin cities, the policy is "boots off" in the house. Besides, with light or white carpet being one of the latest trends, it's a no brainer.

You mean the window of Monday at 10am and December 20th, 2009 isn't a good enough window for you?

I was waiting for the Cable Guy and suddenly I heard the Nut Cracker Suite playing outside the house. I looked out the window and it was the cable installers. This is what what I saw coming to the front door, a couple of Sugar Plum Fairies

And OMGzorz teh pri$e i$ $0oooooooooooooooo high!

Better yet... actually do the job right when they do bother to show up. The last time I had an HDTV box setup from Comcast, the idiot tech tried to tell me a crappy 480i picture was "HD" and that if I didn't like it, I would "have to call Comcast."

Ugh.

OKAY My installer not only took my old box that had the DVI output on it and replaced it with one with a HDMI ouput (had to buy a new 90$ hdmi cable) but he too told me that 480p was HD and that if the picture looked bad it was because of my TV, not the cable box. ( I have a 56" HD DLP 1080p by Hitachi ) I simply waited for him to leave so I could reprogram the box to output 1080p from the config menu (power off on the box, press the menu button).

Unfortunately I did not know that trick at the time. It wasn't until the next set of Comcast techs showed up that I learned how to configure the box.

whats worse is how fucking reluctant they are to tell you how to do stuff like that. I dont get why they cant tell you something like that over the phone, why send some one out when you can just press a button to fix it?

What made even less sense is that in my situation, they sent two people out

Becuase people tend to fingerfuk with thinks and many people, who shouldn't be playing with things, do. It generates service calls when they shouldn't be required.

I do agree that a tech should be able to set it up right hte first time, however... but, some people cause un-necessary service calls because "they know better what they are doing"..

Yeah, very true. I don't know how many times I give someone instructions, and they call right back saying "My screen is black" or "Why don't my guide show up anymore". Whats even worse is if they are using Coaxial connections thru DVR's, the box will not show you what you are doing in ANYTHING but 480i. Try telling someone by phone what they are trying to do by reading out an LED display. Yeah right. I memorized what shows up, at least, so I can say "ok, press power, do you see a channel #, ok, press power again, now menu, does it say anything on the front of the box? ypp (blank) 720p on the front of the boxes LED display? Good, press right arrow once, got a pic? Awesome!" But, usually it's the 60+ year old "computer-literate (not illiterate, their words, not mine)" who can't follow along.

I am glad everyone here thinks it "so easy to fix". It at least shows the majority of you guys aren't clueless on the other end of the phone. It's amazing, though, how many people use coaxial over y Pb Pr, HDMI, or DVI, and don't know what they mean. For cryin out loud, you spent thousands on it, why not read a little manual to find out what you bought??? (by little, they aren't small anymore, but still, for a grand???).

yes i agree, i do have a problem when the actual tech that comes to my home tells me there is no way that the picture will get better because my TV is not HD, even when I have to tell him to please hook up the HDMI cable to fix the problem and he still tells me that it dosent make a difference. I am willing to bet that the reason some many people use coax is because thier tech told them it dosent make a difference what type of cable you use. I have a Hitachi 56" HD DLP 1080p television, and having the cable guy tell me that my television is the problem not the type of cable he has connected between my television and the HD box, concerns me. I am tired of having 'contractors' come to install something in my home and not have a clue what they are doing, and trying tell me that my 3000$ television is a POS, espically when i have to pay over $100 a month for service.

However there is a sick satisfaction that i got after i hooked up the HDMI cable in front of him and popped on the TV only to hear him say thats not how it normally works and how strange that my TV operates in such a manner that i would need a 'special cord' to make the 'HD jank' work.

I can agree with not wanting a "contractor" to do the initial install, however, I have not seen a time when a contractor was ever sent (at least in my division) to do an install. Those are routed to inhouse techs only. I HAVE seen contractors do HSI installs before, but if you are getting TV installed, it's inhouse.

On a side note, configuring each new TV you come across is getting more and more difficult. The interfaces are so different from one set to another. If you ask me, I think the cable providers job will end once the cables are connected, and the box is working. If it's wide screen, set the HD box's resolution, and you're done. Bear in mind too, some of these techs know once the resolution setting gets put to a value your TV can't display, the task of getting the picture back can be more frustrating on some sets (with 10 second source lag for the TV to pick up the HDMI/DVI).

I feel if you don't have the TV manual ready, the tech should leave it at 480i, and call it a day. Of course, I am NOT saying you didn't know this info, I am just saying "if it were me, and you didn't know, I ain't fartin around with it, it's your TV, I make the box show a pic, and believe it or not, 480i IS high def, just crappy compared to say 1080i, so it's not like they aren't installing HD.

what cable box do you have that does 1080p? the highest i've seen is 1080i.... i know there are tv's that do 1080p, so please don't tell me about your tv again. thanks.

When I went to the High Def box w/DVR, I simply visited the local Comcast den of inequity and picked up the damn thing myself and set it up.

I'd rather take a shot at setting it up myself. I don't like having strange people in my home. I'm just weird that way. I had my box up and running in no time in high def.

Gotta love the HD programming, though. Watching a ball game (football and baseball) on TV in HD is, IMHO is better than being there...

'I simply waited for him to leave so I could reprogram the box to output 1080p from the config menu (power off on the box, press the menu button)."

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.....

I did not know this. when I got home last night I tried it and reset for my new TV. What a difference. Why in the world is this not set by the Cable Rep when they set it up?

Thanks again..........

That was my biggest gripe with my cable provider... Twice they missed service calls (the install and a line problem) and I had to call the provider to send another tech out... A total time lost of the original four hours lost plus the hour extra for a new tech to show up.

It simple to keep people happy... Be reliable... Keep your appointments... And don't treat people like idiots (unless they are idiots)...

I've never had to have Verizon come out, but my dealings with them on the phone or thru the internet for service changes have always been painless. And I never got shuffled around on the call. The original person was always able to help do what I wanted. I don't like their voice prompt tree, but I don't like anyone else's either. I prefer a human picking up the phone by the 2nd ring.

I've had Comcast out twice for service. And both times they were within the scheduled window(now a 2 hour window instead of the old 4 hr window). The repair person was a Comcast employee and not a contractor and they solved the problem quickly - one time by running all new cable from the outside pedestal all the way to the in-house splitter(the original cable was 20 yrs old and remained buried thru 2 cable company changes). And he gave me several hundred feet of quad shield RG6 to boot in case I wanted to run new in house wiring to a different room than where the sets were now.

I have Verizon for phone service only and I also have to say that I have had nothing but good experiences with the techs. I have only ever had to have them come to my house twice.

Once a few years ago when I moved into a house and the pair that was assigned to my house apparently was moved, so a tech had to physically rewire my drop to a new pair. The guy came out and realized there was no NID. He installed one, we shot the breeze for awhile about our industry, and he even made sure that I had DT in my house before he left, even though he didn't have to and he knew I was a former phone tech and wired the house myself.

Just this past Friday my dial tone went out. I checked the NID. No DT. Since I know what I am doing, I take the drop and wire it directly to my house wires. DT comes back. I call and tell them that there is a bad half-ringer in the NID. They schedule a guy to come out on Monday to fix it, since I told them what I had done and I do have service. I go to work the next day and when I get home, my wife informs me that they showed up and fixed the problem. Two days early, no less. (I know that a lot of times they make these appointments a few days ahead knowing full well that they will get there earlier so they will look good, but, hey, it made US happy.) My wife said he instructed her to check DT on the inside before he left just to make sure. I found out later that it was a guy that I knew when I was a contractor for them. Good guy.

Why am I praising Verizon being a cable guy? Because if they do right by me they deserve it. Unfortunately, you mostly only hear about the bad stuff on these types of forums. I would have to say that 90% of companies and workers in this industry do the right things. It's the other 10% that gets the publicity. But as long as those 10% start wearing booties, things will get better.

I've never give any of the telco or cable techs any lip when they come out to do their job.....

...that is, assuming they ARE doing their job correctly. Examples of situtions where I have gotten pretty close to taking names and numbers down:

1) Cable (AT&T Broadband) -- got a "pro" install, so the tech that came out insisted he "set up my PC to work with DSL". I explain I just want him to do signal tests + loop tests and give me the IP information, I'll do the set up myself. Tech insists "he cannot do this, he must be the one who does the install". We go round and round for about 15 full minutes, as he keeps insisting "that my router will cause the installation to fail". I do my best to explain to him why that assumption is wrong, start to explain how Ethernet, ARP, and MAC addresses actually work, how the OSI layer is modelled, and he just sits there looking at me like I'm speaking Martian.

Sigh. I explain to the tech that I'll let him do the rest of the install as long as I can watch everything he does. He agrees, as long as I remove the router from the picture. I sigh, and reluctantly agree. First thing he does is load up IE and starts to configure a proxy server. I stop him, asking what this is about. "We have to register your network address". I explain that this is pointless, since after he leaves, I'm going to hook my NAT unit back up and they'll see a different MAC address once that's done. Tech tells me "No it won't, we always see the MAC of your PC's NIC, thats why it has to be done this way".

I ask him to step away from the PC. I re-add my NAT unit to the network topology, sit down at my PC, put in the proxy server. Tech screams "No! NO! It's not going to work!!!". I ignore him, going through the registration without a single hitch. I get on my router and show him the MAC address of my WAN interface. I ask him to call whoever the central networking POC is, and have them check to see what got registered -- he tries to weasel his way out of doing this at first, but agrees. POC returns the MAC address of my WAN interface on my router, just like I explained to him it would.

"That shouldn't work, it doesn't work like that" he says. I send him on his way, signing the little piece of paper that says he "did his job thoroughly". Yep, you sure did, "Bob". I'll never forget that guys' name...

2) Cable (Comcast) -- connection loses framing. Look out the window, see a Comcast truck outside. Go out to our cable box and find the tech (one of the contractors, not the actual Comcast-employed) messing around. Explain that I just lost signal. Guy literally looks at me, then goes back to what he was doing, as if I wasn't even there. I step closer to him, and repeat myself. Guy looks up and says "I'm just doing an install for {other apartment}". I point to the installation box he's working at, and point out that he's got -- in his hands -- the coax for my apartment. Guy looks at me, proceeds to reconnect it, and starts working on the one he should be working on -- again, saying nothing. I sigh and walk off.

(I've had this happen literally four times in the past 2 years. The regularity of it is astounding...)

3) Cable (Comcast) -- around 0200 (in the morning) PDT. Cable signal drops out while I'm at work. Impossible for me to tell if it's an IP problem or an actual cable problem w/out either going home or calling Comcast. Call Comcast, tell them the situation. Ask support individual if they can run a test to the CPE. They run the test, and it fails (as expected) -- signalling issue. Support again insists they schedule a tech to come out "in about a week". I decline the offer again, insisting that this problem will probably be gone by the time I get home in 6 hours, and that I'm calling because gut feeling says they're doing maintenance that I wasn't informed about. I hang up, obviously displeased. Connection comes back up 2 hours later -- cable modem log shows it was indeed a signalling problem. Entire incident caused by Comcast moving some sort-of coax network portion from SFO to Oakland (as admitted later).

4) Telco (Covad DSL) -- fought for a month to get someone to come out and deal with my connection randomly losing sync. Electrical loop test turns up that I'm 2x further away from the CO than the automated test did (12000 feet vs. 6600 feet). Covad tech comes out, looks at my wall jacks, and starts blaming "inside wiring". I grab my DSL bridge and make him follow me outside to the DMARC (there's an AC outlet out there, believe it or not). Hook up modem, have him plug laptop into the modem, show him the signalling is just as bad as inside. Tech says "Hmm...", messes around for a few minutes, then says "I'll need a senior tech. We need to reschedule".

Two weeks later, senior Covad tech comes out. Same routine: "it's inside wiring", claiming "HE KNOWS THESE APARTMENTS". I sigh, go through the same routine as before. I ask for a vendor meet to be set up between SBC and Covad, and the Covad tech refuses ("this isn't possible, we manage this whole connection" -- uh, no you don't, SBC owns the copper).

I ask senior tech what exactly I can do about the problem. His response, and I quote: "Move closer to the CO; relocate." I get his name and card, thank him for nothing, and send him on his way.

-----

As for all the other visits and encounters, I do my best to respect the techs. I offer them water or food if I happen to be cooking, and I keep a well AC'd apartment for those hot days. The techs I appreciate the most are ones who point blank state "Well I don't know much about this IP/Ethernet thing, but I do know a lot about cable/DSL". I've a lot of respect for honest techs. If you don't know something, that's cool -- I don't know much about cable, for example. Combining my knowledge of IP with their knowledge of cable == quick, reliable install.

I'd like to see any other industry witn a 4 hour appointment window...sure, I don't have anything to do that day.

cept for the photo on the net of the Comcast tech sleeping on the sofa...

Honestly, I've not had a problem with them as "I can talk the talk...I was a technician, afterall."

Some would say love comes in the form of 100/100 mbit connections which are "ROCK SOLID"!
(and not just the 300 miles from your local central office)

I liked the old approach of making more "pretend-we-care" and empathy statements mandatory, and longer scripts for phone techs. Beating around the bush is always much more effective than fixing actual problems.

HAHA!! Boy I'm glad my company don't have any scripts to say on the phone except the greeting.

"Have I provided you with outstanding service today?"

Somone can tell us which customer service had this wonderful question as part of their script?

AT&T internet services billing department, for one. Right after she tried to market bundled long distance to me and I told he I wasn't paying for something wether I used it or not.

If you were an Enterprise customer your account would be handled by a separate business division. Instead of a tech getting 8 jobs a day he would get one job in 8 days. Money talks, you walk.

Yes. Completely separate division. Comcast business services != Comcast Cable. The business division that ran our fibre at work was another company that Comcast acquired. The SLA is 100% different, but not everyone (or every business) can afford the $2000/mo. 10000/10000 connection either. You get what you pay for.