Habit #12 -- Simplifying Life With Technology

I wish this was a piece about how Comcast/Xfinity has ruined my life, but that would be a lie.  The truth is that Comcast/Xfinity has robbed me of several hours of my life in my attempt to consolidate internet service, television, and voice into a single account.  Usually, I am too smart (!) to fall for the ploys of salespeople promising that by switching to this service or that carrier I will save tons and tons of money.  AT&T had me going a couple of years ago when they tried to talk me into adding television and internet via DSL connection to my existing landline service.  After patiently answering the salesperson's questions about the features we use, she presented me with savings of about $10 per month.  OK, that adds up to $120 a year but the trade-off is being stuck with DSL which is S-L-O-W.

Two weeks ago, I called Comcast about problems with my television service and even though they didn't fix the problem, they got my attention when they promised that I could save $100 per month by switching to their voice service.    Meanwhile, they sent me a replacement for one of my Digital Transport Adapters in the hope that it would fix my TV problems.  It didn't.  I spent three hours on the phone (mostly on hold) with a series of non-native English speakers before someone figured out that I needed a technician to come to my house (duh).

I was sorely tempted to tell Comcast to take their voice service and shove it, but they had made a compelling economic argument.  Currently, my Comcast bill is about $105 and AT&T charges approximately $120 per month for my two landlines.  With Comcast's "special promotion" I will pay $105 per month for everything (for 12 months) and not have to pay AT&T a nickle.  Well, I still want to keep my fax line so I will be paying AT&T for that and for my mobile family plan (a huge amount of money each month).  I asked how much I would be paying in 13 months and the salesperson said I could call in 11 months and ask to have the promotional pricing re-instated.  With any luck, we will have moved out of state by the time I need to remember to call so I won't be shocked into re-signing with AT&T because I forgot to call about the promotional pricing.

So, taking the plunge, I said "I'll try it!" and hoped I wasn't making the biggest mistake of my life.  A few days later, the big box arrived and I put off installing the breadbox-sized modem until it dawned on me that my AT&T Service was going to be cut off and unless I could get the Comcast voice service to work, I was going to have some explaining to do to my husband who never understands my explanations.  The installation instructions stated very clearly that the new "Wireless Gateway" needed to be installed in a central location within the home, away from a window or a wall. Failure to do this would result in poor reception for users on the other side of the house, namely the children, who could be reality TV Stars when their internet access is flaky.  I hadn't even taken the thing out of the box and already I was in trouble.

The location of my existing modem and wireless router is on the south side of my large, one-story house, next to a window and a wall.  Once upon a time, these dust-attracting devices had been in a more central location but were relocated to where the cable enters the house by a technician who was attempting to resolve internet connectivity issues.  No problem, I thought.  I'll install everything and then have Comcast come over and drop a cable in my kitchen.  Scheduling that was my first phone call.  An hour later, after having repeated my name, address, last four of my social security number, and my reason for calling to three or four non-native English speakers who did not understand what I needed, I had an appointment scheduled for between 3 and 5 pm two days in the future.

After installing the new "Wireless Gateway" and following the directions to the letter, nothing worked.  I could feel the love emanating from Daughter #1's bedroom and got back on the phone with Comcast.  Same routine as before until I was finally routed to an American who understood immediately what my problem was, or so I thought.  We tried this and that for an hour until he gave up and forwarded my call to the technical support team for voice.  After waiting an eternity for a human to come on the line, I was again speaking to Sri Lanka or Malaysia or Singapore or somewhere else, and attempting to make myself understood.  Finally, five hours later, the internet was back online and I was pretty sure the voice service was working, although there was no way of knowing for sure.

"While I have you on the phone," I said to the weary tech support person, "Can you tell me what is wrong with my television service?"  I then explained how I have four TVs, only one of which is connected to the cable box.  The other three have those little Digital Transport Adapters which only provide access to a limited selection of channels.  When I was no longer to tune into the station which runs "Law & Order" re-runs non-stop, which was the original problem I called about which led to my being talked into the voice service, which led to my wasting many hours of my life on the phone with Comcast.  Again.  And again, and again.

My reward for being so patient and not screaming at anyone was that a technician was dispatched to my house the very next day!  My patience was further rewarded because this guy knew what he was doing and quickly fixed my TV problems.  Not only that, he programmed all of the Comcast remote controllers so that they actually worked like they were supposed to!

There is nothing like technology to teach us humility because it all seems so easy and seamless.  Until we get it home.  When we first purchased our high-definition TV, I listened carefully to the guy from the Geek Squad as he explained how he had set this and tuned that and programmed the other.  He demonstrated all of the amazing features we would enjoy with our new digital, high-definition TV.  The minute he left the premises, nothing worked and it took a week to get him back.  Meanwhile, we were pushing the buttons on the TV itself in order to change the channels, the picture was less than high-def, and our one attempt to watch a DVD nearly caused a homicide.

So, today, I planned my day around my Comcast appointment, the one in which the technician would drop a cable into my kitchen so I could have an optimal location for my new modem.  As the clock struck five and I hadn't heard from Comcast, I called them (big mistake) and after spending 90 minutes on the phone learned that the appointment had been canceled!  "Not by me!" I exclaimed, "I've been waiting all afternoon and now I've spent another hour and a half on the phone and I am not happy!"

Twenty minutes later, an American (in America) explained to me that I could simply attach the new modem to the cable serving my main cable box and since that is in a central location, everything should work just fine and I wouldn't be charged the $39.95 (that no one bothered to tell me about) in order to have a cable installed in a suitable location for my voice service.   

SERENITY NOW!