Cox
"Why I am checking my email via a 9600bps connection right now instead of the usual cable modem" or "A Letter to Cox Cable":
To whom it may concern-
Until recently I was a very happy Cox customer. Installation happened smoothly and quickly and your staff is very helpful. When I received the High Speed Internet installation kit I was thankful that you had been so proactive in helping customers transition to this new service. The transition has failed miserably and I have been spending hours just trying to get through to your technical support. Since I am stuck at home while doing this, I'm taking the opportunity (as I'm currently on hold) to write to you.
On January 21 my cable modem stopped working. Since then I have been trying to get it back into working order. On January 22 I spent the hours between 8:30pm and 12:00am on the phone trying to get through to support staff. Most calls would consist of me waiting on hold for 10-20 minutes, after which your phone system would produce a series of beeps and then disconnect me. When I was finally got through, I was given a trouble ticket and promoted to "level two." The phone system hung up on me before I could be helped by this extra level of support. As luck would have it, theres no way to call "level two" directly which means that I am now forced to call through the normal number and hope that I will get through, let alone be allowed to stay on the line long enough to talk to someone at "level two." As of right now, at 1:14am on the morning of January 25, I have still not been able to speak with someone at level two. Not even a manager by the name of Norm was able to connect me directly with level two. This is unacceptable.
I was just disconnected again.
Norm explained that the phone system hangs up on people waiting when there "are too many customers in the queue." This is unacceptable. It's bad enough that I can't wait on hold for hours, but you're forcing me to actively redial the number again and again; not even allowing me to complete a call! Every time I hear the distinct series of tones that comes before a disconnect I yell so loudly that I'm worried my neighbors may soon become concerned for my mental health. Unfortunately, it seems that all of the money spent on the fancy toolbox-shaped cardboard box your transition kit came in took funds away from your phone system and support staff.
For your benefit, please find attatched a partial list of my calls (as of right now). As you will see, I have made more than fifteen calls tonight alone! I only wish I would have had the idea to log my interactions with your dreadfully backwards support line on the evening of the twenty second, when I spent approximately three and a half hours on the phone. I trust a Cox representative will contact me in the near future to address this extreme inconvenience.
Sincerely,
bryan boyer
9600bps doesn't do Maple justice, but essentially: seared foie gras w/ apple cider broth, Salmon wrapped Char, star anise (this is still in vogue in canada, apparently) quail on some of the best rice I've had in a long while, and savoy cabbage put to good use as edging for a light terrine. Woefully neglected in this account are the three other courses, two bottles of wine, excellent service (despite some cork oddness), and good company.
Sadly, everyone's favorite cannibal, Bud the Spud, was hibernating for winter.
--Posted 01/25/02 03:40AM