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Just a short rant.

Started by Jeff, June 05, 2007, 08:07:37 PM

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Jeff

We have been having phone, internet and television outages for the last two days. On ten minutes, off ten minutes, back and forth like that. Thats not the issue. If something is wrong, fine, I understand, fix it. I'll be patient. My issue is the message people are getting that try to call us when we have down times.

"Were sorry, this phone has been disconnected"

HUH?

I've had several calls from relatives via my cell phone wanting to know what is wrong, why had our phone been unhooked. Worse yet, we have web clients that call us on that phone. We get calls every day. We also get calls from potential clients or sponsors, from forum members with problems, calls from all over. Now what do they think when they get "Were sorry, this phone has been disconnected"? A potential customer may be lost. A long time client may wonder if thier might be an issue that could effect them.  I've tried to get this through to the ding dongs at the consumer help level but they dont find it an issue.  I've been to the corporate level of their website but have found no way to complain. I tried several attempts to raise my concern past the multitudes to no avail.  Seems like it is obvious that could be an issue for a small business. I can remember atleast the old bell telephone had a line trouble announcement that people could understand.

Its too bad I dont have an alternative company here. :(

O.K. Rant over. :)
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

pineywoods

Jeff who is your telco? If it's centurytel, I may be able to help
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

Jeff

We have Charter cable for our phone. All our eggs in a broken basket right now.  :D  At least we have a cell phone. Thats how I made several posts today. :)
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

DWM II

My wife's busisness is mostly web based and anytime there is an outage it does affect her. We have Bellsouth phone and DSL, the service is reliable (thankfully), but when there is an outage she gets a bunch of emails wondering what the problem is. We had the opportunity to go with Charter for cable internet service but we passed due to their reputation in our area. >:(  Good luck, I hope ya'll get it straight.
Stewardship Counts!

Don_Papenburg

Drop a short note to your states Atty. General.
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

PawNature

I tried calling home today. The message I got "were sorry the number you are trying to call has been disconnected, or is no longer in use." Wait 30 seconds and get through. That has happened lots of times.
GOVERMENT HAS WAY TO MUCH CONTROL OVER OUR LIVES!!!!

Tom

Are you sure you still live there? :D

PawNature

Well, truth is I just visit now and then. So I like to call and warn the Mrs. that I am coming by.

The real truth is if she knew I wrote the above, then I more than likely wouldn't be living there anymore.
GOVERMENT HAS WAY TO MUCH CONTROL OVER OUR LIVES!!!!

Fla._Deadheader


  Obtain the phone number for the Public Utilities Commission.  Them folks bring SMOKE on the butts of those Utility Companies.  ;) :) :)  YUP, they do  ;D ;D ;D
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

DanG

Well, it appears you have chosen to do business with an alternative carrier, which is not regulated by your State's regulatory agency for public services.  If your service were provided directly from the LEC (Local Exchange Carrier), then you would have recourse through the State agency.  As it is, you just got screwed.  Sometimes, a bargain ain't what it appear's to be.  THANK YOU, Judge Green! :-\
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Furby

Have you had any luck with the talk back section of Charter's website?

Jeff

Where do you find that? I'm apparently looking over top of it.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Furby

On Charter's site there is a talk back or chat back section.
I upgraded to charter phone and cable net all through the chat back section.

Go to the support section and look for the orange "chat now" button on the left.

Jeff

Thats just more tech support with the same level of people you get on the phone.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Cedarman

I have made many calls and got the same message.  The first thought is these people are out of business, but experience has taught me it may be the phone company and to keep trying for several days.

But, Jeff, I am with you.  Why is there a stupid wrong message when the phone company is the problem.  A plain, "We are experiencing temporary line problems, please try your call later".  Or the standard "All circuits are busy, please try your call later".

It definitely makes customers uneasy.

Somewhere there is a CEO that doesn't know what is going on.  And if he knows what is going on, can you switch?
I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

Furby

I was informed by another member here that he had called my house a couple times last night and got the busy signal, when no one was home.
There were no messages on the machine, and caller ID showed no incoming calls. smiley_headscratch smiley_headscratch

My parents get the disconnected number message on their number all the time and I belive they are with a real phone company.

Patty

I get that with my cell phone sometimes. My mom said she tried to call me several times last nite and it would just ring and then disconnect her. She thought I was mad and wouldn't answer my phone  ::)    I checked and had zero missed calls, so I don't know what was up.
Women are Angels.
And when someone breaks our wings....
We simply continue to fly ........
on a broomstick.....
We are flexible like that.

stonebroke

Verizon just gives you a busy signal when there is line trouble. Cuts down on people calling repair service you know!

Stonebroke

DanG

I guess most people know this, but some may not.  There are two kinds of busy signals.  If the line you're calling is actually in use, you should get a 60 IPM(impulses per minute) signal, and all other problems should get a 120 IPM signal.  This is called an overflow busy.  You get that when there are no available circuits at any point down the line, and there are lots of places it can happen.  These days, every call is "dipped" into a national data base, so the switching equipment knows where to route the call, and any given call may process through several different companies' equipment. 

In the old days, when all service was provided by one company in any given area, the companies were regulated, and lived in fear of the regulatory agency.  Now, only the primary Local Exchange Carrier is regulated, and all these other little companies can do business any way they choose.  The "public service" concept has gone to heck in a handbasket, in favor of the corporate bottom line.  Many companies don't even have a single local technician, even in a large market.  They have to dispatch someone from several hundred miles away, if they can't correct a problem via computer.  It is impossible for these techs to provide good service under these conditions, but the company knows that it is inconvenient for people to switch companies, so they don't really care.  If a trouble report is actually investigated, and there is the slightest possibility that another company may be at fault, they refer it off to that company and forget about it until it comes back to them.  If someone at that other company closes out the report as "No Trouble Found" the report dies right there, and nobody looks any further.

The direct customers of THE primary LEC are the only ones that have any recourse through the Public Service Commission(or whatever).  Even then, it can be a long bumpy road.  Everybody else is strictly on their own
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

sawmilllawyer

Dang, well said. In my previous life was employed by the regulatory agency in Oklahoma, since the Bell break up things haven't been the same. Judge Green made sure there wasn't a monopoly, didn't he? The service we now have is a result of free market enterprise or is it a result of piggybacking by so called competitors in the telephone industry? Oh well, what to do, now?
Stihl MS-361, MS-460 mag, Poulan 2150, 2375 Wildthing.

Cedarman

My long distance phone rates are dirt cheap. My 800 number is dirt cheap per call. My local service is overpriced.  I get good cell phone service where I live.  Very seldom have problems.  I compare the cost of communication today to what it was 40 years ago and we have a bargain today. I have caller ID, call waiting which I only dreamed of 30 years ago.  I love answering machines. All in all I am a happy communicator and get all the communcating I want  dirt cheap.

But all things can be improved. There is much room.
I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

Patty

Oh yea, I miss the $1.50 per minute long distance fees. My phone bills for my business were minimum $2500 per month. Those were the days....
Women are Angels.
And when someone breaks our wings....
We simply continue to fly ........
on a broomstick.....
We are flexible like that.

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