I was Lost for several days

[maple flats]

Last week we decided to switch from Verizon wired home phone to Verizon wireless (huge price savings). We were assured that we would still be able to keep our DSL internet. The Verizon Wireless folks contacted Verizon to shut off the phone part. We ended up losing our internet with it. They shut it off remotely. When we investigated, it turned out that the wireless guy was wrong. We then asked to be switched back remotely. Guess what, they had to send an installer for a fee of $25.00, claiming they can't turn it back on remotely. That really puzzled me, that it can be turned off but not on remotely.
At any rate, I went several days without email or The Maple Trader, I was lost!!

[MISugarDaddy]

Dave,
Do you ever sit back and think of how it was a few years ago, only about 20, when we weren't able to get instant news or communicate instantly with someone else or take and send a picture like we can with our cell phones today. My wife and I talk about it now and then, and then get a good laugh at how it used to be. Welcome back!!!
Gary

[DrTimPerkins]

Guess what, they had to send an installer for a fee of $25.00, claiming they can't turn it back on remotely. That really puzzled me, that it can be turned off but not on remotely.

My wife and I were in Denver several years ago and were in the airport headed back. Stopped at a shop to buy a few gifts and our credit card was denied. We had a different card, so paid with that. When we got home I called the credit card company and they said we'd asked to have our account closed. No....we hadn't. We HAD asked for a card for our daughter and they sent one with her name spelled incorrectly. So before we left on our trip, I called them to cancel THAT card and get a new card made with the name spelled right. Instead they cancelled our account. So I asked them to reinstate it and send out a new card with the name spelled right. They told me I'd have to reapply for a card and they would check our credit and make a determination and let us know. We had been with that company for 15 yrs and had never missed a single payment. I hung up and 5 min later had a new account with a different company.

[BreezyHill]

Dave had a similar problem with Hughes net. We upgraded to a better receiver and they shut off the old one...problem was it was two days after the new unit was installed...guy came to reboot the system took all of 5 minutes...they want to charge me $100...KMA! you did this not me...the installer agreed and it was on my bill the next month. I had to send a copy of the contract with the dates for them to finally admit their error. That was even after the manager said that she could see the dates on the account and could not understand why they had to shut off a removed receiver that was taken by the installer???

Some days we all have to sit and be thankful that we were blessed with brains!

Glad you are found again Dave!!!

[maple flats]

Yea, often times modern technology is truly frustrating, or should I say, those who work in it.
When I bought my last cell phone, I ordered it with the understanding my old number would be ported to the new phone. When it was activated, it had a new number. I called tech support to get it corrected. The first person who started to work on it (after a loooong wait) handled it for maybe 30 minutes, then finally said it was their first day and they were not authorized to do that. She connected me with her supervisor (another looong wait). Then after several minutes she said I had my old number. After hanging up, I had my wife try to call me. She got a recording saying the number was not in service. I went into the new phone, in settings, to verify my number. It was still the same wrong number that came with the phone. Then I had to call support again and explain the issue. I was told they had to send me a new SIM card. 3 days later I got it and I called support to activate it. When turned on, it still had that wrong number, they had to send another sim card. This repeated 2 more times. Then I was again told I needed yet another SIM card. It was then that I got very irritated and said "Isn't there anyone there who knows how to do this correctly"? At that, they connected me with a guy who did it all online, no new SIM card needed. I should have gotten irritated with them sooner. (the name of the company is left out to protect the guilty!)

[n8hutch]

I have long Had A theory that All this Technology is making the masses less intelligent. I know I sound like A jerk, But alot of people Don't seem to be able to problem solve or use critical thinking skills. They just know how to Use Google & Read.

[Jebediah]

It is a mixed blessing I think. Certainly there are wonderful aspects to it, like this maple web site. Most of what I know I learned here.

[psparr]

On the opposite side of the spectrum. Right out of high school, two friends and I went on a trip across the country. We left the first of June. Back then there was no gps or "smart" phones. Just a Rand McNally atlas.
We would sleep at rest areas so there was a bathroom and sometimes a snack machine for "dinner".
Well in Montana the rest areas were few and far between. We picked one from the atlas that we thought we could make by the end of the day. Everything was going well until about 20 miles before the rest area we started headed up a mountain.
The rest area was atop the highest point in Montana.
It was a cold night!

[Tweegs]

AT&T
They came through a couple of years back and force converted us to U-verse.

Our connection went up and down like a yo-yo, as did our phone.

2 months of technician visits, 15 in all, and after a half mile run of new cable, it was finally determined that our round trip length to the hub was over 10,000’.
Their max rated distance was 5,400’.

Now you’d think at least one egg head involved with troubleshooting would have been smart enough to pull up a map, but you’d be wrong.

They turned us off on a Friday promising a legacy DSL line on Monday…it took another two weeks before it finally happened.
In the meantime, no phone, no net.

They did credit back 2.5 months’ worth of service charges, but even that took a fight.

Had I any other option beyond satellite, they’d have been gone.