About six months ago, our internet provider AT&T forced us to "upgrade" to a new wireless network. AT&T promised that its new fiber optic technology would make our internet connection faster and more reliable. Suffice to say, that has not been the case.
On Sunday morning, our internet box died. It was maybe six months old, at best, but it could no longer handle being an internet box. Of course, Nathan was in the office all day working and when he got home, he was planning to do a little more work before going to bed. But he could not do this work thanks to AT&T's crappy technology. Instead, he fiddled with the internet box and then spoke to two different technicians. I should note that he was very patient with both technicians even though they provided zero assistance. The box was dead, and we needed a new one.
We had to schedule an appointment with a technician to get our new box. AT&T told us the technician would arrive on Wednesday sometime between 4 and 8 p.m. I hate how phone and cable companies do that. Is it really that difficult to narrow the time of your technician's arrival to a smaller window? I can understand a two hour window, but four???
When he arrived, the technician told me that the new internet boxes die a lot. Well isn't that special? Our first box lasted six months, and golly gee, the prospect of losing our internet connection every six months is thrilling.
Also, it should be noted that we did not require the services of a technician to install our new internet box. This is something we could have done ourselves in less than ten minutes. (Well, Nathan could have installed the box in less than ten minutes. My pregnant belly has recently graduated from "cute" to "cumbersome" and I have to plot a plan of attack before I do anything difficult like standing up or bending down to tie my shoes.)
But if AT&T mailed us a new internet box, it would not have arrived until Friday at the earliest. Seriously? Does this make any business sense? Has AT&T not heard of this amazing invention called "overnight mail"? If AT&T had just overnighted us a new box, we would have been (relatively) happy customers and our internet service would have been restored in a timely fashion; and AT&T would not have had to pay one of its employees to come to our house. But no, let's do things the more difficult, annoying and expensive way. That makes so much more sense.
My apologies for my blogging absence. This time, I can legitimately blame a corporation for my disappearance. If I disappear for another week in approximately six months, please assume the internet box has died again.
