how hard can this be?

[dianec42]

So I phoned up on Monday to order the lovely high-tech digital phone service. They said they *might* be able to turn it on from their end, without sending out a truck; and that if it wasn't working by Tuesday midnight, to call back. (The fact that they weren't sure should have been the first clue about how this was going to go...)

So Tuesday evening we actually found which box the cordless phone was in, so we plugged it in to charge it up. Oddly, not long after this, the phone rang. Hurrah, our first wrong number. Phone must be working then, right? Sadly the cordless phone didn't have enough of a charge for us to actually answer it and explain the wrong number thing.

So Wednesday I pick up the phone, and there's a dial tone - hurrah. I call my cell phone - it rings, though it shows the calling number as "Withheld" - hmph. Then I try calling the number that's supposed to be our new phone number from the cell phone: result, Phone Company Screechy Tone followed by "The number you have reached... is not in service". (Well, I haven't really reached it then, have I??) I'm busy doing other things so I forget to call and hassle Comcast until fairly late in the evening. I chat with someone in the customer service department, who tells me I need to talk to Sales but that they've all gone home for the day; she gives me a number to phone in the morning.

So this morning I call that number, and speak to a nice guy in Sales, and eventually explain the situation to him. He tells me I need to talk to someone in Customer Service, and transfers me there. I explain the situation again to the nice lady in Customer Service, and she says I need to talk to Sales, and she's going to transfer me... No, please wait, say I, they just sent me to you! She puts me on hold for what seems like a really long time while *she* talks to someone in Sales. Now she's got some particular person in Sales for me to talk to who will be able to help me. (I'm dubious: so far *all* of the people I've talked to have said, "Yes, I can help you with that" before fobbing me off one someone else.) She's transferring me....

.... to a dial tone. I'm cut off. Sigh!!

I phone back, on the first number I called. Miraculously, I get the same sales guy I just talked to. I explain the bouncing-ball ride I've just been through. He puts me through to a supervisor. Hurrah! The supervisor comes on the line and... starts talking complete nonsense. I explain to him which one *I* am, and eventually he gets looking at the right account. He agrees that a truck must be sent out. He puts me on hold "for a minute". I spend time finding out how much laundry I can fold while still holding a phone in one hand. Many minutes later, he comes back to tell me the earliest they can send the truck out is the 19th. Yes, *next* Friday. He also gives me a number to phone on Saturday to see if they can "squeeze me in". Sounds painful. He also gives me a new telephone number that is to be ours - not sure what was wrong with the first one, but I wasn't optimistic enough to give it out before it was working, so I don't care.

So, still no land line. And it's still a mystery as to why I'm able to make outgoing calls. I've looked up the previous tenant in the white pages, and might just call that number to see if our phone rings. (We first thought of this after 11 at night, so weren't going to try it then for fear of waking up someone else's house.)

I knew this had all been going too smoothly...

Comments

[whc.livejournal.com]

We are in something like our 4th month of trying to get an existing landline number transferred to Vonage. At least the landline keeps working (and Vonage keeps refunding their charges)

[whc.livejournal.com]

What would happen if you told Comcast that you were going to get service with Pacific Bell if they can't fix your phone quickly? (or whatever the traditional phone company in LA is calling themselves these days)

*82

[dmk.livejournal.com]

Dial *82 before the number you're dialing to reveal the phone number you're calling from.