19 February 2011

Eleven Days

Our only option for television here is satellite.  We had satellite way before it was cool, before it was DISH Network and Directv.

We had DISH Network for a long time but we began having frequent equipment failures with less good customer service each time so I switched.  I loved the switch.  We didn't have one moment of a problem for two years.

Until.

Until this morning when we woke up.  We couldn't get the satellite to work.  Kevin had already done all the diagnostics before I even got up.  I tried again then called technical support. 

We have the entertainment center that has to be disassembled every time we have a problem.  Not a good time.  I had to go get Kevin to take it apart then help find the problem.  Kevin, who has never met a stranger, is chatting with the tech guy like they're old friends.

Now it's time to wait to see if they fixed it so Kevin went back outside while I waited with the phone. 

No change.  Officially broken.

Okay, deep breath, what do we do now?  A service call? Okay, when?

ELEVEN DAYS.

Eleven.

Days.

Eleven.

No television for, sing it with me, ELEVEN EFFING DAYS.

I hung up, grouchy, and tried to find a local service tech.  They no longer exist.  I went on Google and tried to find a work-around.  No luck.

I called back and snarked.  No luck.  I even phoned a third time to see if I upgraded our service if a tech guy could show up any sooner.  Nope.

In frustration, I repeated what Kevin said "If I told our customers that we couldn't help them for eleven days, we would be out of business & my boss would fire me."  No reaction. 

I asked her if she would just acknowledge the Ridiculousness of not having a service call for eleven days.  She says "I don't have a television at home."

And we're done.  I just said "Of course you don't." and we hung up.  For eff sake.

So, I read my book & pouted today.  We went to dinner & Lowes tonight then came home & watched a DVD.  I think we're going to watch every DVD in the neighborhood over the next eleven days.

Eleven days without news.  Kevin will miss the finale of Spartacus.  Everything on the DVR is probably gone. GAH!!!!!

My next plan is to call twice every day until something happens.  I am going to call on Tuesday morning & ask for a service manager to complain.  I don't think I am going to find anyone that can make something happen on a three day weekend.

Oh, that's right.  It's a three day weekend. With no television.  And what do we bet that I get a snow day this week?

So, poppets.  Day One of Eleven Days of No Directv Service.  I will keep everyone updated as we go along.  You can follow my descent into madness over the next eleven days.

2 comments:

creative kerfuffle said...

you know the sad thing? i don't think losing the tv for 11 days would impact me as much as the interwebs. that...that would probably freak me the hell out. what about watching tv on the computer? i'm sure it would suck but is that an option? ah---think of all the books and movies you can read/watch this week. but yeah, i hear ya.

mike_dish said...

Wow, Firegirl... I'm actually really sorry to hear that. I don't know what I would do if I had to go without my DISH service for that long. And as an employee of DISH Network I can honestly say I've never HEARD of an 11 day wait time for a service call. That's just ridiculous. creative_kerfuffle does have a decent suggestion, you can try seeing if you can watch some online content during your downtime. Or, and I know you were with DISH previously, you could try DISH out again. You'd probably qualify for the new customer promotions which will save you a lot of money as well. And, right now DISH is ranked #1 in customer satisfaction among all cable and satellite TV providers by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Well, regardless, I hope it works out soon... best of luck to ya!