Adventures in lousy shopping
Mar. 9th, 2008 04:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
azuriteI don't know whether it's me or just the state of American society (retail society? The industry as a whole?) today, but I've just had some pretty horrid experiences both with customer service and with just plain ol' shitty shopping.
First, my household has recently switched to Time-Warner Cable's "All The Best" package, which includes the cable service we've had for years, digital phone service, and Internet. We switched from AT&T because, frankly, they were ripping us off.
The first problem was in the install-- we have two rooms with TVs in this house, and only one of them is an HDTV with a digital HD box. For some reason, the technician that came in and did the install decided that, for whatever reason, he couldn't put the cable in to the rec room (though from phone calls to their tech support, it seems like he wouldn't have needed to; he just needed a new set-top box), and therefore the cable modem couldn't be left in there, the way it's been (or at least the broadband modem from AT&T was) for years. So it got moved to the den. Since the modem wasn't a router, I attached my $175-AirPort Extreme Base Station to it, and for a while, all was well.
But then the Internet started to cut out intermittently, even though the modem said it was still sending/receiving, and the AirPort said it was still broadcasting just fine. Tech support said I needed to get the modem replaced, but then when the technician came out, he said, if it ain't broke, he can't fix it-- and won't replace it. So it happens again after a few days of decent connectivity, and when I call and mention this, the agent says that we're not marked as a "wireless" household, and that it involves a separate installation from the first one, along with a $49.95 FEE! WTF!?
Apparently, they'd replace the modem with a modem/router combo, but I said I already had my own which I like better-- better security, more compatibility with other devices, etc. That's why I paid the price I did for the Base Station-- it's better than any of the included routers that come with Internet packages these days. But then the guy said that they can only guarantee service for their own equipment (probably because of liability issues, which I can understand... it still pisses me off, though).
To top it off, I have to wait until the cable guy comes on Wednesday to get the rec room set up like he should have the first time he came before I can request anyone to come in and change our modem out for the wireless one. I'll pay the fee myself if I have to; I'm just sick of having to reset the modem every damn day. I'm sure there'll be a workaround for using the Base Station anyway-- I want to be here for the installation so they don't jerk my grandparents around like they've done with the past two technician visits. I'm the one that knows tech, I'm the one that deals with equipment, bills, tech support calls, etc. I'm not going to be fooled into thinking these idiots get a four-hour period of time in which to come here UNPREPARED. I wish I could be here for the Wednesday install, but Wednesday is my busiest day. :(
Anyway, to add to the mayhem, Baba saw an ad for some cheap topsoil at K-Mart today. So Grandpa and I go, even though part of me is grumbling that cheaper isn't always better and that they have this terrible tendency of buying things just because they were cheap-- whether or not we actually NEED the damn things. Well, we get to the store and park near the Lawn & Garden section entrance but noooooo, not only is it unmanned, but the door is LOCKED. My grandpa's 86 years old-- he couldn't walk all the way to the other entrance! So we had to put up with the hassle of going back to the car and re-parking. Another (probably older) lady had also arrived and saw us trying to get in, and said "Well, they lost a customer" and drove off.
We went in through the whole store, but when we finally got to the L&G department, it was in TERRIBLE shape. Bags of soil were opened everywhere, everything was caked in dried mud, and maybe 1/4 of the stuff there had a price tag on it. It was no surprise there was no other customers in the area; the stock itself was horrid. We managed to find some cheap topsoil, but it was only after trying to get three or so bags that we got some that DIDN'T immediately rip open. When we finally got back into the regular area of the store, intending to tell a K-Mart person about the mess, the guy we encountered pretty much ignored what we said and tried to sell us some home "estimates" for retrofitting cabinets and the like. (I am so proud of my grandpa for playing the "I'm 86 years old young man, and I don't need your services" card.) Then, the lines (only 3 were open) were at least 10 people long EACH! Even other portions of the store were falling apart, unmanned, or were horribly messy.
Seriously, I am never shopping at K-Mart again.
We tried to pull a similar thing with TWC, telling them we'd switch back to AT&T if this was all the hassle we had to go through with them for the sake of supposed "convenience" (for having everything "All-In-One"), and Grandpa hung up on them, saying they could have a supervisor call HIM back when they got things straightened out. Needless to say, they didn't call back. Maybe I'm just a pansy or a pushover in this respect (tech), but I don't see any other way of getting around the fee, or the fact that this wasn't explained before. Just gotta live and let live, and try and use my own smarts to get around it, I guess. Doesn't make it any less stressful or less of a pain in the ass, though.
*sigh*
First, my household has recently switched to Time-Warner Cable's "All The Best" package, which includes the cable service we've had for years, digital phone service, and Internet. We switched from AT&T because, frankly, they were ripping us off.
The first problem was in the install-- we have two rooms with TVs in this house, and only one of them is an HDTV with a digital HD box. For some reason, the technician that came in and did the install decided that, for whatever reason, he couldn't put the cable in to the rec room (though from phone calls to their tech support, it seems like he wouldn't have needed to; he just needed a new set-top box), and therefore the cable modem couldn't be left in there, the way it's been (or at least the broadband modem from AT&T was) for years. So it got moved to the den. Since the modem wasn't a router, I attached my $175-AirPort Extreme Base Station to it, and for a while, all was well.
But then the Internet started to cut out intermittently, even though the modem said it was still sending/receiving, and the AirPort said it was still broadcasting just fine. Tech support said I needed to get the modem replaced, but then when the technician came out, he said, if it ain't broke, he can't fix it-- and won't replace it. So it happens again after a few days of decent connectivity, and when I call and mention this, the agent says that we're not marked as a "wireless" household, and that it involves a separate installation from the first one, along with a $49.95 FEE! WTF!?
Apparently, they'd replace the modem with a modem/router combo, but I said I already had my own which I like better-- better security, more compatibility with other devices, etc. That's why I paid the price I did for the Base Station-- it's better than any of the included routers that come with Internet packages these days. But then the guy said that they can only guarantee service for their own equipment (probably because of liability issues, which I can understand... it still pisses me off, though).
To top it off, I have to wait until the cable guy comes on Wednesday to get the rec room set up like he should have the first time he came before I can request anyone to come in and change our modem out for the wireless one. I'll pay the fee myself if I have to; I'm just sick of having to reset the modem every damn day. I'm sure there'll be a workaround for using the Base Station anyway-- I want to be here for the installation so they don't jerk my grandparents around like they've done with the past two technician visits. I'm the one that knows tech, I'm the one that deals with equipment, bills, tech support calls, etc. I'm not going to be fooled into thinking these idiots get a four-hour period of time in which to come here UNPREPARED. I wish I could be here for the Wednesday install, but Wednesday is my busiest day. :(
Anyway, to add to the mayhem, Baba saw an ad for some cheap topsoil at K-Mart today. So Grandpa and I go, even though part of me is grumbling that cheaper isn't always better and that they have this terrible tendency of buying things just because they were cheap-- whether or not we actually NEED the damn things. Well, we get to the store and park near the Lawn & Garden section entrance but noooooo, not only is it unmanned, but the door is LOCKED. My grandpa's 86 years old-- he couldn't walk all the way to the other entrance! So we had to put up with the hassle of going back to the car and re-parking. Another (probably older) lady had also arrived and saw us trying to get in, and said "Well, they lost a customer" and drove off.
We went in through the whole store, but when we finally got to the L&G department, it was in TERRIBLE shape. Bags of soil were opened everywhere, everything was caked in dried mud, and maybe 1/4 of the stuff there had a price tag on it. It was no surprise there was no other customers in the area; the stock itself was horrid. We managed to find some cheap topsoil, but it was only after trying to get three or so bags that we got some that DIDN'T immediately rip open. When we finally got back into the regular area of the store, intending to tell a K-Mart person about the mess, the guy we encountered pretty much ignored what we said and tried to sell us some home "estimates" for retrofitting cabinets and the like. (I am so proud of my grandpa for playing the "I'm 86 years old young man, and I don't need your services" card.) Then, the lines (only 3 were open) were at least 10 people long EACH! Even other portions of the store were falling apart, unmanned, or were horribly messy.
Seriously, I am never shopping at K-Mart again.
We tried to pull a similar thing with TWC, telling them we'd switch back to AT&T if this was all the hassle we had to go through with them for the sake of supposed "convenience" (for having everything "All-In-One"), and Grandpa hung up on them, saying they could have a supervisor call HIM back when they got things straightened out. Needless to say, they didn't call back. Maybe I'm just a pansy or a pushover in this respect (tech), but I don't see any other way of getting around the fee, or the fact that this wasn't explained before. Just gotta live and let live, and try and use my own smarts to get around it, I guess. Doesn't make it any less stressful or less of a pain in the ass, though.
*sigh*
