I've had dsl service with qwest for some years. It works quite well, but every now and then I get a problem where, after I've had the computer shut down, the dsl won't connect.
I was impressed with their technical support those early times, who quickly and efficiently determined what the problem was and fixed it. I even learned the name for the procedure which always fixed the problem - "bouncing the connection".
(I later found out that this process has the unfortunate side effect of disconnecting other people with dsl service in the same area. Unfortunate, but not enough to justify me or anyone else having no dsl at all for an indefinate length of time. Besides, windows can automatically reconnect and most processes will be none the worse for wear.)
More recently, they've had more hoops to bounce through, and I've tried to be understanding about this. They always got to the part of the test that determined that, even when my computer was unplugged and disconnected, their system showed me as connected, and therefore they needed to do something about that.
Today, there were more hoops, but they never even got to that set. The troubleshooting process I was presented with seemed to be predicated on the assumption that I was on a dial-up connection, not DSL. I've even had times where the dsl worked where I had no dial tone, so having a dial tone is not really a meaningful indicator here.
I started gently suggesting that bouncing my connection, which had worked so often in the past, might be a thing to try.
Some more hoops. At this point, I was still trying to be understanding.
Then the next thing... well, I'm not certain exactly what she wanted me to do. It might have been switch the cables that were plugged into the modem in case they were reversed. Which is pointless, because no one has touched them in over a month, and if they were it would not have worked yesterday. It could also have been try connecting the modem to the jack through a different cable. Depending to the extent on which this was carried, this might either be possible but take a really long time, or just be impossible. (One of the cables involved here is over 30 feet long and was custom-assembled by my dad, and cannot be easily replaced.) In any case, I was still getting a dial tone and using that line to talk to her through all these cables, so I didn't see what this would accomplish.
I became more forceful about the idea of bouncing my connection. It may have been around this point that she went from consistently pronouncing my (very simple) name correctly to consistently mispronouncing it.
Finally, she came to the conclusion that my modem was old and I probably needed a new one. As it happens, I'd like a new one, but that's not a viable option at the moment for several reasons. I'd had enough of this, and asked that how about first they bounce my connection and see what happened.
Now, I'd been informed a bit earlier that she wasn't allowed to bounce my connection herself. Okay. So get me someone who can. She repeated that she wasn't allowed to bounce my connection.
THAT'S WHY I ASKED YOU TO GET SOMEONE WHO COULD.
After being on hold some more, she came back and said that she'd talked to someone who could bounce my connection. And lo and behold, it worked. Mind you, it wasn't really over until she got me to go to a particular website, since I don't seem to be capable of telling definitively that my internet connection is working, despite all the things that don't get cached I run.
All in all, I'd say it took about three times as long as the next lengthy call I'd had with them.
What happened to the nice people I talked to just a couple months ago, who helped me figure out a problem that actually *was* my own stupid mistake? And both before and since have fixed the problems that weren't?
Bleh.
-Morgan is going to post this to her lj too, since it's a good excuse to use a userpic that I haven't before. And since I spent a lot of time making it, it's about damn time."This continuity is now a Princess of Darkness crossover."
"... They're all going to die, aren't they?"
"Yep. Popcorn?"
I was impressed with their technical support those early times, who quickly and efficiently determined what the problem was and fixed it. I even learned the name for the procedure which always fixed the problem - "bouncing the connection".
(I later found out that this process has the unfortunate side effect of disconnecting other people with dsl service in the same area. Unfortunate, but not enough to justify me or anyone else having no dsl at all for an indefinate length of time. Besides, windows can automatically reconnect and most processes will be none the worse for wear.)
More recently, they've had more hoops to bounce through, and I've tried to be understanding about this. They always got to the part of the test that determined that, even when my computer was unplugged and disconnected, their system showed me as connected, and therefore they needed to do something about that.
Today, there were more hoops, but they never even got to that set. The troubleshooting process I was presented with seemed to be predicated on the assumption that I was on a dial-up connection, not DSL. I've even had times where the dsl worked where I had no dial tone, so having a dial tone is not really a meaningful indicator here.
I started gently suggesting that bouncing my connection, which had worked so often in the past, might be a thing to try.
Some more hoops. At this point, I was still trying to be understanding.
Then the next thing... well, I'm not certain exactly what she wanted me to do. It might have been switch the cables that were plugged into the modem in case they were reversed. Which is pointless, because no one has touched them in over a month, and if they were it would not have worked yesterday. It could also have been try connecting the modem to the jack through a different cable. Depending to the extent on which this was carried, this might either be possible but take a really long time, or just be impossible. (One of the cables involved here is over 30 feet long and was custom-assembled by my dad, and cannot be easily replaced.) In any case, I was still getting a dial tone and using that line to talk to her through all these cables, so I didn't see what this would accomplish.
I became more forceful about the idea of bouncing my connection. It may have been around this point that she went from consistently pronouncing my (very simple) name correctly to consistently mispronouncing it.
Finally, she came to the conclusion that my modem was old and I probably needed a new one. As it happens, I'd like a new one, but that's not a viable option at the moment for several reasons. I'd had enough of this, and asked that how about first they bounce my connection and see what happened.
Now, I'd been informed a bit earlier that she wasn't allowed to bounce my connection herself. Okay. So get me someone who can. She repeated that she wasn't allowed to bounce my connection.
THAT'S WHY I ASKED YOU TO GET SOMEONE WHO COULD.
After being on hold some more, she came back and said that she'd talked to someone who could bounce my connection. And lo and behold, it worked. Mind you, it wasn't really over until she got me to go to a particular website, since I don't seem to be capable of telling definitively that my internet connection is working, despite all the things that don't get cached I run.
All in all, I'd say it took about three times as long as the next lengthy call I'd had with them.
What happened to the nice people I talked to just a couple months ago, who helped me figure out a problem that actually *was* my own stupid mistake? And both before and since have fixed the problems that weren't?
Bleh.
-Morgan is going to post this to her lj too, since it's a good excuse to use a userpic that I haven't before. And since I spent a lot of time making it, it's about damn time."This continuity is now a Princess of Darkness crossover."
"... They're all going to die, aren't they?"
"Yep. Popcorn?"
