Being old and retired has some advantages. In retirement, I have plenty of time on my hands and it doesn’t take a whole lot to amuse me. I can ease up on a situation and let it develop until it has reached its peak for exploitation. Being old, I feel like I have a golf bag with an unlimited number of clubs. I just have to reach in and root around until I find that perfect club.
My Internet, Phone and Cable went down on Saturday. My father handled contacting AT&T because he likes that kind of stuff. They blew him off for the weekend and promised him a new modem by mail on Wednesday. It came Tuesday night. As an aside AT&T blocks out 2-4 hours to address a modem issue. That translates to me blocking out 6 to 8 hours, with no realistic hope of having a working system. I contacted AT&T customer service and through the magic of Internet Chat can report the conversation verbatim. The pertinent part is in bold print.
http://T&T: Hello! Thanks for choosing AT&T Chat.
SCOTT: Hi, this is Scott. How can I assist you today?
Paul: My father reported an outage with the internet, phone and cable on Saturday
Paul: Somehow you arrived at the fact that the modem was at fault.
Paul: Instead of a technician you sent a new modem by UPS. We got it last night.
Paul: Neither one of us has any experience with network or computer installation
Paul: I have a blow torch and a 24 oz ball peen hammer. Is the hammer to heavy?
Paul: I find a use for the hammer on all my fix it jobs
Paul: I really appreciate the faith you’ve shown in me, trusting me to fix your equipment failure.
SCOTT: We sincerely apologize for all the trouble you had to experience because of this.
Paul: I sure do appreciate that, should I look for him today?
SCOTT: Let me quickly check the available time slots for technician visit.
SCOTT: I will try to book today’s appointment for you.
SCOTT: Please allow me a moment.
SCOTT: Which one shall I book for you?
Paul: 1:00 to 4:00 would be great Paul: Thank you SCOTT: Sure thing.
SCOTT: Let me book this time slot for you.
SCOTT: An adult 18 years of age or older must be on-site for the duration of your Service Call.
SCOTT: I am glad I was able to assist you today.
SCOTT: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
SCOTT: Have a great time ahead.
SCOTT: Thank you for choosing AT&T, we appreciate your business.
What a pleasant young man. He displayed such initiative finding a technician on short notice to help with our computer problems. Sometimes a lack of proper understanding is a barrier to effective communication.