Be Nice, Be Nice, Be Nice

Well today I am going on my third day without Internet access in my home.
There are two things that usually can get me in a tizzy... at&t customer service and credit card calls.

So I have been hanging on the thread of be nice, be nice, be nice... for the last three days as I stand my ground with this company and try not to be rude and obnoxious to the poor person on the other end of the line that has the unfortunate job of delivering the bad company policy to my ears.

The deal is a bad modem

This is our 4th modem in 4years with at&t. The modem was recalled, though we received no notification of a modem recall, and now the modem is out of warranty and at&t refuses to replace it. The phone call resulted in me being hung up on in a transition to speak with getting back on dial-up because I refuse to pay for another modem on top of our monthly service bill.

I understand I might be being stubborn... but it makes no sense to me.

So I called again to attempt to reason with this company and was then informed that if I had been paying an extra $8 a month for an insurance plan, they would send me a new modem for free. Hmmmm so if I had of paid them an extra $96 they would have sent me a "free" $75 modem...

See my frustration?

Yes I struggle with the whole money=security thing, so I am constantly checking my heart at this time to see if I am standing solid ground or biting my nose off to spite my face.

More of my frustration is that we have been loyal customers to this company for over 13 years. This includes a mobile with them, Internet with them, home phone with them, and satellite tv with them. Yet our loyalty to them does not warrant a modem which is required to use the service that we are paying monthly for...

So Friday night I was ready to unbundle the satellite, buy out the mobile contract and cancel the Internet... the home phone went 2 years ago... yes all over a $75 modem.

I am still not so sure that this won't be the path we take... it all lies in tomorrows phone call to the service department.

So, if you miss my random craziness, and moments of revelation, and product and book reviews... I have not gone AWOL... I am fighting it out with my Internet provider and my own heart as I try to discern whether this is the stubborn red-headed female in me... or a flat out loyalty issue and bad business. 

So I will be taking deep breaths tomorrow and saying over and over to myself... be nice, be nice, be nice... as I try to stay focused on the fact that I am having a problem with a policy not the person on the other end of the line and praying that in the process I don't disqualify myself in this race of life from being an accurate witness of my Christ.

Hopefully you will still respect me in the morning!