Customer service

As I type this, I have been on hold with AT&T for nearly 70 minutes. I'm trying to make some changes to our phone/internet/TV package in an attempt to SIMPLIFY our lives, and apparently they are experiencing a high call volume. This is even more annoying because approximately 75 minuts ago, after waiting on hold for only 15 minutes, a woman named Connie answered and said "How can I help you?" When I told her, she said, "Just one second while I access your account," and then immediately the line went dead. Now, I'm not trying to imply that Connie hung up on me, but I know it was not my fault! Then I called back and have waited 70 minutes since.

The problem is, after being on hold for even just 10 minutes, you've invested your time, and then you feel like that time will be wasted if you hang up. So you persist, and another 10 minutes go by, and eventually so many 10-minute segments that you make your way to 70 before a nice guy answers the phone and promptly says he has to transfer you to someone who can handle your problem. This time I said "If this call is disconnected... YOU call ME back!" :)

During the 70 minutes I was at least productive... I made the previously mentioned chicken pot pie and put it in the oven, did some laundry, and now I'm typing this blog, which is long overdue. So I can't be too angry. Justin has been working on the basement all day and I'm happy to report it is almost ready for paint. In fact, the small room will be painted this weekend so we can begin moving furniture around. We've been getting things done.

But back to AT&T. We have all our utilities through AT&T--home phone, cable (Dish Network), high speed DSL, and most recently, wireless. It's already pretty simple, and generally I love its customer service. As I've continued to type, a woman who has proved herself INCREDIBLY helpful got on the line, suggested better changes than the ones I called to request, and actually dropped our bill by $40/month. With that being said, the 70 minutes (actually 88, now that the problems have been solved) were well worth the trouble. It makes me wonder what other calls I can make to "simplify" things and just how simple they then can get. Hmmm... I have some research to do.

But first, it's time for the chicken pot pie.