Re: [vox] PacBell DSL alternatives

[Debi <dlMAPSorraine@ucdavis.edu>]

At 09:12 AM 8/10/2001 -0700, Jessica wrote:
>On Thu, 9 Aug 2001, William Kendrick wrote:
>
> > This is the last straw.
> >
> > These idiots tried hooking up DSL at our _old_ house after knowing where
>
>I'm sorry. I can't believe they're such idiots with your account. geez.

Oh, I can believe it!  They hooked up my service, ahead of schedule, and it 
worked great--for 24 hours.  It then took 30 days and three trouble tickets 
to get it working again.  I get service through Omsoft, but it was 
PacBell/SBC that gave me grief.

The first trouble ticket was open a couple days, I heard nothing, and when 
I called to inquire, was told they had 3 days to respond and couldn't give 
me any info 'til then.  I called after the allotted time to find the ticket 
had been closed by the PacBell technician who indicated that there was no 
DSL on the number--the ticket was referencing the contact number, my work 
number!  He closed it--without calling the contact number!!!

A new ticket was created, and this time they said I could not get service 
where I was--they claimed there was no way I could have ever had DSL 
working.  (Actually, I think technically it's ADSL).  After a week and no 
progress, they claimed it was my house wiring.  New house.  The builder had 
to meet with PacBell and prove it wasn't house wiring.  Mysteriously, it 
started working at 10:30 one night...only to die four days later.  I had 
seen a PacBell truck in the neighborhood, and had a sick feeling that when 
I got home my DSL wouldn't be working; I was right.

The third ticket was pretty much a repeat of the second.  They denied it 
ever worked; then tried to claim it was my wiring.  Then they decided it 
was my alarm.  Mysteriously, it started working again one evening...I 
hesitate to share my story because it's worked flawlessly for about 6 
months now and I really hate jinxing it like this...but they still don't 
have the billing right.

At least with Omsoft, they will run interference with you, even if it is 
ultimately PacBell (SBC) service.

Interestingly, about a year before ADSL, my dial up suddenly quit working 
for all intents and purposes.  Occasionally, I might get a connection, but 
never over 26k, usually less, and never for longer than 5 
minutes.  Previously, it had worked great.  Now, on my line converted to 
use ADSL, we can also use dial up as good as before, but my line that was 
previously used for modem still cannot be used for dial up.   PacBell did 
something to the wiring in our area that broke normal dial up, but enabled 
me to get ADSL.

Good luck.

Debi