Breaking Up is NOT Hard to Do
Dear Cable Company,
Though we’ve had a long and for you, very profitable relationship, it’s time to say goodbye. It’s not that I haven’t enjoyed your perpetually bad service, or waiting around with my thumb up my ass for your repair people to not show. I have. But I’ve found someone else. Yes, fiber optic TV, internet and phone service are being installed tomorrow and your antiquated ass will be unceremoniously kicked to the curb.
You could have won me back with a little customer appreciation, like maybe giving me a break from your constantly escalating fees since I was a loyal subscriber to your cable and broadband service for over seven years. But nooooo, you sent me a couple coupons to crappy restaurants instead. And I’m supposed to swoon? Puh! You insult me.
I must tell you, however, that it’s entirely possible having your tech support people NOT be located in New Delhi or Bangalore would have swayed me in your favor. Sure, “Bryce” and “Melanie” were very nice but their wooden, scripted responses, spoken in their marginal English, were very off-putting. Call me quirky, but I prefer my sucky customer service to come from the U.S.
Though I readily admit to being a total whore for great service offerings such as on-demand movies, free DVR and digital music at a price that would knock any girls socks off, I still blame you for our breakup. You simply refused to meet my needs.
In any case, I know it’s been tough getting used to not being a monopoly anymore so no hard feelings, okay?
Buh-bye now.
Sincerely,
Izzymom
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In all honestly, I’m not so sure my *new* provider (the phone company) will be much better. Yeah, they have better prices for more and better services but they’ve pissed me off a time or two, as well.
For example, today there’s a knock at the door. I open it to find a brawny blue-collar type who tells me they will be digging up my yard in preparation for installation of my new fiber optic service. WTF would be a gross understatement. Here’s a snippet of my conversation with brawny blue-collar guy:
Me: What do you mean you’ll be digging up my yard? You guys did that a year and a half ago to lay the fiber optic.
Him: Well, now we have to put the cable in
Me: Well, what did you put in before?
Him: Fiber optic cable, ma’am
Me: (cringing inwardly at being called “Ma’am”) And now you’re doing it again? Doesn’t that seem a little….redundant?
Him: Ma’am? (clearly I’ve stumped him)
His partner, definitely the brains of the operation, came over and explained to dumb little old me that though they laid the cable and destroyed my yard once before, they will now need to run the cable from the front of my yard, under my driveway and up to the house and yes, dig up my yard again.
Is it just me or do they seem not particularly efficient?
Arrghhhhhh…fiber optic better ROCK or else.
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I’m leaving now to get my haircut. It’s been over a year since my last one. Hairdressers all over town are placing bets on whether or not I’ll hate it. Odds are, I will. Wish me luck.
HAIR UPDATE: Holy haircuts, Batman! I actually like it. It’s nothing special, really. He just layered my shoulder length hair and did some sideswept bangs but it just looks so modern and less “haggard housewife-ish.” If I can get hubz to take a decent photo, I’ll post it. But know this much, it looks WAY better than it did before. The only thing is that these long sideswept bangs can be very annoying. Anyone else have that problem? Any tips?
Hope it looks hot ma’am.
Ooh, keep me posted. I”m always on the lookout for new ways to spend my time with mind-numbing media, and optic cable just sounds fancy enough.
You know I just posted about HAIR and piss poor customer service with the satellite company, right? Weird.
And you used the word “redundant” with a guy who’s paid to dig holes for laying cable? Silly, IzzyMom, silly!
OH! Down here, people raise their kids to call their mothers “ma’am” … no friggin’ way …
I’m so with you on the hating of haircuts. Hope this is one of the times you love it:)
Fiber optic tv sounds cool although I am not sure what it is. Going to go look it up. I had free cable awhile back and I didn’t miss it once it was gone. I think tivo would be interesting but I am not sure how that works either. And I am at a loss of tv shows to download - all my favorite shows are between seasons. I love haircuts and get them regularly. Getting my hair cut and/or dyed is a huge stress reliever for me. I always feel so much better afterwards. My hair grows like crazy so I don’t worry about getting a bad haircut anymore because I know it will grow back in a matter of weeks. Maybe it is different for people with shorter hair. Or something. lol.
Fiber optic, eh? Sounds all new fangled and stuff. I fear anything new. You, however, are a pioneer and I can’t wait to hear how it turns out.
And the new haircut too!
Oy.
They’ve already run fiber for the so-called “last mile”, and they’ve got to run it AGAIN? Where the hell did they bring it the first time - just to the street? And if so, then there’s no reason that they would have had to dig up your yard the first time. And if they DID, then they should have just run it to your demarc in the first place.
Telcos suck. Really. Is this Verizon who’s doing this for you?
I’m not a fan of cable companies either, but I think telcos are MUCH MUCH MUCH worse.
But fiber vs. cable for that last mile? I’m intrigued.
Must have nerd details about fiber optic TV! It’s like you’re living in the future.
Hope the haircut is a success.
I’m on deck for a haircut next week, and it is a very scary deal. I don’t even know what the hell I was thinking when I made the appointment. Good luck on the fiber optic! I am physically addicted to my DVR so the cable company owns my ass until I decide I want Tivo.
Hello it’s fiber optic. It MUST be cool.
As for the hair cut, I’m thinking of getting one at blogher - is that wrong? I live in MS - anything in SJ has got to be better.
Will you post some pics?
I hope you return from the haircut triumphant. I often return from one, looking like someone attacked me in a dark ally with a Flo-Bee
I wish you were here with my beloved Wave Broadband (and their cuuuuuute installer-guy) AND my good stylist, Brenda. We would be so dialed in and fabulous together. Too bad I moved out of Brenda’s neighborhood and have been dealing with random stylists and Robby Benson hair ever since…I gotta bite the bullet and drive the 30 miles over there.
HOLY SHIT…I almost peed myself with that Robby Benson hair remark.
Isn’t it funny that Robby Benson hair is TOTALLY back in style now????
Gah…I used to have the biggest crush on him and his goofy hair *sigh*
Long bangs, yes, I understand those issues. I have grown-out bangs and long hair, but I use little clips to get it out of the way when I don’t want it in my face. You know the kind, they are the miniature version of those big clips used to put hair up in the back? In a casual-chignon-kinda-deal? I twist my hair and put it on top in the back, and then put about 4 or 5 of the little tiny clippies in my hair and it stays perfectly. I’ve gotten compliments on it, but I totally stole the idea from a friend from work. Or, where I used to work. :(
Wait, maybe that wouldn’t work for shorter hair unless you wanted to look 12. Oh! I know…a straight clip with or without glitter on it. Small, yet sparkley. Or, you know, not. Whatever your preference. :)
I WISH I had sidewipe bangs! I went to get a haircut last week and asked for exactly that. I don’t think I could have been ANY clearer, as I asked for sweeping bangs and then made a sweeping motion across my forehead and down to my ear.
So what’s she do? She gave me short, chopping bangs right across my forehead. Like I had when I was in 5th grade. They didn’t look good then and they DON’T look good now. I was frickin pissed as I handed her my 50.
Please post a pic of your new hair. I want to bring it to my hairdresser next time so she knows what I’m talking about.
Oops that should have been sideSWIPE. And that should have been choppy, not choppin. I guess I should really stop drinking and blogging. he he
i just got a haircut, too. i was really jealous watching the teenager three seats over getting a ridiculous 80s rock star haircut as my dresser gave me layers and bangs…which means i look just like i did when i went in, and last year, and five years before that…
Oh…I’ll be waiting to see that picture!
This post made me laugh outloud. We just moved into a new house, and the cable and phone companies just dug up our yard, too! Grrr…. I hope you are happy with your new service!
Here I thought I was sticking it to the Man (Comcast Cable) by getting DirecTV, and you’re doing fiber optic? I’m so behind already.
I have the layers and sideswept bangs, and what helps is combing a little bit of styling gel through it, parting it on the side, then using a bobby pin or two to pin it back until it’s dry. I’ve also been pinning the top and sides back like Occidental girl described and getting compliments on it-go figure.
We cut our cable a year ago… touch wood…
We talked ourselved into the fact that we NEVER watch TV we always rent movies…
Well, our cable guy was so inefficient that we still have cable…
and now I am hooked on the Daily Show… And what happens if the Cable Guy comes a knockin’?
Looking forward to seeing the pic of the new lid…
Go you for kicking cable to the curb! I wish I could. For a while, I decided to call them every single time I had a problem with the crappy service, but then I realized that I needed more time in my day to do things like eat, sleep, and do laundry. So, now I fume mostly in silence.
What is it about not being able to get decent customer service? And it just feels like there really are no options anymore. Blah.
I’m glad you’re haircut looks nice- can’t wait for that photo!
let’s see the haircut… I need to see the long sideswept bangs as I think I may need to cut some myself soon… or botox.
I have sidesweep bangs and at first I found them so annoying because they kept falling in my face. What I did was pin them at the side with a bobby pin — I even slept with it in for a few nights — to get the hair trained to sweep at the side, but not in my face. It worked like a charm.
I can’t wait to see a pic! HOORAY for good haircuts!
Let us know how that works out for you. I’ve been curious.
I’ve been thinking about cutting off my long locks. I usually end up hating whatever style I get so I’m not sure what to do. Glad you like yours though.
After reading your blog, I told my daughter she was “in” now because the bangs she cut herself several months ago - the ones that are now nose length and pushed off to the side - qualify as “side-swept.” I have to admit, she looks cute.
IMHO, you cannot win. So you may as well focus on the hair. Which sounds mahvellous, BTW.
I hate our cable service, too, but switching to the phone company’s service is just as expensive, and the DSL is slower than cable broadband here. I mostly hate paying so much for constant outages, bad customer service, and channels that come in fuzzy. I hope your new service is better for you!
The great key to sideswept bangs is cute bobby pins and hair clips, if you ask me (and I wear one everyday, so I should know) ;^)
Ya for a good hair cut and ditching the cable bastards!!
Do not overwhelmed by the the sideswept bangs. Enjoy your coolness, I hope everyone notices (unlike with my haircut). Oh, some well-placed hairspray does the trick for me.
hehe I swear those companies play us over just cause they can! grrr!
Cool that you got a haircut you like!! I do not do bangs … it never works out.
Seeing as it took the cable man @ 3 hours to install our cable today, I feel it was the use of the word “redundant” that threw him. He couldn’t recover after that….
I got my haircut today too — just in time for BlogHer…
Yep, using a 3-syllable word with the cable installer guy probably wasn’t going to work for you.
Speaking of haircuts, my husband made me promise that I would never get a ‘mom haircut’. I asked him exactly what he meant by that and his response was, “You know what your mom’s hair looks like?”
“Yeah.” “And you know what MY mom’s hair looks like?” “Yeah.” “Those are ‘mom haircuts.’”
I’m scared to go get my damn hair cut now! What the hell? At least I don’t wear ‘mom jeans’, right?
Mom hair? I think it’s one of those things where you can’t define it but you KNOW IT when you see it!
I’m so jealous of your new haircut– it sounds really cute. I love long bangs (though on me they make me want to kill someone.) It’s sort of like how I love stilletto heels, but I can’t walk in them…
I think you’re right. It’s monosyllabic and doesn’tinvolve chicks, beer or red meat. Definitely a curve ball…
Your haircut sounds like my new haircut.
I was so glad to get rid of my cable company that I practically threw my old cable box through their front door. Hope their not reading this because I still have to use them for my internet access.