Two appologies

[susandennis]

Ok, I am sorry my rain wish got out of control. Yesterday Seattle had just shy of 5" of rain - a record. (We usually have a lot of rainy days - not a lot of actual rain.) It is a mess and I am sorry. Who knew - after ignoring my wishes for months - all of a sudden my number would come up???

And my second appology goes out to Comcast call centers everywhere. The reason why necessitates yet another Mom story.

A couple of weeks ago Mom started having computer trouble... Several notes swapped back and forth revealed that she was having connection issues with Comcast. And, if you read that sentence carefully - especially the first part - you will see the real problem. When she sends me email telling me her email doesn't work, you gotta do some head scratching.

I finally convinced her that if she was sending an email and it didn't go immediately, it would go in 5 minutes (she's got her Outlook Express set to poll every 5 minutes). But she still thinks there's a problem. She called Comcast yesterday morning and while on the phone with a level one support guy 'who kept whispering' (says the woman who's hearing aids were probably two rooms away), she got an email and her computer speakers sang out "You've Got Mail!!"

The Comcast guy being very quick says 'Oh do you have AOL? You should call them. But, meanwhile, since you are getting mail, you seem to be fixed.' And that was that.

But, Mom was not deterred. In nearly every email for the past two weeks she says her cable is broken. My brother was there this weekend. He knows some computer stuff but not much. He told her she had lost packets. Well, that nailed it. Never before in her 82 years has she lost packets.

She sent a note to the head of her neighborhood computer group asking if he knew of any Comcast problems in the joint. He sent a note out to the other 80 year olds. Mom sent me a note last night and said 'would you please get on my computer and read what everyone said and tell me what I need to do?'

She had four notes:

1. Howard said that he had trouble last June but then it fixed itself.
2. Evelyn said that Comcast was fine but her Outlook Express went down for several hours last Friday.
3. John said to call late at night and call back if you get someone who doesn't speak good English.
4. [this is my favorite] Frank said that when you call tell them you are old and your daughter set up the computer and she's on a trip around the world and you can't reach her.

She's going to keep an eye on it today and call later tonight. I asked if I needed to pack for my world tour and she ignored the question. So... to whoever answers the Comcast phone tonight, I am so very sorry.

Comments

[pinkrose70.livejournal.com]

LMAO at the tech support hearing "You've got mail" I keep AOL as a side e-mail and sometimes I've left my speaker volume too high in another program. That mail announcement could wake the dead.

I almost spit hot coffee on my monitor reading #4

Just be glad that there were only 4 responses.

[susandennis]

I found that wav file (the you've got mail one) and hooked Outlook Express to it. She keeps the sound turned up so she can hear it in the other room. Consequently, when she gets mail, if you are very quiet, I'll bet you can hear it!

[pinkrose70.livejournal.com]

I was just browsing one of my favorite "consumer complaint" web sites. I love the family dining and take-out complaint letters, (like a mini People's Court letter) but there are many categories, and YIKES, look how many for Comcast:

http://www.planetfeedback.com/sharedLettersList/0,2941,0-19-0-0-20-0-fb_date-desc,00.html

[katbyte.livejournal.com]

LOL, glad I don't work at Comcast.

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I like the stories about your mom. My mom, who had no problem understanding cell phones (even though she wouldn't own one) got a cordless home phone for Mother's Day once, and didn't understand it at all. "How does it work?" she kept asking.

[susandennis]

Well, see, Mom cannot grasp the concept of a cellphone at all. No way. We even got her one and it didn't take. She has trouble with the answering machine. But, her computer skills and TiVo skills are pretty advanced. I told her the other day she was an idiot savant. She said if that was multiple choice she'd go with savant, please. She is good entertainment value for sure.

[geordie.livejournal.com]

At least you don't live in Shelton (wherever that is), they had 7.2"

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2001771287.jpg