Customer service

I might be dealing with antique technology, but I'm sticking with it. Yes, I still have a landline phone. I was told by Sprint, my long-distance carrier that they are getting out of the landline long-distance business. I must select a new carrier.

I've long been annoyed with Sprint because in their monthly email reminder that the bill is ready they never tell you the amount or due date. One must log in to find that info. And I'm the kind of person who wants to do that once, as close to the due date as I can. Besides, I shouldn't need to log in to see I made no calls in the month. This summer I've missed the due date three times. Fortunately, the largest late fee has been $.43. I called them today. So I called. The agent kept repeating no, we don't put the date in that email. I said, but other companies do. I got her refrain. I tried a couple other tactics, getting quite annoyed. I got her refrain. I finally said, BUT YOU SHOULD! She finally said she would pass along my suggestion. Argh! I'm glad they won't be my long-distance company in a couple months.

Then a call to my local service, AT&T. I couldn't find long-distance plans on their website. It took some doing to get to a person who could explain their plans. Naturally, their suggestions on what they could offer in long-distance plans was based on the last three months when I have abnormally high calling as I deal with my dad's affairs (besides she was combining long-distance with regional calling, which AT&T has always handled).

I asked what other companies handle long-distance. That was something AT&T was able to tell me when I moved into this house 23 years ago. Not anymore. She asked, do you have internet? You'll have to search for phone companies. There's about sixty of them.

Back to the plans she told me about. I asked how might I see the offers online? She passed me off to the webpage help desk. No, there don't appear to be direct links to long-distance plans. I'd have to plug "long distance" into the search field. I did so. I got a page that listed my current provider and a link that said, "Change plan." That took me to a page my security system did not like. The agent and I went round and round on that for a while. She even suggested I log out and back in. But every time I tried that the main page said I was already logged in. I even tried another browser and got the same error.

After about 20 minutes she had reached the end of her knowledge and passed me off – to the phone repair staff. I apologized to the guy, there's nothing wrong with my phone service, it's your crazy webpage. And I have no idea why I was sent to you. He gave me another number to call, a direct line to "internet help." I haven't called yet.

Dealing with customer service is so much fun! I'm sure they say the same about me.