Monday, February 13, 2006
I realize today I still love sonic.net and here's why. I haven't been happy with the DSL connection we ordered for our new place because we'd been getting the low end of the possible speed spectrum with it. 1.5 Mbps is guaranteed, but they say it's possible to get 3.0. We had only been getting 1.5, if that. And, with our new wireless router, I no longer need 4 or 8 static IP addresses. I called Sonic's main telephone line. A human answered immediately, and I asked for sales. I got transferred and—with no waiting—another human answered. I explained my situation and that I wanted to know if I could downgrade without penalty within 30 days of my order going live. She said no, there's still a $50 penalty. This was a much smaller penalty than I had expected. I didn't mind paying $50 if I were to be saving $20 (or was it $30?) per month over the next year. I asked her to do the downgrade, she explained the fine print of the action (prorate—blah blah—next bill—blah blah—one year—blah blah—penalty to end—blah blah) in just a few seconds, and I was off the phone in under 5 minutes. Five minutes! Have you ever been on the phone with an ISP for less than 5 minutes? It's often impossible with some companies! With Sonic, there was no insincere apology that I didn't originally get what I wanted, no lame attempt at explaining what speed was guaranteed versus what the line was capable of under the right condition. (I had already realized it was all within contract, and the woman I spoke with seemed to realize that.) I understood what I was doing, and they understood what they were doing, and we both got our business done very efficiently and very civilly. Most of all, there was no "Would you like to see if you have all the right services for you?" time-wasting nonsense that you get from Pac Bell or SBC or AT&T or Beatrice or whatever they're called now. (What they're really asking is: "Would you like to spend the next 10 minutes of your life finding out how you can give us more money and receive services that you really don't need?") I got that question the last three times I called the phone company, and the last time I finally asked: "Is there a way for you to specify that I'm tired of hearing that question every time I call?" The answer: No. I had to wonder: Why would anyone work for a company that forces you to annoy or anger or rudely financially exploit the people you're trying to help? Surely there are better jobs than those, and surely you can financially exploit your customers without being so rude about it. In my dreams, I wish everyone who calls the phone company to ask that question of the representative: "Why are you working there? Can't you find something better to do?" I'm sure they wouldn't like it if in the middle of our conversation I started asking if they wanted to buy a rackmount computer case or some ripe bananas I no longer need. The bananas would be great for baking or you can freeze them and use them later. You can make banana bread for the office or you can prepare your own baby food. Oh, this is making your call times longer and forcing money down the drain for your company? Sorry about that, but are you sure you don't want that rackmount computer case? It's essentially new and very clean. Years later, Lily Tomlin is still right. I can't not deal with the phone company because there's no other way to get broadband DSL where I live. Worked on the Idea Box forum. Helped Lucia with InDesign layers and objects. The highlight of the day was Lucia's birthday party. I brought in chocolate brownies with caramel and walnuts. Joel brought in Barefoot Contessa's chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and candied flowers. James brought a ring-shaped coffee cake or strudelesque cake. Cindy brought a salad. We all chipped in for pizza which was ordered by Ena. Ena and Polly brought drinks. Stacey helped set up. Met with Cindy. Chatted with Susie. Helped Joel sync his Palm Pilot (again). Home. Archived documents. Left a message with our landlord about some minor issues. Dinner at home with Patrick: herbed chicken, asparagus, garlic bread. Worked on Corinna's website. Chatted with our landlord. Installed TextWrangler 2.1.1. Learned what the Konami code is.