It’s a frightening thought that I know more about installing
a TV cable box than the installation person.
I am an acknowledged tech idiot. And after all, he goes to school to be trained to do that. But as I learned through experience, all
trainees are not trained.
This sad story began when I moved to a new apartment and
ordered cable service. It was the era
before my local cable company guaranteed a service call between, say eight and
two or twelve and six. The estimated time
of arrival for this installation person was between eight AM and six PM which
meant I had to take the day off from work and wait for him or her all bloody
day. That put me in a bitchy mood.
About two in the afternoon, this fellow arrived with my brand
new cable box and proceeded to hook it up. When he announced that his mission
was accomplished, I naturally checked to make sure it was accomplished. I’m not suspicious by nature but life has
taught me to be better safe than sorry.
Picture this. The TV
was in my bedroom about ten feet away from my bed. Remote in hand, I turned on the cable and
turned it off. It did. But the TV didn’t.
“Why doesn’t the TV turn off?” I naively asked.
“Oh, you have to turn it off on the set,” he responded as
though I were an idiot. Well,
technically he was correct but not in this case.
“Then what’s the purpose of the remote if I have to get out
of bed to turn off the TV?”
“That’s how it works lady.”
“I don’t think so – so why don’t you call your manager or
supervisor or someone who knows how to make this work properly?”
He shot me one of those proverbial daggers but reluctantly
called his office. Some brilliant person
there told him what to do, he did it and the TV set miraculously went off
simultaneously with the cable.
Would you believe that when I moved a few years later, the
same thing happened with a different installation man? Unbelievable. But this time I was prepared.
“You’re not leaving here until you hook up the damned thing
correctly.”
He wasn’t going to play that game with me. I’d played it before. Besides, I was bigger than he. So he called his office and was instructed in
lesson one: “How to install the cable box.” He did. End of story – almost.
I was so annoyed by the incompetence of these people that I
wrote a letter to The President of the cable company. This letter resulted in a phone call from a
genuinely nice man who actually thanked me for writing and volunteered that if
I ever have a problem with my cable, I should please call him directly. Well, over the next several years, he and I
have chatted on several occasions because of various little problems such as no
cable reception and amazingly, he always had it fixed that same day. Now isn’t that wonderful?
Coincidentally, a friend moved to a new apartment and
ordered cable installation. The man
arrived and claimed she was not wired for cable connection. “So wire it,” said she. “Can’t do that.” “Why?” she asked. Answer: “Can’t.” End of story? No.
Her frustration level was mounting. She called me in desperation, I gave her the
number of my lovely new cable company friend and you know what? He sent a seasoned installation man who
actually looked for the wiring and found it in a closet. It took him ten minutes to hook it up. She is everlastingly grateful. As we all are aware, sometimes it’s whom you
know.
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