For various reasons,but mostly tempted by a better camera, I retired my
six year old LG-6 and purchased a Galaxy S22.

I was concerned that a sketch pad that was LG specific would not be
usable on my new phone.
It was not...however I ended up finding an app that was far superior, so
I am quite happy.

Here is the "funny" day I had:

I have been with AT&T forever and have no plans to go elsewhere. There
is an AT&T store right by my house so I popped in. I figured as long as
I was going to get a new phone, I'd get an improved plan that would
allow me to use the phone out of the country. (My wife and I winter in
Medellin.)

As it turned out, the store by my house was just a branch that mainly
deals with putting SIM cards in the phones of college students, so they
referred me to one of their main stores.

I had one stop to make in the area so it was no big deal. I rarely take
calls when I am on the road, but got a message from a friend I rarely
hear from, so when parked, I called her back. She mainly wanted to
complain about how much she hated technology a...especially AT&T.

I had a good laugh when I told her, that's were I'm going now, wish me luck.

I then arrived at the main AT&T store where they told me for what I
wanted, I needed an unlocked phone (which they could not provide) so
they sent me to Best Buy where I got one at a much reduced price.

Then, I had to return to AT&T to get it activated and my apps and data
transferred.

If that was not a 21st Century experience, I don't know what was. All
the people were very helpful and friendly, so what could have been a
nightmare ended up being not so bad.

BTW: As to AT&T, I also have them for my home Internet service and years
ago when my router died, they sent a tech over to replace it in
***thirty minutes***

More recently when my router died, I was on the tech support line for 90
minutes before they finally agreed to send someone out. Took them a week
to get here.

Am 08.11.22 um 08:35 schrieb philo:
> For various reasons,but mostly tempted by a better camera, I retired my
> six year old LG-6 and purchased a Galaxy S22.
>
> I was concerned that a sketch pad that was LG specific would not be
> usable on my new phone.
> It was not...however I ended up finding an app that was far superior, so
> I am quite happy.
>
> Here is the "funny" day I had:
>
> I have been with AT&T forever and have no plans to go elsewhere. There
> is an AT&T store right by my house so I popped in. I figured as long as
> I was going to get a new phone, I'd get an improved plan that would
> allow me to use the phone out of the country. (My wife and I winter in
> Medellin.)
>
>
> As it turned out, the store by my house was just a branch that mainly
> deals with putting SIM cards in the phones of college students, so they
> referred me to one of their main stores.
>
>
> I had one stop to make in the area so it was no big deal. I rarely take
> calls when I am on the road, but got a message from a friend I rarely
> hear from, so when parked, I called her back. She mainly wanted to
> complain about how much she hated technology a...especially AT&T.
>
> I had a good laugh when I told her, that's were I'm going now, wish me luck.
>
> I then arrived at the main AT&T store where they told me for what I
> wanted, I needed an unlocked phone (which they could not provide) so
> they sent me to Best Buy where I got one at a much reduced price.
>
> Then, I had to return to AT&T to get it activated and my apps and data
> transferred.
>
> If that was not a 21st Century experience, I don't know what was. All
> the people were very helpful and friendly, so what could have been a
> nightmare ended up being not so bad.
>
>
> BTW: As to AT&T, I also have them for my home Internet service and years
> ago when my router died, they sent a tech over to replace it in
> ***thirty minutes***
>
> More recently when my router died, I was on the tech support line for 90
> minutes before they finally agreed to send someone out. Took them a week
> to get here.

What is exactly your question or your issue?
Are you bored?

--
Gutta cavat lapidem (Ovid)

In article <tkd0ro$3rufb$2@dont-email.me>, philo <philo@privacy.net>
wrote:

>
> I then arrived at the main AT&T store where they told me for what I
> wanted, I needed an unlocked phone (which they could not provide) so
> they sent me to Best Buy where I got one at a much reduced price.
>
> Then, I had to return to AT&T to get it activated and my apps and data
> transferred.
>
> If that was not a 21st Century experience, I don't know what was. All
> the people were very helpful and friendly, so what could have been a
> nightmare ended up being not so bad.

none of that was needed.

buy the phone (either online or in a store), activate an e-sim at home
(go to the at&t website, fill in the info and scan a qr code) and then
transfer the contents directly or from a backup. depending on the
phone, transferring may even be part of the setup wizard.

they also lied when they said an unlocked phone was needed. although an
unlocked phone is desirable, a phone locked to at&t would have worked,
and if you're going to stay with at&t and not switch carriers, it won't
actually matter.

Am 08.11.22 um 12:14 schrieb nospam:
> In article <tkd0ro$3rufb$2@dont-email.me>, philo <philo@privacy.net>
> wrote:
>
>>
>> I then arrived at the main AT&T store where they told me for what I
>> wanted, I needed an unlocked phone (which they could not provide) so
>> they sent me to Best Buy where I got one at a much reduced price.
>>
>> Then, I had to return to AT&T to get it activated and my apps and data
>> transferred.
>>
>> If that was not a 21st Century experience, I don't know what was. All
>> the people were very helpful and friendly, so what could have been a
>> nightmare ended up being not so bad.
>
> none of that was needed.
>
> buy the phone (either online or in a store), activate an e-sim at home
> (go to the at&t website, fill in the info and scan a qr code) and then
> transfer the contents directly or from a backup. depending on the
> phone, transferring may even be part of the setup wizard.

The whole posting showed that "philo" is not up to the current standards
and procedures anymore.

--
Gutta cavat lapidem (Ovid)

On 2022-11-08 08:35, philo wrote:
> For various reasons,but mostly tempted by a better camera, I retired my
> six year old LG-6 and purchased a Galaxy S22.

....

> I then arrived at the main AT&T store where they told me for what I
> wanted, I needed an unlocked phone (which they could not provide) so
> they sent me to Best Buy where I got one at a much reduced price.

Why unlocked? Is it because you intend to use SIMs of another provider
at some time, probably when travelling?

In that case, I would recommend a dual SIM phone.

>
> Then, I had to return to AT&T to get it activated and my apps and data
> transferred.
>
> If that was not a 21st Century experience, I don't know what was. All
> the people were very helpful and friendly, so what could have been a
> nightmare ended up being not so bad.
>
>
> BTW: As to AT&T, I also have them for my home Internet service and years
> ago when my router died, they sent a tech over to replace it in
> ***thirty minutes***

Wow.

>
> More recently when my router died, I was on the tech support line for 90
> minutes before they finally agreed to send someone out. Took them a week
> to get here.

Similar here.

I remember, over a decade or two ago, that the text from my telephone
company said something about attending issues in under four hours.
Turned out that it meant basically that they took note and accepted the
problem in under 4 hours, but the actual solving could easily take a week.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

nospam wrote:

> they also lied when they said an unlocked phone was needed.

Hi nospam,

I edited my killfile-like regex filters for the first time in almost
forever (because it's a PITA) where I just want to let you know that philo
is micky (and always has been) so you're welcome to respond to him but he
will simply waste your time with his cut-and-paste problem-set trolls.

No need to respond... I just wanted you to know. That's all.

(Note I left you and Jolly Roger out of my killfile. Consider that a mark
of respect in that both of you can teach me something, but what Jolly Roger
teaches is, of course, quite different than what you know technically).
--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information
which, in this case, is to let nospam know that philo & micky are the same.

In article <tkdpa7$ui1$1@gioia.aioe.org>, Andy Burnelli
<spam@nospam.com> wrote:

> Consider that a mark
> of respect in that both of you can teach me something,

many have have tried and have learned that some things are simply not
possible.

On 11/8/2022 2:35 AM, philo wrote:
> More recently when my router died, I was on the tech support line for 90
> minutes before they finally agreed to send someone out. Took them a week to
> get here.
>

If you got off with only 90 minutes you were lucky. My second-most recent
AT&T failure was literally a severed cable between two utility poles
leading to my house. I spent at least three hours on three or four
different calls to "support" trying to convince them that, despite what the
script says, sending me a new modem/router was not going to fix the
problem. I had to do that at least twice despite their insistence.
Eventually I got to someone who's idiocy was less severe than their
comrades and she finally got the idea that a severed cable lying alongside
the road was not curable by modem changeout.

Of course it wasn't until late the next day that AT&T sent out someone
capable of fixing the problem. He screwed it up, leaving the splice down at
ground level where, a few weeks later, some fine neighbor ripped the cables
from the splice. When I got a second callout to fix this failure I made a
point of standing to watch the repair, made useful suggestions like, "yes,
you _will_ need to take the ladder off your truck to put the splice well up
the pole". That accounted for another day of outage.

My local utility company is in the process of installing fiber-to-the-house
in the neighborhood with a minimum guaranteed speed of 1gB and a couple of
tiers above that. Both the 1gB and 2.5gB tiers cost less than I'm paying
AT&T. Of course that doesn't mean that "customer service" from the utility
will be better than AT&T but I can't imagine even a troop of gibbons
providing any worse.

nospam wrote:

>> Consider that a mark
>> of respect in that both of you can teach me something,
>
> many have have tried and have learned that some things are simply not
> possible.

I wonder if you realize your personality is such that you feel afraid of
anyone who tells you facts about Apple that you hate to be told about?

Nonetheless, this philo/micky troll is off my radar along with a whole
bunch of Apple iKooks - but I'll keep you around in case you can add value.

If you do add value in your next postings, you'll prove me right about you!

On 11/8/22 7:40 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> On 2022-11-08 08:35, philo wrote:
>> For various reasons,but mostly tempted by a better camera, I retired
>> my six year old LG-6 and purchased a Galaxy S22.
>
> ...
>
>> I then arrived at the main AT&T store where they told me for what I
>> wanted, I needed an unlocked phone (which they could not provide) so
>> they sent me to Best Buy where I got one at a much reduced price.
>
> Why unlocked? Is it because you intend to use SIMs of another provider
> at some time, probably when travelling?
>
> In that case, I would recommend a dual SIM phone.

Yes, out of the country.
No need for a dual SIM phone as I rarely use the phone at all but still
want to have a line to communicate with my wife if we go separate ways.
(which is not often)

I think what I'll do though , if a get a SIM when I'm out of the county,
just have it put in my second phone

>
>>
>> Then, I had to return to AT&T to get it activated and my apps and data
>> transferred.
>>
>> If that was not a 21st Century experience, I don't know what was. All
>> the people were very helpful and friendly, so what could have been a
>> nightmare ended up being not so bad.
>>
>>
>> BTW: As to AT&T, I also have them for my home Internet service and
>> years ago when my router died, they sent a tech over to replace it in
>> ***thirty minutes***
>
> Wow.
>
>>
>> More recently when my router died, I was on the tech support line for
>> 90 minutes before they finally agreed to send someone out. Took them a
>> week to get here.
>
> Similar here.
>
>
> I remember, over a decade or two ago, that the text from my telephone
> company said something about attending issues in under four hours.
> Turned out that it meant basically that they took note and accepted the
> problem in under 4 hours, but the actual solving could easily take a week.
>
>

LOL, I was in the industrial battery industry and my boss said that we
always had to respond to a customer within four hours. I always called
back ASAP and asked when they really needed me. Sometimes it was at
once, sometimes the next day.

Once a customer needed me at a time when I meeting was scheduled and I
told my boss I'd have to miss the meeting because of the four hour rule.
He then informed me that I simply had to call the customer back within
four hours.

At any rate, I always gave customers priority over meetings.

On 11/8/22 9:34 AM, Bodger wrote:
> On 11/8/2022 2:35 AM, philo wrote:
>> More recently when my router died, I was on the tech support line for
>> 90 minutes before they finally agreed to send someone out. Took them a
>> week to get here.
>>
>
> If you got off with only 90 minutes you were lucky. My second-most
> recent AT&T failure was literally a severed cable between two utility
> poles leading to my house. I spent at least three hours on three or four
> different calls to "support" trying to convince them that, despite what
> the script says, sending me a new modem/router was not going to fix the
> problem. I had to do that at least twice despite their insistence.
> Eventually I got to someone who's idiocy was less severe than their
> comrades and she finally got the idea that a severed cable lying
> alongside the road was not curable by modem changeout.
>
> Of course it wasn't until late the next day that AT&T sent out someone
> capable of fixing the problem. He screwed it up, leaving the splice down
> at ground level where, a few weeks later, some fine neighbor ripped the
> cables from the splice. When I got a second callout to fix this failure
> I made a point of standing to watch the repair, made useful suggestions
> like, "yes, you _will_ need to take the ladder off your truck to put the
> splice well up the pole". That accounted for another day of outage.
>
> My local utility company is in the process of installing
> fiber-to-the-house in the neighborhood with a minimum guaranteed speed
> of 1gB and a couple of tiers above that. Both the 1gB and 2.5gB tiers
> cost less than I'm paying AT&T. Of course that doesn't mean that
> "customer service" from the utility will be better than AT&T but I can't
> imagine even a troop of gibbons providing any worse.

Yes. I had to explain the problem to several representatives. If it ever
happens again, I will see if asking for a supervisor helps.

On 2022-11-08 19:16, philo wrote:
> On 11/8/22 7:40 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> On 2022-11-08 08:35, philo wrote:
>>> For various reasons,but mostly tempted by a better camera, I retired
>>> my six year old LG-6 and purchased a Galaxy S22.
>>
>> ...
>>
>>> I then arrived at the main AT&T store where they told me for what I
>>> wanted, I needed an unlocked phone (which they could not provide) so
>>> they sent me to Best Buy where I got one at a much reduced price.
>>
>> Why unlocked? Is it because you intend to use SIMs of another provider
>> at some time, probably when travelling?
>>
>> In that case, I would recommend a dual SIM phone.
>
> Yes, out of the country.
> No need for a dual SIM phone as I rarely use the phone at all but still
> want to have a line to communicate with my wife if we go separate ways.
> (which is not often)
>
> I think what I'll do though , if a get a SIM when I'm out of the county,
> just have it put in my second phone

From personal experience, a dual sim system is much better. As my
relatives without such found out when they travelled to visit me.

....

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 2022-11-08 16:34, Bodger wrote:
> On 11/8/2022 2:35 AM, philo wrote:
>> More recently when my router died, I was on the tech support line for
>> 90 minutes before they finally agreed to send someone out. Took them a
>> week to get here.
>>
>
> If you got off with only 90 minutes you were lucky. My second-most
> recent AT&T failure was literally a severed cable between two utility
> poles leading to my house. I spent at least three hours on three or four
> different calls to "support" trying to convince them that, despite what
> the script says, sending me a new modem/router was not going to fix the
> problem. I had to do that at least twice despite their insistence.
> Eventually I got to someone who's idiocy was less severe than their
> comrades and she finally got the idea that a severed cable lying
> alongside the road was not curable by modem changeout.

I don't argue.

The chap will come with the router in the box to connect it and ask
where is the old one, at what moment I will explain the real issue to
him. Ie, point to the severed cable on the street. He has better chances
of understanding the issue.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 11/8/2022 3:41 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> On 2022-11-08 16:34, Bodger wrote:
>> On 11/8/2022 2:35 AM, philo wrote:
>>> More recently when my router died, I was on the tech support line for 90
>>> minutes before they finally agreed to send someone out. Took them a week
>>> to get here.
>>>
>>
>> If you got off with only 90 minutes you were lucky. My second-most recent
>> AT&T failure was literally a severed cable between two utility poles
>> leading to my house. I spent at least three hours on three or four
>> different calls to "support" trying to convince them that, despite what
>> the script says, sending me a new modem/router was not going to fix the
>> problem. I had to do that at least twice despite their insistence.
>> Eventually I got to someone who's idiocy was less severe than their
>> comrades and she finally got the idea that a severed cable lying
>> alongside the road was not curable by modem changeout.
>
> I don't argue.
>
> The chap will come with the router in the box to connect it and ask where
> is the old one, at what moment I will explain the real issue to him. Ie,
> point to the severed cable on the street. He has better chances of
> understanding the issue.
>
>
I've never had them offer to send that hypothetical chap with the
modem/router -- they simply ask me to reset the current one then tell them
what lights are on, they do some sort of test from their end (probably just
a ping) and then they automatically ship a replacement for ME to swap and
it shows up a couple of days later. Getting that chap is, of course,
necessary when lines are down but they have to be convinced and worn down
before they will consider something so radical as dispatching someone. That
is the reason that AT&T is out of my house as soon as the fiber shows up. I
was literally just in the process of arranging a new hole through the
house's brick wall for the fiber to come in and setting up a pull cord from
there to my "equipment closet" in the basement.

On 2022-11-08 21:58, Bodger wrote:
> On 11/8/2022 3:41 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> On 2022-11-08 16:34, Bodger wrote:
>>> On 11/8/2022 2:35 AM, philo wrote:
>>>> More recently when my router died, I was on the tech support line
>>>> for 90 minutes before they finally agreed to send someone out. Took
>>>> them a week to get here.
>>>>
>>>
>>> If you got off with only 90 minutes you were lucky. My second-most
>>> recent AT&T failure was literally a severed cable between two utility
>>> poles leading to my house. I spent at least three hours on three or
>>> four different calls to "support" trying to convince them that,
>>> despite what the script says, sending me a new modem/router was not
>>> going to fix the problem. I had to do that at least twice despite
>>> their insistence. Eventually I got to someone who's idiocy was less
>>> severe than their comrades and she finally got the idea that a
>>> severed cable lying alongside the road was not curable by modem
>>> changeout.
>>
>> I don't argue.
>>
>> The chap will come with the router in the box to connect it and ask
>> where is the old one, at what moment I will explain the real issue to
>> him. Ie, point to the severed cable on the street. He has better
>> chances of understanding the issue.
>>
>>
> I've never had them offer to send that hypothetical chap with the
> modem/router -- they simply ask me to reset the current one then tell
> them what lights are on, they do some sort of test from their end
> (probably just a ping) and then they automatically ship a replacement
> for ME to swap and it shows up a couple of days later. Getting that chap
> is, of course, necessary when lines are down but they have to be
> convinced and worn down before they will consider something so radical
> as dispatching someone. That is the reason that AT&T is out of my house
> as soon as the fiber shows up. I was literally just in the process of
> arranging a new hole through the house's brick wall for the fiber to
> come in and setting up a pull cord from there to my "equipment closet"
> in the basement.

Here, they do send somebody when they have to replace the TV
decoder/router/ont. Apparently, it has to be customized with some secret
client code or whatever.

It is fibre to the client premises.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 11/8/2022 6:43 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
snip...
>
> Here, they do send somebody when they have to replace the TV
> decoder/router/ont. Apparently, it has to be customized with some secret
> client code or whatever.
>
> It is fibre to the client premises.
>
>
My AT&T service is ADSL. Maybe your provider figures that fiber connectors
are more fragile and they are afraid of breakage? Anyway, I'll be glad to
get MY fiber (or fibre). If I thought it might help I'd offer the installer
a case of good beer to move me to the front of the queue.

On 11/8/22 2:36 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> On 2022-11-08 19:16, philo wrote:
>> On 11/8/22 7:40 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>> On 2022-11-08 08:35, philo wrote:
>>>> For various reasons,but mostly tempted by a better camera, I retired
>>>> my six year old LG-6 and purchased a Galaxy S22.
>>>
>>> ...
>>>
>>>> I then arrived at the main AT&T store where they told me for what I
>>>> wanted, I needed an unlocked phone (which they could not provide) so
>>>> they sent me to Best Buy where I got one at a much reduced price.
>>>
>>> Why unlocked? Is it because you intend to use SIMs of another
>>> provider at some time, probably when travelling?
>>>
>>> In that case, I would recommend a dual SIM phone.
>>
>> Yes, out of the country.
>> No need for a dual SIM phone as I rarely use the phone at all but
>> still want to have a line to communicate with my wife if we go
>> separate ways.
>> (which is not often)
>>
>> I think what I'll do though , if a get a SIM when I'm out of the
>> county, just have it put in my second phone
>
> From personal experience, a dual sim system is much better. As my
> relatives without such found out when they travelled to visit me.
>
>
> ...
>
>

Next time I get a phone, I think I should go that route. Thanks for the
suggestion.

On 11/8/22 2:41 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> On 2022-11-08 16:34, Bodger wrote:
>> On 11/8/2022 2:35 AM, philo wrote:
>>> More recently when my router died, I was on the tech support line for
>>> 90 minutes before they finally agreed to send someone out. Took them
>>> a week to get here.
>>>
>>
>> If you got off with only 90 minutes you were lucky. My second-most
>> recent AT&T failure was literally a severed cable between two utility
>> poles leading to my house. I spent at least three hours on three or
>> four different calls to "support" trying to convince them that,
>> despite what the script says, sending me a new modem/router was not
>> going to fix the problem. I had to do that at least twice despite
>> their insistence. Eventually I got to someone who's idiocy was less
>> severe than their comrades and she finally got the idea that a severed
>> cable lying alongside the road was not curable by modem changeout.
>
> I don't argue.
>
> The chap will come with the router in the box to connect it and ask
> where is the old one, at what moment I will explain the real issue to
> him. Ie, point to the severed cable on the street. He has better chances
> of understanding the issue.
>
>

LOL

Bodger <nobody@nowh.ere> wrote:
> On 11/8/2022 3:41 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> > On 2022-11-08 16:34, Bodger wrote:
> >> On 11/8/2022 2:35 AM, philo wrote:
> >>> More recently when my router died, I was on the tech support line for 90
> >>> minutes before they finally agreed to send someone out. Took them a week
> >>> to get here.
> >>>
> >>
> >> If you got off with only 90 minutes you were lucky. My second-most recent
> >> AT&T failure was literally a severed cable between two utility poles
> >> leading to my house. I spent at least three hours on three or four
> >> different calls to "support" trying to convince them that, despite what
> >> the script says, sending me a new modem/router was not going to fix the
> >> problem. I had to do that at least twice despite their insistence.
> >> Eventually I got to someone who's idiocy was less severe than their
> >> comrades and she finally got the idea that a severed cable lying
> >> alongside the road was not curable by modem changeout.
> >
> > I don't argue.
> >
> > The chap will come with the router in the box to connect it and ask where
> > is the old one, at what moment I will explain the real issue to him. Ie,
> > point to the severed cable on the street. He has better chances of
> > understanding the issue.
> >
> >
> I've never had them offer to send that hypothetical chap with the
> modem/router -- they simply ask me to reset the current one then tell them
> what lights are on, they do some sort of test from their end (probably just
> a ping) and then they automatically ship a replacement for ME to swap and
> it shows up a couple of days later. Getting that chap is, of course,
> necessary when lines are down but they have to be convinced and worn down
> before they will consider something so radical as dispatching someone.

The problem with 'us' (YTIU) - which probably includes you - is that
we're too technical. But if you're able to play dumb, i.e. answer "Huh?"
to all questions, then they probably *will* dispatch a 'chap'.

I see little vans of my provider 'everywhere', they just don't come to
*my* house. Like you, *I* get boxes with stuff, delivered by *other*
chaps in *other* vans! :-)

OTOH, those nice people from Microsoft support were quite willing to
fix my computer. They even installed some software to remotely help me.
But for some reason my bank balance became negative. Must be a
coincidence.

On 2022-11-09 17:46, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> Bodger <nobody@nowh.ere> wrote:
>> On 11/8/2022 3:41 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>> On 2022-11-08 16:34, Bodger wrote:
>>>> On 11/8/2022 2:35 AM, philo wrote:
>>>>> More recently when my router died, I was on the tech support line for 90
>>>>> minutes before they finally agreed to send someone out. Took them a week
>>>>> to get here.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> If you got off with only 90 minutes you were lucky. My second-most recent
>>>> AT&T failure was literally a severed cable between two utility poles
>>>> leading to my house. I spent at least three hours on three or four
>>>> different calls to "support" trying to convince them that, despite what
>>>> the script says, sending me a new modem/router was not going to fix the
>>>> problem. I had to do that at least twice despite their insistence.
>>>> Eventually I got to someone who's idiocy was less severe than their
>>>> comrades and she finally got the idea that a severed cable lying
>>>> alongside the road was not curable by modem changeout.
>>>
>>> I don't argue.
>>>
>>> The chap will come with the router in the box to connect it and ask where
>>> is the old one, at what moment I will explain the real issue to him. Ie,
>>> point to the severed cable on the street. He has better chances of
>>> understanding the issue.
>>>
>>>
>> I've never had them offer to send that hypothetical chap with the
>> modem/router -- they simply ask me to reset the current one then tell them
>> what lights are on, they do some sort of test from their end (probably just
>> a ping) and then they automatically ship a replacement for ME to swap and
>> it shows up a couple of days later. Getting that chap is, of course,
>> necessary when lines are down but they have to be convinced and worn down
>> before they will consider something so radical as dispatching someone.
>
> The problem with 'us' (YTIU) - which probably includes you - is that
> we're too technical. But if you're able to play dumb, i.e. answer "Huh?"
> to all questions, then they probably *will* dispatch a 'chap'.
>
> I see little vans of my provider 'everywhere', they just don't come to
> *my* house. Like you, *I* get boxes with stuff, delivered by *other*
> chaps in *other* vans! :-)
>
> OTOH, those nice people from Microsoft support were quite willing to
> fix my computer. They even installed some software to remotely help me.
> But for some reason my bank balance became negative. Must be a
> coincidence.

:-DDD

--
Cheers, Carlos.