COX, FAIL!
Posted on March 2, 2010 by Brian under Life.
As many of you know, recently Ching and I moved out of our house and into an apartment. One of the many frustrations that occur is transferring your services from one place to another. I decided to get a jump on a lot of these by calling the week before we left for San Francisco (2 weeks before our move). Out of all of the services I called, none were as frustrating to deal with as Cox.
I called Cox the week of Feb 8th and spoke to a young lady in their Sales Department. She was kind but not very helpful. Being an ex-employee of Cox I found myself telling her how to do her job because she could not figure out how to add me to the bulk discount that Quarters at Cambridge offers. After several minutes of conversation she informed me of my new bill and the call was over.
On Feb 24th I called back to provide an accurate number of outlets and to make sure that the transfer was set up correctly and that the service would be activated on Saturday as I requested. I spoke to another rep that could not find any information on my new address and looked at my old address and found that the person I worked with before had simply set up my service to be disconnected but didn’t bother transferring any of my services to the apartment. I spent several more minutes on the phone with this rep making sure that everything was going to be set up and that I would receive the service I had on the day that I requested. Again, I was told with confidence that everything was fixed.
Saturday rolls around and I hook up the TV to make sure that everything is working. We checked the internet and to our surprise we had service. Satisfied I go to the business of putting together my new home and vegging in front of the TV in the evenings.
On Monday we come home from work and start to make dinner. We decide that we were going to watch some TV while dinner was cooking and that’s when we realized. We had no TV or Internet. I immediately called Cox and fight through their unbelievable automated system. Finally getting a hold of another tech person they ask me several questions only to tell me that I need to go to sales. I speak to a sales person who tells me he can fix my problem, places me on hold and then comes back several minutes later and tells me that everything is transferred and that we should have service in 15 min. I wait at least 20 because I know that it takes a little time to push the signal through. After the 20 min I call back and get a hold of a very nice woman named Bethany. She pulled up my account and found that the sales guy transferred my equipment but failed to activate it. She took the time to make sure that my internet was working and that all of my questions were answered. She advised that it was going to take an hour for the service to push through and that she would call back to make sure that everything was working fine. I advised her that I had been told this already and that they had all failed to follow through. She convinced me to trust her and sure enough an hour later she calls. Unfortunately, I was not home at the time and asked if she could call me back in 30 min. She agreed and sure enough, 30 min later she called and my services were working perfectly.
As compensation I was offered $20.00 towards my service for over 3 hours of frustration and the loss of confidence. If it were not for Bethany, I would have canceled my service and looked into an alternative method of entertainment. I have since sent a letter to Cox corporate detailing the above and advised them, it’s on them now. If they were in my shoes and had to go through what I had to go through, would $20.00 be enough. Would that pacify your frustration and disappointment in a service you have had for over 10 years.
In the mean time while I wait to get an answer from them, I am looking at alternative services. I like the Cox service and have never been disappointed with them in the past. They have always been helpful and more times than not, have resolved my issues with a minimum of effort. Hopefully they will see the error of their ways and offer something more substantial in the way of compensation. I guess only time will tell.
1 Comment
Palace of Fine Arts
Posted on February 28, 2010 by Ching under Travel.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from the Palace of Fine Arts.
This is my friend Pia who I hadn’t seen since our wedding in 2002. The last eight years has gone by so fast. It was wonderful to see Pia again.
Fun picture of Becca, Jay and Brian taken at the Palace of Fine Arts.
Pia was a real trooper and drove us to several places on Friday. Her seven-seater Tahoe was perfect for driving around. The Palace of Fine Arts was just the first of many stops. Stay tuned for more pictures of all the places we visited on Friday, our first full day in San Francisco.
1 Comment
Boudin
Posted on February 28, 2010 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
Each day that we walked to Fishermans Wharf we were greeted by the fragrant aroma of fresh-baked sourdough bread. Brian and Jay would bask under the Boudin exhaust duct to get the full aromatic experience. The delicious aroma is like a drug that you just can’t get enough of… We would always walk on the Boudin side of the street toward Fishermans Wharf. LOL.
We worked up quite an appetite, wandering around Alcatraz. Jay and Becca had built up Boudin in their descriptions. The delicious aroma helped to seal the deal. We decided that we would go there for lunch.
In-N-Out is pretty hard to top for a first meal. We figured that Boudin could do it, just based on the smell. It’s so enticing that you just have to stop in.
Luckily, Sheryll had a break from her busy job fair schedule and was able to join us for lunch. Sheryll is my best friend from high school. We lost touch for a while after my family moved to the US in 1993. However, we got to spend a day together in 1998 (when mom, Jenni and I returned to the Philippines for vacation). That was the last time I’d seen Sheryll. We hadn’t seen each other since then.
Sheryll and her husband Clayton had just started seeing each other around that time, I think. Now they have three wonderful kiddos: Steffano (10), Cameron (9) and Sam (6). Sam is a spitting image of Sheryll.
I’m really grateful for Facebook because it makes staying in touch so much easier. It helped Pia — who I hadn’t seen in forever (almost eight years) also — and Sheryll and I to coordinate our San Francisco meetup. It was great to see Sheryll again and it was wonderful to finally meet her family.
But I digress… Going back to Boudin. I had a New England clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. It was delicious!
Everyone else had chowder also. You can’t go to Boudin and not have soup in a bread bowl! LOL.
Comment on This
Alcatraz
Posted on February 26, 2010 by Ching under Travel.
Photo highlights from our Alcatraz tour…
Alcatraz was definitely one of the highlights of our San Francisco trip. It’s one of the items on Brian’s bucket list that he can finally cross off. He was adamant about going and told Jay, Becca and I several times that he would never be able to forgive us if we made him miss the Alcatraz tour. LOL.
The cool thing about the Alcatraz tour is that it is self-guided. The ferry takes you to the island and, once there, you’re pretty much free to explore on your own. There are several areas that are blocked off though, for safety reasons. You can spend as much or as little time as you like on the island. Ferries travel back and forth between the pier and Alcatraz every 30 minutes and you can return at any time.
There is a guide booklet that is available for a dollar and there’s a short informational video about Alcatraz. However, it’s the audio tour that is not to be missed. It takes about an hour or so to complete (longer if you keep pausing to take pictures like we did). LOL.
We boarded the 9:30 AM ferry and the four of us spent almost three hours touring, exploring and taking photos on the island. We probably could have returned to the pier by noon, but we missed that last ferry so we had to wait for the next one. I took 200+ pictures during our Alcatraz adventure. I couldn’t post them all here, but if you want to check them out visit my Alcatraz set on Flickr. Enjoy.
Comment on This
Overheard, Chingisms
Posted on February 26, 2010 by Ching under Life.
While leaving the Walmart parking lot today, Brian and I almost crashed into a van that was cutting through the parking lot. Good thing Brian was alert and stepped on his breaks. Ticked off, Brian instinctively honked his horn. The guy kept on driving and, while still talking on his cellphone, managed to flash an obscene hand gesture our way.
BRIAN: What the hell?
ME: He obviously thought he had the right of way.
BRIAN: He didn’t. I hate stupid people.
ME: Chill out. It’s a parking lot.
BRIAN: But it’s so frustrating. Especially when I know I’m right.
ME: Now you know how I feel all the time.
Fast forward to this afternoon when Cory stopped by after work to pick up the cookbooks we found in the attic and the souvenir shirt we got for Gavin from our San Francisco trip (see above). We chatted for a bit and he is the one who suggested that we post our old dining table on Craigslist.
CORY: Do you guys like crab?
BRIAN: Ching loves crab.
CORY: If you want a break from moving, come join us for dinner. I’m cooking crab legs tonight.
ME: We can chip in. [To Brian] Do you still have cash, babe?
CORY: I got a good deal on crab legs. Only $5 per pound.
BRIAN: [Hands a $20 to Cory] Ching can eat her weight in crab legs.
ME: Well, in that case, that’s not going to be enough. I think you’ll need your credit card.
Brian says I’ve been acting weird all day. I don’t think I’m being weird. Just a little funnier. Okay, maybe I’m a tad wackier than usual. It must be the stress of moving. LOL.
Comment on This
