(no subject)

[zig-mover.livejournal.com]

I got in a fight with a customer today. It was too long to give you the whole transcript, but basically he wanted to know what he had to do for his ADSL if he cancelled his phone line. I told him that ADSL is a linesharing technology and he would no longer have the service if he cancelled the phone line. He told me that we said we would only charge him $49.99. I brought up his billing record and confirmed that's what we were billing him. It was. He said, but if you're making me have a phone line, then you're really charging me $90.

I said, Sir, we are not responsible for the telephone charges you have for this line. ADSL needs a telephone line, you can go ahead and cancel your phone but your dsl won't work anymore.

He pulled the ever-popular "But I had service with Company X before, and they didn't make me have a phone line. I explained to him that it must have been SDSL or IDSL, which didn't need a land line, and I would be more than happy to sign him up for one of those, and they start at $109.99, if you don't want to have a phone line.

He flipped out over this. He said it wasn't fair that he had to have a phone line, and shouldn't have to have that, and was pissed because "he was paying $90 for his dsl".

I said Sir, that's like telling your car dealer that he lied to you about the price of your car because you have to pay for gas too. He said NO, THAT'S LIKE THE CAR DEALER SAYING THAT YOU NEED TO BUY A BOAT FIRST IN ORDER TO BUY A CAR. I said Sir, that analogy doesn't even make any sense. You need gas to drive your car. You need a telephone line to have ADSL.

He goes.. BUT I COULD BUY A CAR AND LOOK AT IT AND NOT DRIVE IT

I said alright, then I can tell you that your DSL will still work when you cancel your phone line. Just don't use it, and it will be fine.

He told me he was going to find another DSL company that's willing to give him ADSL without having a phone line.

I said alright, there's no such company, but you go right ahead and do that.
*click*




What a dickass. After he gave me that attitude I had to be a jerk to him. I left some info in his account notes too for whoever talks to him next. I like to leave the other techs warnings :)

Comments

[gaymafiakingpin.livejournal.com]

You could have also reminded him that he needs to have a computer to use his ADSL, and a modem, a USB port or NIC and a keyboard and mouse to get around. There are just certain things you have to have in order to use certain services. The company isn't responsible for providing all of his equipment. He also has to have electricity to power everything. Should the company pay that bill as well?

[zig-mover.livejournal.com]

Dammit. That's good. I wish i had said that instead. But yeah.. I would like to take his phone line and shove--

never mind.

:)

[wesmills.livejournal.com]

I know it's not going to make me any friends; commenting to "correct" a rant like this, but here goes:

ADSL, much like other forms of DSL, doesn't require a dial tone (we'll assume the moron of a customer meant "dial tone" when he referred to a phone line..more on that in a minute). All the "A" stands for is asymmetric, meaning that (in theory) the upstream and downstream speeds can be different. (They don't have to be, and they can be different on S, I or VDSL as well)

However, as for your dork: If he does manage to find a company that will provide him service without a PHONE LINE AT ALL, I will be most impressed. Considering that every connection needs a transport layer and as I've not heard of wireless DSL (pedantics: I'm referring to using DSL equipment and line encoding over a purely wireless signal, not encapsulating it inside a wireless standard like 802.11x), a phone line or other piece of copper is the only way to go. I suppose, if he got right down to it, he could get DSL over an alarm circuit, which then, technically, isn't a phone line..

OK, this has gone on far too long. :)

Suffice to say, I firmly believe you're right, I'm just in a picky mood tonight ;)

[skajeanne.livejournal.com]

omfg...hahah. i'm sooo sorry. that's like my customer's telling me "i want to use dial-up without a phone line"

[starblazr.livejournal.com]

Well, to partially correct again..

It's called an unbundled pair, he has to have a phone LINE, but doesn't nessicarily (sp) need phone service. Finding someone who doesn't do it that way will be harder nowadays, however, it still can be done.

[masonstone.livejournal.com]

If he's paying that much for his phones he's probably got a bunch of extras too. I mean we have a basic dial tone line and don't pay forty bucks for it. No long distance, call waiting or any other extras.

[zig-mover.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I told him that. I said if he cancelled all the extra services on the line it would drop down to a much lower price. How much do you pay for that service?