Verging on the Mediocre

THANKS FOR YOUR HARD-EARNED CASH BOB!

Well I finally had enough today and booted my telephone and broadband provider into touch. I'm quite a patient bloke, can spend hours watching the tip of a fishing rod waiting for a bite, knowing full well there's no worm on the hook, but it's the thought that counts... there's mind over matter for you. Anyway, mind over matter, that brings me back to my ISP and 'phone, they don't mind charging me for two telephone lines for over a year even though I only have one. They don't mind charging me for receiving a TV package which I cancelled in March because I couldn't get the channels I was promised. They didn't mind disconnecting me immediately and picking up their set top box. It didn't matter that they kept on charging me for a service I can't receive anymore.

Back to the telephone... so, two lines for over a year, Customer Support worked out a refund of £200 or so was due, had my July bill today, had a refund of £10.37p hmm.

Ok deep breath, let's make a cuppa and start dialling... got through to CS after about 30mins and explained for the nth time the problem, was put on hold. Fast forward nearly an hour and I'm told I need to get transferred. I phone BT and arrange to get my old BT line re-activated, it's due to go live 6th August, my number will stay the same. Then I'm going to go with the Sky package (already have TV) now for phone and broadband. Get through to my original ISP again, wait in cue, write a 100,000 word novel, get through to an Asian lady, she asks me all that I've explained previously, I do so. Get put on hold, this time for over an hour, finally it dawns on me that no-one is going to come back on the line, I put down the receiver.

Need to make a call to my Mum, pick up the phone, it's dead. Can't ring out or receive calls. Just finished writing my letter of complaint and my copy to Ofcom, now waiting for my ISP to boot me out too.

The thing that compounds the insult is that I was a beta-tester for the first cable modems and broadband connection for this particular ISP and have been with them since the start... didn't I say I was patient? Well I don't mind, they can be as mediocre as they want from now on, doesn't matter to me anymore...

Oh, by the way, they did say:

An engineer is going to call to disconnect you and take away the set top box on 25th August...

I replied:

Ahem.. this was done back in March...

Doesn't matter sir, we'll send an engineer out on 25th August to disconnect you and collect the box...

The non-existent box? The one you disconnected and removed in March?

An engineer will collect it on 25th of March...

Sheeshh... just as well I don't have any hair to tear out isn't it?

And mediocre is probably too kind a word to use:

mediocre =
1.
of only ordinary or moderate quality; neither good nor bad; barely adequate.
2.
rather poor or inferior.