Sometimes, If you just ask nicely, you get it.

[MichaelD]

One side of my brain is saying "don't count your chickens before they hatch". The other side is saying "yeah, baby! DSL tonight! " What the hell am I talking about? Read on, please.

My DSL activation date is this coming Tuesday, the 27th. Well, I don't wanna wait that long. (When God was giving out patience, I was in the restroom and missed out!" So, I called SWB and very nicely, sweet-talked the operator (yes, it was a woman! into hooking me up.

She told me "we're not the actual company that physically turns on your service, you'll need to call ASI (Advanced Solutions Inc) and ask them. She gave me the customer service number for ASI and gave me some "inside info" as to what options to choose from the automated menu. You would think that being that my service is not turned on yet, I'd pick the "New Accounts" option from the menu. Nope. She told me to choose "Troubleshoot an Existing Account" and talk to whoever answers.

Well, this guy answers and he seems to be in a good mood. It didn't sound like he was sitting in a "customer support-type cubicle", like when a telemarketer calls, you can hear the other 3,000 telemarketers yakking in the background? It sounded like he was in a warehouse type room. Anyway, I told him "look, I know my service isn't due to be activated until the 27th, but I'm ready, so is there any way we could bump the service activation up a little?" He said, quite simply..."OK, hold on a minute". Comes back about a minute later, apologized for making me wait so long (a minute is long? Wow, some customer service...and I thought that was a dead concept!) and he tells me "your service will be activated by close-of-business tomorrow night..early evening most probably, if not by then, then first thing Friday morning, and if it isn't on by Friday morning, call me back and we'll get you squared away"

To say I was shocked would be putting it mildly! :Q :Q :Q

So, we'll see what happens. Unfortunately, I have to work the second job tonight (how do you think I fund my computer habit?) and won't get home until 2300 or so. First thing I do when I walk thru the door tonight will be to hook up that DSL modem and wait to see that lovely green light stop blinking, and the link light to lite up. No sleep for me tonight, I hope!

Just thought I'd share that with you all. Now, my luck DOES suck, so it wouldn't surprise me if I got screwed yet again, but hey I think I did allright...just by asking nicely.

Moral of the story is...um, like, mind your P's and Q's and you might get what you ask for.

 

[afropick]

Good luck my friend. I hope everything works out for you.

 

[shiznut123]

I hope its activated

 

[Wizkid]

When I ordered my DSL Service from Bell it was activated a week before the activation date and I didn't even have to ask

I just plugged in the modem the day that I got it in the mail and it worked

Well, good luck, hopefully it works for ya tonight

 

[edblor]

Nice story,

I work in C.S. and I hate the XXXing job more than disease... BUT I do value what I do and take every opportunity to go above and beyond!

It's good to know that the age of Quality C.S. is not dead!

Thanx

 

[KidKasha]

Keep us posted.

 

[Ausm]

good luck

 

[MattCo]

good luck, (maybe your SWB experience will be better than mine).

-MC

 

[azeker1]

Rots a ruck! Hope it goes better than with the main DSL provider around here... Qworst - formerly US Worst.

 

[Megabiter]

I had a similar experience. Did a self install, then called them up about 2-3 days early and said, "I need to send important email, please activate my line now...". It was done the next day i think. But, I was billed from that day.

On a side note, I switched to cable (cuz its much faster here) and the guys that installed it knew less than i did about configuring the NIC and W2K. It's funny, but frightening at the same time.

 

[Anavrin]

Hmm, I had to wait 2 weeks before my DSL line was up :\

But I don't blame CS or Bell because my area is pretty desolate. @Home isn't even available here. The DSL lines were all full, so they told me I had to wait before they could install the line. However, considering that I get beyond their theoretical speeds, I'm quite content ^_^

 

[Shudder]

I got free cable modem access for 3 months because I wrote the general manager of my cable company and complained about them taking so long and I finally said "I'm sorry I picked the wrong city to live in since other cities' cable companies seem to have no problem handling cable modem access." and he wrote me back, threw me on the pre-beta list, I met the general manager of the High Speed access center and bam, I was hooked up with free access for 3 months before it was even available.

SO yeah, it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[Vyle]

Good for you. I hope it works out. DSL is a blast! Ya know, I was polite to PacBell when I signed up for DSL in the middle of April last year. I was fairly polite every time I called to ask them when I was going to get my service.

Service was activated [/b]August 9th.[/b] Next time, I'm gonna be mean. :|

 

[mpancha]

hmm.. being mean doesn't work. I work with DSL sign up and stuff. And as soon as someone gets mean or angry, that's it, I stop trying to help. I'll yank your chain for awhile, run you in circles, but your prob won't get fixed. But if you're nice to me, I don't care if I spend my entire shift trying to help you, your prob gets fixed.

moral is be nice to the CSRs, you get a lot more acomplished.

 

[Healey]

Definitely it's best to be polite and pleasant when you first approach a CSR. After all they?re not much different than you. I always make a point of getting their name or extension right away. Be nice, be patient, use their name, if they?re waiting for info to come up on their screen ask where they?re located. Nice goes a long way.

However if they start giving you flak, the run around, or bad attitude, don?t waste any more time on them. Insist on talking with their supervisor and demand satisfaction. The fact that the CSR knows you have their name makes them think twice about screwing with you.

 

[RC5Bri]

That's really cool. Let's hope that everything goes as smoothly as planned. I should be getting DSL soon, so maybe I will try something like that(just need to find out the correct company).