re: stolen pairs, proxy battles, ascendance, and a moment of musing...
Dan, pardon my not getting back to you until now. I meant to yesterday, but...
... a TELCO technician seized my line for his own use, and then left me hanging on the vine, so to speak, until a repair team went out to clear it today. It was the fault of the repairman, but more the fault of the ILEC. And this line was the only one that was hard wired to the area in my home where my last remaining PC is situated, the PC that hasn't been castrated yet, at the sockets, by the upgrade from hell: AOL 5.0.
I'll get to AOL some other time, though. This introduction to our normal discussion (I had to put it here for effect, I hope you understand, because I was late in getting back to you) is all about line theft, vandalism, and a standing practice which is employed and condoned at all ILECs, and which smacks of gross impropriety, lack of courtesy, and a total disregard for customers' rights to good service.
THE ILEC WHO MUST CONDONE THIS SORT OF THING, IN THIS LATE DAY AND AGE OF WIRELESS UBIQUITY.
THE ILEC THAT HAS PCS/PCN AND CELLULAR PHONE SERVICES THAT THEY SELL TO THE PUBLIC BUT THE ILEC WHO CAN NOT AFFORD TO GIVE THEIR OWN FIELD TECHNICIANS WIRELESS PHONES TO USE ON THE JOB. INSTEAD THE TECHNICIANS TAMPER WITH, TAP AND SEIZE RESIDENTIAL USERS' PHONE LINES TO MAKE BUSINESS AND PERSONAL CALLS WHEN THEY ARE ON TOP OF POLES. AND IN BASEMENTS. AND IN CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENTAL VAULTS. AND AT PEDESTALS AND TOMBSTONES.
I live in Brooklyn, NY. NPA Nxx = 718-680, in case there are any District or Division Managers lurking here. Preferably a VP or the Chairman of the Board.
The technician left me hanging because I urged him to GET OFF MY LINE WHICH I NEEDED FOR SOME IMPORTANT BUSINESS PURPOSES, which he was using. When he refused, I gave him a few blasts of DTMF. Granted, that was my own undoing, because when he figured that he couldn't use, then I shouldn't either. So he left my jumper disconnected, and closed the cross-connect box cover on it.
How do I know this (which I suspected from the getgo and is in my original report)? Because that was the clearance that the repair guy gave to my wife this morning. "The box was closed and your wires were sticking out." Ha!
The reason I didn't send a formal compaint to the PSC already is because I know, for sure, that if the letter that I've prepared (and will surely post here if it happens again) ever got back to THE ILEC, thenthis technician would suffer dire consequences. Maybe he was just a kid, maybe he's got troubles... then again, maybe he should lose his job, except that that wouldn't be altogether fair, since THE ILEC still condones what he did, IN THIS DAY AND AGE OF UBIQUITOUS WIRELESS, and would PROBABLY FIRE HIM IF HE DIDN'T!!
I know this because A TELCO REPRESENTATIVE TOLD ME SO YESTERDAY DURING MY SIX-HOUR ODDYSSEY INTO INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE SYSTEM HELL, SOME OF WHICH CONTRADICTED OTHER IVR systems, and some of which systmes actually contradicted the humans who I spoke with when the repair number wasn't giving me recordings telling me to call back later due to heavy call volumes.
Repair was turning back business, in other words, if you can believe that. I hope it wasn't because of the new influx of DSL line orders now in the pipeline. Somehow, I think it was.
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Now. That should do for at least a touch of catharsis in a a few moments, so... yes, that's better. Now I can proceed.
See the next post.
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