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Technology Stocks : AUTOHOME, Inc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: M. Frank Greiffenstein who wrote (20042)	3/9/2000 1:33:00 PM
From: KailuaBoy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

Frank, Sounds like you have experienced a lot of "Greiff". Just kidding. You're experiencing the same kind of thing I experienced recently when I got cable installed in my home. I'm in an independent area (USA Media or something like that). Two things happened. 1. The cable went from clear to fuzzy to complete snow each day as the temperature dropped. This is a weekend home so when I showed up on Friday night it was complete snow. I would call on Saturday morning and complain, they would page a tech who wouldn't return the page. I would call back in the early afternoon and the tech would return my call. He would say that he would work on it first thing in the morning...Sunday. I would wait through the morning then call the cable company again, they would page the tech and he would call back. When I spoke with him on Sunday he would explain the problem...water in a feed to my street would freeze etc., or maybe they had an amp goin' south er sumpin'. I would drive home on Sunday and when I got back the following Friday.....unwatchable. This went on for close to two months. The best part was that after it was fixed the billing folks made me jump through hoops to get only one of the two months credited. 2. When I could see the television they were advertising USA@Home!!! Sign up now!! Available NOW!!! Fast Internet NOW!!! I signed up and the person who took my call said that it wasn't available yet but she would put my name on the list. That was December. I'm still waiting. I would gladly put the dagger of consumer choice through the heart of the cable companies if I thought that the phone companies were any better. They ain't. I have a DSL line at my other home and the install was the same. Three install dates where they threatened that if noone was home the order would be canceled. My wife took three days off work and sat all day (the phone company wouldn't give us a time, just a day). When they missed the first two there reason was that there was noone home. Now I have a big freaking dog and a smaller albeit equally assertive wife who didn't like sitting at home all day and somehow transferred that experience to me when I got home to find that the install was missed...and missed. The third install went ok. The guy didn't have a clue but he was happy to drill a hole through my wall and leave two wires dangling in my office. The Northpoint guy who was then scheduled to terminate the wires showed up on time and completed the install. The @Home end wasn't configured correctly and when it was fixed the whole thing worked like a charm. Bottom line...the phone companies and cable companies have been caught off guard with the advent of real competition. The hounds are at their heels and they are trying to get in shape. This is what happens when your government protects you from the evils of competition. You get crappy bloated monoliths which serve noone. The good news is that they are going away and you will benefit from whomever responds to your needs as a consumer. ATHM should be acting like you have a choice in who you go with because you do. I believe that ATHM knows this and is working towards satisfying your needs as a consumer. The install, node, buildout, cooter shows up in his van scenario will continue though. Have a nice day.