Those Cox.

[azurelunatic]

Tried to get telephone switched over to new place today. Tried online. This did not work: the address came up as not in their database. I called from the old apartment. The guy on the line said that their service was not available at this address. I very carefully did not swear at him.

Note: "register a complaint" gets you routed very quickly to a human being on the Qwest IVR. I called back, steaming. Turns out Cox and the apartment complex have a contract: no other phone providers here. Well. If that doesn't just fuck all my plans up. The lady and I got to talking telephone options. She pitched switching the number to a cellphone. I probably will go to a cellphone for my personal primary, but I still do want a hardwired house line, although I do NOT like the idea of my land line being a VoIP. I will have to question Cox closely about exactly how this shit is wired. I don't know enough about this yet, and I want to make sure if something stupid happens to the cable, the phone will still be on.

And I know it sounds absolutely boneheaded and emo, but I'm upset enough about that, and it's late enough, that just thinking about the concept makes me want to cry. I was all set up to switch my goddamn Qwest phone line over to the fucking new apartment. And I know that if something happens to cut out the data line, the phone line, and cellphone service at the same time, then not being able to communicate is going to be fairly low on the list of my problems. But I'm not used to relying on cellphones. I need some method of communication where I can talk for at least an hour a week, if not more.

And this is such a stupid petty little problem in comparison to all the world problems, blah blah blah. I know if I had to face day-to-day survival problems, then a stupid bastard of a telephone service provider local monopoly would not be any sort of thing to get worried about. But it's what I'm dealing with today. I don't like it, and I don't want to like it, and I don't have to like it. I just have to either find some sort of way to live with it (which I can't do at nearly three in the morning when bedtime should have been six hours ago) or figure out some way to get it changed.

This takes my satisfaction with the new apartment way, way down. Adults don't get to get away with throwing tantrums, although that's really what I feel like doing. More than half of that is the hour, but I don't imagine I'll be much happier with it when I wake up in the morning. I'll just have a better outlook and be better able to cope.

Comments

[tango.livejournal.com]

Did you hear about the lady who was so frustrated with trying to switch her phone service to Comcast she went to her local office and attacked computers and other non-living things in front of the staff there with a hammer?

[azurelunatic]

Oh dear! I did not hear about that.

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure, but I think the Cox Phone runs over a dedicated network, so if the cable goes down the phone doesn't. And you should be able to transfer the phone number to Cox. *hugs*

[azurelunatic]

I asked what the process is for transferring the number, and you don't have to have a transaction ID, security code, or auth code, you just have to say you need the transfer and then they make it happen.

[luminairex.livejournal.com]

Lyssa and I ran into a similar problem with an apartment complex in Tempe - beautiful, absolutely gorgeous place, but they signed an exclusivity deal with Qwest. Being an Arizona native, I'm one of the handful that remembers Qwest when they were USWest - both companies were fucking awful back in the day. I hear they've shaped up a bit in the interim, but I still smell a rat everytime I deal with them. Not being a fan of either DSL or Qwest's devil service (or that it would take them two weeks to install the Internet), we respectfully told that apartment complex to bugger off.

Anyways, digital telephone is not VoIP. VoIP requires an IP address (and obviously an internet connection). Digital telephone is just like an ordinary telephone that operates on a digital signal as opposed to analog. With regard to Cox's system, this means that Cox primarily delivers television to your home over coax cable- Internet uploads, downloads, and telephone service are essentially just unwatched television channels. Qwest's system is probably similar.

As for the cellphone, I've been living with a cell phone as my sole means of communication for 5 years now. If you're looking for a means to always communicate, the cellphone is much more conducive to that than a landline will ever be. Your landline is subject to power failure and backhoes digging where they shouldn't be, while cell phones essentially operate on a signal distributed amongst several towers over many miles. It's much more reliable, in that sense. It certainly sucks when you can't use your phone if it breaks, but depending on your carrier, you can have a replacement via an insurance plan by simply swapping it at a local office. I would not recommend Qwest or Verizon for this.

With Qwest DSL, you have to pay for a landline to receive Internet, in addition to the DSL service. That's roughly $41 or so, correct? We're paying $44.95 for Cox, and it's much much faster (maybe 16x, last time I checked) than DSL. They're constantly improving that too. Sorry for rambling.

Long story short, you'll be happy switching to Cox. Just trust the four of us on it :)

[azurelunatic]

We've the Cox for internet already. I'm much happier with them than with Qwest, though that week that the internet was out was hellish. (My internet was out at home over Memorial Day weekend, and all the attendant insanity; I don't believe that it was fixed until after my birthday.)

What cell phone carriers do you recommend?

[luminairex.livejournal.com]

Depends what you want out of it. My personal opinion on Verizon's phones withstanding, I was a Verizon customer for seven years and loved it - until I had to deal with their customer service after taking my phone for a swim. I had insurance and everything, but they refused to give me any loaner phone or credit me for lack of service while I waited a week for a new phone to arrive. When I told them I'd be switching carriers because I can't go a week without a phone, they tried to ding me with a termination fee that exceeded the cost of me remaining a customer for three months. With regard to their phones, they lock them down and prevent you from using many of the features you'd normally get if you bought it at retail. You might ask Lyssa about the phone she has, since it has a data plan through Verizon and she accesses LJ with it frequently.

I'm currently on T-Mobile and love it. I get 1000 minutes, 500 text messages, and insurance for $50/month. The phone (a Dash) has Wi-fi, a QWERTY keyboard, and an excellent camera. The Wifi is awesome because I'm not paying for a data plan, and if I'm online I can use Skype to make calls instead of my usual minutes, though said activities are hell on the battery :)

[azurelunatic]

I really should ask her. I wind up babbling for hours to assorted friends about nothing at all if I have a cellphone and minutes to do it with, and that makes me happier than isolation. I'll want to be able to hit LJ with it remotely.