Sunday Dental Thread: No teeth today... [View All]

[PCIntern]

So I'm moving my office...just a few floors here in downtown Philly, and although many might think that moving dental chairs, x-ray units, and the like are difficult, they're easy compared with moving the phones. See I have this phone:




Actually, I have 6 of them, a fax, DSL, and a private line off the system, and in 1980, when I subscribed to this setup, the salesman from Bell Telephone (Remember them?) said, "Technological advances will occur, but this is all the phone you will ever need." And he was absolutely correct. I had to buy the system from Lucent after the spin-offs occurred, but I have only had to replace one unit in all these years. I can buy them on e-bay for a few bucks new or almost new, and they last forever. I have 3 spares in my closet including a spare master which I paid a whole 16.00 for, plus shipping.

So when it was time to get ready to plan to move, I called a guy I knew who had retired from Verizon, and he nodded all the way through my pitch, that I was moving to save money, that this system was perfect for me, etc. So of course, he sends me, and I'm not kidding, a proposal for nearly $7000.00 for wiring and new phones.

I called him and he sort-of-apologized. I came to terms for, get this:

600.00 his fee
1100.00 new office wiring
550.00 Verizon wiring charges

For a grand total of 2250.00.

when I moved to the space 25 years ago, I made one phone call to Bell/Verizon -whatever the heck they were called in those days - and two guys showed up, spent the whole day, and I think I paid $250.00 for the installation.

The phone company used to actually function. You called, they came, anytime day or night. They worked continuously until the problem was resolved and if it got hairy, they called more people until they got it resolved. It was reliable and nearly-perfect.

Just noting and reminiscing a bit, before the nightmare begins this week.