Phoneless in Florida – Or another corporate screwing

[Cyrano]

A week before Thanksgiving, my elderly neighbor’s land phone line went dead. I called AT&T and reported it. It took half an hour to reach a live person who said someone would be there between then and the following Tuesday. A possible five days without a phone.

On the following Monday, the phone started working. My neighbor assumed that AT&T had fixed it from a central location, or somewhere outside the house. No one from AT&T called to say it was working.

The phone went out again on Thanksgiving Day. Another call to AT&T resulted in “Someone will be there between today and next Tuesday.” It’s now Sunday, no one has showed up, and the phone is still not working.

Think of the lack of phone service in today’s world. My neighbor lives alone. Think in terms of a heart attack, a stroke, a fire, or a burglar with no phone available. I’m talking about an elderly person here.

My neighbor has been without a phone for a total of nine days over the past week and a half. There was a time in this country when that phone would have been working in a day or two.

Who knows how many repair people have been laid off in order to increase AT&T’s bottom line? Who knows how many repair people are being sent to repair corporate phone problems rather than residential phones? Who knows how many peasants have no phone service because they happen to be peasants?

Compared to the survival problems that too many Americans are experiencing today, this is just a minor blip on the radar. But it is an indication of how each and every one of us is being screwed by the 1% every single day of our lives, on issues large and small.

Almost anywhere you look today, and no matter how minor or major the issue, corporate America is screwing us all beyond belief. And far too many of us are bitching, taking it, and not joining in the peaceful revolution begun by the OWS movement.

[whistler162]

1. So did you help her get a cheap throw away cell phone?

Or are you just into complaining about a nebulios corporate versus citizen problem?

[Cyrano]

3. Your empathy is overwhelming

Is she supposed to call everyone she knows and tell them to call her on a disposable phone?

Given her age, do you really think she's not going to have a problem using a piece of high-tech that she's never used before?

I know there are rules here on DU that prevent me from saying what I really would like to say to you. Hopefully, other DUers will take you to task for your insensitivity.

[Downwinder]

12. A cheap cell phone as a backup is a good option not necessarily.

a replacement. You can carry it in your pocket in case you fall or something happens and you can't get to a wired phone in an emergency. They are easy to operate and your neighbor should have no problem using one. The main difficulties would probably be visual and audio since Medicare does not cover vision or hearing.

My daughter gave me one for just those reasons.

[left is right]

25. we put my mom and dad on our package and bought them

the most basic phone that we could. It took nearly weekly training sessions but we finally got my dad to carry it while he is out in the yard—just in case he falls or something

[whistler162]

20. There is empathy and then there is face slapping

at the whining of people just to hear themselves whine!

You whined in your OP about her having a emergency and not being able to reach someone. Which is easily solved with a cheap cell phone. NOW you add calling her family and friends about having a new number!

[Cyrano]

23. FYI, the term "whining" has become an insult

I'd expect it from Limbaugh or Fox "News," but I'm always disgusted to see anyone use it here on DU.

Its use is often to provoke or belittle someone.

If you have something positive to contribute, I'd like to hear it without the accompanying insult.

[femrap]

17. fyi

I have a cheap Virgin cell phone...I 'top up' and then get no service for 4 or 5 days. However, they do email me and tell me 'to call us' which I can't do because I DON'T HAVE A FUCKING PHONE THAT WORKS.

OP is correct...corporate america fucks us daily. There is no customer service. I try to stay as far away from Big Corp as possible. But when it comes to internet and phone service, it's difficult.

And I fucking hate Time Warner...but that is all that is available to me in my community...there is no competition and the prices just get higher and higher.

[Arkansas Granny]

19. fwiw, I also have a cheap Virgin cell phone that my kids gave me for "just in case".

I've never had a problem with it and the only times I've been unable to get service was when I was in remote areas where there are no cell towers.

[whistler162]

21. Had a Virgin plan for at least 6 years and never had a problem

with top ups!

[1monster]

27. I have been using Virgin Mobile phone for ten plus years and love them.

I don't talk on the phone much and do have a line line phone so I can have Internet (AT&T will not sell DSL without a land line phone.

I pay $20.00 every three months and have only one a one day period in all those years when their system was down and Virgin phone service was not available. Occasionally, I have a month where I use more than ten dollars of phone service. No biggie. I just add more money to the phone. It sure beats the two year contract, the $55 plus a month that my husband has on his cell phone and he uses his phone just slightly more than I do mine.

[bbgrunt]

2. they have shifted their resources away from land lines to

cell phones. If you don't have a cell, you're screwed.

[Cyrano]

4. Millions of people still have a land line for one reason

If an area loses power, the cell phone towers go dead.

Land lines have their own power source and are not attached to the electrical grid.

I live in hurricane land and I've yet to ever lose phone service through my land line.

[LiberalArkie]

6. Thank you for keeping wireline.

Although I am an inside tech, I do work for a wireline telco.

[Cassandra]

7. Same here for the same reason.

[RebelOne]

9. That is why I keep my land line.

When power goes out, at least that still works. I have a cell phone, but do not use it that often. I mainly keep it with me in the car should I break down and have to call AAA.

[progressoid]

13. Its just the opposite here.

If we lose power here, the cell tower nearest to us has a backup generator that kicks in to keep cell service up.

And even if our land lines are down (happened last year during a storm) we still have cell service.

Regardless, that sucks about your neighbor. She should get a refund on her next bill for service interruption.

[jtrockville]

14. If you switch to fiber (like Verizon's FiOS), landline needs power.

Fiber optic lines can't carry power like copper lines. So you get a battery backup, which barely lasts a few hours in my experience. After the battery runs out, the phone line (landline) is dead.

[femrap]

18. I had a neighbor w/

severe heart problems and he had to have a land line...doctor's orders.

[LiberalArkie]

5. Wrong... Landline techs are entirely different techs from cellular techs

The only thing that landline do for cellular companies is to repair the special circuits going to the cell towers and the MTSO's.

Many landline techs have been moved from residential to special circuits simply because less people are using landlines and there are more demand for the special circuits.

[MADem]

8. Is A T and T the only provider in the area, or can she get screwed by Verizon or Fair Point instead?

Switch providers.

[Cyrano]

10. Somehow, I doubt that any other phone company would be any different.

[MADem]

11. I dunno--I remember horrific service from A T and T decades ago.

Verizon's crappy service was like Platinum Care by contrast.

[Tesha]

24. You've been offered several different choices here, yet have rejected them all.

Why is that?

Tesha

[freshwest]

15. Thanks to Raygun, the breakup of the system to profit his pals, and the death of universal service.

At one time it was a given that landlines would cost more to install in some areas than others, and the corporation absorbed by billing the easier installs at the same rate. The goal, like the power gird infrastrucutre was connectivity. The purpose and need for these things are universal. That's why we are coming apart at the seams.

[mrmpa]

16. I had a similar problem with verizon..............

Our land line, along with TV and internet went out. It was a Sunday when I called them. They said it would be between Wednesday and the following Sunday when someone would be out. This was unacceptable. I told the representative, that I have an elderly (81 year old) living with me. That though she has a cell phone, if something happened to her at night (she has a defillibrator & other medical problems) I did not want her reaching for the "small" cell. I wanted her to be able to grasp something larger i.e. the land line. I further told them that if someone was not at my home within the next 8 hours, I would report verizon to the Attorney General's office.

A repair worker was at my home in 3 hours. An added plus, he was a Union Member Communication Workers of America!

[Obamanaut]

22. If the neighbor is in a house or mobile home (I don't know about apartments), find the

jack box where the line enters the house/mobile. Open the little door, and plug a land line type phone into the jack you'll find there. If the phone works in that jack, there is a problem with the wiring in the home - somewhere downstream of that jack box. If it does not, it is a company line issue.

If the phone DOES work in the jack, then check all the various outlets/jacks then might be in the house. It may be that only one of them is not working.

If it can be narrowed to one phone jack, they can be replace easily with common hand tools. Replacements can be found at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. - or any hardware store that sells telephone accessories/wiring.

Also, if the phone is old, the phone itself may be the problem.

[1monster]

26. There was a time in this country when a phone outage was fixed by 5:00 PM the same day.

And one did not have to pay a separate fee to have indoor wiring fixed.

Ma Bell gave a whole lot better service than anything we've had since the break up. But, today, AT&T is just as self-serving-money-is-our-only-god corporation as any other. I'm not advocating that Ma Bell be put back together like humpty dumpty.

[WildNovember]

28. Yes, and it seems a lot of posters chose to ignore the OPs focus on customer

service to tell him to buy a cheap cellphone. Message seems to be "Buck up and adapt to being fucked."