The Summer of Time Warner

This summer is turning out to be the summer of waiting for Time Warner service people. Let me start by saying every service person who has come to my door has been very professional, very nice and not in the least bit condescending about the dogs and their ability to destroy the phone wires.

And the last gentleman was great. He actually MOVED the wire so the dogs couldn't get it -- a crazy idea, crazy brilliant! Unfortunately this same man also forgot to install the cable wire he was moving with that phone wire. So we haven't had cable since July 3.

Those of you with children understand my pain. Those of you with "Pokemon" and "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" stored on your DVR will really understand my pain. My head will soon explode from those two theme songs. It's the only television we have had available for almost a week. I am willing to memorize the church hymns my grandma used to hum all day to make the pain go away.

We are waiting for the Time Warner serviceman again today -- from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. This will be the third day this week.

First was Sunday. Yes, Sunday. I was surprised too. I even asked the scheduler if he was sure, and then if he was double sure. He was double sure. But depending on who you talk to at any given time at the Time Warner service center, they do or do not make appointments on Sunday. Since I had an appointment this past Sunday (and a repair service order number. It was very official.), but no one showed up to repair the cable, I believe they make appointments but don't actually keep them. It's an innovative choice in customer service.

When we called on Sunday afternoon because no one showed ("Oh, we never make Sunday appointments."), we got an appointment on Tuesday -- from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. I called Tuesday morning to make sure they were coming and that they had my home number and my mobile number (They say the ALWAYS call before appointments, but so far they have NEVER called before an appointment. And I've had a lot of appointments -- I think we are up to 9 or 10 now -- so I consider just our house its own legitimate customer service testing sample.). I told them I would be gone for about an hour (Jack has swimmer's ear so bad we had to go to the pediatrician.), but I have a neighbor who will come over, let them in and stay while they are here. "That's fine. No problem. They will call."

Needless to say, we still don't have cable. I called again when it was 4 p.m. and they hadn't shown yet only to find the appointment cancelled ("So Sorry. We always call. We make appointments on Sunday. We have a pact with the devil to drive you insane....").

And did I mention that the Time Warner internet connection only works in the morning after I reboot the modem two times and only if my sign is in the house of technology? My favorite was my complaint e-mail that I sent using their form on the TW website (yes, I did go to the Time Warner Cable Southern California part), it bounced back as undeliverable.

It sort of sums up the whole Time Warner product promise -- undeliverable.

So here we are waiting for the TW service person again. I'm sure they will come between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.