Offline...Online...Offline...

I have internet access, so I can get my email, and respond to it, and I can go online in the morning and see what the weather is like, and I can update my blogs, and can I can do all those internet-type things. Wasn’t so long ago, though, that it wasn’t the case. I’m not talking of a time before the web. No. I’m talking last summer, like just a few months ago. I was offline for a month. You have no idea what that’s like.

So here’s what happened. I give you the chronology:

· June 3, 2010 – I called My ISP. I will call them AEI Internet. I advised them that I’d be moving on June 10, and that I wished to continue my internet service at the new address. I gave them my new address and phone number, the latter of which I had acquired from Bell, the phone company. I asked the representative to whom I was speaking whether they had to arrange something with Bell; he assured me that they didn’t, and that my new address and phone number was sufficient. Are you sure I said. Last time I moved you guys had to arrange something with them. No, he said, this information is sufficient.
· June 10 – I moved to my new address After a long day of moving and organizing and unpacking and arranging, I set up my PC. I bravely plugged all the pieces together, the modem, the router, and I waited eagerly for all the lights to light up. Now, there are four lights on my modem. They are labeled: “sys,” “atm,” “dsl,” and “enet.” The last has to do with the router. Two are a complete mystery to me. But I know that the one called “dsl” is the one that tells me that I’m connected. Alas, imagine my disappointment when said dsl light blinked orange without ever settling into the comfortable green of connectedness. My modem would not synchronize. I don’t know exactly what that means either, but I know that it’s not good. Bingo, I had no internet access. I called Bell to report the issue. Bell instructed me to call AEI. It’s the phone line, I said, that’s yours. They wouldn’t talk to me. Call your ISP.
· June 11 – I called AEI tech support. They put me on hold, and then told me that a Bell technician would attend on June 16. They could not explain to me why I had to wait till June 16 when I had informed them of my move on June 3. I indicated that being offline for a week was unacceptable, but they were unsympathetic. It was obvious that whomever I’d spoken to on June 3 had screwed up. We screwed up, they said. I wish.
· June 16 – A Bell technician called me at work. He asked whether anyone was home. I said no. He said he needed access to my premises. No one had told me that. He asked if someone would be home next day. I said someone would be there. He said he would come between 8 AM and noon. Strike 1
· June 17 – Given that I had to work. I ensured than one of my kids stayed home to wait for the guy. Nobody came. I called AEI. Try your modem, he told me, maybe he fixed it from outside. I called home. Try the modem I said. It’s blinking orange I was told. So AEI called Bell. A Bell technician called that afternoon, and we arranged an appointment Friday, June 18 between 5 and 8 PM. Nobody at Bell nor at AEI offered an explanation as to why the technician failed to appear. I still don’t have the answer to that.
· June 18 – Nobody came from Bell. Strike 2
· June 20 – I called AEI. They said the issue was marked “resolved.” I said it wasn’t resolved. Their response to my reporting 2 no-shows in a row was to call Bell again. Nobody at Bell nor at AEI offered an explanation as to why the last guy failed to appear. I still don’t have an answer to that
· June 21 – A Bell technician called me and we set up an appointment for June 22 between 8 AM and 12 PM.
· June 22 - I could not be home in the morning, nor could I arrange to have anyone there, so I left the back door unlocked. The technician called at work, but he refused to enter the premises. I can’t come in, he said, if nobody is home. Why is it, I asked, that you can not show at all, and that’s ok, but entering the house with my permission isn’t. Are you home tomorrow he asked. In the afternoon. Ok I said. Someone will be there. Next batter, strike 1.
· June 23 – The technician came, replaced a jack, and left. I came home a few minutes after he left, around 6 PM. He left my kids a whole song and dance. If I wanted the interet to work, I’d have to unplug the phone. He said we had the wrong kind of phone, wouldn’t say what the right kind was though. So I’m game. I don’t care. I’ll unplug the phone. Just let me get online. But guess what. Blinking blinking orange light. The modem still would not synchronize. I finally got a technician into the house, and he left without fixing anything. And now my phone service was not working properly either. I was livid. I called AEI They were closed. It was only just after 6 and their tech support service is open until 9, but they would not answer. I called Bell. I got some tech support guy. I said send the technician back; he did not finish the job. They were not helpful. Said we’ll get someone down tomorrow. I said I want that guy back, now! They said tomorrow. So tomorrow it was.
· June 24 – AEI tech support was closed for St. Jean Baptiste day. The Bell technician came by, fixed the phone jack that the first guy wrecked, couldn’t fix the internet issue, said you need an internet technician, not a phone technician, and left in a huff. Meanwhile, I had now been offline for 2 weeks.
· June 25 – I called AEI tech support. They said, I wonder what that guy did. We’ll look into it they said. Later a technician from Bell called, and we arranged for him to attend my house on Monday, June 28 between 6 PM and 9 PM.
· June 28 – I came home precisely at 6, and I found a note in my mailbox from a Bell technician saying he’d been there and he had no access to the premises. Strike 2. I called AEI. Now I was foaming at the mouth. I insisted they do something. The technician I spoke said only that a supervisor would phone me next day. He couldn’t do squat. So I phoned Bell. I said I want to sign up for internet service. The lady that took my order, she said someone will be down Thursday night to hook you up.
· June 29 – The AEI supervisor called and put me in touch, yet again, with Bell, but I could not arrange a mutually agreeable time. I had been offline by this point for 20 days. They could not guarantee that the guy wouldn’t come before 6. Strike 3.
· July 1 – No technician from Bell came. I call Bell. The guy there put me on hold repeatedly, for long times. He said your order wasn’t taken properly. He said your account is screwed up. He made me repeat my name, address, and phone number about a million times. In the end he gave me a username and password and order number. He promised me on his mother’s grave that someone would be by on Sunday.
· July 4 – Guy comes from Bell, modem in hand. Amazing. I pinch myself. I tell him there’s a problem here, I can’t get online. He said don’t worry. Hooks me up in about 15 minutes. Voila, I’m online. I weep for joy.
· July 7 – I called AEI to cancel my service, and I asked them to ensure that I was not charged for any services after June 10 as I had been offline since then. The customer service rep promised to consult with tech support and get back to me. He did not get back to me.
· At the end of July I received my Mastercard bill and noted that AEI had charged me the usual amount for June and July. I called Customer Service. They told me that there was nothing they could do. I was supposed to have a Bell technician attend my house. It was my fault, in other words, that they had not been able to help me. I screamed at the guy, everyone on the bus was staring at me, some were laughing. How many technicians, I asked, would I have to entertain, how many would not show up, how many would come at times other than those agreed to, how many would come and leave without doing diddly squat, before we could admit defeat. Nothing, he said, they could do. I needed to have a technician down. I was having apoplexy. He promised to have a manager call, but no manager called.
· The Bell bill came and they had charged me $99 for the useless July 1 service call. I thought of selling the story to Hollywood - as a horror flick. After a few calls I got Bell to smarten up.

Mastercard is handling this for me. I’ve lost the will to fight. Let them fight. So far I got the money back. AEI, well, they were my ISP for 8 years, first dial-up, then high speed. And the service was always good, and they were always responsive. Then suddenly, the bottom fell out. I can’t say I’m impressed. And man, they could have done the honourable thing and given me the refund without all this hassle.

But hey, at least I’m online…