So much wasted time...(Warning: Rant Alert)

Upon arriving back in Delaware on Sunday evening, I discovered that the internet at Chestnut Hollow was down.  The wireless signal was strong and the DSL light was steady green but the internet light wasn't on. 

Monday morning I called Verizon to try and fix the problem.  After more than an hour on the phone with a technical help customer service representative, I was told that he was wasting my time because his computer was having issues resetting something or other but he would call me back within the next two hours.  Once the two hours had passed and I hadn't received the promised return phone call I went through the computerized menu for the 4th time of the day (thanks to Verizon's computer system for randomly disconnecting me and for rerouting me to IT folks in regions other than Delaware!).  I got to a different, much more competent technician.  He walked me through a bunch of stuff only to find out that the one thing he needed to do on his end couldn't be done because one of Verizon's computer programs was down.  He figured out the estimated time of when that would be up and running and told me realistically I should wait until Tuesday and call back because then I would be guaranteed that the program would be up and running. 

Tuesday morning I was greeted by a blinking DSL light.  I called Verizon.  The computer improperly rerouted me to California.  The technician in California, after asking what type of operating system I use (a Mac), rerouted me to a Windows Technician.   The windows technician said because there was now a DSL problem that she could at least help me with that.  She insisted I complete impossible tasks, even after I told her they were not possible.  Finally, I requested that she send a service technician out to fix the DSL problem (because honestly, repeatedly requesting that I check if the phone line has a dial tone when I had already explained several times that we don't have a telephone for a land line is a little bit ridiculous). 

Tuesday afternoon, a technician came out and fixed the DSL.  He was super-nice and fixed the DSL.  At this point, Ish took over and called Verizon to get the internet up and running again.  The technician he reached walked him through everything, and since the software on their end was working properly, they were able to fix our internet problem.  Afterwards, he had the technician transfer him to billing and Verizon compensated us for all the hoops we had to jump through by reducing our bill for this month by 25%. 

This whole ordeal was such a hassle, but I am thankful it happened now and not in a month when The Diplomat will be here; the time to do such things will not be readily available then.  I must also note that up until the past few days, all of my interactions with Verizon's customer service had been wonderful.  I was always walked step by step through whatever issue the modem was having.  The most recent interactions definitely put a bad taste in my mouth, but I am hoping that if there are anymore technical issues that Verizon's customer service will redeem themselves by providing the stellar customer service I have received in the past.