Vonage Customer Service - Part 7

Called at 12.05pm CST. Got through to an agent within 1 minute.

Transferred to Tech Support at 12.10pm. Tech support recording says "your estimated hold time is 5 to 10 minutes".

Tech support answered at 12.35pm (25 minute hold time).

NO RESOLUTION.

The tech support person "does not have access" to the ticket system. I would have to hold for another 15 minutes. Talked with supervisor...does not have access to the system. I must either hold or give up.

I gave them the ultimatum that if they can't fix it, I'll cancel the account. Waiting for them to call me back.

Unbelievable.

Good phone service...lousy customer service.

Hugo, Citgo, and Joe Kennedy

Are you freaking kidding me? Joe Kennedy shilling for Hugo Chavez?

Joe Kennedy is offering 40% discounts on home heating oil from Citgo. He wants you to call him at 877-JOE-4-OIL. He's sold his soul to Chavez in order to win a few votes.

Let's see...what would we do to someone who offered, say, Iranian oil to Army veterans who had fought in Iraq against Qods force terrorists?

We'd CASTRATE him, then toss him in the the ninth circle of Hell.

I say, call 877-Blow-me-Joe. I can't freaking believe he's this much of an SOB.

New Fred Thompson Christmas Video

No words needed.

Liberal Media attacks Fred Thompson

I'm a Fred-head, or Fred-neck, if you prefer. Being from the south, I like his manners and his no-b.s. style of talking. I think he's a good man, and he was a good Senator. His experience in the minefields of Watergate put him in good stead with me -- I'm old enough to remember Watergate (our history teacher made us watch the Watergate hearings, and I'm glad now).

The Politico has a post up by Roger Simon that completely mis-represents what happened at a firehouse in Iowa. Fred was asked to put on a fire helmet by the Chief, and he stated "I've got a silly hat rule that I'm about to violate". Roger, uh, FORGOT to include that part in italics. Now read it again...would you get different meanings from these two statements:

1. "I've got a silly hat rule".
Means: I ain't putting that stupid hat on, because I might look like Mike Dukakis and lose this election if someone gets a picture of me in it.

2. "I've got a silly hat rule that I'm about to violate".
Means: I usually don't put on hats because of what happened to Dukakis, but I'd be proud to be seen wearing this hat, and the pictures can be damned. I respect and honor firemen!

Which one of the two quotes do you think Roger quoted, and which one do you think Fred said?

Yup, you'd be right on both counts.

And the left wonders why they can't get any respect?

Here's the full story.

H/T Confederate Yankee

PS Gratuitous Fred Plugs

The REAL Man of the Year

AMEN. God bless our troops.

PS. Send Dan Rather to Iraq as an embed.

Vonage Customer Service - Part 6

The Caller ID issue is still not resolved. As of last Thursday, they closed the trouble ticket and stated that it would take 48 hours for the system to update. We'll it's been a wee bit over 48 hours, so I'm gonna call and find out what the latest excuse it (creeping cynicism, I know).

Called at 11.40am CST. Expected wait time is over 25 minutes. Joy.

I started speaking with a rep at 12.07pm, after a 27 minute hold. Hey, at least their "estimate" of wait time is pretty accurate!

Pretty funny...they can't find the trouble ticket number that I gave them...that they gave ME at the time of the problem. Keystone Kops.

Found the trouble ticket..Now they say that it may take up to 72 hours, and it's only been about 65 hours, so I need to be patient. Oh-kay.

Another try tomorrow. I have a bad feeling about this.

Vonage Customer Service - Part 5

Called Vonage at 12.50pm CST today. The recording said "wait time over 15 minutes".

Picked up at 1.10 (20 minute wait).

Vonage says that they don't display caller name (oh, really?). They are supposed to only display "Vonage Holdings" plus the number.

They now say that they can blank out the name field entirely...so only the number will appear when I call someone. I'm ok with that.

Look, I've been in the telecom business for 25+ years, and their explanation sounds fishy to me. Their provisioning system had to use my name for billing records...they should be able to pick that up for caller id. The fact that they didn't design their system this way from the start says they didn't really plan well. Hey, waddaya want for 25 bucks a month...rubber biscuit?

It should be fixed within 48 hours.

I'll give them an "A" for resolving this, a "B" for the fact that it took 5+ calls, a "C" for dumb systems, and an "F" for the fact that it takes 48 hours to propagate through their systems (they are computers, and work at light-speed, dang it).

Call over at 1.20pm CST. (30 minutes elapsed time: 20 on hold, 10 to resolve)

Vonage Customer Service - Part 4

So here's the latest from Vonage. Uh-oh. They don't get it, do they?

They'll get a call tomorrow.

Dear XXXXXXXX,

Thank you for contacting Vonage, the #1 rated digital phone service.

We are in receipt of your request for technical assistance with your Vonage account.

Unfortunately, we are unable to complete the request at this time. In order to resolve this issue, please call Customer Care by calling us Toll Free at: 1-VONAGE-HELP (1-866-243-4357) or by visiting the help center of our website at http://www.vonage.com/help.php?lid=nav_help and providing the ticket number below to the agent.

Ticket # XXXXXXXXX

If you have any questions, your Vonage team is available to assist you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Contact us whenever and however it suits you!

- On-Line Help Center at http://www.vonage.com/help.php
- Contact Us at http://www.vonage.com/help_contactus.php
- Or call Toll-Free at 1-VONAGE-HELP (1-866-243-4357)

Thanks again for choosing Vonage, a better phone service for less!

Sincerely,


Marie
Vonage

Vonage Customer Service - Part 3

Redialed Vonage at 2.03pm CST. Estimated wait time is 5-10 minutes. Sure.

Answered at 2.15pm. Explained the problem.

Put on hold at 2.18pm.

Now they are issuing a trouble ticket, and handing off to their "Advanced Technical Support Dept".

I am to receive an email within 24 hours that my issue is resolved. We'll see.

Call ended at 2.22pm EST.

Vonage Customer Service - Part 2

At EXACTLY the 15 minute mark in my call, the call was disconnected on their end. I got a new dial tone.

Well, one mistake is ok.

Will redial in a few minutes with new blog entry.

Vonage Customer Service - Part 1

I'm on hold for Vonage support right now. I called at 1.30pm CST. The caller ID name that shows up when I call out is not mine. So I'm calling to get it fixed.

The automated answering attendant (read "computer") just informed me that my wait time might exceed 15 minutes. Goodie. I can hardly wait.

Let's see how Vonage does.

NBC Changes Color, er, direction

From FoxNews:

But in a statement issued Saturday evening, NBC said:

"We have reviewed and changed our ad standards guidelines and made the decision that our policy will apply to content only and not to a referenced Web site. Based on these amended standards the Freedom's Watch ad will begin to run as early as Sunday."

NBC' head of standards and practices, Alan Wurtzel, notified Freedom's Watch's media consultant Saturday by e-mail, writing: "This will confirm that the Freedom's Watch spot is approved for air."

I have received an email from a friend who's high up at GE. Here's what really happened:

1. NBC pulled a bone-headed move and said "no" to running the ads.
2. Jeffrey Immelt called Wurtzel at NBC.
3. Complete text of conversation:
Immelt: Are you a moron? Do you know how much money GE gets from the US Gov't for defense items used in the war? How the hell do you think we stay in business and support a bunch of pinko-losers like you at 30 Rock? Run the damn ads and STFU!
Wurtzel: But...
Immelt: Click

The spirit of Jack Welch is alive and well.

PS. I'll bet Jack called Jeff.

NBC + GE = OH SH*T

How in the world can NBC turn down these Support the Troops commercials? I don't buy the URL-is-political-action bs.

Immelt is having meetings at corporate right about now...

Imagination? Not so much.

WWJD? What would Jack Welch do?

CBS Radio - Unfair and Unbalanced

This morning, on the 8am CST news broadcast, there was a quick blurb on the CIA destroying the tapes of the interrogations of suspected terrorists. We've all been following this story, so no big deal, right? Until the announcer said that the tapes were erased to cover up the torture method called "waterboarding". I have to call B.S. on this one. If the US Congress refuses to define waterboarding as torture, what the hell is CBS doing defining it as such? This was subtle, but I sure didn't miss it. This is the kind of crap that goes on to reinforce the liberal media's bias...and we're (mostly) not even aware of it.

That's why these folks are now called the Columbia BullShit Radio Network.

AIR RAID PEARL HARBOR - THIS IS NO DRILL

Take a moment to seek out a veteran and say, "thank you".

It's because of the sacrifices of our armed forces that we can blog, take our kids to school, bitch about our taxes, and remain the beacon of freedom for the world.