"High" speed internet connection

After dealing for 8 months with AT&T, I now, more than ever, make sure I provide my customers with the highest form of customer service I can. If I have to kiss their toes, I will, simply to not put them through the kind of torture I've had to deal with.

I've been fighting with AT&T (as I states) for over 8 months. It all started when my modem started "taking a dump" on me. I called their customer service department and was whizzed through a series of questions and online tests, and assured everything would be alright. And it was...until the next day. The same thing started happening. My modem would keep "rebooting" itself, and web pages would take forever to load. By forever, I mean 3 to 4 minutes per page.

Again I called AT&T's customer service, in hopes of explaining what the symptoms of the modem were. But before I could get a word out, I was again taken through the question and test mode by the customer service rep. I began getting frustrates, because when I would try to explain the situation, my words were drowned out by the CSR speaking louder. He would not listen. I hung up pissed off, and figured I would wait and try again some other day.

I believe that part of AT&T's CSR training is to make sure the customer feels belittled, that they are not given time to speak, and make sure that the customer gives up and deals with the crap they've been given. Because over those 8 months, I dealt with exactly those type of people.

It wasn't until a week ago that I finally....FINALLY...got to speak to a person who, after the same stupid questions and testing, decided to take a breath....whereas I could actually peep out the words "MY MODEM IS BROKEN!". The CSR said, "broken?" "You mean like cracked or something?"

OMG, I thought. I finally get to explain to someone what's been happening! So I did. The CSR tells me that he'll send me out another modem -- no charge (there'd better not be a charge for it! I haven't been able to use my 'high speed internet" for several months, I've been paying the bill regularly, and had to deal with their crap... no...they'd better not charge me).

The new modem shows up a week later on my doorstep. It's all shiny and new, and comes with a yellow installation CD so I can get back up and working at full speed again. Now, you have to intall the CD in order to use the modem. And the installation program jumps right up on the screen of a PC, eagerly awaiting its "next" button to be clicked.

But I have a Mac.

I remember explaining that to the CSR as well, because I wanted to make sure they sent the correct materials to me. But they didn't. So in order for me to get the modem working, I had to set up a PC, insert the AT&T CD, download the modem software and switch everything over to my Mac.

I'm pretty sure that the few hairs left that I haven't already pulled out are completely gray by now.