Me, "this isn't 'Green Acres' for crying out loud!"

Okay so we find out that the phone line that we have exclusively for TiVo is out. Payments were up it was actually down.

I spent at least 2 hours yesterday on hold with Verizon trying to find out why this was and how it could be fixed. After all the people I talked to nothing really came of it. I once had the number to the President of Va.Verizon but I lost it in job transition (it was saved in My Docs on the old computer) but I did learn something interesting—if you are going through the voice prompts just say “AGENT” and when you talk to a person (IF you do) tell them that this is an “ESCALATION” this was told to me by the contact my mother still had from when she had to call the President’s number.

Okay back to the story.

Last night I get home and try to get TiVo to make the connection-no luck no dial tone. I get out the phone that we have for emergencies and plug it into two outlets-indeed no dial tone.

First thing this morning I call Verizon and actually got a human being. BTW-Verizon has the worst hold music (MUZAK really) I have ever heard. Not only was I in a pissy mood to start with but she had a real attitude about whether we had FIOS or a “copper” line …..THEN she asked me the following

“Have you tried plugging a phone into the jack?”

(I wait two beats and say) “Um yes”

“Have you taken the phone outside and plugged it into the box outside?”

( I had to take a standing 8 count on that one) I finally replied, “No OF COURSE NOT!”…. “this isn’t Green Acres for crying out loud!”

She transferred me to repair.

That way if your phone works, you will know it is definitely not your phone line. A telephone repair person showed me that trick. In fact, my phone is plugged into the box outside. My jack came out of the wall and it will cost me if I call for repair since it is a problem inside the house. So, I just got a long cord, ran it through the side of the window where the box was and plugged it in.

:grr:

I have to say that I had never heard of this before and by the time I got to her it was too late to throw something new into the conversation.

I was set on getting THEM to send someone out to fix it.

The only difference is who pays for the repair.
Verizon owns up to the interface box, typically at or very near where the cable enters the building. Everything inside of that is concidered customer owned. Repair Bill is paid by the owner of the equipment that is faulty.

Now under the breakup of Ma Bell agreements you could hire anyone to come in and service your equipment. You would need to check to find out which ones would charge you for a service call if they determined that the problem actually was with the Verizon owned equipment. OTOH by having Verizon come out you typically won't be charged if the problem is with the Verizon owned equipment. Down side is they typically charge more than other contractors if the problem lies with your equipment.

Either way, best of luck and it appears help is on the way.

Why? Why is that necessary?

that and the TiVos talk about us

I JUST KNOW THEY DO!!!!

I got the cheapie DVR from DirecTV. I miss that little dancing TV guy. :(

DirecTV updated the software in this thing and how the guide is blue and yellow. Bright yellow. That's just wrong.

life is so much better since i dropped DSL for cable hi speed internet.

it's their problem and they pay to fix it.


if you do have a dial tone at the box, do not call Verizon. call around to some independent contractors in the phone book. they will almost always give you a MUCH better price than the phone company to fix it.

oh well.

Thanks for the tip. It was too late to do anything about it anyway since I was already at work. Actually they could have mentioned that at some point yesterday.

that way they can fix it if it's on their end, and you don't necessarily have to let them do the work if it's on your end.

i've had a couple of dead phone jacks that have needed replacing, and each time (one in Austin, one in the Detroit area) it was considerably cheaper to hire my own repairman out of the phone book than to let the phone company do the job.

a couple of dead phone jacks ...(one in Austin, one in the Detroit area) :wow:

You can put them on your home network after the initial setup, for the new Series 3 and Tivo HD's, they can use your home network for initial setup and continued downloads of program info.

i figure if i miss something it will be replayed in the summer than it's all new to me.

I can watch the shows that I want on my schedule, skipping commercials as needed. Yes, I know that puts me on Keith Olberman's Worst List, along with Marge Simpson!

okay not as much as when we first got the digtial rewind funciton.

:rofl:

When I'm at my mom's house, I frequently try the rewind and fast-forward though!

I believe I gave it a phone line briefly several years ago, so I could order a pay-per-view movie. I unplugged it afterward, and never used it again (I'm paranoid enough that I think it might report on my viewing habits). Subsequent replacement units have done all their downloading from space.

as an avid watcher, I thought you would know that.

The way these phone companies compete to offer the best service at the lowest prices just makes my life so much simpler! Viva the free market! :sarcasm: