Getting Internet Service A Review

Short Summary

AT&T sucks...FCC is impotent...TWC sucks, but at least I have Internet.

Earlier this year the FCC changed the definition of broadband, and with that change I was unexpectedly paying $20 a month for a non broadband connection. I figured that meant AT&T would have to change their rates. Now usually when my AT&T contract ends my sister and her family are in town, so I can't really negotiate the best deal I can get because I can't have my nephew lose Internet access. My nephew would lose his mind if he had to forgo Youtube more than a day. but this year they left L.A. a couple of weeks before my AT&T contract ended. It seemed like destiny; this year I would get a better deal for high speed Internet.

I call AT&T a few weeks before my contract ends to get a price for another year of service and to determine exactly when is my last day of service. They say their best offer is my current rate $21.50 a month. I guess AT&T really doesn't want to change their rates, but I can't really accept paying the same amount for less service. I tell them to cancel my service when my contract ends. I hoped that was enough to signal to AT&T that I wouldn't accept the situation.

A week before my service ends and after I've done the research for what rates are available to me I call AT&T again and ask for their best offer. It's not comparable to the rate TimeWarner is offering and when I ask them if there is anything they can do their only response is, "We don't price match." That certainly sounds like an unwillingness to compete, so I file an FCC complaint.

I'd read that some people had success getting their ISPs to behave reasonably after filing FCC complaints. Of course none of them were AT&T so I shouldn't be surprised when AT&T responds to my FCC complaint with a series of ridiculous offers. Their final offer is seven dollars more than what I was currently paying. Wow! I filed a complaint with the FCC and AT&T was so indifferent that they had the nerve to actually raise my rate. So I proceeded to order TimeWarner.

You'd think that would be the end of the story, but signing up for TimeWarner cable was not the easiest thing to do. First TimeWarner wants me to pay them $40 for the privilege of paying them $15 a month for the foreseeable future, but I keep calling until I finally find someone reasonable who will waive that ridiculous fee and I order service. By this point I don't have any Internet service so I have to go my to local library to order a modem.

A few days later my modem arrives. I call TimeWarner Cable to activate it, but it fails to connect. I ask them if they've sent someone to connect me to their system. They say yes. Then they insist on sending a technician. I schedule one for the following week because now I'm concerned that my interior cable is broken. I spend some time over the next few days following the cable verifying that there are no breaks in it.

A few days before my technician is scheduled to arrive I call TimeWarner Cable and attempt to activate my modem again. It doesn't activate, so I ask them if they've sent someone to connect me to their system. They say yes. Then I tell them I'm going to rip the cables out of my wall and replace them with new cable. Then I tell them that I'm going to test those old cables and we'll see if they're bad or not. Very quickly they tell me to hold off on that. Again I ask them if they've sent someone to connect me to their system. This time they say they don't know.

The technician arrives and he wants to come inside and look at my network setup. I point to the telephone pole and tell him to climb up there and physically connect me to their system. He does so and then he wants to look at my network setup again. I tell him that I don't need any help setting up my network. I just needed someone to climb up that pole. He leaves and I attempt to activate my modem. That fails. I connect a computer directly to my modem and call to activate it again. This time activation succeeds. I hook up my wireless router but that fails to connect. Now the CSR wants to send another technician out to me. I say no and try to figure things out for myself. Turns out all I have to do is reset my router and it starts to work. That would be the end of this, except for TimeWarner's attempt to charge me for connecting to their system and AT&T sending me one last offer weeks too late.

Finally with Internet again I sign up as a TimeWarner user and check my account. There I find a $40 charge for a technician visit. Now I never agreed to pay any charge like that and I tell them that in a live chat. They waive that fee and that would settle that. Except now I've got to keep checking my account because I can't trust TimeWarner not to rip me off when I'm looking the other way.

As for AT&T they send me a letter with a final final insult/offer that matches TimeWarner's price. I call them up to ask them some questions about their offer. First off despite it clearly saying no home phone required, the first requirement is either TV, Voice, or Wireless service. $15 a month plus whatever that extra service costs doesn't sound like a very good deal when TimeWarner doesn't have that requirement. Second this is for a one year contract. Although I expect TimeWarner to raise their Everyday Low Price by the end of the year I don't think they'd raise it to the $40 AT&T would cost me after a year. And lastly their rebate offers only apply to those extra services that I neither need nor want. So this offer is definitely no indication of AT&T's willingness to be reasonable. I'd file another FCC complaint but AT&T would just ignore it and I don't care to be insulted any longer. I just wish the whole process was simpler and clearer.

At any time I can go to Newegg, eBay or Amazon and order things and it's so simple. Give them money; receive your product in the mail. But to order Internet service I had to endure a gauntlet. First they try to trick you with their offers. Then when you sign up they try to trick you with their charges. And IT NEVER ENDS. It's sad that this is our system working well. I had options and explored all of them. I know most people would pay a premium to avoid this experience, but that lets AT&T and TimeWarner do whatever they want. As much as we need more competition in the Internet marketplace, consumers need to be willing to walk away from bad deals and offers. I certainly would have. I suffered without Internet service for two weeks because I didn't want to be ripped off. And if I were given the choice between a bad deal or no Internet, I would choose no Internet. Until more of us can say the same then maybe  this system is exactly what we deserve.

The Other Guys Or More Cheap Shots At Oscar Gutierrez's Expense

I'm feeling confident about Luis Lopez, but I figure since I've come this far I might as well check out the other two candidates for the 51st assembly.  Unfortunately Oscar Gutierrez  isn't running any events, and Arturo Chavez only wants me to help him walk the precincts.  I do the only thing I can do short of calling each candidate directly for an interview/introduction; I go to the Glassell Park Improvement Association(GPIA) meeting where all four candidates will be having a forum.

I drag my cousin out of her house and take her along for company.  She doesn't have any interest in this process, but I think she should get out of her house more.  We arrive at the Glassell Park Senior And Community Center a few minutes before the event is set to begin and I have a cigarette and observe the people walking into the event.  I wave and greet Hans as he drives into the parking lot.  Most of the people I see walking inside are older and whiter.  I tell my cousin that she's likely the youngest person attending this forum.

We walk into the space and sign in with GPIA.  I'm not sure why they need all of this information from me; it's not like I'm a resident of Glassell Park or anything.  I'm here to hear the candidates and nothing more.  I lead my cousin to a pair of seats in the far corner of the room.  There we settle in and wait for the forum to begin.

A Conversation + With Luis Lopez or "You Go Luis!"

I leave the meet and greet I went to on March 3 feeling just a little bit unsatisfied.  The candidate I met while impressive didn’t quite connect with me.  So it only makes sense to explore the rest of the field.  A quick search online leads me to the names of three other candidates.  All three have websites, but only one has an event for me to attend on March 10.  One guy’s website looks like little more than an online solicitation for donations.  The other one has events, but his upcoming events involve precinct walking.  I’m not even sure if I support him and he expects me to volunteer for his campaign before I even meet him.  I find that just a tad bit odd.  The last candidate is Luis Lopez and he has a meet and greet in Echo Park.

Occupy The Court or Shooting Crooks In The Face At The L.A. Mall

    I got up this morning thinking I’d spend the day reading; I do have a huge stack of comics from the library and pages of research to get through.  That was the plan until I stumbled on a post on the Patch about a Occupy event Downtown.  I thought “Why not?” and gave it a shot.  Times like this I’d be nervous wondering what to expect of where I’m going, but I’m feeling better these days and I’m actually more concerned about what I’m going to do when my barbershop closes.  This is how I try to manage expectations; I can’t let them get away from me.
    I hop off Temple and walk around unsure of where to go.  The address was Temple and, I thought I’d be able to see it from the street.  I end up following a group of people carrying signs.  Going to a protest follow the people carrying a protest sign; that seemed reasonable.  I get to the end of the block where about ten or so people are standing around a corner.  These are rallyers; I’m not so sure if this is the rally.  If it is, thank God I managed my expectations.  I get to talking to a veteran occupier while we stand around the corner.  Despite doing it “right”--finishing high school then going to college--she’s been out of work for three years.  To add to her situation she has MS and doesn’t have health insurance.  So she’s been through the wringer, and it’s tough to find that good old right wing indignation to the Occupy movement when you meet someone in a situation like that.  All I can do is feel bad silently.
    There’s some confusion as to where the protest is exactly so most of the corner head off down the street.  I head up the street to make sure it’s not there either and when I return the corner is empty.  For a second I wonder if they thought I was a narc or an infiltrator.  Now that would be an awesome job.  Getting paid to get the hippies all riled up would be a dream; busting them would just be gravy.  I think about what to do next and I decide to go to the bank.  I had to do some banking sometime soon anyway.  I take a moment to watch a couple of people play chess before deciding to explore some more.  Maybe I’ll find the rally that way.
    I discover it across from the Los Angeles Mall.  Not quite a hundred people are standing around or sitting in front of a mike they have set up.  They area is taped off clearly defining a space.  We know exactly where we are allowed to go and not go on this piece of Federal property.  A few cops are milling around the fringe of the rally to ensure we don’t cross those lines.  There’s an ABC reporter doing interviews.  She doesn’t stick around the whole day, but there’s a wandering cameraman getting footage who does.

The whole event is rather well organized, but a few details are off.  First there’s the problems earlier about the event’s location.  Apparently there was an initial attempt to have the rally at a different place; the organizers failed to get the permits and were forced to move.  It would have been an easy fix to have someone at both locations moving people along to the right one, but no one had the foresight beforehand or the thought afterward to make that call.  I know it’s just the small stuff.  I finish a cigarette and I look for a trash can, but I can’t find one.  I wander about the area and there’s none to be seen.  The nearest one is around the corner by a bus stop.  I ask an organizer about it and he’s not the least bit embarrassed by the oversight.  He tells me something about a food tent that will be set up shortly; they’ll have trash bags.  No one sets anything up a tent and trash just sort of collects wherever it ends up.  Now I don’t want to pick, but it would have been easy enough to take any empty bag call it a trash bag and there it is.  It’s silly I know, but I don’t imagine a Republican forgetting about the trash.  Then there’s a girl running a timeline on court decisions regard the personhood of corporations.  It’s not bad, but when I get to the end I ask the girl if she has a copy of the decision in question on her.  Surprisingly she doesn’t.  The whole event is about Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and no one has the presence of mind to bring a copy of that decision along with them?  I know it’s all on the internet these days but please if this was a high school project you’d get points off for forgetting something that important.  Anyway kudos to the organizers.  I know how difficult an event like that is to put together and I hope everyone appreciates the effort required to make it happen.

    The speakers start and I’m hearing something a little strange.  It’s the voice of dissent I think.  Unfortunately it’s the same voice of dissent I hear when talking with anti-abortion activists.  I imagine it is the same voice of dissent you’d have heard talking with anti-integrationists.  It’s the same old saw: “The Supreme Court cannot make that decision.  It’s supposed to be passive not active.  It’s supposed to take a strict interpretation of the Constitution.  It can’t be allowed to make those decisions for the rest of us.”  The same arguments completely different issues.  The absurdity is delicious.
    There are a bunch of messages being transmitted here.  There are too many messages being transmitted for me to keep up with.  All manner of banners some small and some large.  There are few that look well made and some others that are just plain bad.  My nephew who’s just started grade school could have done better work.  Despite the number of messages I still get it.  All of them share the same anti-corporate, pro-labor, and pro-equality feeling to them.  The best of the bunch is a series of print repros of ink on paper that look good enough to be etchings.  They’re done by ken allan jones.  Full and rich with symbolism and meaning, they’re far more effective than that quirky girl wearing a sign around her pretty neck that says corporations...not equal...people.  I can dig the math but I’m disappointed by the lack of effort.

The first speaker ends his talk by calling me and my party evildoers.  I guess that’s okay.  I tend to think the other side’s full of idiots, but I know I’m not serious.  I’m chatting with a gray haired guy and he seems reasonable.  I ask him if that sort of language doesn’t get in the way of a real discussion.  He looks at me funny and I clarify.  I say that calling us evildoers is about as bad as calling us “baby eating cannibals”.  To this he enthusiastically agrees we are all “baby eating cannibals”.  I can only hope he was being “ironic”.

I can’t help but notice, except for a few exceptions, that listening to these speakers is a lot like going to church, but instead of Amen or hallelujah they respond with “We the People”.  It doesn’t have the militant punch of “Power to the People” but it’s fine.  It’s like going to church but without the snazzy Filipino choir.  There’s a speaker saying quite a lot of things but there’s no real discussion.  I make a few attempts to start a dialogue with other attendees and it just gets bogged down by emotion, righteous anger.  I don’t agree with many things this rally represents but I do have the feeling that there’s something fundamentally wrong in this country.  Ideologically I am so far apart from this crowd I might as well be from Orange County, but I recognize that the only way we’ll find a solution to the problems this country faces is to sit down and talk it out.  Maybe I’m wrong but my impression of this movement makes me think it has no place for me if I don’t believe exactly what they believe.  Maybe that’s the way it should be, but I’m pretty sure that’s not going to cut it.  We have enough politicians in Washington fighting for scraps and forgetting who elected them; we can’t let ourselves become a mirror to that.  Or maybe it’s the other way around and they are just a mirror of us and all those Washington bureaucrats are behaving exactly the way we mean them to.  For the love of God, if we can’t have a reasonable discussion about politics over a meal or a drink, should we expect our elected representatives to be better?

I take a break while someone talks about urban farming.  I don’t imagine that they’ll be talking about vertical farms; I figure it’ll be all about local grown farming and urban gardening.  The topic is interesting, but my bladder is full.  The nearest bathroom is at the Los Angeles Mall.  It’s the worst mall in the city.  It’s so bad that teens don’t hang out there.  I’m grateful it at least has a food court and I get to use the bathroom.  On the way out I notice a set of four coin-op games.  They have Super Streetfighter Alpha--I was never too good at it and hence never a fan of it--and they have Lethal Enforcers.  Now that’s a game I remember playing the hell out of back in the late 90s at that Glendale arcade off Brand the one that’s still open.  I might as well take a real break and shoot some criminals in the face.  It’s a fun and absurd way to pass the time in the heart of our city playing Lethal Enforcers.  It’s the high point of the day.

    I get back to the rally and nothing is going on.  I try to ask some of the people who are sitting and waiting.  I try to ask them if there will be more speakers.  It feels like I’ve made a faux pas of some kind daring to ask a question of some random people.  I give that up and head to the stage where there are a couple of people fussing with a coffin.  The gray haired guy is there and I ask him about what’s going on; thankfully he answers and tells me that the rally is on a break.  I get to talking with one of the people fussing with the red, white, and blue coffin next to the stage.  It’s for the death of Uncle Sam procession they’re having tomorrow out on the Westside.  It sounds like a interesting event, but it’s at ten thirty in the morning and I’m not too sure if I’m about that.  We talk about the mask they put on the dummy.  Apparently you can’t find an Uncle Sam mask off the shelf.  They had to take a generic old man’s mask and mod it out.  They did a rather good job with it taking hair from back of the mask to give the mask its goatee and sideburns.
    I move on to the back area and have a cigarette.  There I finally have an interesting conversation with a young man about a lot of things.  Eventually we get to talking about the issues at hand.  It’s the kind of back and forth two way street discussion people should be having.  I explained to him my values and fears and he talked about his.  We talked about the feeling that something was wrong with America and when I told me how I could find no solutions he had some suggestions.  We talked about some of the communities around this country that are experimenting with currency and printing their own.  And we had an actual discussion about the feasibility of bartering in today’s economy.  I’m not so sure of the effectiveness of these solutions but I’d be willing to study them and investigate them.
    When the speakers start up again I make the mistake of sitting to listen.  It’s a lecture about the history of corporations that starts with their origins in Europe.  It’s fine for the most part but I stop in my tracks when she suggests that our Founding Fathers left England to escape the tyranny of the evil...British East India Company.  When she says this I look around to see if anyone else is having as bad a reaction to that as I am, but everyone else is okay with it.  I’ve had enough so I leave.  On the way out I take note of a cute little dog; it’s got a sweater on it.  The little dog’s a yipper and a jumper full of energy and spirit.  And as I’m heading out to my bus stop this little dog’s just starting to run around frantically and crazily chasing its tail.  In circles it spins around and around I wonder if it knows that it’s even doing that.  Even if it realizes that it’s running in circles does it think that it’s actually accomplishing something?  Then I get to the bus stop and hop the bus back home.