I'm finally going to do what was expected of me when I started this blog. I am going to go on a rampant harangue. Today I read an article on the CNN web site by a Ms. Pepitone. The gist of her article is alas! the whole world is picking on the poor misunderstood cable industry.According to her, theirs is the one industry, where competition hurts the consumer. This is pretty amazing as it is a well know fact that in the real world competition is better for everyone. It is also why uncle Sammy frowns on monopoly's. She claims that for the conceivable future cable bills will rise dramatically. The reason being advertising prices are falling. high definition and the real bad guys like Direct TV, Apple and Hula. com. Their main bitch about high definition is it cost more to upgrade equipment.and also that the other competition is offering their wares much cheaper.Now this is clearly a Blivet!
I am not sure on the exact amount of minutes. But it is well known that the majority of shows give you under 18 minutes per half hour of actual show time. Just like the shrinking candy bar,you get less and pay more. The reason is to squeeze in more commercials. So while Ms. Pepitone shills for the cable companies,The fact is this is a smokescreen. If You sell 12 minutes at at eight hundred dollars a minute or 8 minutes at one thousand dollars a minute are you not better off? So if the advertising price drops a little,but the amount of ads goes up a lot.Where is the loss. The snake oil salesmen that represent cable have proudly replaced used car salesmen
and lawyers as the number one shysters in the country.
The practice of elevating the volume for commercials is not something new. But contrary to what some people think it has reached an insulting level. If anybody thinks that the best way to get some body's attention is to scream at them, they are sadly mistaken. But that's just what cable and satellite carriers do, and it is a perfect fit for their snake oil salesmen image.Snake oil salesmen and carnival barkers used to work hand and hand.One selling you a magic elixir while the other screamed at you to come see the bearded lady.
One last thing before I go. I decided that I was sick of cable pushing me around.So I figured I would get DirecTV. Part of the reason is at that time they touted the fact that they had more HD. were the only one's with the MBL package and all at a lower prices, that you could lock in for a year.Well this sounded great because every time you turned around Comcast upped it's prices.
To digress a bit Verizon is practically a clone of Comcast, as they love to stray far into the grey areas. When I moved 4 years ago I signed up with Verizon for a telephone package that cost 30 dollars a month.Well anyone who knows me, knows I hardly ever make out going calls. Or use the phone much at all. Well the last bill I got from them was 52 dollars. So I looked at my bills and every month it would go up anywhere from 70 cents to a dollar.So I call them and ask how come my bill had almost doubled. So with out giving you the reply verbatim. The answer was something like this. Well sir, we really value your business, but due to exuberant conditions beyond our control the secondary main mashagoobie bar tends to fluctuate!
Is that all I can do for you today sir? Thank you for calling Verizon.
So I see DirecTV has got a good deal for new customers, and I had just purchased a 42 inch HD Samsung flat screen television. So I call them and arrange to have them hook me up. When the technician shows up to install the satellite dish, I find out he does not have the right equipment for HD. Seeing as how I had just got a HD TV , I told him to forget it, If DirecTV could not install HD then I would stay with the dastardly Comcast.
Well a few days later DirecTV calls and asks me if the technician shows up with the proper equipment will I reconsider. My reply is yes.
A few days later he shows up and installs a dish and a HD receiver and I am set to go. Then the saga began. Two weeks later I am called to the Danderoo's office and I get thoroughly chastised for allowing DirecTV to put a satellite dish on the roof. My reply to Dan is what's the big deal, the other units have satellite dish's on the roofs. He says that is old equipment belonging to a company called DISH. He said they were booted out of the Salisbury Housing complex and had reneged on removing their equipment. He also said that SHA was slated to get new roofing the next year, so he had left them up figuring he would have the roofers remove them then. He said that under normal conditions he would call DirecTV and have them come and remove the equipment they had installed on my roof and in my unit. However while he was on vacation five other units seeing what I had done, followed suit.So if he punished me for doing something with out authorization he would be punishing them also. Of course the theory being that by them seeing the DirecTV guy working on my unit it was something I had permission to do.So I ended up with a scolding and promised to get permission for any stunt I might pull in the future.
In the meantime I get my bill from DirecTV. It had arrived right away as you know TV bills are paid before the month and not after. I promptly pay the bill. Three days later I get another bill.
I figure it is just a clerical snafu and I put it into the circular file. At the end of the month I get two more bills. Well it's time to call DirecTV and get things straightened out.Well if you have ever called their automated phone system you know that they take great delight in their monkeyshines. With of course the hope that you would get exasperated and hang up. And if you really think you are going to talk to a real breathing person with an accent you can understand,forget it. When after a few hours of mental abuse you finally get someone,neither one of you has a clue of what the other one is saying. Again the theory being if they stonewall you enough you will give up. Sort of like the wizard of oz. So anyway I talk to Abdul and explain what transpired and that I only had one dish and one TV. His gibberish seemed to slow down,so I figured he got the gist of my tale of woe. And the fact that I was not two months in arrears on a phantom bill..
So figuring everything was hunky-dory, I await the next months billing. Surer than shit,I get two bills again. So again with the phone nonsense. By now they know me, so their dodging and weaving is done by their cruelest sadists. The same results,this time I ask Ahab if you think I have two units,why don't you just put them on the same bill?. He assures me everything is hunky-dory
Needless to say this turns into a long running saga. One think I learned is there are no supervisors or executives at DirecTV. If there is they are hiding behind that partition with the great and wonderful OZ.
The next thing that happens is that I get a bill from a collection agency.They state that I am eight months behind on my bill, and that they were going to kick ass and take names..
So now I am really starting to get pissed. The phone rings and it is Fred R.Tough from the collection agency and he's acting like I raped his mother at high noon on the alter of the Emmanuel congregational church. After he stopped ranting, my question to him was hey numb nuts,how come nobody has shut this phantom satellite dish off?
Anyway these assholes called me two or three times a day for the next week.That's when I decided it was time for me to hire a lawyer.I never hired a lawyer in my life. I trust them about as much as I trust the Bulger brothers..That afternoon on my way home I heard the WBZ call for Action segment on the radio.So I figured what the hell, I'll give them a call.
They had a set time of between 11 and 12 for listeners to call and ask for help.So I did. I explained to the girl, just exactly what had transpired and that I had asked DirecTV and the goons at the collection agency to come to my apartment and see for themselves,that what they were claiming was rag time. I also told her that I had asked the Rhode Scholars at the collection agency and at DirecTV, to show me, two work orders signed by me. She promised to help.
The next afternoon she called and said that the people at DirecTV had stonewalled her.(what a surprise) She then told them that WBZ radio was going to air a segment telling their listeners
my story and of what a people friendly outfit DirecTV was. This young lady was pissed at them after just one call.
The next day she called and said she had just got a call from somebody from the office of DirecTV's president, and that I was right they had made a mistake. I thanked her very much and hung up the phone. The asshole from the collection agency was due to call, and I just could not wait. I was going to ream him a new rectum, just to show there was no ill will.
But he never did call. I am still waiting for an apology from both parties. I am sure hens will be able to whistle before that will happen.
So as far as the people at cable crying,the people at Verizon gouging and DirecTV lying,and the media smooching all three of them on their rear cheeks. I say that old adage "figures don't lie but liars can figure! is a perfect fit for these four groups.
I am not sure on the exact amount of minutes. But it is well known that the majority of shows give you under 18 minutes per half hour of actual show time. Just like the shrinking candy bar,you get less and pay more. The reason is to squeeze in more commercials. So while Ms. Pepitone shills for the cable companies,The fact is this is a smokescreen. If You sell 12 minutes at at eight hundred dollars a minute or 8 minutes at one thousand dollars a minute are you not better off? So if the advertising price drops a little,but the amount of ads goes up a lot.Where is the loss. The snake oil salesmen that represent cable have proudly replaced used car salesmen
and lawyers as the number one shysters in the country.
The practice of elevating the volume for commercials is not something new. But contrary to what some people think it has reached an insulting level. If anybody thinks that the best way to get some body's attention is to scream at them, they are sadly mistaken. But that's just what cable and satellite carriers do, and it is a perfect fit for their snake oil salesmen image.Snake oil salesmen and carnival barkers used to work hand and hand.One selling you a magic elixir while the other screamed at you to come see the bearded lady.
One last thing before I go. I decided that I was sick of cable pushing me around.So I figured I would get DirecTV. Part of the reason is at that time they touted the fact that they had more HD. were the only one's with the MBL package and all at a lower prices, that you could lock in for a year.Well this sounded great because every time you turned around Comcast upped it's prices.
To digress a bit Verizon is practically a clone of Comcast, as they love to stray far into the grey areas. When I moved 4 years ago I signed up with Verizon for a telephone package that cost 30 dollars a month.Well anyone who knows me, knows I hardly ever make out going calls. Or use the phone much at all. Well the last bill I got from them was 52 dollars. So I looked at my bills and every month it would go up anywhere from 70 cents to a dollar.So I call them and ask how come my bill had almost doubled. So with out giving you the reply verbatim. The answer was something like this. Well sir, we really value your business, but due to exuberant conditions beyond our control the secondary main mashagoobie bar tends to fluctuate!
Is that all I can do for you today sir? Thank you for calling Verizon.
So I see DirecTV has got a good deal for new customers, and I had just purchased a 42 inch HD Samsung flat screen television. So I call them and arrange to have them hook me up. When the technician shows up to install the satellite dish, I find out he does not have the right equipment for HD. Seeing as how I had just got a HD TV , I told him to forget it, If DirecTV could not install HD then I would stay with the dastardly Comcast.
Well a few days later DirecTV calls and asks me if the technician shows up with the proper equipment will I reconsider. My reply is yes.
A few days later he shows up and installs a dish and a HD receiver and I am set to go. Then the saga began. Two weeks later I am called to the Danderoo's office and I get thoroughly chastised for allowing DirecTV to put a satellite dish on the roof. My reply to Dan is what's the big deal, the other units have satellite dish's on the roofs. He says that is old equipment belonging to a company called DISH. He said they were booted out of the Salisbury Housing complex and had reneged on removing their equipment. He also said that SHA was slated to get new roofing the next year, so he had left them up figuring he would have the roofers remove them then. He said that under normal conditions he would call DirecTV and have them come and remove the equipment they had installed on my roof and in my unit. However while he was on vacation five other units seeing what I had done, followed suit.So if he punished me for doing something with out authorization he would be punishing them also. Of course the theory being that by them seeing the DirecTV guy working on my unit it was something I had permission to do.So I ended up with a scolding and promised to get permission for any stunt I might pull in the future.
In the meantime I get my bill from DirecTV. It had arrived right away as you know TV bills are paid before the month and not after. I promptly pay the bill. Three days later I get another bill.
I figure it is just a clerical snafu and I put it into the circular file. At the end of the month I get two more bills. Well it's time to call DirecTV and get things straightened out.Well if you have ever called their automated phone system you know that they take great delight in their monkeyshines. With of course the hope that you would get exasperated and hang up. And if you really think you are going to talk to a real breathing person with an accent you can understand,forget it. When after a few hours of mental abuse you finally get someone,neither one of you has a clue of what the other one is saying. Again the theory being if they stonewall you enough you will give up. Sort of like the wizard of oz. So anyway I talk to Abdul and explain what transpired and that I only had one dish and one TV. His gibberish seemed to slow down,so I figured he got the gist of my tale of woe. And the fact that I was not two months in arrears on a phantom bill..
So figuring everything was hunky-dory, I await the next months billing. Surer than shit,I get two bills again. So again with the phone nonsense. By now they know me, so their dodging and weaving is done by their cruelest sadists. The same results,this time I ask Ahab if you think I have two units,why don't you just put them on the same bill?. He assures me everything is hunky-dory
Needless to say this turns into a long running saga. One think I learned is there are no supervisors or executives at DirecTV. If there is they are hiding behind that partition with the great and wonderful OZ.
The next thing that happens is that I get a bill from a collection agency.They state that I am eight months behind on my bill, and that they were going to kick ass and take names..
So now I am really starting to get pissed. The phone rings and it is Fred R.Tough from the collection agency and he's acting like I raped his mother at high noon on the alter of the Emmanuel congregational church. After he stopped ranting, my question to him was hey numb nuts,how come nobody has shut this phantom satellite dish off?
Anyway these assholes called me two or three times a day for the next week.That's when I decided it was time for me to hire a lawyer.I never hired a lawyer in my life. I trust them about as much as I trust the Bulger brothers..That afternoon on my way home I heard the WBZ call for Action segment on the radio.So I figured what the hell, I'll give them a call.
They had a set time of between 11 and 12 for listeners to call and ask for help.So I did. I explained to the girl, just exactly what had transpired and that I had asked DirecTV and the goons at the collection agency to come to my apartment and see for themselves,that what they were claiming was rag time. I also told her that I had asked the Rhode Scholars at the collection agency and at DirecTV, to show me, two work orders signed by me. She promised to help.
The next afternoon she called and said that the people at DirecTV had stonewalled her.(what a surprise) She then told them that WBZ radio was going to air a segment telling their listeners
my story and of what a people friendly outfit DirecTV was. This young lady was pissed at them after just one call.
The next day she called and said she had just got a call from somebody from the office of DirecTV's president, and that I was right they had made a mistake. I thanked her very much and hung up the phone. The asshole from the collection agency was due to call, and I just could not wait. I was going to ream him a new rectum, just to show there was no ill will.
But he never did call. I am still waiting for an apology from both parties. I am sure hens will be able to whistle before that will happen.
So as far as the people at cable crying,the people at Verizon gouging and DirecTV lying,and the media smooching all three of them on their rear cheeks. I say that old adage "figures don't lie but liars can figure! is a perfect fit for these four groups.
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